AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can you blame me? We just lost Lydia, which by the way, hasn’t even hit me yet, and now you and Alvaro wanna run off and be heroes?”
He places his hands on the table, his head hanging low. I feel a shudder rock through him when I place my hand on his shoulder. “I know I won’t be able to convince you to change your mind, Vin, but I also know that anything can happen once you enter the north. I just wanted a week with my family. One single week of pretending that I’ll never lose my brother.”
I turn him to me when a tear slips free from his eyes, hugging him to me as we cry quietly.
We cry together for Lydia, for the cruel ending she was dealt just for being our friend, for the fate we’ve been given and for the happiness we could possibly lose after just finding it. We cry for each other. Holding on to the only person we’ve ever loved more than anyone else.
“Te quiero mucho, hermano,” I tell him as I pull back, cupping his face with my hands.
“I love you too, sis.”
My fingers brush the stubble on my brother’s face. “Mom would flip if she saw you growing a beard.”
He laughs, his hand scrubbing across his face. “Good thing she isn’t here then.”
I almost tell him about Romero’s offer to bring her here, but with what Marío did to Lydia, I don’t want my sweet mother anywhere near him. She can come when he’s dead.
After about twenty minutes of talking like we used to, I feel my heart settle with determination. My brother will not be going to Marío, no matter how much he thinks he has to. He’s too good for this. Too mine for death to have.
I trust that Alvaro will die to protect him, but I don’t want that either.
No. The only way to fix this and keep my family safe is to go to Marío myself.
I just need to figure out a way to do it without getting caught by anyone.
“C’mon,” Vicente says after a while, “let’s go back to the house and see if we can get your lovesick boys to agree to a bonfire on the beach.”
I laugh and stand with him, dusting our asses off before putting the guns back in their cases. As we both take two cases with us, Javier, the silent giant, steps out from fucking nowhere and scares the shit out of me.
“Eres un fantasma, Javier!”I scream at him when I drop my cases, making Vicente laugh at me like a jerkoff.
“Perdóname, miss,” Javier says quickly as he picks up the cases. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You know he’s always around, don’t you?” I give Vicente a confused look.
He huffs and shakes his head at me as we trudge up the mountain back to the house. It’s a short walk and easy to navigate, but the overgrowth and steep hills makes it tiring.
“Yeah, he’s your personal guard, ain't that right, Javi?”
Before Javier can answer, there’s a weird popping sound, like the one a pellet gun powered by CO2 makes when you shoot it.
We spin in place and see Javier pulling his gun out and shooting behind him.
“RUN!” he yells at us, his shoulder bleeding just as a bullet hits the rockwall beside Vicente. I grab my brother’s hand and run. He drops one case but shoves me in front of him and rips the second case open as we run. We hear more people screaming, Alvaro and Romero are both yelling my name as Vicente and I run. I hear a gun go off right behind me and look over my shoulder to see my brother shooting at whoever is chasing us.
I stop and turn around my heart in my throat as I spot the open case twenty feet back. I run and drop, ignoring my brother’s yelling as I grip the handle of the gun still nestled inside. I hear the pounding footsteps coming up the mountain path just as I get the gun free and pointing at my own head.
“ALTO!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “O me suicidaré!”
Two masked men come to a stop, their clothing camouflaged so well that I’m positive we never would have noticed them if they hadn’t wanted us to. Hell, they probably watched us the entire time we were practicing shooting. They just needed the guys gone and Javier distracted.
“I will come with you willingly if you do not shoot or hurt anyone else. Take me andonlyme!” I scream through the tears, my brother begging me from behind.
One of the men nods his head, moving his hand in acome heremotion just as they both turn their guns on Romero and Alvaro as they run up behind Vicente. I spin, my gun to my head and tears in my eyes.
“Stop! No one else gets hurt. I’ll go, just fucking stop!”
“Vicenta!” Romero growls, stepping forward, but I press the gun harder to my head and step away from safety and toward danger. But it’s my choice. I’d rather it be me than my baby brother.
