Worth the Fight

by Beth Maria

“Yes, it’s me. I’m going to get you out of here, Emilia. I promise you.”

  And this time, I’m going to keep my promise.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Phoenix.

  He’s here.

  He’s going to save me.

  He’s going to get me out of here.

  “Yes, it’s me. I’m going to get you out of here, Emilia. I promise you.” It’s music to my ears, and I believe him. I trust him not to let me down this time.

  My sight is blurry, but not enough that I can’t see his icy blues smiling down at me. The hint of worry behind them doesn’t go missed. My Phoenix, who never shows weakness, is worried. It shows that he’s human.

  “I don’t think so.” I don’t know how it’s possible, but my back goes ramrod straight in Phoenix’s arms.

  I can see him- the man who looks like an older male version of me, who brought me up but never loved me. My father. Nico De Carlo.

  A snarl is on his face, his dark eyes like slits. The calm and collected Nico is no longer in the building. In his place is an irrational one, looking for a fight. I can already see it.

  Phoenix spins around so that he’s facing my father and my back is to him. I don’t feel comfortable with my back to him, not being able to see what is happening. My senses are heightened. I need to see every tiny little thing that happens.

  Straightening out my body, Phoenix has no choice but to put me down. As soon as my feet touch the floor, I turn and stand next to Phoenix, interlacing our fingers. We’re standing together as one.

  Nico’s eye twitches as he takes in our hands. He’s not happy, not one bit.

  “I thought I told you to stay away from him, Emilia?”

  I gulp. Why does he still affect me so, when I know that he can’t hurt me anymore?

  “Leave her alone, Nico. She’s an adult. She can make her own choices,” Phoenix answers for me in that cold, unfriendly voice. I hate it.

  “And you, I thought I warned you to stay away from Emilia years ago? She’s my daughter. I get to say what she does and doesn’t do. You’re not good enough for her, Phoenix. We both know that.”

  My head is going back and forth between the two. I don’t miss the way Phoenix flinches the slightest bit when he’s told he’s not good enough for me. I’m not having it. Who does Nico think he is, saying who is or isn’t good enough for me? He has no right.

  “ENOUGH!” I step in front of Phoenix, blocking them off from each other; well, sort of as they both tower over me.

  Phoenix’s hands find my hips. He doesn’t know it, but he’s sending me the little bit of strength I need to stand up to my father once and for all.

  “You can’t hurt me anymore, Father. I’m no longer that weak little girl who had nobody. It took me a lot longer than necessary, but I’m out of the dark place. I have people around me who love me. I don’t need you.” I stare him right in the eyes as I say this. He needs to understand how serious I am.

  Phoenix squeezes my hip in encouragement. I lean back into his embrace. It’s instinct. It’s where I belong.

  “I can destroy you both. Do you really want to try me?” His calm persona is back full force. This side is unpredictable. I have Phoenix though. He’s even more unpredictable. I’m stuck in the middle of a war.

  “You could. You’re right. You just need to remember one thing, Daddy Dear,” I tell him, sarcasm dripping from my words. “You trained Phoenix to become a trained killer, a fighter. Hell, you trained him to be the best. He has age and agility on his side. You? You don’t even have wit because you taught Phoenix everything that he needs to know. He’s sharp, sharper than you ever will be, so give it your best shot. You’ll be the only one who ends up destroyed.”

  “As you wish. Boys!”

  Footsteps approach. Five men step into the room, standing on either side of my father, also blocking the door. We could have escaped with just my father in the way, but with five extra? Not a chance in hell.

  I turn my head and look up at Phoenix. He must understand what I’m trying to convey. He gives me a subtle nod that I only just notice and squeezes my hips again, telling me to turn back around. I do as I’m silently told.

  It’s us two against them.

  My legs feel like jelly. If it wasn’t for Phoenix holding me, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to hold myself up. I’m scared. I’m not going to lie.

  “You have one last chance to listen to me, Emilia, or I’ll kill you both.” My father raises his handgun in the air toward us. His guys next to him do the same.

