♫ Die For You - The Weeknd ♫
Vic’s location steadily showed as somewhere in the countryside—for hours.
Literally hours.
Suki and I didn’t think that was right, but we decided to look into it anyway. A quick Google search revealed a massive estate on a large plot of land, entirely secluded and surrounded by trees.
No neighbors in the near vicinity.
Away from prying eyes and vigilant ears.
My gut told me this was it, but it also screamed danger, especially with Suki and I unarmed.
We drove out there regardless, though. I mean, what other choice did we really have? It was our only lead after declining Liza’s offer for an exchange, which I was seriously regretting now.
By the time we made it out there, night had fallen upon us. The sky was clear, littered with dozens of stars from the lack of streetlights on the winding roads. Suki suggested we use the darkness to our advantage, but I shot that down before she could even finish uttering her reasoning.
Stealth was great, but we weren’t familiar with the grounds. And again, being unarmed put us at a huge disadvantage.
We needed daylight desperately if there was any hope we’d be able to get to Rome and make it out alive.
All of us.
The one thing we did have at our advantage was the thicket of trees across the street from the estate. I was able to reverse the rental car a ways in, enough that the greenery shielded us from plain sight.
From there, we could do nothing but play the waiting game.
We used the time to get a better feel of the land with Google maps and tried to devise some sort of concrete plan. The night seemed to go on forever, though, and eventually, Suki passed out in the passenger seat with the heater hitting her at full blast.
I knew I should get some rest, too, knew I needed to recharge before what laid ahead of us the following day—whatever that may be—but I couldn’t sleep. I was too nervous, too anxious, far too fucking worried about Rome to even think about resting.
And that’s when the floodgates opened.
As hard as I tried not to cry, as hard as I tried to keep it together and remain strong, I couldn’t hold them back any longer. I’d been tamping them down since we got on the plane at Miami International, but no more.
I couldn’t anymore.
I wept quietly behind the steering wheel, expelled every white-hot tear that came until there was nothing left to cry.
Until I was bone-dry and hollow.
Until the early sun began streaming through the tops of the trees.
“Suk,” I hissed, shaking her awake.
She jolted upright, disoriented, her platinum blonde locks a wild mess. “What happened?”
I laughed weakly at her disheveled appearance, motioning around us with a whirl of my finger. “Daylight, that’s what.”
“Oh, right.” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched out to the best of her ability with a boisterous yawn. “I need coffee.”
“We don’t have any,” I pointed out.
Suki groaned. “I can’t function without coffee, L.”
“Gonna have to, baby girl.” I shut off the car and peered over her way, reaching for my coat in the backseat. “It’s show time.”
Our trek out of the thicket and across the street onto the estate’s property was made in complete silence. All that could be heard were our footsteps crunching through the grass and an odd bird here or there, chirping it’s early morning song. The sky was as clear as it was the night before, only now, it was painted in splashes of pink and gold, the temperatures equally as chilly, if not more so with the sun not yet having reached its peak.
As per our plan, we ducked low and stayed as close to the tall Italian Cypresses surrounding the estate as possible, taking careful steps to the backyard. From the main road it wasn’t visible, but evidently, behind the estate was a small lake. Google Maps showed the security gate had a back entrance as well, one that led out to said lake and appeared to be much smaller in scale than the brawny gates up at the front. Should that image be accurate, it might be our one and only ticket inside.
Once we made it to the back, the tall Cypresses came to an abrupt end, waist-high bushes taking their place along the rear gate. They lined the pathway down to the lake as well. Suki and I ducked lower behind them, peeking over their rounded tops to scan the backyard for any signs of life.
But there was no one.
All I could see was a decently-sized pool and a lavish patio area, all well-kept and fully landscaped.
“Should we try the gate?” Suki whispered, holding tight to the crowbar she’d found in the trunk of the rental before we’d left.
It was our only weapon at the moment.
“I doubt it’s just going to be open, Suk. Gates are meant to keep people out,” I whispered back, dragging my gaze over every window on the estate.
“It’s worth a shot, L. You never know.”
“Then you check it,” I hissed.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, passing me the crow bar. “Don’t lose it.”
“Where the fuck am I gonna lose it?” I hissed again, prompting her to flash me the bird behind herself as she inched toward the gate.
Poking her head out around the bushel closest to the pathway, she glanced both ways as if she were crossing a street, and bound right up to the gates. All she did was tug it gently with a single finger and it gave away, falling open slowly.
My mouth popped open in utter shock as she turned to me, satisfied smirk curling her lips. “I told you,” she mouthed, motioning for me to follow her.
