Page 57 of House of Lies
“Dom.” Relief floods my voice, and I cry. “We were in a crash,” I explain. “Mattia is seriously injured. I don’t know where we are.”
I hang up before he can ask further questions. I have given him all the information I can. There’s nothing left of me to give or do.
So I do what I must.
I start running.
CHAPTER 34
Kaz
I slowly pry my eyes open, my head throbbing with pain, my vision blurry, and my mind in disarray. A wet, sticky sensation on the side of my head only adds to the discomfort, but the pain on my right side is far worse. I struggle to make sense of my surroundings, but it’s difficult. I’m bleeding too much—my mind races, trying to comprehend what happened.
I killed Ermanno.
I called Domenico to bring Caelia to the entrance and leave Ludovic alone for now. I’ll deal with him later. I asked him to make sure the plane was ready to go.
And then she stabbed me.
Fuck.
Caelia.
I scan my surroundings, but I find myself alone in the car. It takes a considerable effort to unbuckle my seatbelt, slowly open the door, and step out. Nausea washes over me, and I feel light-headed. Leaning on the car for support, I stagger back onto the road. I can’t think clearly.
I have to find Caelia.
No. I have to call Domenico, but my phone is nowhere to be found.
I need to remove the fucking knife. It’s hard to explain a stab wound when you’ve been involved in a car accident. My body betrays me, unable to move too much. Clenching my teeth, I take the knife out. My own fucking knife. It will serve me well to remember not to gift weapons to women who hate my guts—or Mattia’s. My eyes squeeze shut, and I grunt in paint. A chill runs down my spine as I recall the events that happened and how she stabbed me—that little devil. I should have seen it coming, though. I throw the knife in the trunk. The headlights of an approaching car momentarily blind me. I could ask for help, but I’m unable to move. The car stops close to the wreck, so maybe I’m not entirely out of luck yet. I apply pressure to the wound, trying to prevent it from bleeding so much.
“Sir?”
I recognize Domenico’s voice, but my eyes struggle to focus on him.
“Domenico?”
“It’s me, sir. What the hell happened?”
“Find Caelia,” I growl. “She ran away.”
“Sir, we have to get you to a hospital.”
“Find her!” I snap. “Now, Domenico!”
“She called me to tell me there was an accident.”
So she couldn’t make up her mind in the end. Did she or did she not want me dead?
He wavers between helping me and going after her. She couldn’t have gone too far. I can only hope she isn’t as severely injured as I am. On the other hand, I didn’t fucking stab her, so I’m going to go on a limb here and assume she’s not as hurt.
“I can’t leave you, sir.”
“It’s an order, Domenico. Don’t make me put a bullet between your eyes. Call someone else to help me. Find her. NOW!”
“All right.”
He calls someone, giving orders. Logically, I know helping myself is more important than finding her, but I can’t let her escape me. We were so close to getting out. My plane is waiting. I was ready to take her away from this life. Take her with me back to Russia. I was expecting her to fight me, but I wasn’t expecting her to try to kill me tonight. All the moments, and she chose tonight. Couldn’t she have waited another day to stab me? My woman is completely insane.