Page 125 of Sasha and the Heir

When he came back inside, he was smiling. “You should rest. We’re meeting Luca in a few hours.”

The sky was dark with an impending snowstorm. "What time is it?”

“A little after one.”

I curled into a ball, my limbs finally starting to warm up.

Lorenzo put on a kettle and tapped away on his phone. There was no way I could let whatever he had planned happen.

Carefully, I unwrapped the razors in my pocket and pinched them between my thumb and forefinger. I closed my eyes and took deep, slow breaths to mimic falling asleep.

The kettle whistled, and Lorenzo let out a curse and poured water down the drain.

If this was going to work, Lorenzo had to believe I was truly asleep. It was hard to keep my face relaxed as he moved around the cabin, coming close to the bed and then backing away. There was no mistaking the crawl of his eyes on my skin.

The feeling in my legs was back. Unfortunately, that meant I could feel all the damage to my feet. I tensed and released the muscles from my ass to my toes, ensuring I was ready to spring up.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but he answered his phone, and this time, he didn’t step outside to take the call.

“Everything in place?”

He tapped his foot.

“Yeah, she’s fine. Have the car ready to take us to the airfield. I don’t want to waste any time getting to Mexico.”

Lorenzo sighed, and the couch creaked. I let a little more time pass, and when the cabin was completely silent, I started screaming at the top of my lungs, thrashing around the lumpy mattress.

“Sasha!” Lorenzo was immediately at my side.

I opened my eyes and struck out with the rusty razors, slicing a jagged line down his cheek to his neck. His hands flew to the wound, and he fell backward off the bed. Jumping up, I sprinted toward the door. A gun sat on top of the trunk, and I grabbed it but didn’t stop moving. The sound of Lorenzo scrambling up from the floor and banging through the cabin urged me forward.

So much for a head start.

The cold slapped me in the face as I threw open the door. I flew down the stairs, my feet slapping against the rough wood before hitting the rocky driveway.

“Sasha!” Lorenzo shouted. A gunshot shattered the serene landscape, but I kept moving.

Looking behind me, I shot twice and heard a grunt. Sprinting into the tree line, the ground was softer, and I was able to get some distance between Lorenzo and me. His steps were uneven as if he was limping, but I didn’t risk looking back.

Branches whipped against my arms, snagging on my coat. Bushes tore up my tights, leaving my feet bare. Holding my arms up to block my face, I caught sight of a river through the trees. I could follow the river. While running along it would put me out in the open, it would keep me from running in circles.

Another gunshot went off, and I yelped, panting as I jumped over a log and into the untouched underbrush. It was all downhill to the riverbank, but I made a point to zig-zag around tree trunks. The adrenaline kept me moving despite the cold and physical pain.

The rush of the river muffled the sound of me trampling through the bushes, but it also made it harder to keep tabs on Lorenzo. As I reached the tree line at the riverbank, I glanced over my shoulder and caught sight of him tumbling down the hill.

I could barely take a full breath, my lungs aching with every inhale of frosty air. The years of dance did nothing to prepare me for this life-and-death run through the woods. My calves burned, but I kept pushing, extending my stride until it felt like my hips would come out of their sockets.

Ahead there was a wooden bridge, and I felt a spark of hope that there would be a road.

“Sasha!” Lorenzo bellowed as I scaled the hill up to the bridge.

My head popped over the ridge as a truck drove by. I lunged up the last few feet, scrambling on the cold mud while I waved my arm in the air. The two men in the cab were decked out in hunting gear, and there was something vaguely familiar about them. Before I could place their faces, I was staring at the taillights.

“Fuck!” Limping my way up to the asphalt, I shoved my hair from my face, desperately looking for any hint of another car coming.

I’d just reached the other side of the bridge when Lorenzo surfaced on the road.

“Sasha, stop!” He pointed his gun at me, but his arm was unsteady.

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