I couldn’t believe it.
It seemed way too simple, suspiciously so, but nevertheless, we had a way in.
I scrambled from the safety of the greenery around me and joined her out in the open, gripping the crow bar for dear life.
“That seemed too easy,” I whispered, as we treaded carefully through the patio to the large French doors.
“Agreed, but don’t overthink it. Could be a total lucky coincidence.”
“If that back door is open, this was premeditated.”
“L…” Suki whirled around in a flash and took my face in her hands, shaking me softly. “Stop overthinking and focus. Rome—we gotta get to Rome, babe.”
The sound of his name paired with the urgency of the moment brought tears to my eyes. “How do we know he’s in there?” My lip quivered.
“We don’t, but it’s all we’ve got. I have a good feeling though—I can feel the bastard.” She grinned, prompting me to grin, too, with a little scoff in tow.
“There’s my girl.” She shook me again. “Ready?”
Passing back the crow bar, I nodded. “Ready.”
We made it to French doors leading into the house without incident. There wasn’t a single light on within the estate, but I figured that was likely due to how early it was.
For all we knew, whoever was in there was still asleep.
But not for much longer…
“You remember the plan?” Suki asked as she set her hand on the golden knob.
“Yes—but you’re sure you wanna do that?” I countered, my voice wary and uncertain.
It was a good plan, don’t get me wrong, but it put us both at risk for different reasons.
I was perfectly fine with risking my own life—I’d fucking die to save Roman if it came to that.
But thinking about risking Suki’s life, for something that, technically, had fuck all to do with her, didn’t sit right with me.
Made me as sick as thinking what Rome might’ve had to ensure the last two days.
Suki nodded surely, lifting her chin high. “Positive. Based on what I can see of the inside, it’ll work.”
Always so gallant, that one.
“You know I love you, right?” I couldn’t help getting mushy with her. We’d been through so much together, and in the end, she always had my fucking back. No matter what.
“Stop it.” She grabbed my arm thoughtfully. “We’re all getting out of here today—except that crazy bitch.”
“I’m serious, Suk. You always help me out of every shit hole I get myself into. I love you,” I stressed, pulling her into a heartfelt hug.”
I love you, too, L,” she squeezed me back, “now focus, before I fucking kick your ass into gear. You’re making a bitch all teary.”
Chuckling into her shoulder, I squeezed her one last time before easing back. “You wanna do the honors?”
Suki shook her head, a wicked smirk coloring her expression. “Absolutely not—that’s all you, baby girl. Let’s raise some hell.”
I nodded and inhaled a steady breath, readying myself as Suki jiggled the knob.
It actually turned, dispersing rivulets of adrenaline through me in seconds flat.
On another nod, she pushed the door open carefully.
It squeaked softly as ever, barely audibly, but I was more worried about tripping an alarm. Nothing happened, though.
That’s when we busted in, clearing room to room quickly as we made our way to the front. Once we were in the foyer, two spiral grand staircases on either side of us, we made our presence known.
Or really, I did.
Suki hid herself in the shadows.
“Oh, Lizaaa,” I sang, hands cupped around my mouth. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
The same stillness that had followed us since leaving the rental remained firmly in place, and still, my heart was galloping.
Why was nothing happening?
I was expecting a calvary to flood around me within milliseconds, but there was literally not a soul in sight.
To be heard.
Until suddenly, a distant thunder erupted from the second floor.
It’s on now.
I braced myself for the worst and bounced my eyes between every entry point around me, hoping we had the right place and hadn’t just stormed into some innocent family’s home.
Less than a minute later, five disheveled men—who’d clearly been asleep—appeared at the landing, each one pointing their rifle at me. I lifted my hands in cooperation, intent on showing them my lack of a weapon, and shook my head slowly. “I just want to have a little chat with her.”
They extended them further, to the point I cringed a little at the thought they might pull the trigger, but then someone cleared their throat.
“Move aside, boys,” a female voice commented thereafter. “I’ve been expecting her.”
Liza.
This was the right place, thank fuck.
A single blink, and she was there, standing between them.
Smirking.
Leaning against the oak banister.
“I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised you actually made it,” she said amusedly.
But I barely heard her—I was too busy staring.
She looked so much like me.
Not identical, yet I could see similarities.
It was unnerving, and I wondered if Rome had seen them, too. If they’d contributed to our initial attraction…
I didn’t know how to feel about that, but I guess it didn’t really matter in that moment now, did it?
“What’s wrong, Lux—suddenly mute?” she quipped, throwing my focus back in place.
“Where’s Rome?” I gritted out.
