ABSOLUTE INSANITY: A forbidden bond-Chapter 122: Cuffs?!

Chapter 122: Cuffs?!
Chapter 122
KATYA POV
A sharp sound cracked through the quiet and I froze. My head going down as if it was aimed at me. "What the..?" I didn’t get to finish as Another bang sound followed.
Then another.
Then more gunshots?.
Gunshots!
Here!
On this floor! My heart lunged into my throat, pounding so hard it made my hands shake.
Romeo’s floor. it was coming from the only room next to mine. Romeo’s room?!
A cold wave of panic slammed into me before I could think. My robe belt slipped from my fingers as I scrambled to tighten it again.
"Oh God.. " I breathed, adrenaline flooding me so fast I felt dizzy. Another gunshot. Then the unmistakable sound of glass shattering.
My breath hitched. My body was already moving. I shoved open my bathroom door, nearly slipping on the damp tiles as I sprinted into my bedroom.
My hands fumbled for the nearest thing—my robe tie, my hair, anything—trying to pull myself together and failing miserably.
"An attack?!" I whispered, fear slicing clean and sharp through every frantic thought. What should I do? what should I do? Hide! No run!
I didn’t even stop to think it through anymore. I didn’t argue with myself. I just ran. Barefoot, dripping, barely wrapped in my robe.
And threw myself into the hallway, my eyes landed on Romeo’s closed door. There wasn’t anyone in the hallway.
My heart hammered so hard it felt like it might shake loose from my ribs. The hallway stretched out in front of me—silent, empty, wrong.
Romeo’s door stayed shut.
Gunshots didn’t come from nowhere. They didn’t echo like that unless someone was firing at something. Or someone.
I took a shaky breath, fingers gripping the edge of my robe as if it could shield me from bullets.
What am I supposed to do? Run downstairs? Hide? Scream for the guards?
Or—
My eyes snapped to his door again.
Or go to him.
"No," I whispered immediately, shaking my head so hard water flicked off my hair.
"No. That’s stupid. He’s got guards. He’s got Antonio. He doesn’t need—" Should I go get him?
I mean, he’s still using a wheelchair, he wouldn’t be able to help himself.
What am I thinking. He wasn’t my responsibility. He wasn’t even my friend.
"He’d be the last person to help me," I hissed under my breath, clutching my robe tighter.
"He’d probably throw a tantrum if he knew I even thought of checking on him." But my feet stayed rooted to the spot.
My throat tightened painfully. For a split second, something sharp tore through the panic—anger, frustration, confusion.
I didn’t even know which one. Why was my brain acting like it mattered? Why was my body reacting like I was responsible?
I didn’t want to go in there.
I didn’t want to care. I dragged my hands through my damp hair, pacing one step to the left, one to the right, like a trapped animal trying to pick a direction.
If there really was an attack...
If someone was actually inside his room...
He wouldn’t be able to get away quickly.
He wouldn’t be able to defend himself the way he would normally.
I swallowed, throat burning. What if he was hurt? What if he needed—
"No," I snapped out loud, cutting it off before the thought could fully form. "I don’t care. I shouldn’t care." But the banging of my heartbeat wouldn’t stop. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
And my feet kept turning toward his door even as my mind screamed the opposite.
This wasn’t logic. You hate him remember, he killed Frank. Aria is nowhere to be found.
Fucking hate him, Katya.
But something inside me clenched anyway. A part of me that refused to shut up, even now.
Help him.
Don’t help him.
Run.
Don’t run.
My mind was tearing itself apart.
My chest tightened, breath coming too fast, too shallow. My pulse was so loud I could barely hear anything else.
No. No more. No more of this back-and-forth. No more of this stupid confusion that only hurt me in the end. My jaw locked. My spine straightened.
He didn’t need me.
He wouldn’t want me.
And I was so, so tired of being the idiot who wants to be a good person.
I took a step back, toward the staircase, then another.
Just go. Run. Don’t look back and my feet finally listened, finally chose me over him. I turned sharply toward the stairs at the far end of the hall.
But as soon as I turned I faced as the elevator door dings opened. And men in dark suits poured out.
Not walking. They were rushing fast and armed with guns.
Real ones. I stumbled back instinctively, breath punching out of my lungs. No no no.
Not again. We are truly under attack. I need to get to nonna but then I saw someone moving to the front.
Mr. Antonio.
He’s at the front of the group, his eyes were filled with worry as they swept the hallway like a blade— sharp, calculating and deadly—before they landed on me.
And when they did... he stopped.
The whole group behind him too. Mr Antonio expression changed in seconds. His worry eyes hardened into something else.
Something that made my stomach drop. Hate.
Hate aimed directly at me. Like I was the reason the alarms were going off.
Like I was the danger.
I couldn’t breathe. Why was he looking at me like I was the gunman? Like I was the monster?
"Mr. Antonio?" I croaked, my voice faint, my body frozen completely in place.
"James. Cuff her"
My brain stalled. Cuff who?
Me?
I blinked, staring at him like the words hadn’t made sense. Like maybe the gunshots had messed with my hearing.
"W–What?" I stammered, taking a step back. "Cuff who? Me?"
James, I know that name! It was that guy. The James in question stepped forward and I could finally put the face to the name of the guy who manhandled me when I didn’t had my eye sight.
He stepped forward immediately at the order, his gun wasn’t pointed at the floor anymore. It was pointed at me.
My heart lurched so hard I almost tripped over my own feet. "Wait—wait, I didn’t do anything," I burst out, raising my hands instinctively.
My voice shook. "I don’t understand. What’s happening?! Are we under attack?" But James didn’t stop. His expression wasn’t confused or apologetic.
It was cold and focused. And his hand was already reaching for the cuffs attached to his belt.
Cuffs.
Cuffs? Why cuffs? Why me?"What is going on?" I choked out, stumbling backward until my back hit the wall. "I didn’t do anything!"
James didn’t even blink. "Move your hands, miss."
"I’m not resisting! I just—just tell me what’s happening!" My breaths came faster, sharp and shallow.
Somewhere behind him, boots thundered on the carpet as the rest of the men moved—past us, toward Romeo’s door.
James reached for my wrist. I jerked away instinctively. "Don’t touch me!"
"Miss, don’t make this difficult," he warned, his grip tightening as he tried again.
"I didn’t do anything!" I struggled, twisting, trying to pull myself free without actually fighting him.
"Let go! Please—listen—I heard gunshots too! I thought we were under attack!" But it didn’t matter.
They weren’t listening. They weren’t even trying to.
Because at that moment, Antonio and the rest of his men finally reached Romeo’s door. Their weapons raised. Bodies tense.
Seconds away from busting inside. And they all thought I had something to do with it.
My pulse pounded so violently it hurt. "I didn’t do this," I whispered, voice shaking for a different reason now. "Why aren’t you believing me?"
James clicked the cuffs open.
Antonio’s hand tightened on Romeo’s door handle as he pulled the door opened. His voice immediately came out rough,strained and terrified. "Romeo?!"
Everything went still. The hallway
The gun. James’ hand on my wrist
My own breath
It all paused—hanging on the sound of that single word.
A beat of silence.
Another.
And then a muffled voice, thick with sarcasm and something smug and annoyingly familiar, answered lazily from inside the room.
"In the flesh.".Romeo.
My head whipped toward the door so fast my wet hair slapped against my cheek.
He’s... okay?
And he was standing!
My brain couldn’t process it. All I saw was his silhouette, yes but it was upright, solid, leaning casually against the back of his wheelchair like the entire floor hadn’t just heard bullets.
Like nothing had happened at all!
††
Happy new month
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