by S. M. Soto
With his men surrounding me, he instructs them to move and they do so immediately—following his orders without second thought. We eventually come near the edge of the street toward the nondescript van. The group suddenly stops moving at the sound of silence. Dead silence. No more shots are being fired off, it’s just quiet.
“What’s—”
He shushes me, his eyes scanning everywhere around us almost frantically. I follow his lead, trying to see through the gaps between his men and over their shoulders. To see what is happening. I feel it deep in my core, something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong.
I feel the moment of impending doom before it happens. The man’s body stiffens next to me and when I glance up at him, he steps farther in front of me, shielding me from something. When I hear the voice, I understand why. The sound of weapons being drawn and cocked has my blood running cold.
“Come out, come out, love. It’s over, time to end these foolish games and leave with me.”
I chomp down on my lower lip and try to suppress the sound of my fear. At the sound of my whimpering, Finlay makes eye contact with me through the gaps in between the men. A shudder wracks through my body and dread fills my veins.
“When I count to three, I want you by my side, Sophia. I think you understand what will happen if you choose not to move.”
I clench my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from coming. Because I know what will happen. More death. Always more death where this evil man is concerned.
He counts down, and his voice is chipper, like he thinks he has the upper hand. And maybe he does. I don’t know where everyone else is. I don’t know if Matteo and his men survived, I don’t know where Garrett and the rest of the guys are, and I don’t even know where Creed is. If he knows we’re all currently in danger.
My eyes widen once Finlay gets to three. Keeping to his word, deafening bullets are shot and a heavy hand hits me square in the chest, knocking the air out of me and shoving me away from what’s happening. I lose my footing, and, to my horror, I see the ground sailing toward my face at lightning speed. I shoot my hands out to protect myself, but it doesn’t help. My body flies face first toward the ground and I clench my eyes shut, preparing for impact, hoping my baby will be okay.
There’s suddenly a tight, unrelenting grip on my arm and the impact with the ground never comes. Slowly, I peel my eyes open and when I turn to look, tears spill over. My heart hammers in my chest and electricity fills my veins.
“Creed,” I breathe.
His chest rises and falls sharply and his nostrils flare with anger as he glares down at me. There’s already a smattering of blood across his face. I don’t know how long he’s been here, when he got here, or how he knew where to find us, but as I stare up at him, my heart doesn’t care. Even through his anger, I can see the fear. His fear for us is written in his gaze. He turns away, easily pulling me behind his back and then his gun is firing off round after round, the sounds of gunfire now intermingling. It’s everywhere, each shot blending into the other. I feel the vibration from each bullet, the blowback from his gun traveling from his body to mine. The gun smoke clogs the air.
I feel figures step up beside me, surrounding me. Relief soars through my body when I see my brother flanking my left, Monte on the other side, and Matteo behind me with his men. I try not to worry about everyone else. I try not to wonder how many lives were lost and how many of these men will continue to lose their lives.
The sound of Finlay’s voice so close sends a chill down my spine.
“I could end it all right now, put a bullet in her and be done with it.” Finlay laughs darkly, and I whip around, my eyes widening on him closing in on our group with men of his own. There’s too many. We won’t make it. The realization has a sob catching in my throat.
Creed pushes through the guys and eats up the distance between him and Finlay. I open my mouth, and take a step forward, about to beg him to stay here, to be careful, but a heavy hand on my shoulder holds me back. A peek over my shoulder tells me it’s my brother.
“I told you once before, I was going to enjoy killing you. That hasn’t changed.” Creed’s voice is ominous, filled with unbridled anger. It sends chills down my spine.
Finlay smirks. He tosses his gun behind him and pops his neck from side to side. “I’d like to see you try.”
