Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 57067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 285(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Pride swells in me as I look at Damian. He shrugs, trying to make it seem like no big deal.
“The other option is we revisit leaving,” Julian says. “When Mom and Dad come home, I’ll meet them at the airport and come clean. We’ve both got cash, Damian. We can move somewhere else. Set up new identities.”
Damian looks at me for too long, considering Julian is right there. “If we leave, the auction goes ahead. Don… No, I won’t call him Don. He doesn’t deserve that title. Salvatore will keep poisoning this city.”
Fear spikes through me. The memory of gunfire and screaming and the close brush with death attempts to paralyze me.
But then I think of Maria, so brave when I reset her dislocated finger, barely making a noise despite the agony of it. I think of everything those poor women and girls went through… and how many more will suffer.
“We can’t run,” I say.
Damian nods. “Then that’s that. We’re not running.”
Julian coughs out a laugh. “I’ve been trying to convince him for damn near ten minutes. But you walk in, Celine, and like that.” He snaps his fingers.
“It’s the right thing,” Damian grumbles. “People can think what they want about me. Call me the Beast. I’ve worn that name like armor for a long time. But I’ve done what I can with what I have. I’ve tried to make a difference from inside this fucking hellhole we call a life.”
Julian becomes serious. “I know, man. I know. I’ve never doubted that. You’ve always been better than me.”
“No,” Damian snaps. “I didn’t mean that.”
Julian shakes his head. “I get it. I honestly do. And…” He gets choked up. “I’m sorry.” Tears glimmer in his eyes. “The truth is, when Salvatore came to me with the job to take you out, I was too scared to say no. Do you know what forced me to change my mind? When you dropped those two men, I ran. I hid nearby. And I thought to myself, Damian never would’ve agreed to this. That’s what finally made me do the right thing, if you can even call it the right thing after how far I let it go.”
Damian nods. “You’re right. I never would’ve agreed. I would’ve eaten a bullet before that. But you know what, Julian? If I had a sister—”
Julian gets choked up. “Don’t say it—”
“You’d never touch her. Not in a million damn years. So, neither of us is perfect.”
I stand at the edge of the scene as emotion tears through both men. I’m caught in the middle, unsure of whom to comfort or if my comfort would even be welcome.
I’m not sure what to do or say, only that these two men clearly care about each other and any rift between them deserves to be healed. Damian breathes through gritted teeth, then looks at me, a look of devastation in his eyes.
“We’re going to do this because it’s the right thing,” he says, holding my gaze. “No matter what happens, no matter how this plays out, we’ll always have that… this is the right thing.”
“I could do with some good karma,” Julian says. “But…”
“What?” I ask, my voice breaking.
Emotion is laced heavily in the air, like any moment we could all burst into tears. Or maybe that’s just me projecting because I feel a sob creeping up my neck and threatening to burst out.
“Before we leave, Celine, we’ll drive you out of the city. Take you to a safe house. You’ll wait there, hidden, and if you don’t hear from us…” He clears his throat.
“There will be an exit strategy,” Damian picks up. “You’ll have a car and directions to another safe house, then another, until you can meet with my FBI contact and start a new life.”
“I don’t want to think about that,” I whisper.
Damian rushes across the room and takes my hands. For a moment, he hesitates when he realizes what he’s done, how far he’s let himself go without even thinking about it. Over his shoulder, I see the indecision on my big brother’s face, a flicker of rage before he buries it.
Damian leans down, stares at me. “Think about it,” he tells me. “If we go in there to save those poor girls, and I don’t know you’re safe and ready to run… it’ll break me.”
“Me too,” Julian says with a croak.
“What were you going to say?” I ask Julian. “You said but… but you didn’t finish.”
Damian turns to him, his hand still on mine. It’s like he can’t stop, like he needs as much physical contact between us as he can possibly get before he rides into the gates of hell.
“I need to know what this is,” he says. “Is it a fling? Is it something else? You said it’s only been a little while, but if that’s a lie, now is the time to come clean about that.”