I stood over the small stove in the living room-kitchen combo, dancing from one foot to the other and smiling to myself. Yes, last night had been a lot - and I’d woken up without him next to me, which was kind of a kick in the teeth - but I was feeling calm and happy for the first time in a few days, and I couldn’t deny that it was a pretty nice sensation.
I still wasn’t sure what to make of everything he’d said to me the day before. For him, killing people was just a job, and he’d declined to expand on whether or not he was actually still doing it. The thought of him still taking people out for money freaked the shit out of me, but I had to trust him. Hell, he knew the gang landscape better than I did, and he’d probably figure out why I’d been targeted quicker than I could. Or the police, for that matter. I was wearing one of his shirts that I’d rescued from the back of a wardrobe in the bedroom, and the soft cotton felt good against my skin. I tried to keep focused on that, and not the implications of everything he had told me.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and I jumped practically out of my skin. I turned and found Anthony standing behind me, pacing back and forth across the tiled floor.
“Anthony?” I asked quietly, and he looked up as if he’d forgotten I was there.
“I’m just making some breakfast, do you want-”
“Sabrina, we don’t have time. We’ve got to get out of here,” he replied urgently, striding through to the bedroom and returning with my bag. A shot of fear traveled along my spine, and I clenched my fists to distract myself. The pan had just started sizzling with heat on the stove, and the slow, building sound summed up how I felt at that moment in time.
“What’s going on?”
“I went to see Leo, the guy - the man I work for,” he began, and I held up a hand.
“Wait a second. You’re still working?” I demanded.
“Yes, but only so I can figure out what’s going on with you.” He tilted his chin at me. “I know they have something to do with it, and I’m working with Leo again so I can find out what it is and keep you safe.”
I stared at him for a moment. Did I believe him? Did I trust him? He had just told me that the people he worked with were the ones trying to hurt me, after all.
“I know this sounds crazy, but you have to trust me.” He came over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Please, Sabrina. The thought of something happening to you, it’s…”
He let the words hang in the air between us, and I felt a warmth spread across my chest. I had dealt with enough bullshitters to know when I was being lied to, and I could only read truth on his face.
“Why do we have to leave?” I asked as I went to gather my things. “I thought you said we’d be safe here.”
“I thought we would be, but…” He shook his head. “I don’t think we’ve put enough space between Leo and us yet.”
“What did he say to you when you were down there?” I pressed.
“He just…” Anthony closed his eyes for a moment as if even relieving it was too much for him. “I think he’s on to me. And I can’t be sure that he doesn’t know where this place is.”
“Have you got somewhere else for us to go?” I asked as I packed my stuff. I flicked off the stove – the last thing I wanted was this place burning to the ground while we were away. As if Anthony wasn’t paranoid enough.
“I have.” He nodded, running his hands through his hair agitatedly. “It’s not too far from the city actually. We’ll sort of be doubling back on ourselves.”
“You think we should be closer to the city?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “After everything that’s happened?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but trust me.” He stared at me intently. “I know what I’m doing. I need to be nearby so Leo doesn’t click that I’m far out of town.”
“Whatever you say.” I met his gaze. “Just know that I’m trusting you with my life here.”
“I know.” He nodded, his voice soft. “I won’t let you down.”
Suddenly, he darted towards me and wrapped his arms around my neck tightly. I was taken aback - unless we were talking about sex, Anthony wasn’t exactly the physically expressive type. But something about the last few hours had obviously freaked him out enough that he needed someone to cling on to, an anchor to pin him down. I put my arms around him and held him for a moment, comforting him gently, before he pulled back. I could have sworn I saw tears in his eyes, but I didn’t let myself linger on it for too long as he began to move around the apartment with purpose.
“Have you got everything? Taken any food you want for the new place?” He glanced over at me.
“I’ve got everything.” I patted my bag. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
“Good.” He held his hand out to me. “Then let’s get out of here.”
Before I knew it, we were back in the car again. I pressed my head to the window and silently said goodbye to the little homestead I had gotten to know over the last couple of days, and wondered where I was going to end up next.
“How many places do you own?” I asked, turning to Anthony. His eyes were fixed on the road but slightly glazed over as if his mind was elsewhere.
“Huh?” He glanced over at me.
“You said we’re going to another one of the places you own,” I reminded him. “How many places do you have?”
“Twelve,” he replied without a beat, and my eyebrows vanished beneath my hair.
“How many?” I demanded. “Why on earth do you need that many places to live?”
