Page 13 of Breaking the Annulment

Maybe she should go barefoot. Maybe if she really dug into the closet, she’d find…

Oh,stop stalling! Just go out there. If the guards are there, act normal. If they’re not? Run. Carry the damn shoes in case you need them later, or leave them here, but you’re not wearing ‘fuck me’ shoes to breakfast ever again.

Done lecturing herself, she squared her shoulders, grabbed the shoes from where she’d thrown them the last time, then marched herself over to the door, took a deep breath, and yanked it open.

The hallway was empty. Pulse spiking, she looked left, then right. No one in sight. Time for a shift change?This is it! Run!

As quietly as she could, she ran down the hall, stopping just before she reached the end. Left, or right? Carefully, she peaked her head around the corner. Still no one. Could she make it all the way downstairs without anyone seeing her? There was a guest bathroom near the foyer. If she could make it there, she’d be almost home free.

Her heart was racing so fast it almost hurt, her breath short and choppy.It’s just like school. It’s just like school. No one allowed out of the dorms past eight o’clock. Just have to be quiet. Don’t panic. Wait for the right moment. One…two…three…

She sprinted to the grand staircase, then down the stairs as fast as she could.Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Almost there!

Maybe she tripped herself, maybe it was the freshly waxed floor, but ten feet from her goal she lost her balance. Her knee hit the hard floor with a loud‘thud’.

Pain shot up her leg.Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Get up!Scrambling to her feet, she hop-skipped toward the bathroom. She looked back over her shoulder. Still no one. Should she keep going?

Indecision froze her at the bathroom door. If she hurried, she could make it out before sunrise. They might not even notice she was gone for a few hours. If she waited?If I wait, they’ll catch me for sure. Gotta risk it! Forget the front. Go out the back entrance. Lots of shit to hide behind back there. Go! Go! Go! Go!

Aurelia changed direction and sneaked through the house in stealth mode, careful not to make a sound. Somewhere not far away there were guards, she could hear their voices. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell exactly which direction the sound was coming from. The ceilings were high, the rooms enormous, with sounds echoing off the walls.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tip-toed past two open doors and was almost across the hall, when she heard someone coming. Her adrenaline spiked through the roof.Oh, shit! Hide! There!Close to the exit were two huge Mediterranean style columns at least four feet wide. She made a dash for the one on the left, barely making it in time before two big, burly men in black suits walked in and stopped, of all places, right in front of her column.Please, don’t see me! Please, don’t see me!

She strained to hear their hushed conversation. She edged to the right, leaning as far as she dared, to hear better.

“…checked the timesheets. Nothing out of the ordinary. You?”

“Not yet. Six months of tape to review. Shit’s gonna take a while.”

“Fuck.” The first guard lit a cigarette. “Be a lot easier if we could just ask her.”

“Not if we’re dead,” the second one laughed. “Boss would slit your throat.”

“Yeah, but if we got ourselves a traitor…”

The second guard paused to light his own cigarette, taking a long drag before he said in a cold, deadly voice, “We’re past the ‘if’, my friend. And if I wasn’t so fucking pissed, I’d almost feelsorry for the bastard. Michalis is a brutal mother fucker on a good day, but mess with his family? Fuuuuck.”

“Yeah, that dumbass, piece of shit traitor will be begging for death before Boss even gets warmed up. Speaking of––any news on that shipment? He’s not going to be too happy about that, either, if it gets delayed again.”

Aurelia’s eyes got bigger and bigger the longer she stood there listening. They were talking about traitors and killing and secret shipments like it wasn’t straight out of a ‘B’ movie. She froze.Oh god, and I’m standing here listening––like those heroines that are literally too stupid to live––instead of paying attention to what I’m doing!Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

The second they moved away, Aurelia darted to the back entrance. She opened the door, listening for any beeping noises indicating the alarm was still on. Nothing. She slipped through the door and ran across the courtyard, heart hammering.

She was free of the building, but the estate grounds sprawled wide. She stuck to the shadows, creeping past another pair of roving guards. Her skin prickled with tension, every rustle of palm leaves setting her on edge.

Finally, she found a small gap in the outer fence. It would be a tight squeeze, but it might be the only way out. As carefully as she could, she wiggled through the gap, picking up several more scrapes and bruises along the way to match the angry, bloody gash on her knee. She didn’t care, stopping only long enough to put her heels on. Her feet were already stinging with tiny cuts from loose gravel and debris on the ground.

Once out near the road, she pulled back behind the tree line, out of sight. She had no idea how long it would take someone to notice she was missing, but when they did, the first place they would look was the road. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to get away with more than one ‘too stupid to live’ moment today, and she’d already used the first one.

What were those guards talking about? They were right about one thing: Michalis could be brutal. She remembered the day he’d found her kidnappers. He’d been merciless.Yes, and that’s the world he lives in every day, obviously, so it’s a good thing you got away,she lectured herself.Doesn’t matter how hot he is or how many orgasms he can give you. It’s over. Be thankful. Keep moving.

She walked for an hour, breath ragged, nerves frayed. Florida in the fall was still quite warm, but on the Atlantic side, that meant hurricane season. The sky was clear, but forecasters had been watching a building weather system out over the Atlantic the day before she flew in. Hopefully it had moved on, but the humidity level was high, and she could swear the wind was picking up speed.

Finally, she saw an exit sign indicating a gas station up ahead, a quarter mile. With the end in sight, she picked up the pace. Gas stations had people. And people had phones.

She could call David. He was such a nice guy; he would help her even if their relationship had to end. For the thousandth time, she mentally kicked herself for letting Michalis claim her. She was such a fool.

At last, she reached the gas station. Yanking on the door, cold air hit her with welcome relief as she rushed inside. At the register was a young man, probably in his late teens. He looked her up and down, his face turning three sheets of purple.

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