Chapter 3 - The Getaway
The kitchen was a blur of stainless steel and terrified catering staff as Julian pulled Seraphina through the swinging doors. Her heavy Chantilly lace gown was catching on table corners.
"Take the dress off!" Julian yelled, kicking open the loading dock door.
"It's a two-hundred-thousand-dollar Vera Wang!" she shouted back, even as she reached for the zipper.
"It's a body bag if you trip in it!"
Seraphina ripped the heavy skirt away, leaving her in a silk slip and sheer tights. The cold night air hit her skin like a physical blow as they sprinted toward a black SUV idling in the alleyway.
They threw themselves inside. Julian slammed his foot on the accelerator, tearing out of the estate just as two Blackwood Range Rovers crashed through the main gates in pursuit.
Tires squealed as Julian navigated the winding cliffside roads of the coastal estate. Gunfire shattered the back window of their SUV. Glass rained down on Seraphina.
"Get your head down!" Julian roared, swerving violently to avoid a civilian car.
Seraphina curled into a ball on the floorboards, her heart hammering against her ribs. She wasn't just a bride anymore; she was prey.
Julian killed the headlights, taking a blind, terrifyingly sharp turn down an abandoned logging road. The Blackwood vehicles roared past them on the main highway, their taillights fading into the night.
Julian slammed on the brakes, the SUV shuddering to a halt in the deep woods. The silence of the forest was deafening after the chaos of the gunfire.
He turned to her, his chest heaving, his dark eyes searching hers. "Are you hit?"
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"No," Seraphina gasped, pulling glass from her hair. She looked at Julian, seeing the man who had silently grieved at her brother's funeral, the man who just threw his life away to save hers. "Why didn't you tell me you suspected Marcus?"
"I didn't have proof. You did," Julian said softly. He reached out, gently wiping a smudge of blood from her cheek. "Now, we have to survive long enough to use it."
