by Ann, Bry
Bang!
I cringe at the sound of the gunshot. Then I hear Rain scream and an even deeper voice become low, threatening.
“Let her go, Anthony. You’re messing with the wrong man.”
“Rain, trouble?” I try to sit up when a searing pain rips through my midsection. It’s so bad, a scream rips from my throat.
“I know, Kiki. I know. Shh.”
A gentle hand wipes the hair from my forehead. I like this hand. It’s warm and strong. I don’t want it to go.
“Oh fuck, your face,” he gasps.
“I’ve looked better,” I murmur, smiling faintly.
Guy takes a heavy, deep breath. “Normally, I’d be polite, but I can’t say I like the bruised look on you.”
“I'm not much for it, either,” I breathe, shutting my eyes all the way.
“No, Kiki! Stay with me, sweetness. Stay with me.”
“Rain?” I blink. I can’t see her. I can’t move my head to see her. “Is she real? Don’t let him hurt her. Please.”
I hear more crashing, banging. “Nothing will happen to Rain. I trust Frances with my life.”
“I… don’t. Tired,” I murmur. “Please, get her.”
“If you stay awake,” Guy says hurriedly. “Stay with me and I’ll get her.”
A groan rips from me. I desperately don’t want to, but I will. For Rain.
“I'm here.”
Even as fuzzy as my vision is, I see the worry in Guy’s eyes as he darts off and heads straight for Anthony and Rain. Guy doesn’t miss a step. He literally charges ahead.
“Gun,” I croak. “G-gun.”
Anthony has a gun! Stop, Guy. Stop. I can’t get my voice to work and my eyes just want to close.
Stay awake, Kiki. Stay awake.
“Look at her!” Guy screams, something I didn’t even think him capable of. “She’s gonna die if I don’t get her to a hospital. Is that what you want? You want her to die?”
It works. Anthony falters.
“I'm done with this. This is more Marley’s style, but…” I don’t see Frances, but I do see a knife fly through the air right through the hand holding the gun. Anthony roars and rears back. Guy darts forward, grabs Rain, and pulls her away from both men.
“You okay?” he asks her quickly, checking her face.
“I'm fine. Kiki.”
She runs my way and that’s all the permission Guy needs before he’s on me. He holds my face with one hand.
“This is gonna hurt, sweetness. It’s gonna hurt really bad, but I'm right here. Okay?”
My eyes flutter. “Goodnight,” I whisper, eyes closing.
“Kiki!”
“Sorry,” I breathe.
I hear Rain cry, so I slide my hand over to hers and squeeze. I laugh a little in my head when I feel her probably real diamond bracelet. I'm just about out when pain like I’ve never experienced before tears through me. A scream I wasn’t sure I was capable of in this moment rips from my throat, followed by a series of whimpers as Guy holds me to his chest and Rain starts putting pressure on a spot in my mid-back.
“Hang in there, Kiki. I'm getting you to the hospital.”
My pain and my exhaustion war with each other.
“A real one?”
I just want to see Guy smile one last time, but his lip doesn’t even twitch. In fact, from what I can tell, his eyes are hard. Cruel. Almost like Anthony’s, but I know he’d never hurt me.
“Hang on, Kiki.”
“Kiki!” I hear Rain shriek before pain hits me hard, then it all goes black.
Guy
My jaw ticks furiously. I’ve never seen Frances so quiet. Ever. Usually, he’s an instigator, but I think he knows not to mess with me right now. He has men coming to clean up the mess that we left at the cabin. The mess being Anthony. We handcuffed him. Frances’s men will make sure his face never reappears on this earth to haunt anyone else.
But right now, that doesn’t change the fact that I want to go in there and commit my first murder. When I found Kiki in that table with a large shard of glass jammed into her back, bruised and bloodied, I nearly lost it. It’s only the fact that Kiki was literally bleeding out alone that made me not act emotionally and instead think rationally.
