"Well, believe it." Victoria's tone was sharp, laced with something almost amused as she settled into the passenger seat. She sat with an air of defiant ease—arms crossed, one leg draped over the other, as if this was just another casual drive instead of a calculated getaway.
I kept my eyes moving, shifting between the road, the rearview mirror, and the side mirrors, scanning for any sign of pursuit. The tension in my jaw tightened with every second that passed. My grip on the wheel was firm, knuckles whitening as the adrenaline in my veins fought against the illusion of calm.
We managed to escape.
"You do realize the second your husband figures out one of his cars is missing, he'll track it," she said, her voice edged with knowing amusement.
I scoffed, watching as she flipped down the visor mirror and pulled out a tube of lipstick, completely unbothered by the gravity of our situation.
"My husband," I emphasized, my voice slicing through the tense air of the car's cabin, "is in Japan. And unless he's developed the ability to teleport, he's not stepping foot back here until tomorrow evening. It's what—four in the morning over there? He's either dead asleep or in some meeting he doesn't want to be in. Either way, he's not our problem right now."
Victoria was still staring at me, but I kept talking.
"And as for Enzo," I continued, shifting gears smoothly, "he's not going to be a problem either. I tranquilized him."
"You what?" she snapped, whipping her head toward me. "You tranquilized him?!"
A slow smirk crept across my lips as I flicked the empty vial in her direction. She caught it with wide eyes, staring at the label like I had just confessed to murder.
"Horse tranquilizer?" she demanded. "Doesn't that kill people?"
"Relax," I drawled. "I only used 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of his body weight. Just enough to sedate a man his size, not kill him. He'll be out for a few hours—long enough for us to get this done before Valentino's alarms start blaring."
