Page 112 of The Temptation

A deathly silence follows, and the moment I know it’s over, and that Lucia is safe, the world begins to tilt beneath me. My breathing slows and colours fade at the edges. The gun in my hand slips from my grasp, clattering to the ground below as my legs give out and I’m suddenly free-falling.

Chapter 26

Lucia

The moment Romeo hits the ground beside me, I wiggle my body towards him as the panic I felt when we arrived returns full force.

Something is wrong. He didn’t even try to break the fall. His body hit the ground at a strange angle, and now he’s just lying there, completely still.

“Romeo,” I scream, but it comes out muffled through the tape across my mouth. “Romeo!”

I nuzzle my face against his, but I get no reaction at all.

“Romeo,” I cry as tears blur my vision.

He’s too still. Too cold. I lean in, straining to hear something … anything, but there’s no sound. No breath. No rise and fall of his chest.

Panic explodes inside me as my heart hammers against my ribs like it’s trying to break free. I thrash against the restraints, my arms and legs still bound, despite my muscles screaming in protest.

I try to yell for help, but the gag turns my screams into stifled, desperate sobs. Tears stream down my face as I writhe beside him, my body convulsing with terror. Mywrists are raw from the cable ties, and my muscles ache—every part of me aches—but I can’t stop.

He’s not moving.

He’s not breathing.

Somebody help him.

I was the one who wasn’t meant to survive this night; it was never supposed to be him.

Somehow, I manage to drag myself onto my knees. I lean down, pressing my cheek to his chest, as if touch alone could call him back to me.

But he doesn’t stir.

The familiarboom, boom, boom—that steady rhythm of his heartbeat I’ve fallen asleep to so many times—is no longer there.

Just silence.

A terrifying, hollow silence.

My cries for help are fractured and frantic. I’m so lost in my own grief that I don’t even hear the footsteps pounding towards us. I’m too far gone. Too consumed by the unbearable stillness of the man I love.

My husband.

Let them come.

I don’t care anymore.

I don’t want to run.

I don’t want to fight.

I don’t want to go on without him.

I just want to be wherever Romeo is.

Rough hands suddenly grab at my arms, and I flinch, positive it’s Salvatori or one of his men coming to finish what they started, but then I hear his voice.

“Luc,” Dante says as he kneels beside me. “Thank fuck you’re okay.”