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I tighten my hold of my phone in my hand, fighting the urge to call him to apologize again. He wouldn’t let me get the words out and they sit heavy on my chest with each passing moment. I fell for him knowing he was a criminal. The first day we met, I knew, and yet I hardly fought to stop his advances, willingly falling into his lap whenever he whispered dirty words to me.
The phone buzzes in my hand and a small smile tugs at my lips. “I was about to call you.”
Rayne chuckles. “I thought you might be freaking out and might need a distraction.”
“I need to apologize for what I said in the office. I didn’t mean for it to sound the way it did.” I take a deep breath before continuing. “A lot of these kids have parents that are in the life one way or another. Dads that are drug dealers, moms that have to use their body to put food on the table, and we try our best to support them to prevent them from falling into those same generational habits. I know you didn’t mean you would involve Laurence in that side of the business, but my knee jerk reaction was to fight against it, and for that I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Emerson. I understand. This is a hard life to come into, and I need to be more understanding about that.”
I sigh. “How bad is the damage?”
“I’m not sure. The guy we’ve had keeping an eye on it said not that bad, but we’ll have to have a look when we get there. Wynter is going to call our builder and have him meet us there to have a look at the damage and get repairs organized as soon as possible. We know how important it is for the kids, and we don’t want them not to have an escape for long.”
Tears well in my eyes, threatening to spill over at Rayne’s words. Whether or not I’ve allowed myself to see it, Rayne cares about the kids just the same as I do. Over the weeks he volunteered, he grew connections with them, and on top of that, he knows how important it is to me. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“Wynter is also looking at a building we may be able to lease for a short time while repairs are being done, but we’ll assess the damage first to see if that’s a step we need to take. I promise we’re going to take care of everything.”
“Rayne, I—” The words die in my mouth as Dan shouts something into the cab and a moment later the car spins out of control. The impact of another car into the passenger side takes my breath away, and somewhere within the space I hear Rayne’s voice yelling for me, but I must have lost my phone on impact.
The screeching of metal surrounds me and a sharp pain radiates in my side. Dan’s body moves to cover mine as the sound of bullets hitting the car fills my ears and fear travels through every fiber of my being. This is it. Angelo Russo is going to get his hands on me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
I think about the life that lies ahead. A brutal man who won’t care about my feelings, or my pain, or me as a human being. Children born to a man I don’t love, who doesn’t love me, or likely even them. The thought has bile climbing up my throat and my ringing ears cause unbearable pain in my aching head.
The last time I would ever see Rayne I was full of conflict, and I never had the chance to tell him how I feel. I would never be able to utter the words I’ve never said to anyone before.
“Stay down,” Dan shouts from above me, his body crushes mine beneath him, putting his body between me and the bullets smashing the windows. Glass surrounds me on the seat, and when I look up at the man on my other side, I’m met by cold, dead eyes.
A scream catches in my throat, staring at the second dead body in a week. All this to keep me safe. The weight of Dan at my back combined with the panic clawing through my body only serves to make the ringing in my ears worse as I fumble around for my phone.
When my hand touches the cool screen, tears track down my cheeks as I pull it toward my ear. “Rayne?” I whisper.
“I’m on my way, Emerson. Stay right where you are. Don’t fucking move,” he yells.
“I love you.”
Silence meets me on the other end of the line and for a moment, I worry the line has dropped out. Such a strange thing to be concerned about as a man shields me from stray bullets and the prospect of being taken to a cold, ruthless killer like Russo looms over my head. “I love you too, sweet girl. Hold on for me, okay? I’m not far from your location.”
“Okay.” I nod.
“Grab the girl,” someone shouts from behind me and I cry into the phone. This could be the last time I would ever hear Rayne’s voice. The last time he ever calls me his sweet girl.
“Fuck,” Rayne roars.
The phone is knocked from my hand as the door is torn open and Dan’s weight lifts from my back in a savage pull that leaves me winded.
“She’s a pretty little thing. I see what the boss sees in her,” one of them muses before I’m pulled from the car.
I have to fight. I have to do something to get away to buy Rayne some time. When my feet hit the asphalt, the afternoon sun blinds me, causing me to stumble over my own feet. The man behind me holds my hands behind my back as he pushes me to take unsteady steps.
“Come on, bitch,” one of them growls.
I get my bearings and blink past the stars dancing in my vision only to see bodies littering the ground. So many bodies I can’t comprehend how so many men put their lives and bodies on the line for me. Men who probably had families that loved them, children who would grow up without a father all because of me.
In a moment of clarity while chaos surrounds me, I realize I can’t allow their sacrifice to be for nothing. I can’t allow a child to grow up without a father and just lay down and take the path being forced upon me. The men who surround me are misogynistic. They don’t believe a woman can protect herself, and that’s their first mistake.
I take deep calming breaths to settle the rising nausea that has settled in my throat before slamming both elbows back into the man’s gut, grabbing both his arms and using all my body weight to flip him on his back.
Searching the ground beneath me, I grab a hold of a gun and point it at the man closest to me. “Drop it,” someone nearby growls.