A smug, satisfied look settled on her features. “Asleep, in my bed.”
This bitch.
“Let him go.”
“Really? Did you honestly come in here expecting to hit me with that once and get your way? C’mon, sweetheart—be smart,” she sneered.
“I mean, your doors were open, sooo...” I pointed out, my tone condescending.
Liza rolled her eyes. “I left them open for you.”
“Then obviously you knew I’d be coming in here asking you to let him go, so let’s try this again, shall we? Let him go, Liza.”
“Yeah…no,” she chortled, snapping her fingers in the air. “Take her to the basement, boys. I’ll handle her after breakfast.”
It was right about here a weapon would have been fucking helpful. I could have easily put the five of them down with Suki’s help and stormed up the stairs after Liza, forced her to take me to Rome.
But that wasn’t the case, unfortunately.
I could do nothing but let them temporarily restrain me and lead me to what could possibly be my doom, along with hoping that Suki would be able to execute her part unharmed.
The basement was honestly nothing like I was envisioning on the way down there. I’d assumed it’d be dark, damp, a grimy cellar possibly wreaking of death, but it was the exact opposite.
Completely furnished in reds and golds.
Filled with light.
Spacious.
I was flabbergasted, immediately taken aback by its beauty as they threw me inside and locked the door. If she’d killed someone in here before, one would never know.
Literally.
Not a thing was out of place.
Everything was pristine.
It was bizarre.
I didn’t know what to do, what to think. I didn’t feel threatened or at any danger. If she planned to kill me, certainly she wouldn’t have thrown me in here, free to roam regardless of the door being locked.
My head spun.
What was this?
Aside from Rome, what were her motives?
Why did she want me to find her?
After God knows how long of me oscillating from question to question, I finally fell onto one of the couches and simply stared up at the ceiling.
I was starting to get anxious, a little nervous, too.
Why was she taking so long?
What was taking her so long?
Surely, she was done with her breakfast by now…
Sheer moments later, the click of the lock sounded off by the steps as if I’d been voicing my thoughts aloud. I shot onto my feet, steeling myself for what could turn quite ugly rather quickly.
Down came Liza, now dressed for the day, and behind her—
I gasped.
Behind her came Rome—unscathed and in one piece. Or so I thought.
When our eyes met, I saw nothing. His gaze was hollow, lifeless. And yet, there was a tortured agony bleeding out from his soul.
Begging me to help him.
I could feel it.
My vision blurred over as bereaved tears welled at the surface.
“Figured I’d let you see him one last time,” Liza explained, shrugging nonchalantly.
Like it was the sweetest gesture in the world despite the fact that, the man standing beside her, was not the man I’d left on the Panorama.
“What have you done to him?” I asked, regarding him in anguish.
“Stop asking questions and say your goodbye’s while you can, Lux. I can assure you he will not be walking out the front door with you when I send you on your way.”
Out of all she’d said, goodbye stood out for me most, lurching me toward him almost violently as grief rolled down my cheeks.
I’d die in this fucking basement before I said goodbye to him ever again, but she didn’t need to know that yet. She’d figured it out soon enough anyway.
Throwing myself at him, he caught me without missing a beat, molding me to the planes of his body as I squeezed him for dear life, sobbing into his neck.
“I’m sorry.” It came muffled against his skin. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry!”
Rome shushed me quietly, threading a hand into my hair to pull me back, enough for our eyes to meet again.
And again there was nothing.
What the fuck had she done to him?
“Are you okay?” I asked him, taking his face between my palms.
I wanted to kiss him all over, shower him with love until that fire in his gaze rekindled brightly, until the blue of his irises returned to full vibrancy.
Until he was Roman-fucking-King—not this shell of a man.
All he offered me was a shake of his head, though. No words. I didn’t know whether he truly couldn’t speak, scarred from whatever atrocities he’d obviously endured, or if she’d instructed him to do so.
“Wrap it up,” Liza barked. “And if you put your mouth on him, so help me—”
“What?” I turned my head toward her, suddenly enraged. “What are you gonna do about it?”
Rome squeezed me once more, a gesture of silent warning, but there was no way in hell I was heeding it. This woman had clearly hurt him in some way, shape, or form, and now, I was going to fucking hurt her.
Wriggling free from his hold, I landed on my feet and inched closer to her, cocking my head to one side in a coaxing fashion. “Go on, Liza. Tell me what you’re gonna do about it.”
“You don’t want to test me, Lux.” She chuckled darkly, standing her ground. “You really don’t.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I bit out. “I’m disgusted, if anything. What the hell did you do to him?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?” she queried in frustration.
