Page 92 of Lord of Debauchery

Oh, God. I knew Beckham had patrols out. Did they know who these people were? There was no doubt the boats were headed straight for us. I had to warn them. I had to get to them.

I heard a dark chuckle and froze. It was one I hadn’t heard in years. As I slowly turned around, I realized the glint reflecting off the sun was from a signal being given.

“Hello, Anastasia. Happy to see me?”

By my brother.

A few minutes earlier

Beckham

“Constantine. Beckham. You need to come with me.”

I spun around instantly, noticing Jade racing toward us, her long dress hindering her approach. She was exasperated. “She saw something on the other side of the forest.”

Immediately snapping my head toward the water, I could see nothing.

“What the hell?” Constantine snarled as he and Gabriel took off running, both men closest to the beach. “Show me.”

I scanned the crowd of guests, realizing I wasn’t certain when I’d seen my lovely bride last. An eruption of possessiveness, dread, and a sixth sense that something was wrong brought an unusual sense of panic. That was something I wasn’t used to at all.

A part of me was frantic almost instantly, so much so I was pushing my way through the crowd.

“What is going on?” Diego asked as he tried to stop me.

“I can’t find Kenya.”

He cocked his head, immediately snapping his heard toward the water. “I saw her down by the beach less than five minutes ago.”

“What?” I’d told her to stay with the party, never to leave unescorted. “No. No!”

“We have a problem.” Jeff was suddenly behind me, trying to keep his voice down. “I can’t get in contact with the two outer rings of soldiers. It’s like they aren’t there. Reports of gunfire are already coming in. I think we’re surrounded.”

“How the hell did this happen?”

“Communication systems are down. The fuckers took them offline,” James added as he raced toward us.

“Fuck. Find out what the hell is going on. Protect the estate at all costs. Get the real guests inside. Make sure the soldiers are keeping them safe.” I bolted toward the stairs, not bothering to take off my shoes. As I fled toward the edge of the water, I heard a couple of popping sounds in the distance. Fuck.

Gunfire.

I was almost to the water’s edge when I heard a very distinct sound, one that would haunt me for a long time to come.

Engines.

Powerful marine engines from speedboats.

“Ah, shit.” Sabatino appeared on one side, Kraven on another. “We’re being attacked.”

“Get the women to the panic room. Now,” I yelled, spinning from side to side. Where the hell had she gone?

The scream was sudden, high pitched, and almost immediately cut off.

Kenya.

Oh, dear God.

The horrible sound was followed by another single blast, the gunshot closer than those before.

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