  I grab Phoenix’s hands, removing them from my hips. I need to hold him right now. We’re both dead- we know that. I at least want to hold him if this is the end.

  “We’ll be okay. I promise,” Phoenix whispers into my hair for only me to hear.

  I nod, but I don’t believe him.

  How can we be okay? There are SIX guns pointed at us. Maybe I shouldn’t have provoked the devil like that.

  It was only a short while ago that I was watching somebody getting his head blown off with a gun, and now it’s me. I could never imagine what I’d feel like. My body is wracked with cold sweats. I’m shaking like a leaf, and my mouth is dry. I have one thing to be thankful for though. Phoenix. He’s given me the best last few months of my life, ones that I will take to the grave with me.

  “Emilia, I’m warning you. I won’t think twice about killing a traitor.”

  “Do it.” It comes out as a whisper, but they are the truest two words I have ever said. If I can’t have Phoenix, I don’t want to live.

  The sound of the safety being undone reverberates through the room.

  Phoenix’s grip on my hands tightens.

  I daren’t turn around though. If I’m going to die, I’m going to do it staring into my father’s eyes.

  “There is no room for traitors in this family,” my father tells me coldly.

  “You’re going to be a very lonely man then, Nico,” Phoenix quips back equally as cold.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I always have people around me, people who are loyal to me.”

  “They’re loyal to you now, but what about when they get fed up of your shit? What about when you become weak and they want to take over from you? They’re all going to stab you in the back one day. Nobody can be trusted in this business. Everybody is out to get you.”

  “Shut up, Phoenix,” my father warns, his eye starting to twitch and his calm persona leaving him quickly.

  “See, when you’re too old to deal with everybody, that’s when they’ll strike. They’ll still be young and fresh. They will be able to replace you easily. They’d only have to kill you and say that it was suicide. Nobody would believe it to be anything different. Maybe you ended up with a wrong deal and the enemies killed you. Again, the police won’t check it out because you’re a wanted man, Nico. The world would be better off without you, in their eyes.”

  “I SAID SHUT UP!” He’s shaking in fury. I’ve never seen him this angry.

  What is Phoenix trying to do? Is he trying to get us killed? If so, he’s going the right way about it.

  Phoenix is tempting the beast with the truth. People say that the truth hurts.

  “What’s wrong, Nico? Does the truth hurt? You know that’s exactly what’s going to happen. It’s why you wanted to me take over. It’s why you lied to me, made me promises that you didn’t, couldn’t, keep, because you knew that I’d take over the business in a second and keep everything exactly the way that you wanted it.”

  My father’s eye twitches in response. The men surrounding him are slowly dropping their weapons at the truth. They’re realizing that they were just useless pawns in a big game. Replaceable.

  “What you didn’t know is that I never had any means to help you. I know you killed my parents. I just had to wait for the right time to destroy you, and that proves to be now.

  “They were foolish thinking they could go behind my back and take what’s mine, just like you’re a fool. You w
on’t be able to destroy me. Nobody knows you’re here, or are you forgetting that?”

  All weapons apart from my father’s are now facing the floor. He’s lost the help of his alliance.

  “Look around you, Nico. You’re on your own. Everybody has finally seen what you’re really like.”

  “I gave you everything, boy, and this is how you repay me? By going against me?” My father asks, outraged.

  My neck is starting to ache from looking to and fro.

  “You gave me nothing except a guilty conscience. You took away the one person who meant the world to me.” Phoenix squeezes my hand. “I’m not going to allow you to do that anymore. I’m not going to waste my life being a fraud at the hands of you.”

  A howling laugh rips out of my father’s mouth.

  “You won’t be leaving this room to live a life. I own you and her. You’re mine. Everybody in this fucking room is mine! You all do as I say, understood?”

  Nobody says anything. We’re all looking at the man who has finally lost it, throwing his toys out of the crib because he can’t get his own way. It’s sad, really, that this man who always seemed so strong and controlling is actually a weak excuse for a man. His whole life is crumbling before his very eyes, and he doesn’t know what to do.