Rain is in the back seat, holding onto Kiki, who has passed out. It’s for the best, but it makes me nervous. Every medical professional says to keep the person awake. I tried, but Kiki won’t stay up. Not to mention, I hate the pain in her eyes, so I let her best friend pull her into her lap and rub her hair back while she stays in a place where pain can’t touch her.
I wish I were there. I'm a seething ball of rage. Why the fuck are people so fucking cruel?
Kiki is completely innocent. I don’t even know her and I know this.
God, I hate that bastard.
“She’ll live and the glass didn’t pierce her spine,” Frances finally says, quietly.
“Yeah, with scars.”
He shrugs. “We all got ‘em.”
“It pisses me off.”
Frances sighs. “This isn’t just about her, kid. She makes you think about what happened to you and you don’t like it.”
My head swings his way and he raises his eyebrows as if to say, “Yeah, I went there.”
“Not true.”
“Bullshit. You’ve been avoiding—”
“Frances,” I growl. “Shut up.”
“I’ll let that one pass for now, but that’s your one pass.”
A sniffle from Rain stops me from retaliating. I turn in my seat to look at her, trying to avoid looking at Kiki bleeding all over the back seat.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Rain whispers. It’s then I realize she’s shaking all over. Like, hard. I think back to how Kiki freaked when I told her Frances was gonna rescue Rain alone. Without warning Frances, I unbuckle and climb over the console. Frances groans but doesn’t say anything.
Once I'm back there, she shakes harder, so I keep a good distance from her. As much as I can. It’s interesting because Rain is still so put together. All signs of panic are strictly in her body; none of it is in her face or demeanor.
“Would you like me to unlock the doors?” I whisper so she thinks Frances can’t hear. He can, but I'm trying to save her pride and make her feel more comfortable opening up.
As I expected, her eyes widen and she looks down at her body. Her guard goes up as she stares at me warily.
“I'm fine,” she clips.
“Are you?”
Her face pales and she swallows. After a long silence, she looks down, nodding.
“Please,” she mouths.
Without missing a beat, I jump back up front and unlock all the doors. Frances looks at me and nods. If I noticed Rain’s panic about being in the car, Frances for sure did. He just didn’t really care, unlike me.
“We’re two minutes away. Rain, she alive?” Frances calls back.
“Yes,” Rain whispers in a tiny voice.
“Good.” Right as the words escape his lips, he twists the car around and slams on the breaks.
“Get her inside. Use my name.” His lips twist up in a cruel smirk. “Trust me, they’ll move their asses faster.”
I jump out of the car, rolling my eyes at Frances’s not-misplaced arrogance. He’s right, I know.
Rain grunts as she tries to lift Kiki. I place my hand on her shoulder and take over. Carefully, I slide my hands under Kiki, which is awkward with Rain there, but I doubt either of us care. Kiki whimpers when I lift her up in my arms.
“Ow.” Her entire body tenses in my grasp.
I glance helplessly at Rain as I run Kiki inside.
“She’s fine,” Rain pants from beside me. “She’s still out cold. Get her inside.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Without looking back, I sprint inside the hospital.
“Help!” I scream, earning the stares of several people before a nurse comes running out. She takes in the bleed
ing woman in my arms.
“I need a room. Now. I-I'm with Frances Capello.” God, I hate using his name like this. It makes me feel sleazy.
The woman visibly pales. Great, my best friend is that much of a terror.
Awesome.
As if on cue, Kiki whimpers. That’s all it takes for my control to snap.
“Help her!”
The woman jolts out of her trance and gets herself into gear. Not even a moment later, Kiki is being rushed off.
Now what?
What am I doing here?
Is she okay?
The sounds of babies crying, moms scolding, nurses chatting, and machines beeping fill my ears, making my head swim. This is why I hate the city. I hate city life. My brain becomes clogged with shit. With questions. Memories. Uncertainty.
“Kid.”
I jump at the sound of Frances’s voice. He cocks his head, assessing.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m—where’s Rain?”
