Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I reached out to touch his cheek, and he opened his eyes. They were glazed, but there was recognition in them, and love. I’d wanted to see that one more time before I died, and to let him see the love in mine. He should know that he wasn’t dying alone, and that I had not wanted to break up with him because I didn’t care. It was because I did care.
“They made me call you,” I whispered.
He made a small movement with his head that had to have been a nod. I wasn’t sure if he was unable to move more, or if he was trying to give the impression that he couldn’t.
As we lay there side by side, staring into each other’s eyes, there was a knock at the door. Santori got up to go answer it, and suddenly an idea formed in my mind. Or rather it popped in fully formed, because I didn’t have time to think.
I planted a kiss on Kage’s slack lips, and then I jumped up off of the floor and ran as fast as I could toward the balcony door. There was a commotion behind me as the door slammed. A quick glance over my shoulder revealed Santori following behind me with a syringe someone had just delivered. The balcony door was just ahead. If I could just get out there, I would have some leverage.
Santori had said that he didn’t want me going over the balcony. If he was concerned about drawing attention to the Alcazar and, ultimately, himself, then that’s exactly what I needed to be doing. I managed to work the heavy glass door open and step out onto the clear balcony, the twin of Kage’s. In fact, I could see his balcony from Santori’s, and I wondered that I had not noticed Santori’s when we were on Kage’s. It probably had something to do with being in the throes of passion and fearing for my life. Kage had taken me to a strange precipice that night— the place where the id ruled, and the need to get off trumped the will to survive.
Oddly enough, that experience had served as sort of a training course for this moment. Standing on the balcony waiting for Santori to come and kill me wasn’t nearly as scary as it would have been before Kage hung me over the side of his and fucked me silly. The irony of the situation was staggering when I allowed myself to think about it. That night, Kage had asked me if I would risk my life for him. I’d said yes, and now I was getting the chance to prove it.
Santori got onto the balcony just after I did, but I’d had enough time to hoist myself up onto the side of it. God, please don’t let this backfire. If I had to, I would throw myself over if it would keep Kage from dying. I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Because however romantic and heroic I might want to be, in a choice between living with him or dying for him, I’d take the first choice every time.
“All right now, Jamie. You need to come down from there.” Santori edged out nervously, as if it was his first time stepping out onto his own balcony, and again I had to silently thank Kage for conditioning me to handle this. When it came to nerves, I definitely had the upper hand over Santori. But he had the syringe… and the hired guns inside.
From where I was perched on the railing, I could still see them inside, standing over Kage and looking unsure about what they were supposed to do with this new development.
“Boss?” Aldo called, unmoving.
Santori tried again to coax me down. “I’m not really going to do anything to you. It’s all just been to scare you. I just need you to go away, can you understand that? You’re ruining our lives, and I just need to be certain you will go to Georgia and not come back. So I decided to try to scare you.”
He tried on a smile, but it wasn’t convincing at all. I doubted if he even knew how to smile for real. This was the crazy fucker who had used an ice cream cone to bribe a little boy to kill his brother. I’d be insane to trust him.
But then what choice did I have? I could jump and hope that he’d spare Kage. If I knew it would do the trick, I’d have pitched myself over right then. But at that point, I would have taken myself out of the equation. Kage would be on his own.
While I sat trying to make up my mind what I was going to do, Santori decided for me. “Aldo,” he called. “Get out here and help me.”