“Some of them are hideouts from the cops, some of them are more for… entertaining.” He shrugged. “I had the money, and I’ve never much been one to stay in one place too long, so…”
“Are they all around the city?” I wondered aloud.
“Not all of them.” A small smile played at the corner of his mouth, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
“Where are the others?”
“I’ll tell you once we’re there,” he promised. “I just need to figure some stuff out right now.”
“Fair enough,” I reached into my bag and pulled out a packet of chips. I started munching on them as quietly as I could as I peered out the window, not wanting to distract him any further. We were heading sort of diagonally across from where we’d been, passing by the city on the way to the coast a good hour’s drive out of town. I had always known that we weren’t too far from the beach where I lived, but I’d never thought to come out there before - it had always seemed like too much hassle. But then I’d never met anyone with an insane beachfront property either, and that helped.
I gasped as I got out of the car. We had driven down a remote little side road that was overlooked by an enormous cliff, but it wasn’t until I got out of the car that I saw what I saw meant to be looking at.
“That’s your place?” My jaw hung open. Built into the side of the cliff, there was an enormous set of windows that seemed to lead back to a huge, penthouse-esque apartment. Anthony offered me his hand as we made our way across the slightly bumpy track towards our new home, and I took it.
“Yeah, that’s my place.” He shrugged as if it was nothing. I could only gape up at the building in front of me, and wonder when he’d gotten a place like this, and why. This had to be one of his houses meant for entertaining - in what world was a decadent beachfront property like this one a practical place to hide out from the cops?
“It’s fucking incredible,” I breathed as we reached a set of steps carved into the rock. I wobbled slightly as the wind caught me, and Anthony placed his hands on my hips to keep me steady.
“Woah, girl,” he murmured, gently taking my bag from me so that it didn’t topple me over.
“Thanks,” I managed as I grasped the thin metal handrail that ran up beside the steps, trying to keep my balance.
We soon reached the top of the steps, and Anthony squeezed by me to unlock the door. I noticed that on his keychain there were maybe ten or twenty different keys, and I wondered which doors they opened, where in the world they might lead to. But before I had a chance to linger on that any further, he pushed the door open and gestured for me to go in.
“Fucking hell, Anthony,” I breathed as I looked around. The place was incredible. The entrance hall opened out into a living-room-slash-dining-room, with a kitchen visible through a small wooden archway to my left. Anthony dropped my bags on the luxurious leather couches that looked out over the stunning sea view outside and headed up a corridor that led off the main room.
“Bedroom’s this way,” he called over his shoulder, and I hurried to catch up with him. I was still scraping my jaw off the floor. I had never seen a place like this before in my life - never seen anything as stupidly gorgeous or fantastically expensive. I had assumed any guy I got with would be like me - living in a place they could only just afford with furniture and decorations that came from friends, family, or thrift shops. This was… well, this was something else entirely, and I was having trouble keeping my shit together knowing that I got to stay here for the next few days. Yes, fleeing from whatever motherfuckers were on my tail was horrifying, but it was a hell of a lot easier when I wasn’t having to stay in a sparse underground bunker while I was doing it.
The bedroom was cozy, kitted out in dark colors with the bed lifted slightly off the ground on a polished wood platform.
“Do you come here often?” I asked. “It’s so clean and tidy.”
“I pay a cleaning company to come in once a month or so to keep things looking nice.” He shrugged and popped himself up on the bed. “You like it?”
“I love it,” I replied firmly. “And I think you’re trying to show off to me a little bit.”
“Well, aren’t you Ms. Perception?” He held his arms out to me with a small grin on his face, and I happily sat down in his lap. He planted a kiss on my cheek, all chaste, and pressed his head against my shoulder for a moment.
“You think we’ll be alright here?”
He looked up at me at last. “I don’t think any of Leo’s guys know that this place exists.”
“That’s good,” I sighed. “I don’t think I can take another cross-country, last-minute escape again.”
“I’m not promising that we’ll be here forever,” he warned. “But at least a week or so. Enough time to get settled and catch up on our sleep, and then we can take it from there.”
“Don’t you have any jobs for Leo?” I asked cautiously. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know, but part of me was curious, and I needed to know when he’d be away and when he’d be here. I didn’t want to wake up to him gone again and not know why - not now that the stakes were as high as they were.
“That’s not important right now.” He pulled me onto the bed. “You know, I’ve never had a woman in this bed before.”
“You want me to be your first?” I teased lightly. “I’ll try to be gentle.”
“Oh, please don’t.” He covered my mouth with his, and I happily lost myself in his kiss once again.