Page 56 of Twisted Trust
“Want pizza?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes,please.”
“Alright.” Rising from the chair, I step over Scott and grab my phone from the coffee table. This is a hotel, and while the ones I used to work in had strict rules about outside food orders, I’m sure Levi’s paying enough for this penthouse that I can order whatever I want. Within ten minutes, two large pizzas with all the trimmings are on their way and I draw Scott up onto the couch so we can watch cartoons together while we wait. He tells me all about what he’s learning in school and how his teacher is getting grumpy because it’s so hot, but it’s okay because it’s summer break soon.
I’m happy listening to him ramble on in great detail until there’s a ping at the elevator. Glancing at my phone, the app says my food is still being cooked. Maybe they rushed when they saw the address. Kissing Scott’s head, I slide from the couch and keep one eye on him until I’ve left the living room. Heading down the hallway toward the elevator, my stomach rumbles and there’s something comforting about being safe here with Scott watching cartoons and a pizza binge on the horizon.
The elevator comes to a halt and the doors slide open, but where I expect to see the guards holding my pizza, there’s a man dressed in black with a balaclava pulled down low and the bodies of two of the guards behind him on the floor.
I stumble back one step in horror and lock eyes with the stranger who tilts his head to the right. Disgust crawls over me as the stranger’s head appears to tilt and travel in line with my body as if he’s checking me out. Then our eyes meet through the dark goggles affixed to his face.
“No,” I gasp, then I turn on the spot and sprint down the hallway toward the bedroom. “Not again, not again!”
In the few seconds it takes me to run from the elevator to the room, my mind races. Do I call out for Scott and try to make him hide or do I remain silent and make this asshole think I’m here alone? Neither option feels like the right option and as the stranger collides with my back and sends me flying full force into the wall, I’m struck with a single, cold thought.
What a terrible mother I’m turning out to be.
I hit the wall and my forehead bounces off the silky soft wallpaper, sending my head snapping back. Pain lances through my neck as the impact sends me back into the unwavering body of my attacker.
But I won’t go down without a fight. Not again. Levi did briefly tell me where some weapons were hidden in the penthouse, and the nearest one is taped under the bedside table. An arm encircles my waist, so I lean into it and throw myself back while lifting both legs. Planting my feet on the wall, I use all my strength to push myself into the stranger and together, we topple backward. He hits the floor with a cry and I land on top of him, then roll off his body when his arm slackens around my waist.
Scrambling to my feet, I pick up what is surely a priceless antique blue vase from the hallway side table and smash it down over the assassin’s head, then I sprint once more for the bedroom just as Scott’s voice drifts through from the living room.
“Mom, where’s the pizza!”
I freeze in the doorway and spin, watching as my attacker stumbles upright and looks down the hall. Not again. I’m not letting someone touch my son ever again.
Despite my determination to get there first, my sprint down the hall to reach the living room and lock the door is foiled by my attacker kicking the back of my ankle and sending me swiftly crashing to the floor with a cry. I brace my hands on the smoothfloor and try to push upward, but just as I do, his heavy weight lands on my back and crushes me back to the floor.
His gloved hand grips my hair, lifts my head, and smashes my face down onto the floor, sending a flurry of hot pain through my nose and chin. I fight with everything I have, kicking and flailing in desperation to get any kind of leverage on the stranger.
He drags my head up again and the last thing I see is Scott standing wide-eyed in the doorway. Tears flood my eyes as something sharp pricks the side of my neck.
Pain fades. Coolness flows from my neck down my torso, and an odd sense of bliss follows while one by one, my struggles cease.
Darkness takes me, and it’s the most peaceful one I’ve ever known.
18
LEVI
The race back to the hotel is the most nerve-racking of my life. My heart races so fast it just feels like a blur in my chest, like a tingling bruise that will explode the moment I apply pressure. I’ve never been a panicked man. In fact, I pride myself on staying calm in most situations, including when I woke up from my coma and learned about the utter catastrophe of a deal.
But this is different.
My veins feel like they’ve come alive and are wriggling under my skin. I can’t sit still and barely any thoughts make it past the alarming fear that I’ll be too late. Maeve is too important. She’s somehow in the middle of everything that’s been happening, but more than that, I can’t lose her again.
Once was already too much.
We reach the hotel and charge inside, meeting hotel security head on. Someone tries to apologize for the chaos, but I don’t spare them even a glance while barking orders at my various security teams to sweep the entire hotel. My focus is on the stairs since the elevators have shut down in the event of an emergency.
“Where are they?” I bark at Chip as we take the stairs two at a time. Chip lags behind a little as he links his iPad up with the hotel CCTV and hijacks the facial recognition to find Maeve and Scott. “Chip, where are they?”
“Not the penthouse,” Chip calls up to me as the distance between us grows. “Seventeenth floor! Scott, but I don’t see Maeve!”
