Page 30 of Heart of a Villain

“What about Adrían? Is he okay to stay? Or do you want him to leave?”

Adrían held Sayeda’s gaze, hoping he conveyed that whatever decision she made, he would respect it. But then she let out a choking cry like those she’d tried to conceal in the bathroom, followed by another, and another until Ayesha wrapped her arms around her.

He left the room on his own.

The long hallway transformed into a war path. Instead of a decorative runner, he saw glowing orange coals and felt the stinging burn on the soles of his feet. In his mind, he saw himself holding the side of Rafael’s head against the charred pieces of old wood, and the thought alone sent blood flashing through the veins in his arms, his fingers contracting.

Was this all Rafael’s doing?

Only Rafael’s doing?

Was Rafael the piece of shit who took the dark from Sayeda? The dark, where they used to talk, feed each other, and make love? That scream wasn’t fear. It was terror. This woman had been on the run from Abraham Novikov, a man even he could admit he couldn’t handle alone. Yet, a few years inside Chamas had turned her into this.

Wren grabbed his elbow.

He pulled away from her grasp.

Then, he was gripping a rope with both hands to prevent it from tightening around his neck, courtesy of Pozza’s crazy ass bloodline.

“Is this…the same…rope?” he asked Wren.

After a hard shove and dip of his head, he managed to extricate himself from Thanasis’ wrath. Wren then easily slid the rope from Thanasis’ hands, tossed it aside, and pointed at Thanasis in warning before facing him.

“No, it was a different kind of rope,” she said. “Are you okay?”

He curled his fingers a few times. “I’m fine.”

Rafael was, essentially, a training dummy, but dummies didn’t have to be living. Plus, he didn’t mind going to Brazil to find another target if they accidentally killed Rafael too early.

“Hey, Wren?” Ayesha called from the top of the stairs. “Can you call Joel and tell him I’m staying with Sayeda tonight?”

“I’ll tell him,” Adrían said, headed for the door. “And I’ll walk.”

CHAPTER

EIGHT

Sayeda lay completely still, the mattress plush against her back as she stared at the ceiling. When she heard Ayesha returning, she scooted over to make sure there was extra room on the bed.

“You’re not going to ask me why I went crazy for a moment?” she asked.

Ayesha reclaimed the spot next to her. “Not at all. You’ve had a long day, travel included. I figured we could just…talk.”

“About?”

“Anything. Sweden. Theo. Josiah. You haven’t been officially introduced to Josiah yet. He was sleeping when you showed up, but he’s just as sweet as Theo, only easier to understand.”

“So, I won’t get that ‘need to breathe’ feeling when I’m talking to him?”

Ayesha laughed. “No, and in the future, we have an MD on staff. Gage’s wife, Tayler.”

She rolled onto her side. “So, Josiah is…twelve.”

“Yep, and Theo’s five.”

“How old were you when you had Josiah?”

“Nineteen.”

---