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“You weren’t supposed to fall in love, but you did. I thought you were stronger than that, more resilient.” The bitter laugh that he emits makes me want to lunge at him. “You did this to yourself.”
Julian was right. This whole time, he was right. I was just too stupid and naive to see it. My father was playing his own games, and I was just a pawn. Another piece on his chessboard that he could move exactly where he needed and sacrifice when the time came.
“Thanks, Romero, I’ll have a lot of fun with this one.”
“No!” Julian’s voice booms through the room with an authority that has everyone stopping in their tracks. All eyes are on him, including my own. “Don’t fucking touch her!”
Julian lunges toward us, and everything after that happens in slow motion. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my father lift his gun and fire the first shot without hesitation.
“No!” I scream, but no one is listening to my pleas. It’s as if no one can hear me, and I’m tired of it. Tired of being in a cage, tired of being shoved around, and tired of not having control of my own life.
Julian drops to his knees, clasping his shoulder with one hand. His white shirt soaks with blood in seconds, and all I want to do is run to him and tend to his needs, but instead of getting closer, I’m only being pulled away further.
I struggle as much as I can, kick, scream, and scratch like my life depends on it because it does. If I don’t break free and get away, I might as well put a bullet between my eyes. My father no longer cares for me—his words. The only person in the world that matters now is the man on his knees.
Suddenly, I’m free. Cruel hands disappear from my body. Twisting on my heels, I find Marie on the man’s back, her slim arms are wrapped around his neck, and it looks like she’s trying to choke him.
I know what I have to do before I even realize it. Reaching for his gun, I spin around with it in my hand and pull the trigger.
Time slows down. I can almost see the bullet flying through the air and entering my father’s chest.
For the first time tonight, his eyes find mine, and he actually looks at me. I don’t know what I expected to see when our eyes finally met. Maybe guilt, sadness, fear? I don’t find either. All I see is shock. Like he can’t believe I shot him and that this is how his life will end. Not at the hands of his enemy, but at the hands of his own daughter.
I keep staring into his eyes, unable to look away, I watch as the life leaves him. I watch until the eyes so similar to mine go blank. His body drops to the floor, and my mind clears.
This is not over.
I reposition myself and point the gun toward one of the other men. My hands are shaking and fear like I’ve never felt before blooms in my chest. I could die, but I’d much rather die than be taken from the man I love.
Everyone else moves with me, pointing their guns at me instead of Julian. Julian uses that to his advantage and grabs my father’s gun off the ground. Two more shots are fired, and then it’s all over.
All the men who were threatening our lives are on the ground, dead… including my father.
I glance to where Marie was struggling with Lev’s brother and find him on the ground while Marie and Celeste are standing over him. Celeste is holding a bloody knife in her hand.
She looks at me and smiles, literally smiles.
“No one messes with my family.”
I want to go hug her and tell her how much I love her, but Julian is all I can think about. I hurry to his side and start applying pressure to his wound. He groans and clenches his teeth, pulling out his phone.
“We need to call an ambulance,” I say, hoping that’s what he’s doing.
“No, I’ll have one of our doctors come and stitch me up. We can’t go to the hospital for a gun wound. Too many questions.”
“Okay.” I nod. I don’t like it, but I understand. “Where are all the guards?” My eyes dart around the room as if they will appear out of thin air.
“I don’t know,” he grits out while dialing the number for the doctor.
“Hello?” A deep voice I recognize comes through the receiver.
“Doc, I need you now. Got shot.”
“On my way…”
As soon as the line goes dead, Julian calls Lucca. It rings for a really long time. So long that I don’t think he’ll answer. If I wasn’t so consumed with worry for Julian, I’d probably be worried about Lucca.
