“You too.” Dominick motions to Blake to drop his
weapons.
“Jonah?” Blake’s eyes dart from my shoulder to my
face, asking the question,
Have you lost your mind?
I nod for him to drop his weapons. He shakes his
head.
“Do it. He’ll kill her.” I hope my voice sounds
desperate.
Blake drops his weapons and gives me a
I-hope-you-know-what-you’re-doing look.
Me too.
Dominick tries to move past me. I stagger into his
path, blocking his way.
“Wait. I just need to say one thing before you go.”
My words are a string of slurs.
I shut down my rational thinking. Or what’s left of
it. I’m firing on pure instinct. Using the one thing that has yet
to fail me. I’m going to fight.
My head drops forward. Weakened from loss of blood,
I gather my remaining strength. I’m not looking to beat him, only
to buy enough time for Blake to get Raven out of here.
Dominick moves his gun-holding hand around her
waist, and digs in his pocket for something. Car keys maybe.
Raven’s sobs tighten my chest, making it hard to
swallow.
Hang in there, baby. I have a plan.
“No time for parting words, I’m afraid. If you boys
will get the fuck out of my way, my daughter and I—”
“She’s
my
daughter!”
~*~
Raven
My mom is here. She said I’m her daughter. The
ferocity of her words shakes the deepest corner of my soul.
“Milena.” Dominick’s voice sounds bored, but his
muscles tense at my back. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He
looks between her and Jonah. “You brought them here?” He aims the
gun at her. “You stupid, bitch!”
She doesn’t flinch.
“I won’t let you take her.” She steps closer, her
back straight, conviction burning in her eyes. “Let her go.”
“And if I don’t? What are you going to do about it?”
He shakes with laughter. “Look at you. You’re pathetic and
weak.”
“Not anymore.” Her voice is firm, not the slightest
tremble. “I’m not that naïve girl anymore.” She pins Dominick with
a glare. “Do you remember that night? Twenty-one years ago to this
day. Just a few yards from where we’re standing.”
I was born here?
His grip loosens and he leans toward her. “Of
course, I remember. You gave her to me then. You didn’t want
anything to do with her. Wouldn’t even hold her.”
I twist my neck away from his devastating words.
Heartbreak slashes through my body, threatening to drop me to the
floor.
“Raven?” My mom’s voice is tender.
Her soft expression contradicts the torture that
works behind her dark brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry. I’d lost my parents.” She exhales a
quick breath and drops her head. “I couldn’t bear to lose you too.
It’s no excuse. I know that now.”
Tears stream down my face as her public apology
seeps into my soul.
“You ungrateful bitch, I’ve given you everything.
You were nothing when I saved you from your shitty life.” Dominick
shouts across the room, throwing his words like weapons.
She sneers in his direction. “I would rather live a
thousand lives with nothing than the one I’ve lived with you. You
used my fears against me to get what you wanted.” Her voice cracks.
“Raven was my baby.” The room reverberates with the emotion behind
her words.
Her baby.
Warmth blooms in my chest. I stare,
shock and amazement freezing my voice.
“But she was never mine, was she? You made that
clear from the beginning.”
Goose bumps race over my skin. She was protecting
herself. This whole time I thought she hated me.
“I created her—”
“She’s a human being, Dominick. You’re messing with
people’s lives. She doesn’t want this.” She takes a step towards
us, her shoulders tall and her expression fearless. “Let her
go.”
She’s here. Fighting. For me.
Dominick’s gun stays aimed at her. Blake and Jonah
stand close, muscles tense, eyes darting.
She lifts her chin in defiance. He’s going to kill
her. And she’s willing to die to free me.
I can’t let that happen.
I fight the tears that brim in my eyes. It took
strength for her to come here and risk her life. I won’t repay that
with fear. I’ve waited my entire life to feel my mom’s love. And
now that I have it, I refuse to lose it. We can fight to save each
other.
“Your time is up, Milena. And who better to replace
you than your own daughter.” He runs the cool metal of his gun down
my cheek. “She looks like you. Moves like you.” He grabs a handful
of my hair and pulls it, making me cry out. “She probably even
fucks like you.”
“Piece of shit!” Jonah’s voice rumbles through the
room.
“You stay the fuck out of this, Slade.” Dominick
points his gun at my mom.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll take good care of her.”
