Page 91 of Love and War

“Zander told me,” I said, debating on telling her the full truth or not. I didn’t want to lie to her anymore. I was tired of the secrets and the lies between us. “He told me before he died. Luca’s the one who hired Zander to take you out.”

Aziza choked on a sob, wrapping my arms around her. I held her close as she cried. My own heart was breaking as she fell apart.I just wanted to be enough for her. For both of them.

“You are enough, Killian. More than enough, I never want to let you go.” Her hand wrapped around my throat once more. Finally everything felt like us. She was my princess, moya Printsessa, she was everything.

“And you’re enough, Aziza. We’re going to have that dream you’ve always wanted. The one where we get married, have a big family, lots of children. We’re going to build that farmhouse you wanted, fill it with all the babies you wanted,” I mumbled into her hair. Loving the feel of her hand gripping against my throat, I rubbed my hand against her stomach. Her slight bump brought a smile to my face.

“Did they tell you the gender?” I asked, trying to bring light into this dark situation.

“No, I, uh… I don’t remember much after I got here. I barely remember most of it to be honest with you…” She shivered, something uneasy about her expression.

“You don’t need to talk about it now, but Aziza we do need to talk about it.” I didn’t want to be too firm with her, but I wouldn’t let what happened win. Aziza was going to come out on top of this, she was going to beat them.

“They didn’t tell me,” she whispered against my cheek.

“Would you like to know?”

It took her a moment before she nodded her head.

“I hope she has your compassion, along with your beautiful blonde hair and hazel eyes.”

Tears suddenly filled her eyes, and I worried I’d said something wrong for a second before Aziza smiled.

“It’s a girl?”

“Yes, moya Printsessa, and she’s going to be wonderful.”

“Fuck!” Aziza hissed, trying her best to sit up.

“What? What’s wrong beautiful?” I asked, my eyes searching where she could be hurting.

“Wh–when you took care of him, did you get her out?” Aziza's eyes bored into mine.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. There hadn’t been a girl, there was no one there besides him.

“The girl, at the cabin. You went to the cabin, right?”

“Yes, that’s where I found him. But, Aziza, there wasn’t anyone there.”

“Killian, yes there was.” Again she tried sitting up, but all it did was cause her to hiss in pain.

“Stop movi—”

“KILLIAN!” She growled, snapping my attention to her. “That’s how I got out, there was a girl. She helped me escape through the basement door; she helped me. Told me to run, where is she?” A sob choked out of her, her eyes filling with tears as if it was her fault.

“Baby, I didn’t see anyone. But I didn’t check, let me text someone to go search the house.”

“W–we need to find her. I need to find her, sh–she helped me, Killian. She got me out; she saved our lives. I need to save her.”

Pulling my phone out, I went to text Z, realizing I didn’t actually have his name. Nor did I have a way of finding him.

“I’ll be right back. I need to check the hallway.” All she did was nod her head. Slipping from her embrace, I opened the door and stepped outside, nearly knocking into Z himself. I didn’t know why he was standing outside her room, but I was thankful he was. Thankfully, I didn’t have to try and track him down.

“I need to give you an address and have you check it out. Aziza said there was a girl there in the basement, someone who helped her escape. I need you to take care of her,” I said, taking my phone out and handing it to him for his number.

Z finally took it from my hand, typing quickly and handing it back to me. Once I got the address and sent it to him, I glanced back up. His eyes were dead and haunting. Almost like he was no longer the best friend I knew him to be.

“I’ll take care of her,” he muttered, turning on his heel.

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