Chapter 58 Elena
E LENA
Elena’s palms are slick with sweat. The zipper of Christian’s document wallet slides out of her grip.
Calm down. Breathe.
Sitting on the floor next to Christian’s suitcase, she takes two slow breaths. He’s singing along to his Spotify that’s playing in the bathroom while he showers.
Elena unzips the wallet and finds what she’s looking for. Their passports are tucked together behind the printed airline tickets. Her ankle immediately throbs when she stands. Hobbling to the wardrobe, she slips the passports into the inside pocket of her coat, along with three hundred euro. They haven’t used any of the cash in the wallet Christian carries on him since they arrived in Venice, so she’s confident he won’t come looking for the extra stash they kept here. If he does end up needing it, she can pretend they were robbed. Faking a robbery is the only reason she’s hiding his passport along with hers. She’ll leave it for him on the morning of her escape. The last thing she wants is to make it difficult for him to leave the country.
‘Hey.’ Christian’s voice is right behind her.
Her heart just about stops beating.
The shower’s still going. Shawn Mendes’ ‘Act Like You Love Me’ blares from the bathroom.
She turns to find him standing there naked, wet.
‘Come in the shower with me.’ The water drips down from his hair onto his face. He kisses her mouth. ‘I need to fuck you again.’ He takes her trembling hand and puts it around his penis. ‘Look at you all shaky.’ He grins.
She does what the song tells her to as she leans back against the wall with him pressed up against her, soaking her clothes with his steaming body.
His eyes are closed but she can’t take hers off the brown leather document wallet that’s lying wide open on the floor next to the suitcase, with the passports and money very obviously missing. Idiot. Why didn’t she put it away before she stood up? If he sees it, she’s a dead woman.
‘Get back in the shower,’ she says between kisses. ‘Go. I’ll follow you. I want the water hot in there.’ She gives him a playful smile.
‘Okay.’ He obediently jogs back to the shower.
The second he’s gone, she slides the document wallet under the bed.
‘Ellie,’ he calls out. ‘Come on!’
‘Coming.’ She throws her clothes into a pile on the floor and limps into the bathroom, sore, stressed, but prepared to do whatever it takes to keep him distracted.