  Phoenix has already won. The three of us know that.

  The final nail in the coffin is when everybody starts vacating the room. Nobody listens to my father’s protests or his screams of threats and abuse.

  I don’t know why, but it pains me to see him this way – powerless and weak.

  “Father, please,” I plead. I need to get him to stop. He’s lost.

  “NO, I WON’T STOP. THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU UNGRATEFUL BITCH. I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING, AND YOU COULDN’T DO ONE LITTLE THING – STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” he roars.

  I jump back into Phoenix’s chest.

  “Don’t you dare speak to her that way, Nico,” Phoenix scolds deadly.

  My father’s face is bright red, his body shaking with anger. The arm that is holding the gun outwards toward us is shaking terribly. He’s not in any state right now to hold a gun.

  “Please put the gun down.” I try a different tactic. I can handle the anger, but not while he has a lethal weapon raised toward us.

  It’s like he’d forgotten that he was holding it. His eyes shift from me to the handgun and back again before an evil laugh tears from him. It’s torture to my ears.

  I watch as his body wracks with laughter.

  A quick look at Phoenix, finding him staring at my father, and I face him again too. His laughter just suddenly stops, just like that, his face returning back to that calm, straight one- the unpredictable one. I really think he has lost the plot in the last fifteen minutes.

  He advances toward us, his stride purposeful. His hand wraps around my arm, squeezing it and stopping the blood from flowing. I’d forgotten just how strong my father was for an older man. With a flick of his wrist, I’m out of Phoenix’s hold and being pushed down to the ground. My knees smash against the wooden floor. A scream rips out of my throat as pain shoots down my legs.

  “Shut up. You need to face the consequences.”

  “Nico, I suggest you let her go. Right now,” Phoenix warns carefully. I can feel him getting closer to us. My body is on high awareness.

  “Stand back, Phoenix. This is her fault, and she needs to deal with the consequences. You know the rules.” It’s like he’s forgotten that Phoenix isn’t on his side anymore. He’s on mine. Always has been, always will be.

  With the hand holding the gun – shit, the gun; I’d forgotten about that lethal weapon – he starts to take off his belt, his usual choice of torture.

  “Nico, I’m warning you.” Phoenix’s voice is deadly. Tears coat the corner of my eye from the pain in my knees and the pain that I know I’m about to endure.

  “I said, stand back!” My father shouts before his hand comes flying forward. The hard, cold metal of the gun smashes against my face, the taste of metal coating the inside of my mouth. I don’t scream. I’m in too much shock.

  “Have it your way.”

  From the corner of my eye, I see Phoenix lunge at my father, sending him flying backwards, my arm being pulled along with them. Another scream rips from my throat as searing hot pain shoots down my arm. My father is forced to let go of my arm, leaving it hanging loosely by my side. I watch in slow motion as Phoenix raises his fist back before sending it flying into my father’s face, time and time again. There isn’t a single thing I can do to stop him. I’m pretty sure my arm is dislocated, and my face is on fire from the pain.

  “PHOENIX STOP! PLEASE. HE’S NOT WORTH IT!” I shout. I know what Phoenix is like when he gets going. He sees red and blacks out. I have to stop him though. My father is lying motionless on the floor, whimpering in pain, his face a bloody mess. I feel nothing for him. I feel for Phoenix, who will have another death on his conscience if he doesn’t stop. I can’t allow that to happen, not anymore.

  I don’t know how I manage it, but I manage to stand up and slowly walk over to them. I place my hand tenderly on Phoenix’s shoulder, trying not to scare him, and crouch down. I whisper into his ear, “Phoenix, baby, please stop.” As if a switch has flipped, he stops, his fist freezing in mid air. “That’s it. Come on. He’s not worth it.”

  Phoenix stands up, putting his arm around me. We walk toward the door.

  That’s when it happens.

  A loud crack reverberates through the room.

  I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the pain that I’m sure is bound to follow.

