Chapter 5
1071 Words
I stayed pressed against the backseat, my heart racing so fast I could barely think. Waiting for Lorenzo to come back. And hating how much I needed him right now.”
Sienna sat stiff beside me, her fingers wrapped around the seatbelt, her eyes darting towards the containers like she expected them to jump at us. I wanted to tell her to stop imagining the worst, but I couldn’t. My chest ached with the same restless energy that made my fingers twitch.
Every second Lorenzo was out there, my imagination ran wild: a struggle, a shadow, someone moving too fast to see, and Damian… my Damian… somewhere in the middle of all this.
Minutes stretched. My fingers wouldn’t stay still. I kept touching the compass in my lap, the torn watch strap, the last traces of Damian. They felt like clues… or warnings.
I pressed my forehead against the cold window. Where is he? What’s happening?
A sudden echo cracked through the air, a harsh metallic thud.
Sienna jumped. “Elena?”
“I know.” My pulse went nuclear. That sound wasn’t random.
Then I saw him.
Lorenzo emerged from the darkness, moving fast, but unevenly, and his right arm was clutched tightly against his side. My breath caught. Something was wrong.
Before I could react, he stumbled near the car, bracing himself on the frame. His body tensed like a spring.
“Lorenzo!” I rushed towards him.
He didn’t speak. He just kept moving, forcing himself upright, shielding the side he was holding. That’s when I saw it.
Blood.
A dark smear soaked through his black shirt. My stomach dropped into a pit I didn’t know existed.
“Oh my God,”
Sienna gasped behind me. “You’re bleeding, Lorenzo, what the hell?”
“I’m fine.” His voice was impossibly calm. “It’s just a graze.”
A graze? It didn’t look like a graze.
“You were shot,” I said, my voice trembling. “Who did this?”
His dark eyes swept over me, someone had been here all this while watching. When I went toward the sound, I saw a man.
“What man?” I whispered.
Lorenzo shook his head, “I couldn’t see his face, he was in a black hoodie and gloves. He aimed at me, fired, and ran before I could catch him.”
“Wait—” Sienna snapped. “So someone tried to kill you and they might still be here?”
Lorenzo’s tone was low, “They’re sending warnings,” he said. “Which is why we need to leave now.”
He tried to straighten but winced. Instinctively, I moved to support him. He didn’t push me away this time.
His arm brushed mine, trembling from pain he refused to show. The closeness made my heart race in a way that terrified me for reasons that had nothing to do with danger.
“Lorenzo, sit. Let me—” I tried, my hands were shaking.
“No.” His voice softened, “Elena, we don’t have the luxury of staying. Whoever took Damian is out for anyone close to him.
The words struck me like physical blows. Fear surged so violently that I had to grip the car door to steady myself.
“Let’s go,” Sienna whispered. She was shaking.
I helped Lorenzo into the back seat. He gritted his teeth but let me guide him, his hand gripping my hip for balance. The touch was brief but hot enough to leave a print on my skin. It made something in me twist.
I sat beside him to support him.
Sienna climbed into the driver’s seat, hands trembling as she fumbled with the keys.
Lorenzo leaned close, his breath warm against my temple. “Elena,” he murmured. “Don’t be scared.”
“You were shot,” I whispered.
“And you’re safe.” His voice dropped even lower. “That’s what matters.”
He said it intensely, like a promise he’d bleed for. It sent a shiver through me.
“Sienna,” Lorenzo said, with a sharp tone, “drive. Straight home. Don’t stop. Don’t talk. Just drive.”
The engine roared to life. Sienna pulled away from the pier so fast that the tires screeched.
As the car sped away, I turned to Lorenzo. “Let me see the wound.”
“It’s nothing,” he muttered.
“You’re bleeding,” I argued. “Stop pretending you’re made of stone.”
He looked at me like he wasn't feeling any pain. But his facial expression gave him away.
“Lorenzo,” I breathed, “why didn’t you tell me he was dangerous? Why didn’t you warn me?”
Then he leaned his head back against the seat, closing his eyes briefly.
“Elena… I never wanted you in this.”
“In what?” I pushed.
His eyes opened slowly, meeting mine. “In the world Damian got tangled in.”
My breath vanished. “Damian? What world?”
He didn’t answer.
Sienna glanced into the rearview mirror. “Guys… we’re almost home.”
But Lorenzo wasn’t watching the road. He was watching me, the weight of something unspoken thick in his eyes.
“We’re not safe,” he said quietly. “Not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
His jaw tightened. “Because whoever shot me, wasn’t trying to kill me.”
“They're not finished with us.”
“Elena,” he said softly, “When we get inside… there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?” I whispered, my throat became dry.
His dark eyes burned into mine. “It’s about Damian.”
The words made my stomach drop and my chest tighten.
The car lurched onto the penthouse driveway. The city lights blurred through the windows. Every horrifying thought ran through my mind. Was it a crime to be almost married into the Blackwood family? Who exactly is not finished with us?
Whoever tried to kill Lorenzo, knew exactly how to get to us. And Damian… whatever was happening with him, wasn’t over.
The words Lorenzo hadn’t yet spoken, the ones he promised he would explain relating to Damian, all hung between us like a storm about to break.
And I knew, in the depths of my heart, that the next revelation would change everything.
But what could it be?
- Writer
