Chapter 52 Nowhere left to run
Flora
More explosions shook the villa. Gunfire erupted outside.
Vittorio's security was under attack.
"We need to get out," Marco said. "Now!"
We ran into the hallway.
Vittorio was there, gun in hand. "What the hell is happening?" he demanded.
"We've been set up," Rafael said.
"This whole thing was a trap to get us all in one place."
"That's impossible," Vittorio said. "This is my villa. My security…"
Another explosion cut him off. Part of the ceiling collapsed. Dust and debris rained down on us.
"We need to go!" Marco shouted. "There's a boat in the cove below the cliffs. It's our only way out!"
"Lead the way," Vittorio ordered.
We ran through the burning villa. Behind us, I could hear men
shouting. Boots pounding on marble floors.
They were inside.
"There!" one of them shouted. "Don't let them escape!"
Gunfire erupted.
Vittorio returned fire, covering our escape.
We burst out a side door and ran down stone steps carved into the cliff face.
My lungs burned. My legs screamed.
But I kept running.
The Mediterranean churned below us.
At the bottom was a small dock. And a speedboat.
"Get in!" Marco shouted.
I jumped in first. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely grip the sides.
Rafael followed. Then Vittorio. Marco started the engine.
"Wait!" Vittorio shouted. "My men…"
"Are already dead," Marco said grimly. "I saw the bodies. We're the only ones left."
He gunned the engine.
The boat shot away from the dock just as the tactical team reached the top of the stairs.
They fired at us.
Bullets pinged off the water around us. One grazed the side of the boat. But we were already too far away.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Anywhere but here," Marco said.
I looked back at the villa.
It was engulfed in flames. Smoke billowed into the night sky.
"Who is A.M.?" Vittorio demanded.
"Antonio is dead. Who's using his phone?"
"I don't know," Rafael said. "But they knew exactly where we'd be. They knew Vittorio would bring us to Malta. They knew everything."
"Which means there's a traitor," Vittorio said. "Someone close to me.”
"Or someone close to me," Rafael said, looking at Marco.
Marco's face went pale. "Boss, you can't think…"
"I don't know what to think anymore," Rafael said. "Everyone I've trusted has betrayed me. Why would you be different?"
"Because I've been with you for fifteen years!" Marco said.
"So was Antonio," Rafael replied.
The boat cut through the dark water.
No one spoke.
The only sound was the engine and the waves.
Then Rafael's phone buzzed.
He pulled it out and his face went white.
"What?" I asked.
He showed me the screen.
A message from an unknown number.
"Hello, Rafael. Enjoyed the fireworks? You're running out of places to hide. But don't worry. I'll find you soon enough. And when I do, you'll finally understand the truth. About Eva. About Flora. About everything. See you soon. —A.M."
Below the message was a photo of the four of us in the boat. Right now.
"How?" I asked. "How do they know where we are?"
"GPS tracker," Marco said. "On one of our phones or..." He looked at the boat. "Or on the boat itself."
"Check it," Vittorio ordered.
Marco cut the engine.
The boat drifted in the dark water.
We were surrounded by nothing but ocean. No lights. No land. Just endless darkness.
"Here!" Marco said, holding up a small device. "Stuck under the console."
He threw it into the water.
"That won't help," I said. "They already know our direction. They'll just intercept us."
"Then we change direction," Vittorio said. "Marco, head east. Toward Greece."
"Greece?" Rafael asked.
"I have contacts there," Vittorio said.
Marco restarted the engine and turned the boat.
I sat down, my whole body shaking.
Nothing in my life was real.
Now, we were heading to Greece. A place I had never been before.
"Flora," Rafael said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Stop asking me that," I said. "I'm not okay. I'll never be okay."
Rafael didn't say anything.
The boat drove on for hours.
Finally, as dawn broke, land appeared on the horizon.
"Greece," Marco said. "We'll dock at a small port to avoid the major cities."
We pulled into a tiny fishing village.
There were just a few boats and a handful of buildings. Nothing else.
"Now what?" Rafael asked.
"Now we hide again." Vittorio said. "And strategize."
We found a small inn. The owner asked no questions when Vittorio paid in cash.
Our rooms were simple but clean.
I collapsed on the bed, exhausted.
But I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Helena falling. Isabella's hateful face. Antonio's body.
So much death.
And for what?
A knock on my door made me sit up.
"Come in," I called.
Rafael entered.
"Can't sleep?" He asked.
"No," I said. "You?"
"No."
He sat on the edge of the bed.
"Flora, about what you said earlier. About me not letting you leave. You were right."
I looked at him.
"I don't know if I could let you walk away," Rafael continued. "Even if you wanted to. Even if it was the right thing. Because I'm selfish. And broken. And I don't know how to love without controlling."
"Then what do we do?" I asked.
"I don't know," Rafael admitted. "But I want to try. I want to learn how to love you without trapping you. Without suffocating you. The way I did to Eva."
"That's going to take time," I said.
"I know," Rafael said. "And therapy. Lots of therapy."
Despite everything, I smiled. "You're really going to therapy?"
"If we survive this," Rafael said. "Yes. I'll go to therapy. I'll work on myself. I'll do whatever it takes to be someone worthy of you."
"What if you can't change?" I asked.
"Then you can leave," Rafael said. "And I will let you. Because that's what love really is. Letting go when you need to."
I wanted to believe him.
"Ask me again when we're safe," I said. "When we're not running for our lives. Ask me then if I want to stay. And I'll give you my honest answer."
"Fair enough," Rafael said.
He stood to leave.
"Rafael," I called out.
He turned.
"Thank you for trying." I said.
He nodded and left.
I finally managed to sleep.
But my dreams were dark.
I dreamed of Eva. Of a woman I'd never met but whose face I shared.
She was running through a forest.
Someone was chasing her.
"Don't let them use you," Eva said. "Don't let them make you into me."
"I'm trying," I said.
"Try harder," Eva replied. "Because they're coming. And when they find you, they'll make you into what they want."