by Lucy Leroux
Years of soccer had made her legs powerful, but the mechanism on the other side must have been stuck. The thick muscles on her thighs strained and the car rocked with her effort. The creaking metal finally gave, but not all the way. A gap the width of her hand opened. Searching by touch, she felt around for the catch to release the seat.
Fuck! The thing that held the seat up had wires wrapped around it. Her father had never fixed it. Instead, he’d wired it shut. Sticking her face at the opening she’d made, she took a deep breath and began to search for the end of the tangled knot. She needed to unwind it.
Wouldn’t her father have put the twisted ends in the front? Where were they? Shit. Had her kicking moved the ends?
Sobbing now, she started pulling, straining against the wire until her fingers bled.
“Sophia!”
“Gio?”
Oh, thank God! “Gio, I’m in here!” she called out, sticking her hand out of the gap and waving.
There was a lot of splashing and then the whole car rocked as Gio opened the back door and climbed inside. He reached for her hand and she took hold of his gratefully, gripping tightly.
His face filled the gap. “Porca vacca! I don’t have the key. Does this thing come down?”
“Yes, but it’s wired shut.”
“Fuck, I’m going after the trunk key!”
He climbed out of the car and ran off. An excruciatingly long minute later, he was back.
“Sophia, he doesn’t have the key on him.”
“Richard’s still out there?”
“Yes, but he’s unconscious. Where is this wire? We have to undo it.”
She stuck her hand out and put it over the catch. Gio reached back behind him to the roof and flicked on the overhead light. Able to see his outline more clearly, she cried out in relief.
“This thing is too taut. I need to put the seat up a little to give it some slack.”
“Okay,” she said, drawing back her hand and pushing away.
The trunk grew darker as the gap narrowed, but she could hear splashing as his hands loosened the restraint.
“I got it! I got it!” he yelled, pulling the seat towards him.
Her relief was short-lived. The seat didn’t go down all the way. But the gap was bigger, and Gio’s strong arms reached inside to wrap around her head before he retreated and took hold of the top of the seat.
Metal creaked as he pushed and pulled at the seat to try and free it. His movements rocked the entire car and then she felt something else.
“It’s moving!” The car slid forward, as if it was resting on an incline.
It was sinking deeper into the water, taking the both of them with it.
Chapter 29
Gio froze as the car began to slide farther into the lake. His effort to pry the seat open wider had started a slow glide down the slope the vehicle was resting on.
Gasping, he jumped out and braced against the doorframe, using all his strength to stop its momentum. His feet slipped in the mud. Desperately, he pushed while the distant sound of another car registered.
Had Richard regained consciousness? Was he escaping?
“Hold on, Sophia,” he called to her when he heard Enzo shouting. “I’m over here!”
Flashlight beams swept over him, and multiple male voices called out as they ran into the water. “They’re coming, mi amore.”
“Hurry!” she cried, but it sounded garbled.
Despite his best efforts, the car had sunk more and the water level nearly covered the gap. Sophia had her face stuck in the opening, but there were little waves lapping up higher, and she was swallowing some water.
“Help me!” he cried when Enzo reached him. “He locked her in and threw away the key.”
Enzo ran to the other side and opened the door while two other men moved to the front of the car to try and stop it from submerging further.
A shout went up and one of the men, Linetti, splashed into view.
“We’re on a drop-off and the front wheels are over the edge!” he reported. “I almost fell in. If the car goes any farther, we won’t be able to stop it. It’s deep. Too deep.”
Fuck!
“Brace it!” Enzo snapped.
Behind them, Linetti called the police and updated them on their situation.
“It’s going to be okay, Sophia,” Gio said, reaching into the gap to grab her hands.
He prayed he wasn’t lying. Beside him, Enzo moved up and down, looking for the obstruction that was keeping the seat up.
“There’s nothing blocking it,” he said. “It’s just stuck. We have to work it back and forth.”
“Cazzo. Sophia! Can you hear me?”
By now, the water had risen above her ears. He could still see her mouth at the gap, desperately spitting out water. Her face was almost completely covered. She didn’t answer them.
Gio sucked in a big gulp of air and stuck his face into the gap. Covering her lips with his own, he breathed into her, holding her hand the whole time.
“Gio, you have to move her back or we’ll slam this thing into her face. There must be an air pocket at the other side. That back edge is still above the surface.”
Madre di Dio. He broke off and moved back
“Sophia, baby, we need you to move!” he shouted, but with her ears submerged he couldn’t be sure she heard them.
“Gio, we have to do this!” Enzo ordered.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He squeezed Sophia’s hand hard, and she squeezed it back.
His heart was threatening to burst open in his chest. Shaking, he took another breath and bent to give it to Sophia, expelling everything he had in his lungs before reaching into the trunk and taking hold of her shoulders.
Roaring in pain, he pushed her hard towards the back of the trunk.
He was almost blind with fear and rage, but he did what Enzo was yelling at him to do. Together, they rocked the seat back and forth while the other two men braced the car as best they could.
