Chapter 28

Savina~

Though I shouldn't be surprised, Aurelio was gone again, and I also knew that it was because he and Nero were meeting with Declan O'Brien. When Aurelio had made it clear that he'd be the one avenging me after his meeting with Nero, I hadn't bothered arguing with him. There'd been no point, and Aurelio wasn't above handcuffing me to his bed until everything was over. He had also mentioned assigning me a personal guard tomorrow, so I knew that this was my only opportunity to get away.

While I had no idea how long the meeting would last, I knew that it would last long enough to execute my plan. During my conversation with Kasen Sartori yesterday, she had mentioned how she was a bone of contention between Nero and Declan O'Brien, and where I'd been astonished, she had looked completely unconcerned. She had insisted that Nero was just being unreasonable, and I'd been wise enough not to ask for details. At any rate, if there was bad blood between the two men, then I imagined that the meeting would be a long one. Or at least, I was hoping that it'd be.

Armed with the only set of clothes that I had, I grabbed my purse, then made my way out of Aurelio's bedroom. My heart was thrumming in my chest, and I could only pray that my acting skills were up to par. While I didn't have a personal guard as of yet, Aurelio had put a couple on the building and on our floor until Ashton could be taken care of.

When I walked out of his penthouse to the elevator, I saw only one guard, and I gave a silent thanks. Two guards would be a little more difficult to manipulate, and I wasn't even sure if I'd succeed with one as it was. Nevertheless, with my back straight and my head held high, I headed towards the elevator, and I was almost there when the guard stepped in my way, stopping me.

I stopped, then looked up at him. "Excuse me, but I need to leave for a bit."

"Sorry, Ms. Valentine," he replied, his voice deep and even. "But Mr. Provenza made it clear that you are not to leave the premises without him."

I arched a brow. "Well, while I'm sure that Aurelio meant well, he was a little premature with his instructions."

"Premature or not, the orders were given, Ms. Valentine," he said sternly.

"Okay, well...these are your two choices. Well, I'm actually going to give you three since I'm feeling generous," I said, doing my best to sound like someone with authority. "Now, I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but women tend to find themselves in a rather…delicate situation once a month, and since Aurelio has no mother, sister, girlfriend, wife, or even a regular whore visiting him weekly, I'm sure you can understand why he'd have no…uh, products for this kind of situation." The man visibly blanched, and I honestly had no idea why a woman's period terrified so many men. "So, here are you three choices…uh?"

"Constantine, ma'am," he muttered, giving me his name.

"Constantine, good," I said, trying to ignore how my heart was beating dangerously with adrenaline. "So, Constatine, here are your choices…you can let me go to the store to purchase the items myself, you can go with me to appease your boss, or you can call Aurelio to get permission, though I'd advise against your third option."

"Why?" he asked, not sounding panicked, but maybe more like uncomfortable.

"Because he is currently in a meeting with Nero, Declan O'Brien, and Noah Murphy," I informed him, knowing that he'd know exactly who I was talking about. You couldn't live in Port Townsend and not know who Declan O'Brien, Noah Murphy, Avgust Kotov, and Maksim Barychev were. "I'm not sure if he'd appreciate the interruption for a question about tampons."

Constantine visibly swallowed, and a part of me felt bad for manipulating him, but I had no other choice. I really didn't want Aurelio owing Declan anything, and even if that weren't the case, this was my mess to clean up, and nothing would please me more than to show Ashton the real Savina Valentine.

"Of…of course," he replied, pulling himself together. "I'd be happy to accompany you to the store, Ms. Valentine."

I smiled, letting him believe that he'd just won a small victory. "That's wonderful, Constantine."

Playing my part, I allowed Constantine to escort me into the elevator, and I didn't say anything as he called for a car. Having grown up around these kinds of men, I knew that the Sartori organization ran like a well-oiled machine, so it didn't surprise me that Constantine would be able to find us a suitable car for the ride to the store. I'd also be willing to bet that the car would be bulletproof, and that the driver would be an expert in some kind of martial arts of sorts.

When we exited the building, Constantine did his thing, making sure that there were no potential threats in the area, then he opened the door for me, sliding inside next to me, then instructing the driver to take us to the nearest pharmacy.

Now, while I had no doubt that Constantine was going to follow me inside, I had a plan for that. Luckily for me, the burner phone that Aurelio had given me was a cheap one, and it hadn't taken a lot of savvy to turn off the locations. However, not a complete fool, I had the phone with me, and Aurelio had been controlling enough to program his number into it before handing it over to me. If things with Ashton ended up getting out of control, the phone felt like a safety net, one that I'd never had before now.

As soon as we pulled up to the pharmacy, as predicted, Constantine got out, then walked me into the brightly lit store. Though it was still early, the sun was beginning to set, and I needed the cover of night to help me escape. I was going to have a five-minute head start at best, and I was going to need to make the most of it.

Doing his job, Constantine followed me into the feminine product aisle, and anyone watching would think that he was just a dutiful boyfriend, accompanying his girlfriend to purchase some personal items. Yeah, he looked like he could crush a man's skull with just one hand, but still.

When we got up to the register, I placed the box of tampons on the counter, and before I could pull my wallet out to pay, Constatine was handing his card over to the cashier, really making it seem as if we were a couple.

Luckily for me, the cashier was a woman, so after the transaction was completed, I leaned in, then whispered. "Uhm, excuse me…but do you have a restroom that I could borrow really quickly?"

She immediately nodded in understanding. "Of course." She smiled kindly, then pointed towards the back of the store. "There's a restroom for customers in the far back right corner."

"Thank you so much," I replied, blood rushing through my ears, my hands beginning to sweat.

"Not a problem," she replied.

Moving out of the way, I turned back towards Constantine. "I need to visit the restroom really quickly," I said. "I'm sure that I needn't explain."

He grimaced a bit. "Of course."

I did my best to control my breathing as Constantine followed me towards the restrooms, and when I opened the door to the women's facilities, I had to immediately school my features when I saw what I'd been looking for.

A window.

Turning towards Constantine, I said, "Just give me a…a few moments."

"Of course," he repeated.

As soon as I locked the door behind me, I removed my heels, then stepped on top of the toilet lid, pushing at the window as soon as I could reach it. Tears began to sting the back of my eyes as the glass slid upwards, and ever so slowly, I inched the window up, thanking God for my slim build. Though it was going to be a tight fit, I had no doubt that I could get through.

Once the window was opened as much as it possibly could, I got down off the toilet, then flushed it, hoping that Constantine could hear the normal sounds coming from inside the restroom. After flushing it a second time, I stepped back on top of the lid, then tossed my purse through the window, praying that no one was on the other side. I didn't need anyone bringing any attention to what I was doing or making off with my damn wallet.

Next, I threw my shoes, then going feet first, I forced myself through the window, not even caring what awaited me at the bottom of the drop. This was my only chance to get free, and I had no plans on letting anything stop me. I needed to get to Ashton before Aurelio did, and I had no problem running all the way to O'Brien territory to make that happen.

When I finally made it out of the window, I was able to land on my feet, immediately putting my shoes on, then grabbing my purse. With only minutes to spare, I raced my way through the back alley, making sure not to come out until I was three blocks in the opposite direction. If I had the time, I'd call a cab or Uber using my burner phone, but I didn't. I needed to get myself some breathing room before I stopped running because I knew that Constantine was going to have no problem breaking the restroom door down once too much time had passed.

As I raced through the back street, I couldn't help but think of Kasen Sartori's advice, and it was amazing how easy things became when you had no other choice. She'd told me to un-trap myself, and that's exactly what I was doing.