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I raise my gun to the middle of his forehead. “You're right. It's not, but it is too late for you.” My knees buckle when someone kicks me from behind. I nearly drop the gun to the ground. It gives Santiago enough time to twist my arm behind my back and pull me to his chest.
His laughter is loud and dark in my ears. “Stupid, just like your father,” he spits in my face and someone screams in the background, “Now!”
Guns go off around us. Bottles shatter everywhere and balloons pop above me. The white chairs my mother was so excited about are covered in splatters of blood. Everything's a blur of red. Santiago throws me to the ground. “Make sure he doesn't go anywhere,” he says to a nearby guard. He yanks my gun from my hand. “You won't be needing this anymore.”
I lay on the ground, closing my eyes. The screams become louder. Shot after shot, more bodies drop to the ground and I can't tell the bad guys from the good guys. My mother runs off into the distance, making her way through a bunch of trees. As she's getting away, I attempt to stand, but the man behind me steps on my chest. “Oh no, you don't, little one. You've caused enough trouble for the day as it is. How about we get you out of here and safe from harm's way, sí?”
I know a coward when I smell one. It's his own safety he cares about, not mine. He pulls me up from the ground and then releases me as he gets struck in the head with a bullet. Blood pours down his face before he crumples to the ground. I turn around and Gabriel is smiling at me covered in blood from head to toe. “Hey, princesa. Don't you know not to wear white after Labor Day?”
I laugh and his smile fades. “Duck.” I do what he says, and he lifts his gun, shooting behind me. “We should get you out of here.”
I shake my head. “My mother. I should go after her.”
“That won't be necessary. I have a feeling she's about to get hers.”
“What do you mean?” I tilt my head.
“Your father has it covered.”
Someone's footsteps are loud behind me. “Hey, you two, how about you kiss and hug later. We are kind of in the middle of a shootout, in case you haven't noticed.” The man I remember from the boat smiles, handing me a gun. “You'll need this. Try not to lose it this time.”
I turn to Gabriel. “I'm not leaving. Not until it's over.”
He nods. “Let's finish then.”
We press our backs to each other, shooting at each person who comes our way. Breaking apart, Gabriel runs toward the house, reloading his gun. I run behind the altar, the perfect blind spot. I take down two more men and run toward the house, searching for Santiago.
Someone sneaks up behind me, holding a knife to my throat. I drop my gun to the floor and he kicks it away from us. “How about we see just how much a Juventino can really bleed?” He presses the blade tighter against my skin.
I lift my knee, stomping my foot hard against his. He releases a yelp and I elbow him in the throat, making him drop the knife. I hit him one more time, sending him to the ground. I recognize his face from all those years ago. The guy who got away. His smile has my stomach turning. It's the same one that mocked me as he and the other man carved up my stomach.
One guy died with a bullet in his head from Gabriel’s gun and the other ran like the coward he was. My father never found him. I snatch the knife off the ground and land on my knees beside him, ripping off his shirt. My hands are covered in the man's blood and he thrashes against the floor as I carve the word “coward” into his skin. “Now when they find your lifeless corpse, they will know how you died. Like the spineless pig you are.” I spit in his face and run the knife over his skin, slicing his throat.
He gasps, spitting up blood. More squirts from his neck and he attempts to reach for his gun, I stop him by quickly grabbing it from the floor and putting a bullet through his knuckles.
“Looks like someone is finally becoming a man. All it took was for some asshole to give him a gun. I believe this belongs to you.” Santiago lifts up the blue pistol in his right hand. “I think it's time you come with me now, princesa.”
I cringe at him using the name Gabriel calls me. I didn't think I could ever hate hearing it until it came from Santiago's lips. “I'm not going anywhere with you.”
He laughs and a hard slap comes to the side of my face, knocking the wind out of me. The next heavy blow sends me flying to the ground.
Thirty-Four
Gabriel
I lose sight of Mateo. A tinge of panic squeezes at my heart and it's almost as if everything's moving in slow motion around me. It gets quieter as more bodies hit the ground. I'm not even sure who's winning anymore. All I care about is finding Mateo. I run toward the house, passing Angel, who's in the middle of snapping a man's neck. “Donde esta Mateo?”
He shrugs, dropping the lifeless body to the ground. “I thought he was with you.” I shake my head and my gaze drops to the open back doors. Angel's gaze shifts from me to behind him. “Go. I'll finish taking care of things out here.”
He doesn't have to tell me twice. I hurry through the pile of broken glass. It crunches beneath my heavy feet. My heart pounds in my chest when I spot Mateo's gun on the floor. The one I saw my brother give him earlier. If his gun is here and he isn't, that must mean Santiago took him somewhere. The asshole disappeared when Miguel's men went after him. No telling where the slippery bastard took Mateo. Screaming comes from the basement.
The high-pitched sounds are familiar and have me pounding down the locked door. I don't know the password. I type in a bunch of numbers, but none of them are the right ones. The screaming grows louder and I slam my fists harder.
I take a few steps back and jump forward, slamming my body into the door. After the second time, the door begins to budge and slip off its hinges. I walk further away this time and barge toward the heavy barrier. This time the door falls forward, breaking off a part of the white trim with it. It tumbles down the stairs. When I reach the bottom of the steps, Santiago has Mateo by the throat, with a gun pressed to his temple. “Come any further and I'll pull the trigger.”
“Then you'll get nothing. Wasn't it part of the deal that you marry the son of the Juventinos first?”
He laughs. “Yes and it's already been taken care of, hasn't it, Father?”
