37. Lourdes
Lourdes
The envelope is thicker than the others, cream instead of white, my name printed in a clean, corporate font.
I intercept it from the mail before Ares sees it.
My hands tremble when I slide a finger beneath the seal and tear it open.
Nerves pool in my gut from the sheer audacity of what I might just pull off.
The VISA debit card gleams with its embossed numbers when I tilt it toward the light.
It’s so small but holds the promise of the biggest risk I’m taking.
I keep the card hidden in my lap while I discreetly activate it through my phone, and when the confirmation tone chirps in my ear, something inside my chest unlocks.
On my laptop, I book a one-way ticket to Chicago for tomorrow afternoon, selecting the most ordinary but direct flight I can find. I’ll wait to withdraw cash for small purchases when I get there. I’ll also wait to find a cheap motel after I see Sandrine.
I lean back in the leather chair, sighing and feeling brilliant. I only need to plan one more step to confuse everyone. I rise and take the circular stairs down to the administrative floor and find one of the admins at her desk studying a spreadsheet.
“Hi, Paula. Atlas needs a car from here tomorrow at noon to take him to the airport.”
Fisting her mouse, she books the car without asking questions. We’ve done this before.
“All set.” She nods. “He can pick it up at the south entrance. Do you want me to give you the confirmation code or text him?”
My heart stops…
“Me. Text it to me. He gets so many messages. I’ll forward it to him.”
“Done.”
“Thank you.” I give her the most honest smile I can manage.
Then I head back to my desk and hope none of this blows up in my face.
The next morning starts with my head in the toilet from vomiting. My nerves are unrelenting, but I push through.
Ares left for the Aurelian while I was in the shower. I move through my routine at the penthouse as though everything is normal.
When I’m getting ready to leave, Pride rolls in several familiar cardboard boxes on a hand truck. A cool sensation floods my veins in relief. My dad’s boxes from the apartment!
“Where do you want these, ma’am?” the guard asks.
I wonder where in this penthouse Ares would want old musty boxes. “In my closet, please.”
I follow him, and when he’s out of the bedroom, I quickly dig through the many notebooks Dad kept. Useless clutter of a paranoid man. I can’t take these with me. They don’t mean anything.
I dig some more and smile, finding the photo album that I would have really hated to leave behind. Smiling, I dust it off and put it in my handbag.
My morning at Zervas & Company doesn’t deviate from my usual routine. Coffee, reports, and a quick joke with Ambrose.
Yet my pulse never settles. When the clock creeps in on eleven-fifty, I smooth my skirt, grab some junk mail to make the errand look legitimate, and step toward the elevators.
My guards stationed near the lobby straighten slightly when I approach.
“I’m just checking on the car for Atlas at the south entrance,” I say, letting my tone carry mild irritation. “He’s running late.”
They exchange a glance, then turn their eyes to Wrath. He hesitates, and my stomach drops. His gaze holds on me a beat too long, seeming to narrow on my coat. He doesn’t see my purse crushed inside it. But it’s freezing outside.
Wrath shifts on his feet like he might object. Might call Ares.
But he finally gives a small nod. “Go.”
The entire campus is secured, monitored, and layered with state-of-the-art safeguards. They also don’t see me as the prisoner I really am.
In the lobby, I don’t look back as I cross the polished marble floor. If someone follows me, I don’t want to see it and react. I’m dying inside.
A security camera blinks above the exit. Yanking my hair out of the bun, I angle my face down, letting my hair fall forward as I push through the doors.
At the curb, the black sedan waits exactly where it should, engine idling patiently. Innocently.
For a moment, I stand on the sidewalk and hesitate. Damn… What if… What if I just tell Ares about Sandrine?
What if he figures out why my father changed her name and hid her? What if he finds the person she’s hiding from?
A mafia boss like Ares would know exactly how to use information like that. And protect her the way he wants to protect me.
I sigh, considering the reality. He doesn’t love me. He just wants to own me.
Still, I understand with devastating precision that once I get into this car, I’m setting off a bomb whose blast radius will level this city. Ares will hunt me down when he figures out that I’m gone.
But with such a busy network, it should take hours to reconcile the ordered car for Atlas he didn’t need. By then I will have landed in Chicago and can disappear into the folds before they know I’m gone.
The December air slices across my cheeks differently from when I got here this morning. Now it’s the wind beneath my wings. A sign to say: fly and be free.
I get into the car, and the driver glances at me over his shoulder with a flicker of recognition.
“Miss?”
My heart pounds, but I don’t let the panic show on my face.
“Change of plans,” I say, already reaching for the seatbelt. “Atlas can’t make it. Ares asked me to go in his place.”
His fingers tap once against the wheel, our eyes locked in the rearview.
“Problem?” I snap with authority.
“No, miss.” The driver finally nods and shifts the car into drive.
Hiding my relief, I sit back, but my phone buzzes in my hand.
Unknown Number
Panicking, I power it off without answering. I plan to remove the SIM card once I buy a burner phone at the Chicago airport.
I spend the next two hours dealing with typical airport tension while looking over my shoulder every few minutes.
Waiting to get on the plane, standing in line, feeling like a sitting duck.
Finding my seat and then staring at the galley as other passengers file in.
All while I wait to see Ares coming for me, his large, intimidating frame strutting down the narrow aisle.
The doors close. No Ares. We pull away from the jetway. No Ares.
I keep my eyes glued to the tarmac. Waiting for movement. For chaos.
Nothing. The plane lifts off, and I close my eyes in relief.
I did it. I outmaneuvered the God of War.