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Getting Lexi back is all we can think about, but we have to play this out with what we’ve got. We could have done this differently, called in a few guys from the crew to be our back-up, but Gio and I have always been a two-man team.
I think of the back-up Alan had at the bodega. The stupid fuck is lucky I had zero patience and blew his brains out instead of torturing the shit out of him for pure enjoyment.
Growing up, I used to think I’d become as heartless as my father. I worked hard not to allow his demons to become my own, and I’ve done just that until now. As I twist my silencer onto my gun and slink my way up the hotel’s emergency stairwell, I silently thank my father for the shitty upbringing and his inability to be anything but damaged goods. It made me the bastard I am now, and that’s who I need to be in this moment.
I let my demons surface, reveling in the feeling of my darkness fueling my heart as my legs pump up each step. I know it’s not possible, but it’s as though we can feel Lexi’s light pulling us toward her, leading us through the darkness.
Lexi is Gio’s beginning, but she’s my ending.
No one knows what it’s like to want to end your own life so badly that nothing else matters like Lexi and Gio do, and that is where they compare to me. Heartache is the color of bruises: black, blue, and purple, each color blending together in a mass of broken trust and betrayal. We’ve lived all our lives dying inside from the pain, but the moment we get Lexi back, I’m going to make it my life’s goal to give them both a life of so much joy that those dark days will be long forgotten. I will work to the bone to give them everything they both deserve, even my own life if that’s what is needed.
I might be jumping to conclusions here, giving myself hope of having something romantic with Lexi and Gio, but the simple fact is, I’ll take them however I can have them. Gio hasn’t been straight forward with his thoughts, only hinting at possibly sharing Lexi’s love with me, but I feel safe in assuming he would.
Still, if Lexi doesn’t want that, I will settle myself in being her friend. But trust me, I’ll be the best damn friend she’ll ever have.
After losing my sister, I don’t think I could survive not having Lexi in my life in any capacity.
“Okay, this is the one.” Gio’s deep voice pulls me from my musings as we reach the floor Alan’s room is on. I still can’t believe it’s his mother’s name on the booking.
I wish I could give him the answers he so desperately wants, give him, and the little boy he once was, some peace of mind, but I can’t. Not right now at least, but I will. Somehow, someway, I’ll give him what he hides from but wants at the same time.
Maybe I’m burying my pain by focusing all my thoughts and actions on the two people who mean more to me than my own life, but fuck it. I’d rather bury myself in them than to fall down the spiraling abyss of death and loss because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to climb back out.
“Let’s do this.” I nod to Gio as he reaches for the fire alarm.
The sound is ear cringingly loud, the wailing of the high-pitched alarm practically shrinks my eardrums, but it does the job.
People begin opening their doors, spotting me in my black jeans, a dark green blazer that has the hotel’s name stitched on the breast pocket, and a button up dress shirt underneath.
Thankfully my hair slicks back nicely, giving me a slightly less degenerate look, and my face mask covers my piercings easily. Nothing can be done about the tattoos on my neck, but the frantic people rushing toward the stairwells don’t seem to notice that I don’t actually belong.
“Please, make your way to the lobby.” I tell them authoritatively as I knock on doors and alert guests that they need to evacuate.
I get to Alan’s door, noting theDo Not Disturbsign on the handle and rap my knuckles against the wood.
“Marionette security. You and your guests need to evacuate the building.”
Gio makes his way to me as the last of the guests push past him and stops just beside the door frame, hiding from the peephole on Alan’s door.
I can hear movement inside the room, the muffled sound of a man’s voice just before the door pulls open until the chain lock stops it.
A man I’ve never seen before peeks through the one-inch space, and I have to keep from demanding who he is.
“I specifically asked not to be bothered.”
I swallow down the words I really want to say and force myself to keep up the charade, “I apologize, sir, but there is a fire, and we need all guests to evacuate immediately.”
The man grunts in irritation and looks behind him like he’s looking for something. With his attention elsewhere, I reach behind my back for my gun, nodding minutely at Gio as the man sighs and rubs his eyes. Before he can even notice, Gio steps up beside me. Like the P.I back at the bodega, this man seems to recognize Gio, his mouth falling open at the sight of Alan’s son.
“Surprise, motherfucker.” I growl before me and Gio kick the door inward. The chain lock flies off the door as the guy falls backward. He tries to kick the door in our faces as he quickly jumps to his feet, but Gio rams his shoulder into the door, rushing in ahead of me.
There’s a loud crack, the unmistakable sound of a gun going off, just before wetness hits my face and Gio falls against me. There’s no hesitation as I pull my own gun, my broken elbow and wrist screaming as I hold onto my best friend and shoot around him, hitting the bastard in the hip.
The bullet lodges in his bone, his scream of pain is short-lived because he pulls the trigger two more times. One bullet goes straight for Gio’s shoulder near my chest, the other one grazing my head above my ear.
Gio roars and pulls himself from me, blood pouring from his shoulder as he lifts his gun and shoots the man in the groin three times, each time taking a step toward him. The soft pop of the silencer on his gun is like an anthem to his pain, each click of the trigger releases just a bit more darkness from his soul.
Finally, the prick drops his gun and screams, his hands cupping his wounds, but I ignore it, taking no satisfaction in his pain when Gio has been shot as well. I quickly rush toward the motherfucker, blood pouring down the side of my face as I kick his gun away and knock the bastard unconscious with the butt of my gun to his temple.
