Page 120 of Onyx Realm

“I thought they would help,” I hiccupped. How could they be so blind to what I wanted? To what I needed?

Acid accompanied the next air bubble, and I tasted bile on my tongue. I put a hand to my mouth.

“Oh, madonna!” I burped and clutched at my stomach.

Then, I ran.

I made it to the toilet in just enough time to lose what little I’d eaten. The celery juice and toast was foul, and it burned furiously on the way up, choking my throat and making me cry. I wretched it all, and then continued to vomit until there was nothing left but the tears. Nothing left but my pain and my determination. Leaning against the cool wall, I wept silently, panted through the quaking of my body. I was coming undone. I was coming apart.

Escape would be next to impossible.

But it would be worth it. So worth it.

I had to try. I had to go back to the sea—and the lover she’d given me. I had to be with him. “I’m not staying here. I’m...not.”

Inching to my feet, I crawled out of the bathroom.

I had to get away.

Soon.

A plan was already forming in my mind.

There were too many eyes on me. Too many ears. But there was one clever way to get around it all. A phone. I only needed a little luck and some time before they realized what I was up to. I would be miles away by then, back with the man I loved.

The thought should have been daunting.

Instead, it energized me.

I could do this. I would do this.

Creeping to the door, I cracked it enough to glance down the hall. Voices from the foyer floated high, brushing against my ears.

“Can you hire an assassin or not?” Sandro demanded.

Leo grumbled. “That could start a war, fratello.”

“But if it kept her safe, I would gladly do it,” Sandro insisted.

As I listened, as my stomach threatened another round of sickness, Penny appeared at the top of the stairs, Piccolo glued to her side. She stopped, gaze locking with mine.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Leo muttered.

Penny looked below, then back at me.

“No!” I gasped.

And then wretched on the carpet in the hall.

My sister-in-law was at my side a moment later. “S! S, it’s okay.”

Her gentle touch brushed over my head, capturing my hair and pulling it safely away from the mess of spit and acid. Piccolo bumped into my leg, nudging me as if to say it would be alright.

I wished he would eat the don’s face and be done with it!

“They’re evil,” I fumed between hiccups.

“They love you—in their own twisted, vile ways, your brothers love you,” she insisted.

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