Chapter 20 #2
Angelo watched him. Ries had so many thoughts running through his head, he didn’t even know which ones were important.
Up to this point, his life had been worthless. Aside from his brothers, one of which might actually be relieved, there weren’t that many people who would even notice if Ries died.
The chances that he would somehow get out of this alive were almost zero and he wished there was another way. Another chance to apologize to Stephanie and make sure she knew how much he cared for her.
He stared at her, silently willing her to see that he was doing this for her. That she needed to be ready to run and hide, if need be. That she needed to forget about him.
That she needed to do whatever it took for her to get to safety.
Stephanie had spent the last several hours looking for a way to escape. Carlos must have hit her over the head more than once, because one minute she’d been crying over leaving Ries, and the next she’d awakened, terrified, alone, and freezing in the warehouse.
She’d panicked at first when she realized her hands were tied and she was gagged. But at least she had her vision. That meant she could find weak spots in her captors’ prison.
She’d immediately recognized Carlos and all of her inner misgivings where the young man was concerned came rushing forward. She’d heard what he’d told Ries about trying to poison him, and she was glad she’d intercepted his efforts.
When Carlos had told her the time was almost up, Stephanie had been terrified that he was going to execute her. He and Angelo had been talking amongst themselves and she wished she’d only had to contend with one man instead of two.
But she was also working on her bonds.
She knew from experience that patience did amazing things when panic would be worse than useless. So, she played up her panic, faking dramatics as much as she could, while she slowly slipped her wrists out of their duct tape bindings.
It was tedious and painful work. The duct tape bit at her skin, but her sweat softened the adhesive. Here, small movements did more than wild flailing ever would.
While waiting for them to ignore her presence, she had plenty of time for self-reflection. She realized that she’d not even done half of the things she’d wanted to do with her life.
She’d never scaled a tall mountain or swam with a dolphin. She’d never gotten married, had children, or learned to ride a motorcycle. She’d not visited the Great Pyramids, watched a Hawaiian volcano erupt, or visited Yellowstone and watched the geysers.
She’d done nothing except come to Greece, and that trip had been an utter failure.
She had so many things she wanted to do with her life, and this man was threatening to take it from her. She wasn’t ready to die. She had wondered if Ries would come.
If he didn’t, she’d just have to fend for herself.
If he did – the need to escape became even more urgent. She couldn’t let him die.
A life without Ries in it would be no life at all.
When she heard Ries’ voice, she felt both relief and fear in a combination that was almost paralyzing.
The fact that he’d shown up, prepared to sacrifice himself for her, was amazing. Maybe he really was the man she’d thought he was. Maybe her love story was real, after all.
It was also stupid and dangerous on Ries’ part, but Stephanie could hardly lecture him about that today.
She wanted to yell for him to get back and tell him how she truly cared for him, but she didn’t want to anger the men with the guns.
When Angelo stepped forward and pressed his gun to her temple, Stephanie was prepared to die with Ries.
She didn’t really want to live without Ries in the world.
She didn’t want to watch him die because of her.
She tensed, preparing to spring. Praying that she could rip her hands free when the time was right. Praying that she could distract at least one of the gunmen long enough. Long enough for Ries to shoot the other.
But now, Angelo had her by the throat and had a gun to her head. Any resistance would mean instant death – and instant loss of her ability to protect Ries.
Her opportunity to attack was slipping away and she only hoped that Ries would be able to escape before she died from the bullet she was sure to take.
When she saw Ries take a step forward, intending to lay his gun down on the ground, she knew her time was up. As Ries bent down, Stephanie exploded into action. She kicked her legs hard against the mattress, sending her own body – and Angelo with her – flying backwards onto the warehouse floor.
The assassin was so startled that the gun was jarred from its place before he pulled the trigger, going off several inches from Stephanie’s face.
She then head-butted him hard, slamming the back of her head into his nose, and heard his gun clatter to the floor.
She also heard Carlos yell, and heard more gunshots.
She focused with single-minded purpose on the one thing she could do: keep Angelo busy. He snarled and rolled to face her, pinning her body underneath his.
That was when Stephanie ripped her hands free and fastened them around Angelo’s throat.
The look of surprise in his eyes said it all as she held his throat as tightly as she could.
He fumbled for the gun he’d dropped, but Stephanie turned the tables on him, pinning him to the ground by his throat.
But then she realized she couldn’t pin his hands and throat at once. Even as she put all of her weight on his windpipe, she couldn’t see his hand – or how close it was to the gun that could end her life.