“Why don’t you answer any of them?”
“Because it’s none of your business what I’ve done to him. He’s mine—I can do whatever I please with him.”
I laughed. I laughed cynically, right in her face and burst into her bubble, my gaze piercing hers just inches away. “I hate to break it to you, sweetie—but he’s mine.”
The switch flipped.
I watched it happen.
From amused to manic, her lip curled, posture tensing. Crazy Liza had come out to play. “You’re gonna regret saying th—”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The three of us fell stock-still as shots continued to go off above us, one after the other. My first thought was Suki, jolting my stomach up to my throat, especially when everything ceased and silence replaced the sudden chaos.
But then thundering steps echoed down the stairs, and there she was, in one full piece, blue eyes scanning the room.
And she wasn’t alone.
In her grasp was Vic, her newly acquired pistol aimed at the side of his head.
Well, shit.
I deflated like a damned balloon.
“Your men are dead,” she sneered at Liza, breaths ragged from exertion.
Then she shoved Vic to the floor.
He looked as empty and lifeless as Rome, green eyes pleading for help.
“I found him in a room upstairs,” Suki explained, turning her aim on Liza. “He told me everything. She’s been molesting them, treating them like fucking puppets, the sick bitch.”
I stopped breathing.
I stopped fucking breathing for so long, my knees buckled. Bile shot up my throat with such ferocity it almost spewed out of my mouth like venom.
She’d been molesting them.
She’d been fucking molesting them.
As horrible as it sounds, I didn’t even give a fuck about Vic. He deserved it—you reap what you sow.
But Rome, my Rome—my King. She’d done to him what all those men did to me.
What Vic did to me.
His current state made so much sense now.
Liza growled then, exasperated and outraged, spinning around like a demon picking its next victim. “Why?!” she roared malevolently. “Why the fuck can’t everyone just leave me alone? Why can’t everyone just let me have my happily ever after with my boys. They’re mine—both of them! Mine!”
Woah.
I’d never seen anything like it.
The woman completely unhinged in the span of seconds, faster than when the switch initially flipped.
This was a million times worse—like the exorcist.
If provoked enough, her head might actually spin.
“They’re not toys,” Suki snapped. “They’re human beings with freewill. You can’t force them to be with you.”
“Yes, I can!” Liza countered. “My daddy did it with his all girls, with me. He had us all, got to play with us all, love us all.”
Vic turned to her in horrified realization at the same moment Rome’s voice boomed. “Your father did this to you, too?” he asked, stupefied.
“Did what? Love me? Spoil me? Give me everything? Then yes, yes he did,” Liza barked.
“If your father did what you’ve done to these men, that’s not love, Liza—that’s rape,” I stated, luring her incensed stare on me.
“It’s not rape if I wanted it!” she screeched, the extent of her depravity clear as day in her eyes.
She really was crazy.
“And it’s clear they didn’t want it, so for them it’s—”
“Don’t let their forlorn faces fool you,” she interjected, teeth bared. “They wanted it. They wanted me. They fucking fought over me! So I made them mine—I’ll never let them go again!”
“You’re insane,” I tossed back, reaching back for Rome’s hand when his body heat enveloped me from behind.
“No, I’m not! I’m passionate!” she argued.
“Yeah, passionately insane.”
That did it in entirety.
On a raging growl, she came rushing for me.
Manic.
Hellbent.
Mad as a hatter.
I’d braced myself for impact, rearing an arm back to smash my fist dead in her face, when a singular boisterous bang filled the room.
Liza stilled a mere three feet away from me, mouth ajar.
The light in her eyes dimmed out right before my very own.
And then she collapsed.
It was then as she laid on the floor that I noticed the bullet hole to the side of her head, a pool of blood quickly spreading beneath her.
Stunned at the rapid turn of events, I glanced at Suki first, wondering how she’d gotten her from that angle, but she shook her head and motioned to Rome.
When I turned my gaze on him, I found him with his arm extended firmly, gun pointed right where Liza once stood.
“Finally,” he breathed.
Relieved.
Releasing such a profound sigh, I felt myself doing the very same.
He was going to be okay.
“Thank you,” Vic then said weakly on the floor, literally throwing himself at Rome’s feet. “Thank you, fucking thank you!”
Rome regarded him for several moments, unspeaking, unmoving.
And then he lifted the pistol, aimed right at the center of Vic’s, and pulled the trigger.
The monsters had been slain.
The King had been saved.
And he walked out of that asylum hand in hand with his Queen, as they returned to their rightful places within the kingdom.