by Penelope Sky
Two Hearts as One
I passed the chateau and didn’t stop. I barely had time to look at it. The sounds of gunshots and voices had stopped hours ago, but I didn’t slow down. They wouldn’t stop until they found me, so I had to get as far away from here as possible.
I kept riding until I reached a small home closer to the road, where I kept my car sometimes. I brought the horse to a stop then helped Raven off before I climbed to the ground.
Everything had happened so fast. I took a second to bring it all in, to remember the feeling of that cold metal against my forehead.
Raven didn’t ask what the plan was next. Instead, she just looked at me, looked into my eyes like she was so happy I was there with her.
We didn’t have time for this, but I couldn’t look away. I wasn’t surprised that she’d saved my life. I somehow knew she was there, having my back like she always did. But I couldn’t describe my feelings in that moment.
Neither could she.
Even though I was sweaty and my hands were dirty, I moved into her and cupped her cheeks, bringing her face close so we could treasure this feeling of victory. “I knew you were there… I just knew.”
“Because I told you I would never leave. Ever.” Tears dripped from her eyes as she planted her hands against my chest, like she just wanted to feel my solid body, to feel the lack of bullet holes. “I’ll never leave you for all my life. If you die…I die.”
I cupped the back of her head and brought our foreheads together for a moment, embracing her in a way I never had. I finally told her how I felt, said those three words I’d never said to another woman, but now they didn’t feel good enough, not strong enough. They were beneath what we had. I dropped my embrace and pulled away.
She sniffed and wiped her tears with her fingertips. “Now what?”
I grabbed the reins to the horse and handed them to her. “Put him in the stable.”
“Just leave him here?”
“When we get to the city, I’ll have Ramon fetch him and put him in the pasture.”
“Good. Rose will have another friend.” She took the horse down the path to the stables and got him situated.
I entered the code into the keypad so the garage door would open. Against the wall, there was a blue tarp over my motorcycle, so I pulled it off and rolled the bike out before I closed the garage again.
After she gave the horse hay and water, she came back to me. “Wow, are we going to ride that?”
“Yes.” I kicked the stand down to balance the motorcycle before I retrieved two helmets from the garage. I handed one to her. “Don’t be scared.”
“Do I look scared?” She smiled before she pulled the helmet over her head. “They’ll never be able to catch up to us now.”
I got onto the seat and started the engine, making sure she was still good to run. “Hop on.”
She got on the seat behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “What are we going to do now?”
“Get to Fender as quick as we can.”
Hours later, we arrived in Paris.
I had no idea how far Napoleon would go to capture me. He might not care at all because he got what he wanted. He had the camp and the prisoners, so he could operate a drug empire and collect all the revenue. Fender and I were no threat to him now. Why should he care about us?
I left the city and drove into the countryside to his estate. After checking in with the guards, I made it to the entrance, and we walked to the front door.
Raven was still in the attire of the camp, tired and sweaty after the horrific day we’d just experienced.
Gilbert answered the door. “I apologize, sir. The count is not taking visitors right now, and he wanted me to tell you that he’s not interested in your company—”
I pushed past Gilbert and walked into the house. “Fender! Get your ass down here right now!”
Fender’s voice shot back immediately from upstairs. “Fuck off!”
“Napoleon took the camp, and I’m the only survivor. So, get your motherfucking ass down here right now.”
Heavy footsteps sounded a moment later as he ran to the edge of the stairway and looked down at me, his eyes wide and fearful. He gripped the rail until his knuckles turned white.
“He hit the camp with men and guns, and he defeated us within an hour. He kept the prisoners and executed the guards. Raven and I escaped on horseback.”
Fender was still speechless, processing all that nightmarish information in a single instant. He released the rail and came down the stairs, in just his sweatpants like he’d been in his office upstairs. He reached the bottom and stared me down. “This all just happened?”
“About eight hours ago. We got to my motorcycle at the house and drove straight here.”
Fender didn’t know how to contain his anger, so he turned away and ran his hands over the stubble of his jawline. One hand was on his hip, and he paced in the entryway, his bare feet striking the tile with his movements.
Melanie emerged at the top of the stairs, in a dress with her hair in a braid over one shoulder. Her eyes were on her sister before she took the stairs and embraced her.
On her left hand was that enormous rock.
“Are you okay?” Melanie held her sister and pulled back to look her over.
“I’m fine,” Raven answered. “Just a bit overwhelmed. But I’ll get over it.”
Fender continued to pace like he didn’t know what else to do. “How did he know where the camp was?”
“I think he followed you.”
He faced the opposite wall, his hands on his hips, breathing hard.
I stared at his back as I felt a swirl of many emotions. “One by one, they executed each one of us. I was with Alix, Eric, and Nathan while they were shot in the skull. I don’t feel bad for what happened to them, but they didn’t deserve that either. Your men died because you failed to listen to me.”
Fender stilled.