Creed shakes out his fists, pocketing his gun and charges Finlay. Both of them collide like two football players tackling each other but without the gear. Creed swings, landing a hit to Finlay’s cheek as he rams into him like a bull, causing Finlay’s body to sail through the air. Blows are exchanged. They each move so fast I can’t tell what’s happening, whose arms are whose. As soon as Creed and Finlay start wailing on each other, the rest of the guys clash. Men come at us from every angle. I watch on in slow motion as fists are swung, the metal glint of knives catch light before disappearing into bodies and the sound of bullets being fired don’t register. I can’t seem to get my body to move. I know I should be running. I should try to get someplace safe, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the chaos.
“Sophia!”
I hear someone yelling my name, but by the time I look, it’s too late. Something bashes against the side of my skull and pain explodes. I’m falling. I feel the side of my body collapse onto the grass and my skull smacks the pavement. Black dots steal my vision, disorienting me. I hear yelling, grunting, the sound of bodies dropping. My head is throbbing violently. Everything hurts. I try to peel my eyes open and it takes much longer than it should. When I finally get them open, I choke on my breath when I see the bodies. When I smell the distinct stench of death. When I see Creed fighting off three different guys at once.
The heavy footfalls don’t register until familiar black boots are in my line of vision, a few yards away. I trail my eyes up and up, tears leaking when I see Finlay, blood dripping down his face, soaking his shirt, but that isn’t what’s holding my attention. It’s his gun aimed at me. Aimed at my stomach. My heart stops beating.
Ice floods my veins, and bile rises up my throat.
I force my arms to move, to cover my stomach, and the movement makes my head and body throb even more.
“Sorry, love. If I don’t walk out of this alive, neither will you.”
A shot rings out.
I squeeze my eyes shut waiting for the pain to come. Tears course down my cheeks as I curse myself for every decision I made. I wait for the pain to swallow me whole—I wait for my body to succumb to the darkness, but it never does.
Slowly, I peel my eyes open, noticing the body in front of me that wasn’t there before. Dragging my eyes up, they widen when I see Creed, eyes crazed, chest heaving, aiming the barrel of his gun along Finlay’s temple. The rest of the guys hold Fin in place, in case he tries anything. Through the incessant throbbing in my skull, I try to wrap my head around how Creed got to him so quickly. One second I felt like he was fighting off three different guys and now, he’s here.
How hard did I hit my head?
I spot my brother running toward me, my slow brain still playing catch-up. My brows furrow and dart down, wondering who took the bullet for me. Pushing past the dizziness from my head smacking the pavement, a groan tears from my lips as I drag my body up and crawl around the body sprawled in front of me. I suck in a ragged gasp when I see Matteo. He has a bullet hole in his sternum. A dark crimson stain is already spreading along his chest, dampening his shirt. Our eyes clash, and even though he’s done some horrible things, my heart cracks open in my chest, and my chin quivers with emotion.
“Matteo,” I whisper, scooting closer. My hands tremble as I press them over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. “Why would you do that?” I choke, my tears slipping down my cheeks.
He smiles, or at the very least, he tries to, but it comes out as more of a grimace of pain rather than a smile. “Why wouldn’t I? I’m doing what I didn’t get a chance to do last time.”
“What?”
“Save you bo
th.”
A stabbing pain tears at my heart, and a sob flies past my lips. Scooting closer, I press harder against the wound.
“You’re going to be fine. I promise you. You’re going to be fine,” I whisper over and over, tasting my tears. Matteo chuckles, the sound is wet and guttural, like he has liquid in his lungs and chest.
“You’re a shit liar,” he coughs out, and the tears come faster. “Just like Valentina was. I always knew when she was lying.”
I clench my eyes shut and shake my head, trying to steady my voice. “You’re going to be okay. I know you are.” I keep repeating it, trying to convince myself.
A heavy hand rests on my shoulder, prompting me to twist my head and look up. “C’mon, Soph. We got him from here,” Garrett says, his clothes stained red, too. I dart my gaze around my brother, ignoring him, and the tears fall harder once I see Creed walking toward us. His eyes dart to his dad but only briefly, before coming back to mine.
