Page 110 of A Girl and HER Prince
The Greek soldiers around them opened into a flurry of gunfire.
Venice threw himself over Livvy, shouting at his friends to get down. The fates had waited for the worst possible moment to turn against them. Livvy wrenched her head up under his arm as they waited for the bullets that would tear through a sky darkened with aircrafts.
More Myrdons had come from the heavens to defend their leader. An unnatural wind rushed over them with a deafening screech, like giant mechanical bees swarming above them in a black cloud.
Atreus Mnon scowled behind the thick glass of the helicopter as it rose into the sky. His uncle had gathered a force to escort him through enemy territory and had left behind a piazza erupting into an ugly struggle.
Venice held onto Livvy, listening to the fire exchanged as the combat took to the clouds, and when he didn’t feel the sting of death come for them, he twisted, not able to see Bris or Deedee. Achilles also was lost in the sea of eerie screams. Memories of the last time his uncle had attacked came for him with nightmarish clarity.
Clysta screeching for her husband. Achilles begging her to stay with him. Venice’s stepmother pulling him back and then falling. Falling!
Livvy clung to Venice’s arm. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips against the back of her neck, tasting her hair as he kissed her, wondering if touching her would be the last thing he ever did in this life.
“Let her live, God! Please, don’t take anyone else I love from me. I promise that I’ll keep her far from this danger from now on. I know that means letting her go… I have to let her go!”
His fingers tightened over Livvy’s arms—Luvvy’s arms—she’ll always be Luvvy to me—even as the sounds of the Myrdons’ aircraft faded away. They were leaving… unbelievably, she was still alive… and his uncle wouldn’t be bothering them for a while.
Venice forced himself to look upwards. The helicopters disappeared over the horizon like hornets chased from their nest. The Greeks followed the Myrdons out of their air space. He noticed the terrorists left behind were quickly surrendering under the superior numbers of their Greek rescuers.
Strange that Venice and his friends had been outnumbered only a half an hour earlier. His prayer was answered, and with that was his unspoken promise to himself.
Livvy shifted. The familiar tinkling from her bracelet filled him with dread at what he had to do. He let her free with a breath of regret. Her hair was a beautiful mess. His arms found her again; now that he knew it was time to let her go, he couldn’t stop touching her, could he?
“You’re alive!” He kissed her cheek, and immediately turned fascinated with the soft skin reddening under his lips.
This was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. “I’m sorry, Livvy. I never should’ve brought you into this… any of this,” he whispered to her. “You can see it now? Why we can’t be together?”
She stiffened in his arms.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Venice couldn’t tear his eyes from Livvy, even as she broke their gaze and called out for her friend. “Deedee!”
A muffled, answering shout came from under a bodyguard, followed by Bris’s mournful cry: “Where’s Achilles?”
“Here.”
The duke’s gruff voice pulled Venice from his dark acceptance that his friend had been swallowed by the sea of fighting as he gaped in disbelief. Scrambling to his knees, he saw Achilles was face down near the barbecue grill. Greek soldiers searched him for weapons. His cheek was flattened against the cobbles like he was no better than the Myrdons left behind.
Venice’s hands tightened over Livvy. He wasn’t ready to let her go yet, and she wasn’t pulling away. Venice was being selfish. He needed her for just a moment longer!
Achilles forced his head to the side, watching Venice with a look that laid bare his anguish. The jaded, tough guy act he’d worn like armor was torn to pieces. They’d all seen for themselves how his heart had been thrown through a blender with his mother.
“He’s with us!” Venice shouted out.
The officers nodded and, after a final unnecessarily rough pat down, the duke passed inspection. They jerked Achilles to his feet and shoved him in the circle with the rest of their group. “Sit there, all of you!” The Greek soldiers left, still taking inventory of survivors.
Bris let out a shrill scream and tackled Achilles. “You’re safe! You oversized… beast! I was so worried.” She burst into tears.
Achilles stilled in complete confusion before he wrapped his arms around her. Bris practically disappeared in his embrace. He rubbed her back while she sobbed into his chest. “It’s… okay,” he said.
Her manicured fingernails dug into his back, her hands were taking turns swatting at him and squeezing him closer. “Don’t ever do that again!”
His eyes softened. He kissed the top of her head where she still poked through. An unsure smile played at his lips. “I’m stillnotmarrying you.”
Venice let out a snort. They’d all heard that.
Bris squealed in protest and elbowed her way free from his embrace. “Get off me! Don’t youdaretell anyone about what I had to do to-to keep you here! Oh, you’re safe from me, you-you caveman. Believe me—I about lost it when I heard what my uncle wanted for us. We’re the worst idea ever!”
