Chapter 11: Chapter 11

The aftertaste of King’s stew lingered in Ella’s mouth long after she’d finished shoveling down a few bites, which had been hours ago. She lay in the dark on a small, twin bed, listening to Rome’s heartbeat and trying to be thankful that they were together, despite the fact that she was hungry and uncomfortable.

“It could be worse,” he whispered, brushing her cheek with his fingertips. “You could be Mary.”

Ella giggled and moved slightly so that she was probably facing him. It was hard to say since there were no windows in the room, and the only light came from underneath the door. The sliver of light did little to illuminate anything in the room, but she could still see his eyes. “I don’t think she minds as much as she let on,” Ella pointed out, thinking of what Mary had said when Gus had volunteered to sleep on the couch outside of the door, and she’d said he could share the small bed with her… she guessed.

Rome chuckled and brushed her hair back from her face, kissing her on the forehead. “I think we should leave tomorrow, as soon as King is done transforming us.”

“I agree. Do you still think we should head to the same location we were going to before, or should we go somewhere else?”

He let out a sigh, which made her think he’d had more on his mind lately than she’d been privy to. “I sort of want to see what the lawyer has to say before we head too far away from a flight or two to LA.”

She had a feeling that’s what he was pondering. “You want to go back?”

“I mean… I’m thinking about it. Bart’s home now, and as far as he can tell, no one’s looking for him.”

“He told his dad, though, right?”

“Yes, and he moved into his parents’ house just to give himself that extra barrier of protection. He said that, as far as he can tell, everyone still thinks you’re dead.”

Ella hated that she hadn’t gotten a chance to call her aunts yet, but King had been very hesitant to even let Rome call Bart back. He didn’t want any “pinging in his location” was how he’d put it. He didn’t even want them to leave their cell phones on, but he’d given in as long as they didn’t make “a lot of phone calls.”

“Tomorrow, we can reassess the situation, but I’m not crazy about the sleeping arrangements here, and I’m not even sure if the lack of exits makes us safer or more like trapped rats.”

Ella had thought the same thing when King was showing them the limited amount of ways to get out. “Hopefully, no one knows where we are, and we can get out of here without being followed.”

“Hopefully,” Rome agreed, kissing her on the head again. Ella closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, hoping they could both get some rest despite the uncomfortable circumstances. As much as she wanted to believe tomorrow would be a new day, one where no one was chasing her, she had a feeling her luck wouldn’t allow that to happen, and she’d need as much rest as she could get. Rome’s dad wouldn’t stop coming after them, not until he got what he wanted. If he already thought she was dead and he was still trying to track down his son, that meant he just wanted control over Rome. As long as that was Monty Verona’s prerogative, she and Rome could never be happy together or left in peace.

Ella had dozed off and was in the middle of an odd dream when a noise woke her. She couldn’t quite place it at first, but after she was awake and heard it again, she knew what it was.

“Gunfire?” she whispered to Rome, who was sitting up in bed beside her.

“Yeah.” He was moving, putting on his shirt and his shoes.

“Where’s it coming from?” Ella asked. It didn’t seem like it was inside of the house, but with all of the walls around the compound, it was difficult to believe they’d be able to hear something that was coming from outside.

“I don’t know. Stay here.” Rome went over to the door and unbolted the large silver locks he’d put in place hours ago when they’d first gone to bed.

Ella was putting her shoes on. She was already dressed. Before Rome could close the door, she was out into the common area behind him.

“I told you to stay inside.”

“I didn’t listen.” she said with a shrug. There was no way she was letting him go without her. If she had her say, she’d never leave his side again.

The computer monitors were on, and they immediately caught Ella’s attention. She saw two men with rifles out in the woods, walking stealthily between the trees. One of them paused and fired his gun. Even though she should’ve expected to hear it a split second later, the noise made her jump.

“Hunters?” Rome asked.

“What time is it?” Ella couldn’t believe hunters would be out that time of night.

“I don’t know, but those guys don’t look like the sort of guys my dad would pay. They’re scraggly and dressed in old clothes.”

“Disguises?”

“No, they’re not here for us.”

