Chapter 22 - Blair
I can’t stop smiling. I feel like a little girl, grinning and giggling all the time.
I can’t believe how lucky I am and how amazing everything in my life has become in such a short time. I can’t believe he said helovesme, and I keep replaying the moment in my memory so I can hear it again and again.
Even now, sitting in the back of the car as a driver and a guard escort me to work, I am still thinking about it.
I want to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.
Simon left very early for work this morning to finalize some things for Lindsey’s flight. He wants to get her out of the city by ten this morning. Everything has been organized, and he has his best men on it. She will be fetched from the safe house, and as soon as she sets foot on the plane, she will disappear. Lindsey will no longer exist. Her new identity will take over, and Jaco and his family will never be able to find her. For extra safety, even Simon doesn’t know where her new life is being set up. He transferred the funds needed into a trust account that his lawyers have access to. Then he hired an elite force to help him set it all up, and it sounds to me like they are doing a better job than even witness protection could have. Lindsey is going to be fine. I hope she is going to be happy in her new life.
I am now on my way to the office too, wanting to get back to normal and into routine.
I think I might run upstairs and kiss him before I go into the office for the day. A sneaky little visit with myhusband.
That man is the most amazing person I have ever met. I never thought I would get to find out what real love feels like inmy life. The kind I see in the movies and read about in books.I have that.
I smile and look up to ask the driver how much longer it will be until we arrive at the office building. But as I do, an ear-shattering sound comes out of nowhere, and all the air is punched from my lungs as I am body slammed into the car door.
The car lurches across the road and rolls, throwing me against the safety belt, making it cut into my shoulder painfully. An airbag bursts, punching me again and stinging my face.
I scream without knowing for sure it’smescreaming.
The car rocks to a standstill on its side against a lamp post. The airbag deflates, spent after having served its purpose.
I’m fighting for a breath. Winded and terrified, I clutch my hand over my chest and try to force my mind to slow down.Don’t panic. Panic will help nothing.
In the front seat, the guard and driver are shouting at each other. The guard has his gun in his hand, and they are trying to kick the front window out.
From the front-side window, glass smashes inward. It glitters over the two men like rain. Both of them turn, their eyes closed to shield against the glass, and they open fire, aiming up at whoever is standing over the car.
I’ve never heard gunfire this close before. It’s louder than I could ever have imagined.
I cover my ears and take in a sharp breath. Relieved to be breathing, but then I’m screaming again.
Blood splatters from the front of the car as their bodies become riddled with bullets.
In a matter of seconds, both men are dead. My chest looks like a canvas of art splattered in bright red paint. My mind refuses to accept that it’s blood. I reach up with shaking hands to touch my face and realize it’s also covered in their blood, which comes away warm and sticky on my fingertips.
The door next to me, or above me, yanks open, and hands reach into the car, grabbing at me.
Someone cuts the safety belt from my body. Men shout orders at each other. Everything feels like a dream as I am lifted from the overturned car.
They drag me across the street, also glittering with shattered glass, and throw me into the back of a black SUV.
“Who are you!?” I demand, finding my voice.
But their only response is to throw a bag over my head and tell me to shut up.
***
My body is roughly dumped onto a hard chair, and I let out a pained groan as one of my ribs is still aching fiercely from the crash. For a second, I wonder if it’s broken, but I don’t have time to worry about that.I’ve been kidnapped. My life is in danger.
My hands are grabbed and tied behind my back, awkwardly wrapped around the back of the chair.
Someone grabs the hood and yanks it off my head, hurting me and scratching my skin.
I squint against the harsh light shining directly into my face.