It was inevitable that the car slid farther down the slope. The water rose and submerged the opening. Every second that passed was like a dagger to his heart.
And then it got worse.
Ominous bubbles rose up in front of him from the gap. It was taking too long. Sophia was losing air. She was drowning.
“Pull, pull harder!” Enzo was yelling himself hoarse, but there was no point.
Gio was already at his limit, the muscles in his arms tearing as they pried the seat wider. It gave suddenly, sending his head slamming into the back of the front seat. Ignoring the flash of pain, he lunged forward, reaching into the water-filled space.
He caught hold of something and pulled Sophia out by the leg. He gathered her to him, positioning her head above the water, but she didn’t move.
“Gio, let’s go! Give her to me,” Enzo shouted at him.
Twisting around, he held her out, forcing himself to let her go. Enzo picked up Sophia’s limp body, moving away so he could climb out of the back seat. Behind them, the two other guys let go and the car slid deep into the water.
The front end went over the hidden edge below, upending the back like the Titanic before the whole thing slid down with a huge gurgle of escaping air.
The four of them turned and started for the shore. The freezing air filled Gio’s burning lungs as he struggled to reach the water’s edge.
Enzo laid Sophia down on the gravel bank, and Gio fell down next to her, working off his sodden coat so he could move better. Bending, he opened her mouth and breathed into it, but the cold had weakened him and he started coughing.
“Let me,” Enzo said, gently pushing him aside.
Nodding, Gio let the more experienced man work while he took Sophia’s cold still hand in his.
“Please, baby, please wake up,” he whispered.
Linetti and the other junior security guy crowded around them. He sat helplessly, watching another man try to save the l
ove of his life.
Please, God, please let him save her!
If he lost Sophia, he couldn’t go on. He’d spend the rest of his days reliving the moment where he pushed her away, drowning her in that water-filled trunk.
Sophia hadn’t moved in all this time. She lay there unconscious, her caramel skin pale yellow in the moonlight. Enzo continued chest compressions, periodically breaking off to administer air. Long minutes passed with no change.
There was no hint of movement, no rise and fall of her chest outside of what Enzo was forcing her body to do.
She was dead. Sophia was dead.
Chapter 30
Gio sat on the rocky shore. Numbly, he stared down at Sophia’s hand in his. He tried to squeeze it, but he could barely feel it. Distantly he could make out the sounds of sirens and shouting, but it was a world away, one where there was still warmth and sunshine.
This place was cold and empty. Nothing mattered, not even when the paramedics ran up and took over chest compressions from Enzo.
It was too late.
“Gio!”
It was Enzo, waving in his face. He was saying something about not watching, but Gio ignored him. All that mattered was holding her hand and not letting go.
They had thrown a blanket over Sophia and another over him, but one of the EMTs was still pushing on her chest. Another had one of those plastic things they fit over her mouth with a bulb attached. The EMT kept squeezing it, forcing air in and out of Sophia’s lungs like a bellows.
He should tell them it was too late. He had pushed her into the water-filled trunk and she had drowned.
In the end, it hadn’t been Richard. He had killed her.
But Gio didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move. He was made of stone, up until the moment Sophia turned and coughed, spitting out water. Then he was shouting—or it should have been. His voice came out thin and half-strangled.
“Sophia!”
She was alive. The relief would have knocked him to his knees if he hadn’t already been sitting.
“Baby, look at me,” he said, his grip tightening on her hand as he brought it to his lips.
“What happened?” she whispered. Her voice was raspy, damaged from nearly drowning.
“You’re fine now,” Gio said, his head swimming. “Don’t try to talk.”
She grimaced and tried to sit up, but stopped short and put a hand on her chest as if it hurt.
“Stay down, miss,” one of the EMTs ordered. “We’re bringing a stretcher.”
Sophia gave him a tiny nod, but her attention was diverted to something behind them. Gio turned around to see Richard being walked to a police cruiser. The Englishman was on his feet with his hands cuffed behind his back, weeping openly.
“I’m sorry!” he kept crying. “I’m sorry!”
You haven’t begun to be sorry, Gio vowed to himself.
He turned back to Sophia and tried to stand as the EMTs transferred her to a stretcher, but he must have moved too quickly because he staggered. Despite being fitted with an oxygen tank, Sophia reached out to him, touching his left arm.
“Gio, you’re bleeding!”
Glancing down at his arm, he was surprised to see a stream of bright red blood flowing down to his elbow.
Everything grew very bright for an instant. The glare of the headlights from so many emergency vehicles temporarily blinded him.
Wait. The popping sound. Richard had pointed something at him. There had been a noise and then his arm had stung.
“Oh,” he said slowly. His voice sounded as if it was coming from a million miles away.
“I’ve been shot.”
Then everything went dark.
Chapter 31
Sophia grimaced and cracked one eye open. Bright fluorescents stung her sensitive retinas. With a little groan, she lifted her head and looked around.
Oh, yeah.
She was in a hospital room, hooked up to wires and tubes. The EMTs had saved her life last night, but her ribs were bruised and one of them was cracked. Breathing was painful. She reminded herself that it was a small price to pay for being alive—repeatedly.
