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I gripped the side of the seat, and the door handle anyway. We seemed to be going at an alarming pace, yet the car behind us could still catch up and ram us again. This time it made us swerve, and Leo struggled to keep the car from ending up like our guards, now almost half a mile behind us.
He was doing a great job of getting us straightened out and was about to floor it when we got hit a third time. This time we ended up smashing into the barrier. For a second, it looked like we’d go straight through into the waves on the other side, but we stopped with a deafening crash. The airbag smashed into my face at the same time my seat belt locked up again, and between the crushing pressure on my chest and the burning hot canvas against my face, I couldn’t breathe at all.
Leo punched the airbag out of the way, unfastened my seatbelt with dizzying speed, and then pushed me down into the footwell. “Stay down,” he ordered, pulling a gun from under the seat. He slipped out and below the level of the window.
I held my breath, waiting for shots, disoriented at how fast everything happened. The last I could tell, the car that drove us off the road had been behind us, but there were those several seconds of hitting the barrier when they could have ended up anywhere. It was probably wishful thinking that they’d just kept driving.
Nothing happened for what seemed like ages. No shouts, no gunfire, just the sound of the waves lapping at the other side of the barrier. After a few endless moments of quiet, I got pissed off. And it actually made a pleasant change from being constantly afraid. I wedged myself around and saw the butt of another gun under the driver’s seat. I had to rise up a little to be able to grab it since I was stuffed down there like a crumpled piece of paper. Once it was in my hand, I felt a surge of power. I didn’t know how to use it, but I felt stronger just holding it.
The eerie calm was interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps outside my side of the car, and Leo popped into view in the driver’s side window, firing off a shot. I heard a loud thump just outside my door and tried not to throw up.
I crawled up onto the seat, keeping below the windows and a firm grip on my gun. Why was Leo still standing up and making an easy target of himself? I waved at him to get back down. He gave me a death glare, pointing for me to do the same. Just as he reached for the door handle, probably to physically stuff me back where he wanted me, another shot rang out.
He staggered back a step as a bloodstain bloomed at his shoulder. Okay, this was actual fear. I kept my eyes locked on him, and he slapped his hand against the window, shouting through it for me to get the fuck down.
I curled up in a ball but stayed on the seat, my hand still wrapped around the gun like a security blanket. There was more yelling, more gunshots, the sound of another car, then a familiar voice that wasn’t Leo’s. Our guards had made it back to us. Soon after that, everything fell quiet again. Even the waves were still. The driver’s side door opened, and Leo fell into the seat, holding his shoulder.
I straightened up, accidentally waving the gun at him. He gripped the barrel and lowered it, then eased it out of my hand. “What were you going to do with this?” he asked.
“It was just kind of comforting to have it,” I said.
He turned it around and handed it back to me. “The safety’s on. Just don’t point it at anything you don’t want dead.”
I set it in my lap and reached for his shoulder. “You got shot,” I said. “Do we need to go back to the hospital?”
He laughed without any humor. “Oh, Sunshine, I think you’re in shock, but no, I don’t need the hospital for this little scratch. It seems like all the Giannis can’t shoot for shit.”
“But you can,” I said numbly.
He nodded. “I don’t miss.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “And yes, I killed three more men just now. Well, two. Lev took care of one, but I’m the boss, and I have to take responsibility.”
We just stared at each other for a second. I still hated it, but I was starting to understand. Just a few hours ago, I had been scared to death of losing the baby. Those men who ran us off the road would have had no qualms about ending my life, along with the baby’s, if Leo hadn’t stopped them. Maybe I was in shock because I didn’t feel as alarmed as I thought I should. I believed him when he said he’d keep me safe, and he stayed true to his word.
He reached over and tucked my hair behind my ear. I leaned closer for the kiss I hoped was coming, but instead, my door was jerked open from outside. The first man Leo shot was on his hands and knees, not dead at all but only severely injured. He used what was left of his strength to reach for me, grabbing my leg and trying to drag me out of the car, hatred burning from his eyes.
“Get back,” Leo shouted.
Instinctively, I grabbed the gun on my lap and bashed the man square in the forehead with it, then again and again until he released his grip and slumped to the road. Blood poured from his head along with where Leo had shot him in the side.
Leo raced around and stood over him. “Don’t look,” he said, closing my door.
I closed my eyes and covered my ears against the shot as Leo finished him. He smiled at me tiredly as he walked back around, pausing to instruct the guards to take care of the bodies. I grimaced, wondering what was going to happen to them. Still, I didn’t have to imagine it because they simply picked them up and tossed them over the barrier into the water.
Back in the car, Leo took the gun away from me again. “I’ll teach you how to use it properly,” he said. “But you did well.” He rolled his eyes. “It might have been easier if you just moved back so I could take care of him, but you still did well.”
“I didn’t think,” I admitted. “I just—”
“Bashed his brains in,” he said with a laugh I wasn’t quite ready to join in with. He stopped abruptly and lapsed into silence as he started the car.
As if nothing had happened, we got back on the road and headed home. I didn’t feel remorse or panic. I wasn’t sure what I felt. I rested my head against the window again and closed my eyes until Leo gently patted my arm.
“We’re back.”
I nodded and hauled myself out of the car and into the house. I wanted to get Leo some first aid, but he showed me the nick wasn’t even bleeding anymore. As soon as I was certain he was okay, I could finally take a full breath. We were all okay. I pushed him down the hall and into his office, slamming the door behind us. I stood there with my hands on my hips, taking him in and feeling like I was on fire.
“What?” he asked, befuddled. “Are you still mad? Because I won’t apologize for what I did. I told you I’d do whatever—”
I flung myself at him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pressing my mouth against his in a furious kiss to shut him up.
