Imbroglio

A pounding on the door had Aurora Khomeini jerking awake in the comfort of her king-sized bed. "Who is it?" she asked, rubbing off the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes.

"Maria."

"Maria?" She frowned, glancing at a wall clock. It wasn't so late but her personal maid was usually off duty by seven. "What's wrong? Come in."

"It's locked, madam. Can you please open the door? I'm so sorry to disturb but this is urgent."

Aurora groaned. She remembered putting the lock on the door before going to sleep earlier. It was to keep Maximo from sharing her bed that night because of some serious problems they've been having lately.

She pulled a robe over her black lace night dress and swung the door open. Maria's tear-streaked face had her heart racing, even before her gaze dropped to the older woman's blood-covered hands.

"What's wrong?" Aurora cried. "Where's Maximo? My sister?"

"Madam--"

Whatever Maria was about to say was impeded by a bullet that went into her head. She slumped.

Aurora staggered back in shock, working to keep breathing as she stared at the woman's lifeless body and at the freshly polished flooring that was starting to pool with blood.

She had half-expected someone, Maria's killer to be exact, to appear at the entryway to her bedroom, but she was still caught off-guard when a man came charging out of nowhere, tackling her to the ground. She fell with a scream, rolling on the floor, slamming her fists against the man who held her. She must have hit a weak point because he grunted and his hold loosened. Without hesitating, she kneed him in the balls and pushed his convulsing body off of her. She jumped to her feet and dashed through the door.

The stairs were her destination but footsteps and angry voices from that direction had her scrambling in the opposite direction. Having spent years living in her hilltop mansion, navigating her way out of the building was a piece of cake. The night's temperature had fallen considerably low but thankfully she'd grabbed a hooded wool coat on her way out through the service door.

There were curses and shouts from behind her, and a gunshot, though she didn't know where the bullet went. She knew it was too dark to see her, but the men tried to follow anyway, pointing hazy flashlights into the trees and stumbling along clumsily. The air dragged in her lungs--her adrenaline was so strong that she couldn't breathe properly.

Her mind was a mess. Her maid was dead, Maximo was nowhere to be found, she wasn't certain of her sister's safety and the blood on Maria's hands finally had an explanation. Aurora had stumbled upon the carcass of her Persian cat, Lulu. These men would do to her what they'd done to Maria and the cat and probably every other person back at the mansion if she faltered in her steps.

The hunt continued for what seemed like forever. They were relentless. In her mind, she had been running for what felt like an hour but actually, it had only been ten minutes. Thankfully, she could now pick up distant sounds of honking that signaled she was getting closer to the highway. If she could get to that point in one piece, the plan was to flag down a ride to the nearest police station.

She glanced back over her shoulder as she ran, something she'd been doing to make sure the assailants weren't catching up to her. As soon as she focused her gaze back on the path, she suddenly spotted a male figure which stood out in the dark, but not in time to step out of his way. She plowed into him, nearly knocking them both to the ground.

The man caught her close and steadied her as he took a step backward to brace himself. It was like trying to hold a jaguar. She made no noise, but she shoved against him with all her strength, her elbow darting up toward his face. Instinctively he deflected the blow, then spun her until her back was to him, clamping a hand tightly over her mouth. He could feel the scream gathering in her throat as he dragged her hard against him. If he let go, she could shatter his eardrums. "If you scream again," he said very coolly in her ear, "whoever is chasing you will find you. And I won't get in the middle of whatever trouble you've found yourself in."

The woman's voice was muffled as she tried to shake her head.

"I won't hurt you," he said. "But if you scream, I will let them, have you. Understand?"

She gave a quick nod as he turned her in his arms again. The hood of her wool coat had fallen back,

revealing dark hair caught in a thick ponytail. A moment was all it took. Air was punched from her lungs, her eyes opened wide, and in their familiar dark depths, he saw shock and disbelief and a crashing wave of panic.

He always knew this day would come. The day when she would be brought before him again, but he never imagined it would happen due to a consequence of his father's greed.

Her features were fine, delicate, much better than the way he remembered them. Though, the elbow she'd aimed at his head had been anything but weak. She was strong, this woman. Strong and delicate at once. Mariano Barrera pulled his hand away from her mouth. Her expression was wary but she didn't scream.

"You!" she whisper yelled.

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