  Somebody howls in pain, followed by a mass of footsteps and shouting.

  Did that howl come from me? No, it couldn’t have. I feel normal.

  I crack one of my eyes open and look in front of me. I gasp.

  My father is down on the floor, his arms pinned behind his back. At least ten armed policemen are surrounding my father, one of them on top of him and pinning him to the floor. How did they get here?

  “I’ll never forgive you for this, Emilia. You’re a traitor!” my father screeches, using the last bit of strength he holds.

  “Ditto, Father.”

  I can’t bear to look at the man who ruined my life for so many years. Hopefully, he will get the punishment that he deserves, leaving me to live my life in peace. Nobody else needs to be tarnished with his evil. I know that his mafia chain will go on, as there will always be people who are willing to take the throne from him, but at least now I don’t have to have anything to do with it, and hopefully, now, neither does Phoenix.

  That reminds me, where is Phoenix? He was holding me, and now he isn’t…

  I turn around, and my breath gets stuck in my throat.

  It wasn’t me who was making the howling. No, it was Phoenix! I just thought it was me because we are practically one person. I feel what he feels, and right now, he’s howling in pain and it’s breaking my heart.

  “Phoenix, what’s the matter?” I scold myself. “Don’t answer that. It was a stupid question.”

  I need to go to him. I need to make sure that he’s okay.

  I finally get my feet to work, and I advance toward him. His eyes are pained, his back hunched over, and he’s holding onto his shoulder.

  “Let me,” I whisper, pulling his hands away and replacing them with mine.

  How I can be so calm in a situation like this, I don’t know. I want to scream, cry, and shout, but what good will that do? Phoenix needs me, and I can’t be there for him if I’m hysterical. I think I’ve finally found my big girl panties that I’ve been looking for the past few months.

  Better late than never.

  “I’m glad that wasn’t you.” Phoenix’s voice is strained.

  “Shh, save your strength.” I smile. It’s weak. Blood is seeping through my fingers. There’s far too much blood. “Somebody help!” I shout. A police officer makes his way over to me. “We need an ambulance.”

  “Are you hurt, sir?”

&
nbsp; “He’s been shot. There’s too much blood,” I reply. I move my hand a little, showing the officer.

  “Right, yes.” He talks through his walkie talkie. “We need an ambulance. Man has been shot.”

  “Are you okay?” I ask Phoenix.

  “It’s nothing that I can’t handle, just a little wound, but it hurts like a motherfucker!” I chuckle.

  “You’re lucky I’m not passed out on the floor right now. You know how good I am with blood.” I wink.

  “You’re stronger than you think you are, Emilia,” he tells me seriously.

  He’s right. I am. I stood up to my father, finally. I faced my fears with him; however, there are many more to face – including my mom. Not right now. The big answer is that I wouldn’t have been able to do any of that if it weren’t for Phoenix. He pushed me.

  “Thank you.” I’m getting all choked up.

  Phoenix raises his eyebrows in question. “What for, sweetheart?”

  “For loving me. For never giving up on me when I pushed you away. For just being there for me. I love you.” I lean up on my tiptoes and give him a kiss, a simple kiss that expresses exactly how I feel.

  When I pull away, I give him my smile which is reserved for him.

  Phoenix cups my cheek, his thumb rubbing back and forth. “I love it when you smile like this. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s magical. I’d never give up on you. I’d chase you to the end of the Earth, if it meant that I might have a chance to be with you, and I’d do it all over again if I had to. And for what it’s worth, I love you too, lady.”

  I don’t know how long we stare into each other eyes, not muttering a word, just staring.

  “The ambulance is here. We need to let the paramedics tend to him, miss.” I snap out of my haze.

  What did he say? Oh right, yes, paramedics.

  “I’ll just be over here.” I point behind me.

  I don’t let go of Phoenix’s shoulder until the paramedics take over from me. That wound needs to be compressed.

  “Miss, can we ask you a few questions please?” the officer asks.

  I swallow. Am I ready to answer questions? I guess I’m going to have to be…