A Woman's Empire

LXVIII

CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT:

Audrielle stood in the doorway, unable to move as she watched the scene fold out in front of her. Tanner leapt off the bed, slamming his fists against one of the bodyguards and pulled out a gun, aimlessly firing bullets throughout the room. Leo let out a roar, his body storming across the room as he knocked down two men.

Suddenly a flash of blonde hair whizzed past Audrielle and her eyes snapped to the escaper. And then it clicked. Her face. The piercing blue eyes and the long, tan legs. Lucy sprinted down the hall, trying to avoid death but Audrielle turned around, sprinting after her.

While the commotion in the hotel quickly faded away as Audrielle ran after Lucy, she tightly gripped the knife, her feet carrying herself up the flight of stairs. But Lucy was fast. And Audrielle was wearing heels. Letting out a cry of frustration, Audrielle turned the corner, storming up a few steps but when she looked up, she quickly realized that Lucy could no longer be seen.

Taking a deep breath, she continued her climb, her chest panting rapidly as she made it to the top of the stairs where an old door met her. Pushing it open, Audrielle was suddenly met with a cool gust of wind, her dress blowing elegantly in the breeze as she stepped onto the rooftop of the building.

Before she could look around, an arm snaked around her neck holding her in a choke hold, leaving her clawing at the arm to let her go.

"Christian should've killed you when he had the fucking chance!" Lucy screamed into Audrielle's ear as Audrielle gasped for air, her face turning red from the fading oxygen.

Lucy's grip tightened and Audrielle's fingers dug into her arm, trying to pry her off but Lucy didn't budge, only hissing out in pain from the nails.

Letting out a cry of anger, Audrielle grasped the pocket knife and shanked it into the side of Lucy's thigh. The chokehold loosened and Lucy let out a bloodcurdling scream as Audrielle scrambled forward, gasping for much needed air.

"You bitch!" Lucy screamed, trying to lunge at Audrielle but she stepped out of the way, watching the girl fall to her hands and knees instead. Something in her froze over, her heart stopped pumping at Audrielle could feel her brain switch off. The amount of blood seeping out of the stab wound in Lucy's leg didn't make her sick, instead, she found a wicked joy in watching her bleed out.

"You. You fucked with the wrong woman." Audrielle said lowly, storming towards Lucy, the knife firmly gripped in her hand as she watched fear flood Lucy's eyes. Lucy scrambled to her feet, her blood staining the concrete as Audrielle closed in on her, forcing her to stumble back.

With every step Audrielle took forward, Lucy took a step back. And then in a blink of an eye, Audrielle was towering over Lucy by the edge of the building. "You tried to kill me. And then you tried to take away my son. You tried to take away the only thing that was worth living for." The end of the venomous sentence cracked, emotion flooding from every syllable and Audrielle could feel the fire fueling her veins as she swung the knife up.

In that moment, as the blade slashed against Lucy's throat open, all Audrielle could think was a life without her son. A life where she would be caught falling down a deep rabbit hole with an abusive husband that cheated on her and the constant reminder that their marriage was only a business deal. Audrielle couldn't imagine a world without Orlando, his toothy grins or his smart, funny comments or how optimistic he was. She couldn't imagine a world so cold. Crimson blood splattered out from the gash and painted Audrielle's beautiful dress with the deathly liquid. Her eyes casted down as Lucy's eyes widened in utter shock, her arms desperately clinging to the seeping liquid.

And then Lucy's body began to fall, her blonde hair swooping around her face as she plummeted to the ground. Audrielle stood on the ledge and watched, her eyes drawn to the body that was becoming more and more of a small spec in the busy city. The wind howled and the crystals on the end of her dress whipped around her legs, blood that didn't belong to her painting her skin like stars coating the night skies.

When the body hit the ground, Audirelle squeezed her eyes closed, taking a deep breath as her hands began to shake. Suddenly the world became small. The sound of the city below her feet roaring loudly as she frantically tried to piece together what had just happened.

She killed Lucy. She didn't hesitate as she slit her throat. She bathed in her blood as her body plummeted to the city floors and she couldn't help but watch. A sudden wave of shock trembled through her body and Audrielle dropped the knife like it had scolded her hand, a strangled gasp left her throat as she stumbled away from the edge and before she could turn to see who pushed open the door, a pair of heavy, secure arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from the buildings edge.

"Are you okay?" Leo murmured, his voice gentle as he pulled Audrielle into his embrace. Audrielle didn't say anything. She didn't trust her voice. She had just killed someone. She watched them bleed out and it was all her fault.

Audrielle was still in a haze as she tried to listen to everything happen around them. The sound of police and ambulance sirens shot through her body as Leo's voice boomed through the air, demanding a helicopter to come and take them away from the crime scene. One minute Audrielle had murdered someone and then she was huddled into a helicopter, flying through the city like it was just some sort of joy ride. The entire time Leo sat next to her, his arms wrapped around her as he tried to persuade her that everything was okay, that the trouble was all gone, the monsters now dead and that her and Orlando would finally be safe from old nightmares.