AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We snuck out like thieves in the night, being careful not to wake her. We made sure we disappeared before the sheets turned cold from our escape.
Was it the best decision? Absolutely not. For the first time since meeting Rose, since being in Sam’s life, since this whole thing started, we were making progress toward the right direction. A spark of trust, a sprinkle of happiness in the darkness we’d created all around us.
Sam is still driving, the sun barely showing its first rays across the horizon as I run a hand across my face. I’m fucking exhausted.
It was four a.m. when Sam woke me up. He had a text from his IT guy that the tracker in Rose’s necklace had reached a location that could be the Volkovs’ hideout. Apparently, it stopped moving for long enough that we can assume Aaron Williams has given the letter and necklace to his boss. He sent us the location, and we were on the move immediately.
Not the best decision, but probably one that will be worth the pain it’s about to cause Rose.
We were meant to drop Rachel at her house in Stoneview. Then she convinced Sam to come.
I want to be part of this. I won’t let her use ‘protecting me’ as an excuse to keep me out of her life.
I’m strong enough. You all underestimate me.
There is something going on between Sam and her. I wouldn’t call it flirting or romance. No, something else profound. He took her under his wing somehow. Decided he wants to bring the warrior out of her. I don’t understand it, but I don’t mind. Weirdly, while I don’t see what he sees in her, I feel no jealousy toward her whatsoever. I like her, actually.
That’s how we ended up leaving Rose alone, in a deep sleep that didn’t get bothered in the slightest when we all left.
It’s always fascinating and simultaneously terrifying to watch Sam get ready for a kill. We stopped at the cabin so he could grab his stuff. I was sitting in a corner while he was silently getting everything he needed. He changed into clean clothes, black cargo pants—that fit so beautifully around his ass—and a black t-shirt. Always.
He was moving around confidently, picking up two handguns from his safe, multiple knives he hid across his body, and a smaller gun he put around his ankle. His focus didn’t waiver when he put unlimited amounts of ammo in a duffel bag with backup weapons and first-aid kits. His shoulder muscles tensed and rolled as I watched him bring everything he needed to the car.
What he didn’t take was his balaclava, and I knew then he was taking this kill too personally. I also knew, because so was I.
It’s because he let Rachel and me join that I knew he was too lost in his own revenge to care anymore. He’s nevereverlet me come on a kill before, let alone an innocent girl who could become collateral damage.
From the back seat, I gently start massaging Sam’s shoulders. They’re tense, his grip on the steering wheel turning his knuckles white.
“Baby, relax,” I tell him. “Do you want me to drive for a little bit?”
He stays completely silent, and I don’t try anything else. There is no point dragging him out of his safe place. Not now.
“Rachel,” I say to her. “Let’s switch seats.”
She turns around and smiles at me. “Why? Don’t you like the back seat?”
“I don’t see why I’m in the back in the first place. That’s my seat you’re sitting in.”
She shrugs but doesn’t reply. She picks up the gum I keep in the middle console and puts one in her mouth.
“Hey! That’s my gum,” I accuse. “And my seat. So, switch.” She simply looks at me defiantly, picks up another piece of gum and puts it in her mouth. I kick her seat, and it makes her laugh.
“Sam,” I whine. “Tell her it’s Lik’s gum.”
“Behave,” he grunts, wholly lost in his own thoughts. Rachel winks at me before facing the road again.
After long minutes of silence, which I spend brooding at the back of the car, Sam finally comes out of his own head. He grabs a burner phone and throws it at me.
“You spoke to Mattia before, right?”
“Not really,” I answer, already unlocking his phone. “But I’ve heard of him.”
Mattia is the guy Sam uses whenever he needs information on someone. Digging into their past, following them with a tracker…anything computer related. He belongs to the Luciano family, yet another mafia family who rules the East Coast.
While the North Shore Crew, my crew, used to be under the Bianco Family’s protection, the Lucianos provided for the Kings’ Crew, our rival gang. They don’t anymore. No, the Kings deal with the Wolves now, the Volkov family.
Since Mateo Bianco’s fall, my stepdad, Austin, and his daughter, Emma, have been trying to get the Lucianos to supply us with drugs and weapons. They wouldn’t talk to us until Sam convinced them. Now they give us everything we need, except protection.