“Checking on Ajax. There’s nothing she can do for Kiki right now.” Frances eyes me in a way that says, “Neither can you.” He doesn’t get that I'm all too aware of how helpless I am. Always fucking helpless.
“Why is she checking on the man who—you know what, never mind. I don’t give a shit. I'm going home.”
I push past Frances, bumping his shoulder on the way. I feel him behind me, but he’s too close. He’s tailing me. I'm not getting out of this Godforsaken city that easily.
As soon as I exit the hospital, Frances grabs my arm and slams me into the wall chest first, using said arm as leverage to keep me from fighting.
“Let me go,” I snarl, jerking in his hold.
“You listen to me, you little shit, you are going back to my place. You are going to see Marley, ‘cause she misses you even if she won’t say it. You are going to see Alex and Carl. You are going to see me for a hot fucking minute. Then, and only then, you are going to come back here and make sure the woman you followed off your precious island is alright. Then you can run on off back to your island.”
“I'm not in the mood.”
“I could give all of no shits.”
With a pull that makes pain radiate up my arm, Frances thrusts me against the wall again before letting me go. He grabs me by the collar of my shirt and starts dragging me to the car. I don’t know what happens. I’ve rarely fought Frances in my life for real. I think maybe once, but I was just pissed. I had no intention of hurting him. Now, now, I don’t give a shit.
My elbow flies back and nails him right in the nose since he wasn’t expecting it.
“Fuck!” he roars, lifting both fists to cover his face on instinct.
I go lower. That’s a low blow, since it’s a move he taught me. I use my knee to nail him in the gut. That gets him. He flies forward and punches me in the jaw. I shake off the pain and keep up my assault. It’s actually way easier now that he’s on the offense. Defense is my specialty. I'm not a big guy, so I learned to fight in a way that plays to my strengths.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Frances growls.
But I want to hurt him and I don’t know why. I land a punch to Frances’s gut.
“Enough!” Frances roars, pulling his gun out and aiming it at my forehead as blood dribbles down my chin.
“You can’t fight me so you have to pull a gun,” I snarl.
Frances’s eyes darken. “If you were anyone else, you’d be dead.”
“I'm sick of your threats. Just kill me, then.”
“It’s not me you’re mad at, you little shit. Get your fucking self together.”
“Then who am I mad at, huh?!”
“You. You’re mad at yourself, and frankly, kid, there’s only so long you can run from that.”
Wordlessly, Frances tucks his gun back in its holster, knowing he’s put me back in my place.
“I can try,” I mutter.
“Gonna bite you in the ass. And frankly, kid…” He nails me with an intense stare. “How many years is it gonna take you for you to realize you’re unhappy? ‘Cause frankly, Guy, I used to respect you and I just don’t anymore.”
* * *
After Frances shredded my already-fragile ego, we drove back to his house in silence to, well, visit Marley and her—well, their kids, even if Frances is in a bit of denial. I didn’t have it in me to argue any further after what Frances said.
He doesn’t respect me anymore?
Is my island living that bad? Why is it so bad that I hate society? What is so wrong with that?
With an internal sigh, I realize I already know the answer to that. It comes in the form of a quote I read in a book one time.
“Don’t move because you’re running away, move because you’re headed towards something.”
I don’t live on my island because that’s necessarily my dream life. I'm running from the demons that haunt me on the mainland.
Shit. Why did Frances have to say all that? Denial is a beautiful thing.
“We’re here,” Frances states evenly, snapping me out of my thoughts enough to realize we are parked in front of his house at the mafia compound.
“Right.”
Frances gets out of the car and slams the door behind him.
“Don’t be a fucking downer when you see Marley either. She looks forward to your visits.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
I slam the door shut, too, and run to catch up with Frances. Right as we reach the large cherry wood door that leads to his home, he stops me by grabbing my shoulder and studies me intensely.
“About what I said…”
“Don’t be a pussy on me now, old man.” I smile sadly. Then, in a quieter voice, I murmur, “I deserve what you said.”
With a nod, Frances releases me and pushes the front door open.