“And the only reason I’m alive now is because Raven saved me. I was on my knees in the dirt, the last one to get a bullet in my head, but she shot him first.”
Fender slowly turned around and looked at me.
“I am the sole survivor because of her.”
Fender shifted his gaze and looked at Raven. While he was still cold and angry, there was a new look in his eyes.
He suddenly walked past us and into the sitting room. “Magnus, just you.”
I left the women alone together and joined him in the other room. He sat on one of the couches. I sat on the other.
Fender rubbed his fingers through his hair and over the back of his scalp, taking deep breaths and letting out long sighs. “You were right, and I didn’t listen.”
I thought I would get a lot more satisfaction out of that, but I didn’t get any at all.
“Now the camp is lost.”
Men I’d known for years were dead, probably going to be burned in the woods somewhere.
He rubbed his hands together as he thought about everything. “We have to take it back.”
My eyes narrowed in surprise. “Why?”
He looked at me. “Because we can’t let him get away with that, Magnus. We don’t let someone make a fool out of us.”
“You mean make a fool out of you.”
He didn’t snap at me because he knew he deserved the insult. “We still have to do something. We have to take that camp back. We can’t just let them overrun our business like this.”
“So, after all this…you still care about money?” I shook my head. “Fender, you need to let it go.”
“This man killed all my men and almost killed my brother. Do you think I’m gonna let that go?” He stared me down, turning angry.
“Do you want to take the camp back for revenge? Or do you want to take it back so you can run business as usual?”
He didn’t answer.
“If your answer is the second one or both, don’t expect me to help you.”
Fender massaged his hands like he had bro
ken knuckles.
“I will only help you if you run the camp differently. You set the girls free and hire people to do the labor. If we can’t come to an agreement on that, I’ll walk away.” I knew Napoleon would do the exact same thing with those girls, make them work for the rest of their lives. He might not execute them weekly like we had, but he would probably do other unspeakable things.
Fender stared me down, silent.
“We do it my way. Or we don’t do it at all.”
After a long silence, he spoke. “Well, my way obviously doesn’t work…”
I watched my brother finally come to his senses.
“And if we do nothing, those girls will never be free. They’ll continue to be prisoners, just changing owners.” He stared at his hands for a while. “I’m not sure if I’m fit for the drug business anymore anyway. I let greed get the best of me. I almost lost the most important thing that matters to me—you.” He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “I want revenge for what Napoleon has done. He humiliated me. He took what’s mine. He killed my men. And then he touched my brother. I want him dead.”
I nodded in agreement.
“And if I rescue those women…maybe our mother won’t hate me so much, won’t be so disappointed in the monster I’ve become.”
“She doesn’t hate you, Fender.”
“She should. I became a worse version of our father. I became everything that I hate.”
“So, you’re with me?”
“You know I’m always with you, brother.” He watched me, his eyes unblinking. “I guess that means I’m about to retire. What do people do in retirement?”
“No idea. Have a couple kids? Go on trips? You’re asking the wrong person.”
“Well, what are you going to do?”
“I haven’t thought about it.” This had all happened so suddenly, and if I survived the attack, I had my whole life ahead of me.
“I guess we get old…and fat.”
His joke made me smile. “I don’t think the girls will stick around if we let that happen.”
He stared at the floor for a while, his mood suddenly somber. “You’ve got a good woman, Magnus. She’s earned my respect.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
“I owe her my life…since she saved yours.”
Thirty-Five
Nothing Between Us
We knew we had to move quickly. We couldn’t take days or weeks to organize our crew and make a plan. The best chance for success was to hit them when they didn’t expect us to come.
We rounded up the remaining men we had and made some calls. We had access to weapons and horses, so we had everything we needed to do this.
“You said there were thirty men?”
I nodded.
“We’ll bring at least fifty. We’ll have one man sneak ahead and attach a bomb to the front gate.”
I had a better idea. “Then you’ll announce to everyone that we are there, and also, exactly where we are. I think we should come from the rear.”
“Come from the rear how?” Fender asked. “There’s no road.”
“Exactly. We’ll sneak up on them, and they’ll have no idea. We can make it by horse. We don’t need to bring wagons or anything else.”
“I guess that could work…”
“I know the way. We can move in the dark. When we reach the fence, we can climb over. They won’t even know we’re there.”
He sat across from me on the couch and looked down at the maps. “Was Napoleon killed? Or just wounded?”
“No idea. I’m not even sure where Raven shot him. I didn’t have time to look. I just got out of there.”
“We’ll assume he’s alive, then. But if he was bleeding badly and couldn’t get to a doctor, he probably wouldn’t have survived. Did they kill the physician at the camp?”
“As far as I know, they killed everybody.” Except me.
“Will you be able to do this tomorrow night? You can go home and get some sleep, and we’ll leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yeah, that works.” I just needed a few hours of rest, and I would be recharged. There was so much adrenaline and vengeance in my veins that I was so pumped, I might not be able to sleep at all.