He kisses my cheek. I lean away from him. His grip tightens. Gun
cocked. “Good-bye, Milena.”
Jonah moves fast. I’m thrown to the floor. My head
smacks the hardwood. Pain lances through my skull, and bright stars
flash behind my eyes. I struggle to sit up, blinking. Jonah has
Dominick on the ground. They push and pull for the gun in a deadly
tug-o-war.
Oh, God.
Blake pulls me up. “Baby girl. Let’s go.”
He drags me to the door, hooking my mom around her
shoulders, and pushing us out.
“No!” I squirm in his hold. “I’m not leaving
him.”
Blake’s biceps tighten. He’s too strong. “Please,
Blake. Let me go!”
He drags us down the stairs. Every step escalates my
need to run back. I will never give up my fight for Jonah.
“Can’t. I promised—”
“I won’t lose him!” I’m kicking and flailing.
His steps slow.
“I can’t live without him.” I continue to claw at
Blake’s arms. I stomp hard on his foot.
“Shit.” A deep groan rumbles from his chest. “He’s
going to kill me.” His words are mumbled beneath his breath.
And then I’m free. My will to save Jonah burns in my
muscles as I sprint toward the cabin.
I dart into the room. Jonah and Dominick are still
locked in a vicious battle. I slide across a slippery pool of
Vince’s blood.
There’s commotion, yelling. I look up to see
Dominick’s gun pointed at Jonah’s face. I need to move faster.
A gun. I scurry on all fours. Blood covers my hands.
Tears blur my vision. I fumble with the weapon. Crawling toward the
fight. Jonah locks eyes with mine. His features twist in undiluted
panic. Dominick’s arm gets loose. The gun presses below Jonah’s
chin.
No!
The gun slips from my grip, I scramble for it with
shaking hands. I get it, raise my hands to aim, and pray I’m not
too late.
Pop-Pop-Pop.
Raven
The room is still. Pain radiates from my arms,
seeping into my shoulders. People are yelling, but it sounds as if
I’ve got cotton balls in my ears. Muffled and incoherent. White
noise rings in my head, along with my hammering heartbeat.
I push myself up. The weight of the gun drops from
my hand. Dominick is down. His body still. His chest void of the
rise and fall of breath.
Dead. I killed him.
Someone pulls at my arm. They want my attention, but
I can’t look away from the morbid scene before me. Out of the
corner of my eye I see Jonah. He’s sitting up. Blake is shouting in
his face, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
Jonah’s gaze swings to mine. The red blood
splattered on his face is a gory contrast to his pallid skin. His
eyebrows are low and his face pinched. I watch his mouth move, able
to make out the single word.
Baby.
My breath hitches. It’s over. I’m free.
As if summoned by my thoughts, he rushes to me and
I’m in the safety of his arms. The gentle sway of his body rocks
me, and I clutch his blood-soaked shirt. He cups my cheek with his
good arm, holding me to him. I feel the pressure of his mouth
against the top of my head. His lips move against my scalp, but his
words are vibrations. I pull away and watch his lips.
I love you.
A smile tiptoes across my face.
I love you too.
My lips move, the cadence of
my voice hums in my throat, but I can barely hear it. He pulls me
back to his chest.
I can’t force myself to look away from Dominick, his
expensive-suited corpse lying in a pool of his own blood, a grim
reminder of what I’ve done. What I had to do to save Jonah and my
mom. And myself.
I search the recesses of my heart for regret, guilt,
horror. Nothing. I’ve just killed my dad, the man responsible for
my life. And all I feel is . . . relief.
~*~
Jonah
“You guys okay?” Blake walks up from my truck to the
steps of the cabin where Raven and I sit.
As soon as I could, I dragged Raven out of there. It
was the only way to get her to stop staring at Dominick’s dead
body.
I haven’t left her side, except to run in and clean
Dominick’s filthy blood off my face. The makeshift tourniquet I
pulled together with a ripped sheet has my head clearing.
“Better. We’re starting to get our hearing back.” I
run my lips along the top of Raven’s head, breathing in deep. “You
make the call?”
“Yeah. Made it on my way to the truck. They should
be here soon.” Standing on the lower step, Blake leans against the
banister. “Need anything?”
I give Raven a squeeze. “Baby?”
She shakes her head.
