Azira
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Mia asks.
I shake my head. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m just so not in the mood for shopping.”
She gives me an apologetic look. “Of course you’re not. I can’t believe Massimo is making you marry Alejandro.”
I sigh heavily. “Me neither.”
She squeezes my hand gently. “There’s still time.” I know she thinks that perhaps I’ll get lucky and find a way out of it just like she did, but Killian loves her. He was going to do anything to ensure he didn’t lose her. It’s a completely different situation between a Blaine and me. At least, from his side, it’s different.
“I’m not holding out any hope.”
Sandro clears his throat. “Shall I stay out here or go inside with you, Mia?”
Mia shakes her head. “It’s just a little boutique. You can see inside through the windows. Stay out here with Azira.”
Thanks a lot.
I’d rather be left alone to mope around in the street, but before I can argue, Mia dashes into the little boutique she loves so much.
To say I’m not up for shopping today is an understatement, especially as I’m supposed to be shopping for a wedding I don’t want in three days time. No matter how hard I begged Massimo, he wouldn’t back down on this.
“Azira.” My brow furrows as I’m sure I recognize that voice and wonder if I’m hallucinating. “Over here.” I turn and see him.
Blinking a few times, I make sure my eyes aren’t deceiving me.
Blaine is standing a few yards away in the mouth of a small alleyway. He glances at Sandro, who isn’t paying attention, and then gestures for me to come over to him.
I run toward him, my heart thundering at a hundred miles an hour.
Why is he here?
He grabs my hips, pushing me against the wall. “This feels familiar, doesn’t it?”
Exasperated, I shake my head. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you think I’d let some man steal you from me by arrangement?”
Hope ignites like a bonfire doused in gasoline inside of me. “How did you find out?”
“Adrianna told Archer.”
I sigh, relief taking a hold around my heart. “But how can you stop it? My brother is set on this wedding going ahead.”
He cups my face in his large, rough hands. “Leave it to me.”
“You know it’s happening in three days, right?”
“That’s why I’m about to stop it now.”
Confusion takes a hold as I search his eyes. “How?”
“As I said, leave it to me.”
“Azira,” Sandro calls my name, walking in our direction.
Blaine pulls out a gun, and it feels like time stops still as he comes out of hiding. “Over here, dickhead.”
Before Sandro can even defend himself, he shoots him.
It’s all such a blur as Sandro hits the ground and then Blaine lifts me over his shoulders and carries me toward his car, which is in view of the shop where Mia is.
Mia comes running out screaming my name. “Azira!”
I can’t see her, my mind spinning as I wonder if Bly just killed Sandro, an innocent in all of this.
My belief that I love this man is founded on nothing. What do I really know about him?
Is he a murderer?
It’s not impossible to believe. His grip on reality seems fragile and as he bundles me into the trunk of his car and I’m plunged into darkness, I start to question my sanity.
How can I love a man as dark and twisted as him?
So dark and twisted that he has kidnapped the woman who loves him and shot her bodyguard. A man I’ve known since I was born. As I lie on my back in the cramped trunk of Blaine’s car and it starts to move, I wonder if I’ve lost my mind.
It’s clear I’m in love with a maniac and I’ve lost the plot for ever believing that there could be a future for us.