Gus’s voice behind her had Ella spinning. How had he snuck up on her?

He continued. “They’re here for King.”

Rome stared at Gus for a long moment before he said, “So the guy who is supposed to be keeping us safe brought us to a shootout?”

“I think it’s more like the guy who is keeping us safe went out into the world to fetch us and brought back some enemies who otherwise might not have known where he was,” Gus said with a shrug.

“Where’s Mary?” Ella asked.

“Asleep.”

“How can she sleep through this?” Rome wanted to know.

Gus shrugged. “She was… tired.” He ran a hand through his hair and looked away, and Rome found himself wondering how he had slept through that--how thick were these walls, anyway?

“What should we do?” Ella asked.

“I don’t think we should do anything,” Gus replied, looking Ella in the eyes. “King has it under control, I’m sure.”

“What were they shooting at then?” Rome asked.

Gus stepped over to the monitors, his hands on his hips, as he looked from one to the next. These weren’t as high tech as the ones upstairs, but they could see what was happening. The two men they’d seen with shotguns were making their way through the woods. On another monitor, a spring of some sort was triggered, and the guns went off again, but this time, there was return fire, apparently from the spring that was triggered and the form of a man, that looked something like a scarecrow. It was clear on the monitor that it wasn’t a real person, but in the dark, the attackers wouldn’t be able to see that. He wondered if the gunshots fired back at them were real or if they were just blanks.

When one of the men on the monitor grasped at his arm and shouted something in what sounded like Russian to Rome, he got his answer. “How did he do that?” Rome wanted to know.

“King is a genius when it comes to setting up defenses such as these,” Gus explained. “He has discussed how he would do it with me many times. I just didn’t realize he had put it into play.”

“It’s no wonder he was so careful when we drove in.” Ella had her arms folded as they watched the monitors. Rome put his arm around her. At the moment, he didn’t think she was in any danger, but he wasn’t walking away from the monitors as long as the gunfire was close enough to the compound to be heard.

The door at the other side of the stairs opened, and they heard footsteps coming their direction. “Is that King?” Rome asked, pushing Ella behind him.

“I believe so,” Gus said. Then, in Italian, he shouted, “King is that you?” Rome’s Italian was just good enough for him to be able to understand.

“Why are you kids up?” King asked with a chuckle before he appeared at the end of the stairs.

“Because someone is shooting at us?” Gus asked, and King let out a loud chuckle.

“Not at you. At me. I shoot back though. They’re on their way. Don’t worry. There is no danger here.”

“We’re sorry if they followed us here,” Rome said, meaning it. “We never meant to put you in harm’s way.”

“Everything is a harm,” King said with a shrug. “I am used to being in danger. That’s why I have built this place. Don’t worry. You’re safe. Go back to sleep. The sun will be up soon.”

Taking that to mean King expected them all to be up at first light, Rome took one more look at the monitors. Deciding they were safe, now that the men were out of the picture, he took Ella by the hand and led her back toward their bedroom. Once inside, he bolted the door into place, took off his shoes and shirt, and sat down on the cot. Ella was sitting on the edge, too.

“I don’t think I can go back to sleep,” she said, stifling a yawn.

“You’re obviously tired.”

“I am, but… that was scary.”

He brushed her hair back. “You’re safe.”

“How do you know? We don’t even know where those guys went.”

“They weren’t here for us. They were here for King. He didn’t even put any shoes on, so I think he’s not scared. If he’s not, why should we be?”

“True.” She stretched and slipped her shoes off. “Still….”

“Do you want me to stay awake while you sleep?”

“No. You need to sleep more than I do. I slept for three days.”

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto the thin pillow. “I slept quite a bit, too, remember?”

“That’s true. Life was a lot simpler then… when we were unconscious.”

He kissed her and rotated his arm so it was around her middle. “True. But I’d rather be awake and with you, even if it’s more complicated, than alone.”

“Me, too.” She kissed him but then lay back on the pillow, and he had a feeling she’d be out in a few minutes, even if she did say she didn’t want to go to sleep. She felt safe in his arms. He could only hope she actually was safe there.