Chapter 39
AMAYA
Elle waves the knife in front of her, her eyes blazing like a wild banshee.
“No one better come near me.” She screeches, her voice loud but shaky. “I’ll not hesitate to stab you!”
The crowd erupts in whispers and beside me, I feel Caesar slowly slide into combat mode. To my surprise, he pulls me closer against him protectively, his eyes firmly fixed on his crazy ex–wife and her weapon.
Elle turns to the brand new car and her attention seems to be a bit diverted, her eyes gleaming with h
“Sir, do we have your permission to attack?” One of Caesar’s men whispers behind him.
Caesar doesn’t take his eyes off Elle for a second. “No, stand back”
d and jealousy.
My heart is drumming wildly against my ribcage as I watch some members of the press risk their lives to take a closer shot of the wild woman.
“I can already see the headlines tomorrow.” Jayla whispers beside me; “Crazy Ex–wife Crashes Business Man’s Wedding Because she’s obsessed with the Maybach he Bought for his New Wife.”
I almost chuckle out loud. “Not now, Jayla.”
“You never bought me a car!” Elle screeches suddenly, waving the tip of her blade alarmingly close to the shiny exterior of the brand new car. “No matter how much I hinted that I wanted a new car, you never bought it for me.” She sends me a hate- filled glance; “but you did not hesitate to buy one for her!”
Caesar’s grip on my arm tightens and his jaw hardens imperceptibly; “I never got you a car, but I bought two private jets in your name, Elle. Those are worth more than this car.”
“But that’s different!” She cries, sounding like an absolute brat. “I wanted a car! I hinted at it so many times but you refused to buy me one.”
Caesar takes a very deep breath. I can tell that he’s at the end of his rope;
“Elle, put the knife down.”
“No!” Elle turns towards us and zeroes in on me, waving the knife in my direction. “Not until I give this bitch what she truly deserves.” She’s breathing heavily and looks a bit crazed. At this point, I’m convinced that she does suffer from mental issues.
“When you announced that you were going to marry her, I thought you were joking. I thought it was all a bad joke. Why did you go ahead and marry her, Caesar? We had a beautiful life together in the past. I thought you still wanted me.”
Her eyes fill with tears and they spill over her cheeks, dripping down her face like shiny crystals.
“I told you clearly that it was over between us,” Caesar responds with a voice that’s filled with authority. “There was no hope whatsoever that we will ever be together. Not after everything you did.”
Suddenly, Elle wipes her cheeks and nods. But my psychic sense tells me that she would never surrender without a fight.
“Okay, then.” She says through gritted teeth. “Since you’re so certain that we’re over, I only have one duty to make sure you do not end up with anyone else!”
That said and without warning, Elle flies in my direction, her knife directly aimed at the crowd, aimed at me. My heart falls to the bottom of my shoes, I’m frozen to the spot and I can’t breathe,
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She’s just a few meters away from me when suddenly, she’s intercepted by one of Caesar’s men. It all happens in a blur. I feel sick to my stomach as I watch a flash of red liquid shoot through the air. I’m still doubting if it’s blood until the strong, tangy scent of blood reaches my nostrils.
I grab Jayla’s arm; “blood… someone’s bleeding, Jay.”
In front of us, three guards are currently struggling to wrestle the knife from Elle’s grip. Suddenly, Caesar releases me, nudging me against Jayla.
“Take her back to the dressing suite.” He orders Jayla. “I’ll be back to fetch her later.”
He turns to leave and without thinking, I blurt:
“Where are you going?”
He stops in his tracks and without turning, replies; “I’m going to put an end to this nonsense once and for all.”
A strange, painful feeling unfurls in my chest as I watch him advance towards Elle. It’s at the tip of my tongue to scream at him to come back, but Jayla pulls me away from all the ruckus and into the hallway just in time.
“Come on, we need to get you to safety.”
“But Caesar…”
I can feel the surprise leaking off Jayla’s pores as she pauses and looks at me with wide eyes; “Caesar? Don’t tell me you’re concerned about his safety.”
I lower my eyes, looking away from her piercing blue ones. “No, of course not.”
She opens her mouth to say something but just then, her fingers involuntarily stray to her neck and she freezes; “shit! I forgot to put on my amulet.”
“What?!” I squeal, looking up to confirm that her neck is actually empty. “Where is it?”
Grandma Gina had made a protective amulet for Jayla after she kept getting attacked by strange werewolves in her dreams five years ago. And she’s supposed to keep it on her at all times.
“I probably left it in my room.” She looks disoriented. “You know what? Just go ahead to the dressing suite and wait for me there. Lock the doors. I’ll go search for the amulet.”
Before I can tell her how I feel about that idea, Jayla’s already gone, running in the opposite direction towards her room.
I have no other choice but to turn around, take a deep breath and continue in the direction to my dressing suite by myself.
***
I probably wasn’t paying attention before, but the moment I walk into the suite and shut the door, it suddenly dawns on me that something is very, very wrong somewhere.
My heartbeat accelerates as I turn around and assess the empty room. There’s no one here, but I can feel a heavy, dark presence, almost as if there was someone in here who wasn’t supposed to be here… or the person never left.
One part of me screams that I should get out and run to safety, but my parents didn’t raise a coward. I take a deep breath. ignore my shaky heart and slowly make my way further into the room.
The atmosphere is as silent as a tomb but I focus on treading sofly and listening attentively for even the slightest sounds. Exactly ten seconds later, I hear it a light, soft sound to my sharp left, just behind the huge mirror.
–
It’s so light that if I wasn’t paying close attention, I would never have noticed.
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Chapter 39
Despite being scared to death, I summon courage and call out; “hello? Who’s there? Show yourself right now!”
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I barely finish my sentence when something suddenly runs past me and heads towards the door, leaving my body cold and the hairs on my arm standing on end. A sliver of fear runs up my spine.
I whip my head in the direction of the door and freeze, a gasp of shock slipping past my lips.
“Alistair?” I whisper disbelievingly. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
It’s my ex–husband, and the cold gleam in his eyes makes it clear that he’s not here for fun and games.