“I-I…” my voice catches with emotion and I trail off. Creed darts his gaze to Matteo again before dipping down and lifting me into his arms.
“Shhh,” he breathes, pressing his lips against my temple. When he pulls away, I see the worry in his eyes. He traces the side of my head and I flinch away in pain. His features harden, and his lips thin into a grim line before he starts barking orders. “Giovanni and Lorenzo grab Matteo and get him back to the estate, he needs medical attention. The rest of us need to leave, now.”
The sound of sirens wailing in the distance has my eyes widening. The police. What the hell is going to happen when they get here, a public park, and see all these dead bodies?
“Move!” Creed barks and then everyone finally jolts into action, following his orders. Shock still doesn’t register for me, I’m locked in an icy panic. Over Finlay. Over the rest of the guys. Over Creed’s father. There was a mess all around us. The sigh of utter disaster and mayhem.
We’re surrounded by a bloodbath.
As we leave the carnage behind a sudden thought has me tensing in Creed’s arms. He must notice because he darts his gaze down, brows furrowed in question.
“Where’s Finlay?”
A deep pit settles in my stomach at the closed-off expression on his face. I expect him to tell me he got away, like he did last time, but instead, he says, “He’s going to be taken care of.”
“What is that supposed to mean, Creed?” There’s a new urgency in my tone. I need to know we’re going to be okay. That the threat of Finlay hanging over our heads is no longer a factor.
“It means after today he won’t hurt you ever again.”
With that, he places me in the car, hops into the driver seat with Garrett riding beside him in the passenger seat and we take off. My head is still pounding so I press my fingers against the throbbing and suck in a breath when I pull my hand back and blood stains my fingers.
“My head…”
They both turn to look back at me, serious expressions on their faces. “Dr. Chang is already waiting at the estate, Soph. You’re going to be fine. You took a hit before I could get to you and smacked your head against the pavement. Matteo blocked you from…from anything else happening,” Garrett says, his face pinched with distress.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” Creed cuts in, weaving through the streets like a mad man. His tone brooks no room for argument. I know how Creed feels about his father. He blames him. He hates him. I can only imagine the myriad of emotions passing through him after what happened today.
Dr. Chang assesses my head wound and checks the baby’s heartbeat and vitals just to make sure everything is okay. The whole time his lips are pursed with frustration. The lines on his face are deeper as he checks us over, his face looking more weathered than usual. Filled with distress.
Rightfully so.
“I understand accidents happen in…in this line of work.” He darts his gaze to Creed before looking back at me. “But you need to be careful. Anything could’ve happened to you.” He sighs, pushing the center of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’re lucky it was only a concussion, bruised hip and a few droplets of blood this time.”
There’s a warning in his tone that can’t be missed.
My heart squeezes in a vise because he’s right. This is all my fault. Everything that happened today is my fault. All because I wanted to go out and get fresh air off the estate. I risked all our lives over something so foolish.
Why didn’t I just take a walk through the garden?
Why the hell did I think everything would be okay? Especially with Finlay still out there.
“I want you to stay in bed for the next twenty-four hours, that way I can keep an eye on you and the little guy. Try to avoid any excessive stress or anything too complex for the brain. You have a concussion, so you need to take it easy. Also, if the pain in your hip gets any worse, you need to let me know. The right portion of your os coxa is severely bruised, from taking the brunt of your fall. As long as you rest and give your body time to heal, I don’t see any reason you won’t be good as new in no time.”
With that, Dr. Chang follows Creed out of the room to talk some more, whether it’s about me and the baby or his father’s condition, that remains unknown. I rest my head back on the cushions and am just closing my eyes when the door bursts open.
“I was so worried!” Alexis huffs out, her normally tan face white as a sheet as she runs to the side of the bed. Her hand clasps mine and tears shimmer in her brown eyes. “My God, Soph, I just got you back, I thought…fuck, I thought you were gonna leave me.”