Milena is sitting on a rock nearby, but she keeps
her distance, probably not sure how Raven feels about her. What she
did tonight redeems her in my book. I owe my entire life to Milena.
But ultimately, forgiveness is Raven’s to give.
Minutes tick by before sirens and bright lights
descend on us. An ambulance, fire truck, and a handful of police
cars pull up to the cabin. Paramedics and cops unload in a hurry
until we’re surrounded by uniforms.
“Mr. Slade, I’m Kevin.” One EMT that rushed out from
the back of the ambulance meets us on the steps. He pulls back the
fabric of my shirt to examine my shoulder. “Can you walk?”
“Yeah. Take care of her head. I’ll wait.” I motion
to Raven who is slumped against my good side.
Kevin sidesteps and pulls back Raven’s hair to check
out her forehead. “Ma’am, are you injured anywhere else?”
She glares at me, but doesn’t argue. “No. Just the
cut on my head.”
A smile pulls at my lips. I look forward to a
lifetime of dirty looks from her.
“All right. Mr. Slade, let’s get you into the
ambulance and get some IV fluids started. I’ll have Roger come and
take care of . . .”
“My wife.” I glare at Kevin. “Make sure Roger
knows.”
The sound of Raven’s giggle is better than any pain
medication.
“Yes, sir, ‘Assassin’. By the way, great fight
tonight.” The eager EMT is a fan.
Good to know.
“Yes, it was.” I lock eyes with Raven. “Best fight
of my life.”
Kevin puts his hand out to help me up. I’m tired and
dizzy from blood loss, but this guy looks like a noodle in scrubs.
I shake him off and push to standing.
Oh, shit.
Gripping the
handrail, I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the vertigo away. Raven
presses into my side, using her body as support until my head stops
spinning.
She walks me down the few steps to the dirt. I pull
her in for a hug before we’re dealt with by our assigned EMTs.
The angry mark above her head is no longer bleeding.
I run my knuckles down her cheek, grateful that a cut is all they
got on her. “Get your head taken care of.” I kiss her longer than I
should for the audience we have, but fuck ’em.
A team of EMTs rush into the cabin. Roger scurries
up with some kind of a field medical kit and gets to work on
Raven’s head.
I drag my body to the ambulance where Kevin asks me
to climb inside.
“Mind if you treat me out here?” There’s no way I’m
letting Raven out of my sight. It should be comforting being
surrounded by cops, but with Dominick’s far reach, I need to stay
alert.
“Oh, I don’t—”
I spear Kevin with a glare that has him nodding.
“Yeah, sure thing, ‘Assassin.’ I’ll just pop a
stretcher up here.”
“Thanks.”
Kevin moves some equipment to just outside the
ambulances back doors. He moves around my shoulder doing some shit.
I don’t pay attention, but instead keep my focus on my girl. I pull
my eyes away from her to watch them wheel Dominick’s sheet-covered
corpse from the cabin. Vince is next. It looks like they’ve got him
awake and talking.
I should have aimed higher.
A cop with a note pad asks me questions. I answer
them until he’s satisfied and walks away. He moves to questioning
Raven next. Milena jumps to her side.
“Hey, man. How’s the shoulder?” Blake plops down
next to me at the back end of the ambulance.
“It’s all right.” I’m not concerned about my fucking
shoulder.
Both Milena and Raven talk and nod as they most
likely retell the night’s events. I wish I could hear what they’re
saying.
“She’s going to be okay, ya know.”
I don’t take my eyes off my girl. “How do you know
that? She just killed someone.”
Blake shrugs. “Cops said they’d been looking for
something on Morretti for years. The guy’s operation was locked up
tighter than a Royce Gracie shoulder hold. This little situation
was the Golden Goose taking a big fat dump right in their
laps.”
I don’t say anything, but God, I hope he’s
right.
“Guess ole Vinnie started singing like a canary the
second they got him conscious. Fucker gave away everything. Even
told them he roughed up Guy and stole his cell phone.”
“He roughed up Guy? Is he okay? Wait, does Raven
know?” I watch Raven. Her body language is relaxed. They must be
finishing up.
“Yeah, he’s good. A few bruises and a gnarly
concussion. That’s how they got Raven out of the arena. They sent
her a text from Guy’s phone. Fucking assholes. Threatened to kill
him if she didn’t cooperate with Candy.”