“I have a couple horses. Can we use yours?”
I nodded.
“Alright.” He stacked his maps and paperwork and closed his laptop. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”
I walked into the other room and found the girls sitting together on the couch in the other living room. I stepped inside and looked at Raven. “Let’s go home.”
She hugged her sister, and they both got up and joined us in the front room.
Fender turned to me. “Just in case things go south, the girls should stay at your apartment. Napoleon knows where I live.”
I nodded in agreement.
Raven’s expression quickly changed, looking at me like I’d betrayed her. “What does that mean? What’s happening?”
“Fender and I are taking a group of men back to the camp tomorrow night. We’re gonna kill them all, free the girls, and then walk away from the business.”
Even though I was finally giving her what she wanted, she didn’t seem to care. “And you expect me just to wait here for you? I’m coming with you.”
It didn’t surprise me at all, but she would never talk me into it. I turned to Fender and said goodnight before I headed to the front door.
Raven walked behind me, chasing after me. “I’m coming with you. That’s final.”
I walked down the steps to my bike in the roundabout. “Raven.” I turned back around and gave her my focused stare.
She halted when she saw the look in my eyes.
“You can’t come with me this time.”
She shook her head, her eyes furious. “I want to free those girls as much as you do.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“You think I care? After everything I’ve survived at this point, you think this is too much? I protect you, and you protect me. That’s how this works. That’s how this has always worked.”
I appreciated her loyalty to me, but without proper training or experience, she wouldn’t be able to assist. “We’re going to sneak into the camp with fifty men. We’ll be armed and prepared. You don’t have the skills for this.”
“But I had the skills to shoot that asshole from a hundred feet away, and I’ve never shot a gun in my life. Come on, give me more credit than that.”
I wanted to lose my temper and scream, but I knew she deserved better than that. “Nothing you say will change my mind. Fender and I are the best fighters in our crew, and we will destroy those assholes. I won’t be able to focus if I’m worried about you the entire time. You need to trust me.”
“And what do I do if you don’t come back?” Her voice broke. “It’s not like I can just move on. You are the man I’m supposed to be with, and without you, I’ll be alone…forever. If you die, I want to die with you. If you’re going to risk your life, I risk mine too.”
“I will come back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Did I promise?”
Her eyes fell. “I want to save these girls too. I belong there.”
“And you did save them…because you saved me.”
She inhaled a deep breath, her eyes watering.
“They’re not going to expect us to hit so hard and so quickly. It will be an easy defeat. I’m not arrogant and won’t be complacent about it so my guard will drop. I will finish this, and I will come back to you. You need to have faith in me.”
She continued to breathe hard, like I’d just asked her to do the impossible.
“I’m not bringing you. I’m sorry, but I’m not. Instead of spending our last night arguing about it, we can go home and be together. That’s how I want to spend our time. What about you?”
She inhaled another breath, her eyes watering more. After a loud sniff, she nodded. “Are you riding to the camp?”
I did
n’t expect such a question. “Yes.”
“I want you to ride Rose. She’ll take care of you.”
My heart softened as I heard her offer. “Okay.”
We slept on and off. We made love many times then went to sleep. We would wake up again and be together once more before drifting back into our dreams. When we woke up the next day, it was past noon.
After I showered and got ready, I went downstairs to see a coffee waiting for me. There was also a muffin, even though I wouldn’t eat it.
I grabbed the cup and took a drink.
She stood there, in a nice dress with earrings in her lobes, terror permanently in her eyes. She was like a wife watching her husband go off to war.
I stood in front of her and looked into her face, seeing the invisible tears behind her eyes. “In a few hours, those women will be free. There will never be another Red Snow. They’ll go back to their lives and find peace. Just think about that while I’m gone.”
She looked down at her hands. “I care about those girls, but I care about you a lot more. You’re the one I’m worried about. I need you to come back to me.”
Watching her love me was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was a kind of love that was far beneath the skin, deep in the heart. It was unconditional and passionate. I’d been with a lot of beautiful and interesting women in my lifetime, but I’d never had anything like this, something so special. I wasn’t sure what I did to earn the undying affection of such an incredible woman. I knew I would treasure it every single day as long as I lived. “I will do everything I can to come back to you, ma petite amie.”
“I know…”
My hands cupped her face, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Her arms wrapped around my waist, and she rested her head against my chest. She held me tight like she didn’t want me to go.
I didn’t want to go either.
But I knew, once it was over, it would just be us.
Just us forever.
The sound of the elevator rising to our floor was audible from where we stood near the kitchen.
“It’s Fender.”
She pulled away but kept her arms around my waist. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. It’s far more terrifying to lose the life of someone you love than your own. I never thought I would fall in love like this. I never thought I would have a man like this. I just got you… I’m not ready to let you go. You’re supposed to be my husband. We’re supposed to make babies. Please don’t take that away from me.”