“Carl is out with his friends, Carly and Jonny, but Alex and Marley are here. Guy’s here!” Frances shouts.
Not even a minute later, Alex walks in wearing all black, twirling a pocketknife around her index finger by the key ring.
“Why do you look like you’re gonna kill me, Alex?”
The side of her lip tips up. “Aw, scared?”
Frances suppresses a laugh.
“Alex, come on. Your mom would kick your ass right now. Butt,” I correct. She’s still just a kid. She’s still just a kid. Damn, I really can’t believe this psychopath is still a child. “She’d kick your butt if she heard you being this creepy.”
“Yeah, I will,” comes Marley’s clipped voice from around the corner before she appears, all five foot something of her. She’s a tiny little thing, but she packs a powerful punch. “What did I say about the knives, Alex?”
Alex smiles. “Uh, no knives in the house?”
“Yes,” Marley hisses, glaring pointedly at the knife in Alex’s hand.
“It’s a pocketknife. It’s not a butcher knife or a machete or—”
“I don’t remember giving specifications. Put it away, now.” Marley’s tone is so harsh that even I cringe.
“Fine, you’re no fun. I'm not gonna hurt anyone.”
A flicker of vulnerability crosses Marley’s face that Frances doesn’t miss, ‘cause he steps in closer to Marley and wraps an arm around her. In a harsh, unforgiving tone, he snaps at Alex.
“Knife. Away now.”
Sighing and grumbling, Alex trudges from the room. She waves the pocketknife over her shoulder once, lazily.
“See ya later, Guy.”
“See ya later, trouble.”
She giggles such an innocent laugh for such a twisted child.
“Hi, Guy,” Marley greets, cutting me out of my thoughts about her child.
“Hey.” I wave my hand half-heartedly, trying to feign my usual enthusiasm, but I can’t quite muster it. Not when I keep seeing Kiki’s battered face with Frances’s words playing over top.
Marley’s eyes furrow. A darkness pierces her pupils, making her look almost sinister.
“Wha
t’s wrong?” Frances elbows Marley, which she ignores. “What’s wrong?” she snaps again, seemingly ready to strike me down if I don’t answer her.
“I…” don’t know how to answer her. How do I explain my being back? How in the hell do I explain Kiki? And how the fuck do I explain how upset I am by what she went through?
“The girl,” Frances mutters to her like I can’t hear him.
“Right.” Marley straightens like she’s trying to be sympathetic to my situation but isn’t quite sure how to do it. “Sorry, is she… okay? I'm not sure what all happened, but…”
“She’s fine. I'm gonna go for a run.”
I turn to leave. “Kid?” Frances calls.
“What?” I snap, harsher than I mean to.
“Lacey’s boxing trainer, Cut, is in the gym. Go see him. Tell him what happened briefly. He’ll help you.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Alright, but you need to make shit bleed, right? For her.” He raises an eyebrow.
Damn right I do. I don’t consider myself a bad man, but for her, I’d slaughter. I’d fucking kill. What I did wasn’t enough.
“I’ll go see him.”
Frances doesn’t say it, but there’s an “I told you so” on his lips.
I'm glad he didn’t say it. If he did, I may have had to punch him again.
Kiki
My heart rate quickens as my eyes flutter open. I desperately squeeze them closed as tears spring to my eyes. I don’t even notice the pain. I don’t wanna be here. I don’t wanna be awake yet. I'm not ready to face him.
“Kiki, are you with us, sweetie?”
You’re asleep. You’re asleep. Wait, is that a female voice?
“Don’t move too quickly when you’re ready to show us those beautiful eyes. You were in an accident.”
Accident?
Flashes of glass flood my memory. Then a beautiful man with the most gorgeous hair I’ve ever seen. Hair I wanted to run my fingers through. Then the island.
Then Anthony.
And all the flutters from the previous man die.
“Glass?” I breathe out, barely opening my eyes. I realize my voice sounds foreign even to my own ears. It’s quiet, rough, broken sounding.