My chest tightens at her fear. She’s not just worried about me but also worried about being left alone with all these people she doesn’t know. That fear after everything that has happened to her still hasn’t gone away. She’s still afraid. So, I take her hand in mine and I squeeze, fighting back tears.
“We’re okay. I’d never leave you, Lex.”
“You better not. I need to meet my niece and be able to spoil her.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s a boy, Lex. You seriously gotta let it go already.”
She makes a pouty face. “My Mexican intuition never fails me, and I say your big shot doctor is wrong.”
I raise my brows, fighting back a laugh. “Oh, really?”
Her smile drops, and she places her hand on my stomach, her caramel eyes now glittering with tears. “As long as you’re both okay, Sophie, I couldn’t care less. You could squeeze an alien out of there and I’d still love it.”
I fight back a sob at her words.
She smiles a watery smile and smothers me with a hug, still being careful with me. Alexis pushes one of the chaises up next to the bed and sits with me until I drift off to sleep, my head still throbbing.
“WHAT IS IT?” LORENZO SIGHS from his position next to me. I grind my teeth together, trying not to lose my shit.
How hard is it for her to follow directions? Five days was all I needed. Fucking five days to finish a job for Matteo and then I would’ve been back, but of course, Sophia has to decide she needs fresh air on one of the days I’m gone.
The woman is fucking infuriating.
“We need to head back,” I growl, a heaviness settling in my gut. I don’t like being this far away from her, knowing she’ll be out in public. She’s still a target. Everyone in the underworld knows about her and with Finlay here, in Chicago, so close to her, it doesn’t fucking sit right with me at all.
“Let me guess, Sophia?”
“The guys are taking her to the park. I told Matteo to hold them off as long as he can. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her out without me there.”
“Why not just say no?”
He has a valid point. I could just say no, and it would be over and done with, but would Sophia take matters into her own hands if I did that?
That’s not a chance I’m willing to take.
I clamp my teeth together, steeling my jaw. “Because if she feels trapped, there’s
no telling what the fuck she’ll do and that’s the last thing I need right now.”
“And what do we do about him?” Lorenzo asks, darting his gaze to the man strapped to the chair.
Part of the job Matteo sent me out on was getting rid of the rest of Grigori’s men. And I’m starting with his son, Sergei. With Grigori gone, it only makes sense his son will take over after him and try to finish off his vendetta. I can’t have that. Especially not with Sophia so close to the finish line with this pregnancy. I’ve been on edge ever since my conversation with Matteo a few weeks ago. It tugged at my deepest fears when it came to my girl.
“Do you talk with her, about your mother?”
Matteo’s question sends a shock through my system. We don’t talk about my mother. Ever. It’s a sore subject for the both of us. After she died, things changed. If I thought his punishments and lessons were bad while she was alive to help, they got worse. They were harsher. More violent. Bloodier. I blamed myself for her death. I blamed him. I blamed his men. She may have been his wife and his soulmate, but she was my mother, my only saving grace from Matteo and Giovanni, and I knew without her, I wouldn’t stand a chance. And I was right.
After she died, they created a monster. I went years without feeling. Without caring. I locked everything someplace deep inside, where I wouldn’t have to acknowledge the pain. It was better that way.
“Sometimes.” I keep my voice distant and cold.
“It isn’t safe for her. Or the baby.”
My lips thin into a grim line, and I slam my palm onto his cherry wood table. “I know that!” I bark. “I’m not you. I plan on keeping her safe.”
The dig is low. Even for me.
Something flits across his face, but it’s gone before I can process it. Matteo lights up a cigar, glaring at me through narrowed slits.
“You think I didn’t do everything I could to protect her? Is that what you think? That’s where you’re wrong, stronzo. I would’ve given my life for hers. I did everything I could to protect her.”