The clock on the wall read two PM. Barely five hours had passed since she’d finally gone to sleep, but she’d refused to rest until she knew Gio was out of danger.
He’d had emergency surgery when they had arrived at the hospital. The bullet hadn’t been in a dangerous place, but he had lost a lot of blood. Enzo had told her that Gio hadn’t even noticed, and none of his security team knew he had been shot.
He could have died. It had been so close, but the cold water of the quarry slowed the bleeding down, enough to allow the doctors to save his life with multiple transfusions.
It was ironic that she’d been in better shape than Gio in the end. In fact, the hospital staff had to negotiate with her to stay in bed while he was under. The surgeon assured her he was just sleeping off the anesthetic, but he still hadn’t woken when she finally collapsed.
In the meantime, Gio’s best friend Alex had blown in, throwing his weight around and shouting at people. Most of the doctors and nurses scrambled to carry out his orders. The rest ran around trying to escape. She was grateful for Alex’s presence. He had made sure the staff would wake her if there was any change with Gio. There was also the added benefit of him interceding between her and the police.
Detectives had come to interview to find out what had happened. She quickly understood that their primary concern was the Italian billionaire’s life, but since it was also her chief concern she didn’t begrudge them their questions.
However, they grilled her relentlessly, making her repeat over and over again what Richard had done. They wanted to know every detail of her history with him. And all she wanted to do was find out how Gio was.
Alex had come in during the middle of all that. He’d shut the detectives down with a brusque commanding presence she’d occasionally glimpsed Gio use when he was talking business. The questions had stopped immediately, the officers cowed by that dominance that must have been innate to the rich and powerful.
Right before the detectives had left, Alex had taken them aside and hissed something with a ferocious expression. It had taken her a minute to realize he was calling for Richard’s head. Alex had looked so intimidating that she’d blurted out an apology to him for putting Gio into danger, stunning him into silence.
“Never apologize for something like that,” he said, his brow creased. “Gio loves you, and he wouldn’t want you to feel guilty for some psycho’s actions.”
“It wasn’t psychotic,” she said, explaining about the stolen research and how Richard would get fired once the truth was out.
“He did this for a job?” Alex asked in disbelief.
She shrugged. “You’d be surprised what people will do for tenure.”
The handsome Greek man had shaken his head and promised to follow up with the police and Gio’s family so she could rest. But that had been hours ago and she had slept enough. Gio should be awake now and she wanted to see him.
With slow painful movements, she rolled to the side and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She wasn’t hooked up to an IV, but she did have a monitor taped to her finger. Taking it off, she braced herself on the bed, hoping the oversized hospital gown wouldn’t fly open in the back while she hunted down Gio.
Sophia stopped short in the doorway. Alex hadn’t left. He was pacing in the hallway and, for a second, the expression of dismay on his face terrified her until she heard what he was saying.
“No, no. Stay put, Calen, Gio’s going to be fine. Him and Sophia both. You have enough to deal with. How is Maia taking it?” Alex paused and grimaced. “How much blood? Fuck,” he said. “And you said you think her family is involved?” He broke off and saw Sophia standing there. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Sophia woke up. Okay, I will.”
He hung up the phone and gave her a reassuring smile, waving away a nurse who hurrie
d in her direction.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he said, coming closer. “You should be in bed.”
She narrowed her eyes and stared him down—or up. He was a head taller than she was. There was a bit of a standoff for a minute, but Alex soon caved in to her stubbornness.
“Okay, something is going on with one of Maia’s friends,” he explained. “She’s gone missing. Calen wanted to come when he heard Gio is in the hospital, but Maia is frantic and they can’t fly over here.”
“Because they found blood. A lot of it,” she supplied, nodding sickly.
Alex inhaled deeply and held out his hands in a gesture oddly reminiscent of Gio. “I don’t want you to worry about this. You don’t even know the girl. I haven’t even met her. Just focus on getting well again and go lie down.”
Struggling against a surreal sense of detachment, she agreed—but not about lying down. “I want to see Gio.”
“He’s fine—”
“Now, Alex.”
She could tell he wanted to argue with her, but after a slight hesitation his expression softened. “Follow me.”
Gio’s room was two floors up. Judging by its size, he’d been given the presidential suite of hospital rooms. He was lying on the bed asleep, a little pale, but nowhere near as bad as she’d imagined. But she didn’t relax until his broad chest moved up and down in deep even breaths.
Without waiting for help, she went to the side of the bed and climbed in. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be a standard size. Apparently, the presidential suite meant bigger hospital beds too.
Alex made an approving little noise as she arranged herself to cuddle up on Gio’s right, avoiding the bandage on his left side. Once his good arm was touching hers, she fell asleep instantly.
When she woke, she was staring into bright gold eyes.
“I’m so sorry, mi amore,” Gio whispered.
Raising a brow, she gave him a mock scowl. “You better not be apologizing for saving my life.”
He didn’t smile. In fact, it looked like she’d broken his heart.
“I’m sorry for killing you.”