AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Itoss and turn for hours. Every sound in the apartment makes my heart stutter.
Is Charles back?
Is he planning to come finish what he started?
The thought alone makes my stomach churn uncomfortably, and I tug a fluffy pillow against my chest.
How much longer can I do this?
I certainly can’t live my life like this as Charles’s wife. Not when it’s obvious he only sees me as a plaything that will eventually give him heirs to the kingdom.
There are a lot of ways I saw my life playing out as my father showed me the ropes. I thought perhaps I’d be forced to take his place due to injury or illness, or perhaps just because he wanted to enjoy some of his life without responsibility looming over him. I thought maybe I would die young. The De Marco family isn’t short on enemies, and I never planned to sit in my ivory castle while our soldiers fought our battles. Hell, I even expected an arranged marriage at some stage, maybe to one of the heirs my age who weren’t going to take over their families legacy.
But I never saw myself falling for the four most infamous men in the city at the same time I was being forced to marry Charles Davenport.
A door opens and closes at the end of the hall, and my breath stutters in my lungs. Is he back? Or is it just one of his guards doing their rounds? I’ve noticed on nights when he’s out there’s more activity, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s because he’s expecting me to forge some kind of escape plan. To be fair, that’s exactly what I should be doing instead of lying in bed feeling sorry for myself.
My bedroom door swings open, and I immediately roll for the other side, ducking down behind the mattress before whoever it is can spot me.
I grapple for the knife under my mattress that I stole from dinner the first day I was here, and when my fingers wrap around the handle. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Camilla?” they call out, and I vaguely recognize the voice as Knox’s, but why would he be in here in the middle of the night?
I’ve never gotten a creepy impression from him like I have with his cousin, but I’ve been wrong about people before, so I don’t want to cancel out the option.
“Kaos is waiting downstairs to take you home,” he tells me. “Charles is still out, but we have to move quickly.”
I hesitate for a second, because for all I know, this is a trap, and out of all the members of the Legion who could be coming to collect me, the one that handed me over in the first place is questionable. But I have to see his face to tell if he’s lying or not.
I peer over the edge of the bed, keeping the knife in my hand as I scan the darkness.
Knox is standing by the door with one hand on the wall and the other in his pocket, but he doesn’t look half as relaxed as he’s trying to appear.
“Why?” I ask, holding his gaze from across the room.
“Because he’s going to kill you if you stay here,” he admits. “Maybe not today, or next month, or even next year, but at some point, he’s going to go too far, and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
I stare at him for another second before I stand up, grateful that I pulled on the fullest pair of pajamas I’ve been afforded, a black lacy shirt and shorts set. I mean, my ass still hangs out of the bottom, and the top is missing buttons that mean my tits basically spill out, but it’s better than the straight-up lingerie.
I watch him warily for another moment before I release a breath and take a step toward him. The handle of the knife digs into my palm with the grip I have on it, but he doesn’t even raise a brow when he sees the weapon.
“Come on.” He holds out a coat I don’t recognize for me, and I quickly snatch it from him before taking a step back. He doesn’t seem offended by the move as I pull the coat on and follow him toward the emergency stairs I spotted the second day I was here.
Perhaps I shouldn’t be so untrusting of Knox. He gets no gain out of this, and although I have no doubt Charles loves to fuck with my mind, the worst that can happen is that I follow his second in charge into a trap, which I feel almost confident I could talk myself out of if push came to shove.
“What about the cameras?” I ask when he holds the door to the stairwell open for me. I can’t say I’m excited about walking down this many flights of stairs after being pretty much bedridden for the last six weeks, but if it means I’m getting out of here, I’m more than happy to wind myself permanently.
He steps past me and starts down the steps, not wasting a second, and I quickly follow after him. My bare feet hit each step, and I tug the coat closer. It’s freezing in here.
“I helped someone that works with the Legion to disable them without setting off any alarms,” he explains, his eyes darting around the concrete space with each step he takes.
“How are you going to tell Charles I escaped?”
He glances back at me with the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips, and I realize it’s the most human I’ve ever seen Knox Davenport look. His mask of indifference is usually so set that he almost appears robotic. “You’re an inquisitive little thing, aren’t you?” We pass a door, and I eye it carefully, half expecting Charles or someone that works for him to pop through it and drag me back. “As far as Charles is aware, I’m not here. I’m overseeing a shipment down by the docks. The Legion shut down the security system, and one of them came up the stairs to get you.” He shrugs.
I don’t ask him any more questions as we make our way down flight after flight until I can barely drag in a breath. I’m so exhausted. I used to be able to run a half marathon without breaking a sweat, but all that time I spent in bed is definitely making this a struggle.
By the time we reach the bottom, sweat beads across my forehead, and I’m about to tear the coat from my body when Knox opens the door and the freezing cold New York night assaults me.
