Page 106 of Crowned In Blood
Did the door open? Could I have been so distracted that I missed it?
But two men were outside guarding the room, and another two were guarding the main entrance to the wing. She shouldn’t have been able to get past them, and if she did, my men would have called.
“Yes, it was on the news. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
“I’m okay. I didn’t get hurt, but Jo, how are you here?”
A small, sad smile appeared on her face. “I have my ways. One day, I’ll explain them to you, but for now, let’s take care of Marco.”
“I… what? Take care of him? How?”
She simply shook her head, took my hand, and stood beside him.
“Johanna, what is going on?—”
“You would do anything to save him, wouldn’t you?”
My world, which had stilled the moment Marco had been shot, suddenly came roaring back to life. “Yes,” I said, without a second of hesitation.
“Then give me a moment.”
She never moved, but there was something different about her. The air around her seemed denser, humid, as if there was an unseen pressure that shouldn’t exist. I wanted to ask her more, to know how she got here, why she was here, and what she was doing, but I didn’t.
There was nothing I wouldn’t do to bring Marco back to me—no matter the price.
The pressure suddenly dissipated, and Jo turned to me. She took my hand and placed a single small pill inside my palm. “Give this to him and he’ll be fine in a couple of hours.”
I stared at her.
Was she serious?
But there wasn’t a single breath of doubt in her, and the way she stood before me, so confidently relaxed, made me feel like this wasn’t the first time she’d done something like this.
“What is this, Jo? Why are you doing this?”
“I know what you’ve gone through and how hard you had to fight. I don’t want that for you anymore. You've finally found someone who loves you, who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. And I will do anything in my power to defend that for you. It’s time for you to be happy.” Her eyes shifted to my palm, then back to my face. “I know it might be hard to trust me right now, but please, think about the last couple of weeks of our friendship. If you could trust me then, please trust me now.”
Then she turned and walked away.
“Jo!” I called out to her, but she was already at the door, and by the time I reached it, she was gone.
I threw the door open, startling my two guards.
"Where did she go?" I yelled.
"Who, Doña?" one of my guards said.
"The blond woman that just left."
"Doña, no one has come in or out of this room for the last hour."
"But—"
They looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was.
I stepped back into the room, my legs shaking, as I closed the door slowly.
She was here. Wasn't she?
