Countdown - Iris Johansen [29]
Just a little time.
He hadn’t asked for an irrevocable commitment.
A win-win situation.
Lord, she didn’t know whether he was right, but she suddenly knew she was going to find out.
She leaned back in her seat. “Two days. I’ll give you two days, Trevor.”
5
Rocks flying everywhere.
Pain.
Blood!
She would not die in this hellish tunnel, Cira thought through the haze of pain. They had to be somewhere near the end of the passage. She wouldn’t be stopped now. She’d give herself just a second and then she’d—
“Run.” Cira could hear Antonio cursing as he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the tunnel. “Pamper yourself later.”
Pamper? she thought indignantly. It was pampering to pause because she was dazed and bleeding? The anger sent the blood rushing through her veins and into the sluggish coldness of her legs.
She ran.
Rocks were falling all around them.
Heat.
No air.
Night with no air.
Antonio’s hand holding hers in the darkness.
Darkness?
No, the darkness was less now.
And up ahead . . . light?
Her heart leaped and she put on speed.
Antonio chuckled as he kept pace with her. “I told you I’d lead you out of here.”
Don’t look at him. “If I stopped pampering myself,” she said tartly. “And I would have got myself out eventually.”
“May I point out that there’s little time for trial and error?” Antonio asked. “Admit you were right to trust me.”
They were closer to the light now. Almost safe. If anyone could be safe while the world ended around them, she thought grimly. “I don’t trust you. I just know you want out as much as I do. You could still betray me. You’ve done it before.”
“I made a mistake. I was hungry and poor and—”
“Ambitious.”
“Yes, ambitious. And you’re not? Tell me that you didn’t claw and fight to get out of the gutter and win a place for yourself.”
“I didn’t take money to abandon you. We were going to go away and start a life together,” she said bitterly. “You left me.”
“All right. I left you. Julius offered me either money if I left Herculaneum or a knife in the back if I stayed with you. I took the money.” His hand tightened around hers. “But I came back.”
“Because you wanted more gold. You wanted the chest of gold Julius gave me. Or maybe the portion Julius was willing to dole out to you for bringing him my head.”
“I wanted you,” he said. “And I was willing to connive and lie and risk my neck to get you.”
“And the gold.”
“Yes, but I’d take you without it.” He grimaced. “By the gods, what a confession from me. I never thought I’d say those words.”
She glanced at him, and even in the dimness she could see how beautiful he was, perfect of form and face. He had been the most popular actor to walk the stage at Herculaneum, and every woman in the audience had desired him. But it was his intelligence and volatile recklessness that had drawn Cira from the beginning. She had always been able to control her lovers but she had never been able to control Antonio. Perhaps that danger had been part of the excitement. Yet at this moment his expression was grave and his words had the ring of truth.
Don’t listen to him. He had betrayed her. He would betray her again.
“I’m taking you away from here,” he said. “If Julius tries to stop me, I’ll kill him. If you want to leave the gold, I’ll walk away from it.” He scowled. “Though you’d be a fool to do it. And I’d be a bigger fool to try to prove that it meant nothing to me. It does mean something to both of us. It means freedom and the chance to—”
Someone was standing at the end of the tunnel, framed against the light!
“What?” He frowned and followed her glance. He stiffened and stopped in his tracks. “Julius?”
“You know it is, damn you. You led me right to him.”
Fury. Disappointment. Sadness.
Accept the fury but not the sadness. What a fool she was. She’d almost believed him again. Would she never learn?
“Damn you.” She lunged forward and grasped the hilt of Antonio’s sword. “I’m not going to let you