Page 57 of Reign of Psychos

“Eden? Everything OK?” I tucked the phone under my ear as I quickly washed my hands. While I’d been emptying myoveractive bladder, most of the women had gone, anxious not to miss the start of Act 3.

I needed to get a move on, or Landon would come looking for me.

Eden screamed, a raw, visceral slash of pure fear. A sound so unexpected I nearly dropped the phone in the sink.

“Eden! Tell me what’s wrong NOW!”

My heart thumped like a jackhammer in my chest as I ran through all the possible reasons why she was screaming down the phone at me. None of them good.

“Ciao, troia,” a familiar voice purred. “It’s been a while.”

Torrance.

Landon stood leaning against the wall when I left the ladies’ bathroom. He looked up and grinned before all traces of amusement vanished.

“What the fuck’s happened?” He scanned my body, searching for traces of something I hoped never to experience. “Are you… is the… OK?”

I forced my panic and anxiety down. Locked it in a sealed metal box deep inside my mind, along with all the other trauma I’d buried long ago. If Torrance had Eden, I couldn’t afford to panic. He’d capitalize on it and Eden would die.

If Eden died because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I reassured him, pulling a fake smile out of my magician’s hat and wearing it like a pro. “There was no toilet paper in my cubicle! Can you believe it? Gross.” I rolled my eyes and acted like this was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.

Landon frowned. “Are you sure that’s all?”

I nodded, clutching my purse so tightly my hand ached. I needed to get away from the guys. Torrance had warned me Eden would pay if I tried to ambush him.

The only person who could rescue Eden was me.

It was me Torrance wanted, and me he intended to have. With my father locked up, Marku was on the warpath and Torrance had no allies left. His only option was to hand me over and claim fealty to Marku.

A dumb plan, as far as I was concerned. Marku would likely take me and kill Torrance, but I guessed he’d decided he’d rather take that risk than spend the next few years on the run from Marku’s goons and the DIA.

“I’m fine. Stop fussing.” Torrance had given me 12 hours to get up to Scotland. This wasn’t nearly enough time to come up with a plan, but he and my father had trained me to handle scenarios like this. “We better hurry before we miss the start of Act 3.”

Hopefully, the opera would end soon and I could go back to the hotel, pretend to be exhausted, and then sneak out once everyone had fallen asleep.

A repeat of New Year’s Eve.

Fuck my life.

None of them would forgive me this time, not after I’d promised I wouldn’t go all lone wolf again.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a promise I could afford to keep. If they tried to help me, we were all dead.

Heavy rain lashed the windscreen of the car I’d taken from a side street near the hotel. Stealing a car wasn’t exactly smart, but there hadn’t been time to do much else.

Telling the guys what was going on would have made my life easier, but it wasn’t an option. I’d left them all fast asleep.Oblivious. Kyril had been AWOL when we got back from the opera, so thankfully I’d not needed to deal with him and his overprotective bullshit.

If luck was on my side, whoever owned this Mercedes wouldn’t report it stolen until the morning, by which point I’d be in Scotland.

My phone flashed from the passenger seat. Kyril calling. I ignored it only for him to try calling again.And again.

By the time I crossed the border, there were dozens of missed calls and messages. I’d have turned the damn thing off, except I was expecting a call from Torrance. Milo would have no problem tracking my phone, but I had a good head-start, so by the time they caught up, either Torrance or I would be dead.

Torrance might think he was taking me to Marku, but this was a suicide mission. There was no way I’d let him hand me over to the Romanian mob boss, gift-wrapped in a pink bow. I’d rather die.

The sleek Mercedes ate up the miles. Thank God I’d boosted a diesel car with a full tank. I’d not needed to stop and refuel once, although I was now down to the last dregs of fuel. Luckily, I had less than 10 miles to go.

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