Page 44 of Wicked Knight 2

“Maxim.” He furrowed his brows, confused by my question. “I’ll be in the hallway.”

When he shut the door behind him, I climbed out of bed and padded toward the open French doors. The balcony faced the glittering water fountain. From the second floor, the courtyard felt more serene and quiet. To my left, on the opposite end, a few guys sat around the patio table, playing cards as usual.

I brought the tray with me and set it on the small table, poured some coffee, and sat down to eat my breakfast alone. I was on my second cup when Maxim stomped across the courtyard. My pulse spiked because it looked like he was leaving again. I shot to my feet and almost called out to him. I couldn’t spend another month in this place without him.

“Maxim,” Belinda called after him.

Maxim slow-blinked, then turned to face her. “I’m in a hurry.”

“You’re always in a hurry lately.” She pouted, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Maxim reached back to peel her arms off him. I blinked, and then, they were kissing. They were fucking kissing. I understood that before, when they were sleeping around, Maxim didn’t remember he was Luca or that I existed. But now, he was married to me. What the fuck?

I darted inside the room and slammed the door shut. I fucked up last night when I called Maxim Luca. That was my fault. But if he thought that I was going to stay in his house and watch him make babies with Belinda, he had another thing coming. I was done with this place.

The plan since the beginning had been to escape. The dungeon truly put the fear in me, which was why I had stayed put while Maxim was gone for three weeks. But now, Luca’s life was also on the line. If I left tonight, Rex, Enzo, and Santino could help me rescue Luca. Once he was home, surrounded by his memories, I was sure he would remember who he was.

In my head, I clearly saw myself climbing down the balcony, darting across the courtyard in the dark, then jumping the brick wall. I had to do it. For us.

I got to work before I lost my resolve. With a bit of luck, Maxim will sleep somewhere else again tonight. A lump churned in my stomach at the thought of him spending any more time with Belinda. She was nothing if not persistent. She’d warned me about it since the beginning. At the time, I didn’t care that she wanted my husband because I didn’t know Luca was said husband.

“Jerk.” I snatched the bedding off the mattress then removed the sheets and laid them on the floor.

This had to work. Admittedly, I’d only seen this work in movies. The drop into the courtyard wasn’t that bad. At most, I was risking a twisted ankle or a bruised butt. When I was finished knotting the two pieces together, I hid them under the bed. Then tossed the comforter back on top to cover the naked mattress.

That night, Maxim didn’t come back. I laid awake in bed staring at the clock. When we snuck around the house to eat an early breakfast, the house had been completely quiet and empty around two in the morning. I figured that would be a good hour to try and escape again. My heart pumped so hard while I waited in the dark, it muted all sounds around me.

When it was time, I didn’t bother checking the door. Without a doubt, Tore or one of Maxim’s guys was standing guard. Quietly, I let my legs drop on the side of the mattress before I lowered myself to the floor. I reached for the sheets and cradled them to my body. Luckily, I had thought to leave the French doors wide open to minimize movement and noises.

I tied one end of the sheet to one of the stone balusters. I tugged at it to test the knot. When it tightened instead of unraveling, I tossed the rest of my makeshift fire escape ladder over the balcony. With one last calming breath, I swung my leg over the handrail and slid my body to the other side of it.

“Don’t fall. Don’t fall,” I muttered, taking a handful of the sheet, then letting my body hang. “Hmmm.” I squealed when my hand slipped down the fabric under my weight. “You’re fine. You’re fine. Don’t look down.” Fuck. I had to look down to see how far off the ground I was. My guess was I had about a four foot drop, maybe five. If I climbed down the sheet, I might have a softer landing. But my fingers were frozen and refused to loosen the death grip they had on the only thing keeping me alive.

I was still contemplating my drop when a pair of muscled arms wrapped around my thighs and yanked me down. My hands came out, and I landed tits first on Maxim’s face. His whole body trembled as he let me slide down his front until my feet were safely on the ground.

“Are you going somewhere?” He gritted his teeth.

I didn’t like it when his jaw clenched. It usually meant he was pissed. I shoved away from him. Our gazes locked, his hazel eyes boring into mine. In the next breath, he bent down and hoisted me over his shoulder.

“Are you kidding me?” I huffed as my belly bounced off him.

With long strides, he walked back inside the house and up the stairs. When he reached the door, he stopped for a moment to send Tore away. Luckily, Tore didn’t think to ask any questions. He left silently, without even a glance back. Once inside, Maxim dropped me on the bed then went to close the balcony doors.

“What the hell were you thinking?” He braced his hands on his hips. “You could’ve gotten hurt.”

“What was I thinking?” I scrambled off the bed. “You left me here. Alone for days. Do you think I want to stay and watch you make out with your girlfriend?

“What?”

“I saw you.” Tears streamed down my cheek. “You were kissing her.”

“You can’t seriously be jealous of Belinda. Why would you be? You barely know me.” He glared at me, though his eyes showed more pain than hate. “You’re still waiting for your love to come for you.”

“Are you jealous of him?”

“Yes.” He wrapped his hands around my neck like he’d done last night after I called out Luca’s name. “Yes, I am. I hope he comes for you. When he does, I’m going to make him watch while I fuck your brains out. I want him to see how good we are together. Then I’m going to kill him.”

“You’re insane.” This whole thing was insane. “You’re jealous of Luca so naturally you had to go and get in bed with your girlfriend? That doesn’t make any sense.”

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