Chapter 101

Lucky

The noise alarms me to start with as I am pushed onto the bed by the guard. I have no idea what it is. What the hell is going on? Then I hear shouting and swear I can hear Yelena’s voice. The guard flattens me to the bed with a hand on my back. “Keep quiet and don’t move from here,” he tells me with a foreign accent. Russian too I am guessing. It’s thick and heavy.

He leaves me laying there as he goes back out the door not locking it. My eyes open wide; this is my golden opportunity to get the hell out of here. Until I see him raise his gun and begin shooting. Holy shit! We have guests it would appear.

My heart is beating hard against my rib cage; my breathing is erratic. Adrenaline pulses through my body like going down on a zip wire. Is it Nico? Has my man come to save me from this hell hole?

What should I do? Should I stay put where it seems to be safer than going out to all the gun fire? I could get caught in the cross fire. Sweat is trickling down between my breasts, the heat being intense. God, I stink. When, I mean if it is Nico and he sees me he is going to be in for a shock.

My hair is lank as it hangs down from not being washed for a few days. My pits stink and my top is plain filthy. The first thing I want to do when I get out of here is have a shower then a luxurious soak in the tub with bubbles to my chin. I can almost smell my Coco Chanel fragrance.

Guns are being fired. The noise is deafening. I decide to duck under the bed. Surely this has to be the safest place. Even I am not that stupid, as headstrong as I may be, to go out there and get caught up in it. What if it isn’t Nico and some other organization that is after Yelena?

A woman like her has got to have a lot of enemies, right?

It goes eerily silent as I hold my breath hoping and praying that Nico or is team are the ones in the building. There is no more sound from a screaming Yelena. Whatever has happened to her it would appear is over.

Then I hear a female voice calling out. “Lucky, Lucky are you in there? It’s safe to show yourself.”

It is Aurora, I would recognize her accent anywhere, the soft tones but with an edge to them. Scrabbling along the floor under the filthy, disgusting bed I manage to crawl from under it and stand to my feet, wiping grime off my bottoms.

That bath is getting closer by the minute, thank goodness. “In here,” I manage to yell out. My voice is hoarse; my throat is dry. Can this really be happening? Am I really going to be safe?

She comes striding into the room, her weapon moving from left to right as she kicks the door so that it slams into the wall behind it. “Anyone with you?” she asks her eyes not focused on me but instead darting around making sure nobody is going to surprise her and jump out at her.

I shake my head then manage to say, “no. The guard left me.”

“Good, I want you to walk towards me and then stay right behind me when I turn around to lead us out.”

“Okay. Aurora, thank you for coming to get me.”

She nods an acknowledgement; emotional she is not. It’s her business to be hard-nosed after all she is a killer. The best trained assassin so I have heard.

I follow closely behind her seeing two dead bodies on the ground. She steps over the first one then the second one. I follow her actions recognizing them as the guards from outside earlier. Whereas I know I ought to be horrified, I am not. They were my captors. They deserved everything they got.

“Where is Nico? Is Nico safe?” I ask her as we go down the corridor that I recall leads us to the fire escape door and out to the blazing sun.

“He is fine. Nico is waiting for you in a vehicle a couple of miles up the road.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Soon I will be back in the arms of the only man I have ever loved. My heart feels as if it is restarting at the same time as my tears begin to slide down my face. God, what an emotional fucking mess I am.

“Keep it together, Lucky. We are not out of the woods yet. Everyone involved here is on the deck.” Aurora tells me as she kicks the door open with her right foot. The bright sunlight hits my eyes making me blink several times, as I wipe the tears from my face with the back of my right hand.

“Trying,” I reply as we step outside. The dry air hits me again but this time I breathe deeply for the first time in the last few days. Freedom finally.

“We have vehicles in a small town not far from here. Are you good to walk or do you need someone to haul your ass?”

I let out a laugh. Oh, Aurora does not know that underneath this exterior is a fierce warrior. “Walking is fine, it will be good to stretch my legs from being cooped up.”

Again, she merely nods. We are joined by four other guys all dressed in combat gear. “Where is Yelena? Did they kill her?” I ask as one of the guys gives me a nod.

“Braxton, good to see you alive, Miss Gianluca,” he says. His eyes are the color of the ocean and his smile is sincere. The five o’clock shadow covers a strong jawline.

“Thank you for rescuing me,” I say to all the men looking each one in the eyes. They merely nod. I guess they aren’t great conversationalists.

“This way,” Braxton says as Aurora drops into step with me.

“She is going to be held for questioning. Nico wants to get to the bottom of this shit show. Someone staking a claim on his organization and taking his fiancée has not gone down resoundingly well.”

Obviously not. I can imagine a raging Nico ready to kill Yelena personally once he has extracted the information, he needs from her.

The couple of miles walk is along flat yet bumpy terrain. The sun is like a torch to my skin, it feels as if my skin is being burnt off inch by inch. “Where exactly are we, Aurora?”

“New Mexico.”

Wow, Yelena did go out of her way to hide me in the middle of nowhere.

I see the two camouflaged Hummers in front of us. Braxton opens one of the back doors to the second one and helps me to step in. “We will ride with you,” he says as he goes round the other side satisfied, I am in and safe.

“Which vehicle is Yelena in?” I ask Aurora.

“She’s already left, they took her away as soon as they caught her. You don’t ever have to worry about seeing that cunt again!” A relief washes over me.

Aurora sits up front alongside the driver. Another impressively big built man with shoulders that have shoulders. God do these guys eat steroids or are they super-human. They’re intimidating to say the least.

“I’m excited to see Nico,” I tell them.

“I am sure the feeling is mutual,” Aurora says then turns her face to look straight ahead. We begin to move. I rest my head back and close my eyes. The exhaustion overwhelms me as I see images of Nico in my mind.

A loud bang like an explosion causes me to open my eyes in a shot. In front of me I see the first vehicle being blown literally off the ground, it’s wheels in the air as it fires into rich, burning flames of orange and reds with black smoke.