48. Arianna
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
ARIANNA
W hat had I done?
I stared at Matteo’s forearm, blood dripping on the floor of the planetarium. Drip. Drip. Drip. So much blood. So much red.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” I whispered over and over again, pain spreading through me. “God… Oh God…”
There was red, and then a flash of orange.
My mind struggled to comprehend the sudden heat, staring at all the red that I’d caused. I’d hurt him. I’d shot him.
Nausea clogged my throat, and the sensation of drowning pulled me under. I felt like throwing up when a strong hand curled around my throat. I felt something sticky and warm on my skin and brought my hand to cover his. They brushed over Matteo’s knuckles and I lowered my gaze to find crimson stains on my fingers.
The blood I drew with the gun I shot.
Closing my eyes, I willed it all away. If I kept them closed, this scene would vanish and I’d wake up.
There were words spoken, shouted, but my ears were deaf to it all. The only thing I registered was the ringing in my ears.
“Arianna…”
Slap. I blinked at the light force against my cheek.
“Snap out of it, Arianna!”
I stared at Matteo through blurred vision, unable to get out of this stupor.
“Blood… I… did it…”
I dragged wheezing breaths into my lungs—lungs that I could’ve sworn were failing.
“It’s just a graze.” He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me with enough force that my head flopped like I was a rag doll. “Look at me!”
The sound of glass shattering yanked me out of my stupor and I watched in horror as fire engulfed the beautiful room. Broken glass reflected orange as the fire crept closer to us.
“We have to get out of here,” Matteo growled, and air rushed into my oxygen-starved lungs at the realization that I didn’t hurt him that badly.
“You’re not dead,” I croaked, my eyes burning from the smoke.
He smiled, although it was nothing like the one I loved so much. “Not even death could keep me from you, Ari.”
Matteo yanked me by my arm, forcing me onto wobbly feet, and we ran toward the glass wall, the only side of the planetarium not on fire where our clothes lay discarded. Matteo picked up the shirt, wrapped it around his unharmed arm, and then punched it through the glass.
Grass and forest stretched in front of us, a safe haven from the violent flames, and fresh air hit me as I dragged a deep, desperate breath into my lungs.
Matteo
We leaped forward just as another glass panel shattered behind us. I gripped her hand in mine, running barefoot until we were a safe distance away at the forest’s edge.
The fire roared, its flames lighting up the sky, as screams and shouts traveled through the air, fast approaching. It didn’t take long for sirens to echo in the distance.
Arianna whirled around, her blue eyes staring at the scene, not comprehending. Her mouth opened and closed, her silent questions somehow more deafening than anything else.
Nikola’s shadow appeared, a scratch marring his cheek.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I asked.
“Hannah is even crazier than me,” he growled. “She poured gasoline all around the planetarium. Had to fight her tooth and nail for the fucking match.”
Arianna’s breathing turned to jerky gasps and she paled. “H-Hannah?”
She was a fucking dead woman. I’d tear her limb from limb. Make her scream. How fucking dare she set that place on fire with her sister inside?
Yes, Arianna shot me, but she didn’t mean to kill me. Emotions were running high in the heat of the moment. And if I was being honest with myself, I was asking for it; it was only a matter of time before she snapped.
But Hannah… all signs pointed to her intention. She wanted Arianna dead.
“Are you sure it was her?” I demanded, my voice a stark calm compared to my raging insides.
Nikola shrugged.
“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Arianna’s off-the-wall question pulled our attention to her pale, tear-stricken face. She stared at us with huge eyes, her pupils blown so wide her usual coral blues were swallowed by black.
Nikola raised his brow, shooting me a look that clearly told me he thought Arianna had lost it.
“Dollface, it’s not like you’re fully dressed yourself,” he pointed out, and it was only then that I realized she was still only wearing my suit jacket. Glimpses of her smooth skin and breasts played peekaboo with each breath she took and I yanked her to me, quickly buttoning up the jacket.
Satisfied that she was covered adequately, I turned to Nikola with a glowering gaze.
“Where is she?”
“Don’t know. She was running like a maniac. I ran after her but lost her in the woods, and then I saw the fire and came back.” Nikola pushed his hand through his hair. “And now we have an audience.”
Fire engines pulled up at the side of the building. People ran toward us. Some I recognized, others I didn’t.
“I’ll take her to her dorm,” I told Nikola as I wrapped my arm around Arianna’s waist. “I’ll be right back.”
But just as I turned, I came face-to-face with Agent Llyod. And, judging by the way Arianna stiffened next to me, she was also acquainted with the man.
“So, Mr. Vitale, first you eliminate the Yale shooter… supposedly,” he drawled. “And now you’re starting fires at this campus?”
“What the fuck is the FBI doing here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on him. I really didn’t like this prick. “I didn’t realize your agency dealt with such trivial matters?”
He wasn’t fazed. “When it’s a matter of security… Besides, I was in the neighborhood.”
“You just happen to be on our campus in the middle of the night?” I said, letting sarcasm seep into my tone. “Maybe you are the security issue here.”
His eyes narrowed, then flicked to the raging fire. “It seems to me your concern should be on the burning building, not me.”
I made a mental note to send an inquiry to Alexei Nikolaev’s wife. She used to work for the FBI and could offer more insight, because it made zero sense that this guy would be here.
“Well, I’m not worried. It’s a matter of?—”
“It was an accident,” Arianna breathed, cutting me off. “It was a romantic date and… we must have knocked a candle over.”
“A candle,” he repeated incredulously as he looked over his shoulder and flagged some people over. “And the gunshot wound on your arm, Mr. Vitale?”
“It’s barely a graze,” I gritted, the cold tenor in my voice matching his expression. “I would think they would have taught you better at the agency, Agent Lloyd.”
“Have it your way, then.” A coy smile tugged at his lips and his eyes found Arianna.
I pushed her behind me, hating how he was looking at her. “My girlfriend is going back to her dorm to get dressed.”
Silence for one, two, three seconds…
“Very well. She can go, but you two will remain.”
“And if we don’t?” Nikola challenged as more men appeared behind the smug agent.
“Then we’ll arrest all three of you.”
“But—”
“We’ll stay and help you do your job,” I said, cutting Nikola off before he could make this worse. I turned to Arianna. “Wait for me in your dorm.”
“O-okay.”
My chest squeezed watching her walk away from me barefoot, and I fought the urge to go after her. It was my job to protect her, even though she’d shot me. Even though she’d screamed that she hated me.
None of it mattered.
For now, I’d have to focus on the man in front of me because something was warning me that he was a threat.