by S. K. Lessly
Gavin looked down at me. “I’ve missed you.” He attempted to touch me again.
I backed away slowly. “Why am I here?”
Gavin’s pleasant face turned at that point and he looked like every bad guy I had ever come in contact with; well, except for Drake, although right now Drake got the award for being and looking like the meanest evilest person I had ever seen in my life.
Gavin gripped my chin tight and pulled me close to him. “Because you’re mine,” he gritted his teeth, then placed a kiss on my lips.
I felt the heat from my back coming off of Drake. I knew he was pissed, and I knew Gavin was doing this on purpose, so when Gavin stepped back from me, I turned my face and spat on the floor.
I don’t know why I did that. Two seconds later, I was on the floor, ear ringing, and now I felt pain on both sides of my face… Good job, Georgia!
Gavin laughed, and I heard him speak, I think, to Drake because he said, “Wow, I mean I just smacked the shit out of her, and you didn’t even blink. Damn, do you even give a shit about her? Isn’t she pregnant with your baby? ”
I heard Eddie say, “Bullshit. She’s pregnant?” He looked at his brother, then at Drake.
I didn’t hear Drake reply.
I slowly stood on shaky legs and looked at Drake. Gavin was right; he just stood there as if I didn’t exist, like I wasn’t even in the room.
Gavin shook his head. “I guess it’s true what they say, you don’t have a heart at all.”
Angel moved to Gavin’s father, who I didn’t even know was in the room. “We discussed this over the phone and right by your front door a minute ago. We came for what belongs to us. We’ll take her now and be on our way.”
Angel stood, and Drake moved in my direction when the Don raised his hand. “You don’t come in my house dictating to me what you’re going to do. You ask permission… And I grant you permission. So, yes I granted you permission to enter into my home, but I didn’t grant you permission to leave.”
More men burst through the door, moved into the room and crowded everywhere. Drake looked at me, and I finally saw what I needed from him. I watched in horror as someone came up to him and pulled his guns from his holsters. Eddie then walked up to him smiling.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for so long. I can’t wait to fucking kill you.” He then punched Drake in the face, hit him twice in the side and pulled out a gun, placing it to Drake’s head.
Drake seemed completely unfazed by the punches, never moving his eyesight from Eddie’s. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. I saw his fists balled up tight.
This was going to get bad.
The Don, who I hated every time he was around, stood. He was a dirty old man who would always look at me as if he wanted to eat me for dinner, literally. He walked to Angel, saying, “You see, you and your family seem to think you are untouchable. You walk around with your nose up in the air thinking you’re better than us. Well, tables have turned. I will take everything you own. It will be mine. Your lives end here.”
Don walked by his son. “Do it quick… we don’t have all day.” He then turned and left the room with two bodyguards with him.
Gavin moved to me and gripped me by my arm. He moved me to where Drake stood. “See, this bitch and your bastard of a baby are mine to do exactly what I want.” He took a deep breath. “Oh, I hope it’s a girl. You know how much money she’d be worth on the black market? What do you say, Vegas? About one hundred grand?”
I saw Vegas, the one from Cabo that I knew as Julio, walk up next to us. “At least… I may be able to get you more when they find out whose baby it is.”
They both laughed, but I kept my eyes on Drake. He stared back at me, eyes unwavering, unmoving. I wanted to touch him, but I saw a slight shake of his head, so I didn’t move.
“Let’s go, bitch,” Gavin barked and pulled me along. I turned to look and, for the first time, realized that Maya was also in the room. She was following behind Vegas and Gavin.
Gavin said over his shoulder, “They’re all yours…,” and they walked out of the room, pulling me along with them.
Drake
“Well, well, well. The infamous Drake Lincoln has met his match.” Eddie moved to his brother. “I told you and Pop that this son of a bitch would be the end of you both. But you didn’t listen to me.”
Angel’s eyes narrowed on his brother. “So is this how it is now? You’re picking them over us.”
Eddie moved quickly into Angel’s face. “You picked him over me!” he spat, face raged with venom. “What happened to loyalty for blood, huh?”
“He is our blood, you dumb son of a bitch… What the hell is wrong with you?”
Eddie didn’t reply, but he backed away from him and moved closer to me. Looking at me and raising his gun, he said, “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Don’t worry, I’ll tell Pops that you both died trying to save Georgia, but all three of you were killed. Then I’ll kill him, and the family will be mine.”
“You’re a pussy!” I said to him.
He tilted his head. “What did you just call me?”
“You heard me. These motherfuckers have you exactly where they want you. Why in the hell do you think they left their men?”
Now he squinted his eyes at me. “What are you talking about?”
I moved closer to him. “You have to be the dumbest bastard I know. Look around you. When they shoot our men, then you kill Angel and me, who do you think they are going to kill next? You think they’re going to let you walk out of here? You are so gullible. It’s fucking Capuano all over again. Just like Bridget, they are fucking you in the ass with no lubrication, just the way you like it right.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
I moved closer. “Just like before… what did they offer you? Money? Did they tell you they will give you the piece of the empire, be the boss?
“Shut up!” he yelled but I kept coming.
“They said that you were going to run this family alongside them, right? Take over more of the families in the area and become a Don?”
“I said shut the fuck up!” Eddie charged me, as I knew he would, and I grabbed the gun from him just as an explosion rocked the side of the house. I heard gunfire in the distance and inside the room, body blows and yelling but I wasn’t worried. I didn’t have to know who was doing the shooting and whose bodies were dropping. I knew exactly what was happening; I trained them well.
I threw two jabs at Eddie’s face, then as he threw one back, I sidestepped and elbowed him in his forehead. He doubled back, and I landed a vicious kick to his chest. I moved toward him swiftly, ready to stomp his fucking face to the ground, when Angel pushed me back and moved in front of me.
“Go get your woman… I got Eddie.”
I stared at him for a minute. He knew what I wanted...No, I take that back… He knew what I needed to do to Eddie, and I felt like they were giving this bastard a pass.
He was right though; I needed to get to Georgia. I had to trust that Angel would do what’s right.
Chapter 19
Georgia
I kept looking back at the closed doors just waiting to hear the gunfire and my heart break.
Gavin snatched me forward. “Are you really waiting for him to come and save you?”
I didn’t reply.
He stopped and came in my face. “I saved you. My father wanted to kill you too, but I talked him out of it. Me; I’m the one that saved you, and you’re pining after that murdering cold-hearted bastard? That’s how you thank me?”
I didn’t reply.
“I’m the one that loved you; I told you all the time that I would love you forever, and you’d betray me like this? By going off to Cabo like that?”
I frowned. “You loved me?” I said slowly. “Is that what you think you were doing, loving me? You cheated on me the night before our wedding. You were banging that trifling skank right there, and you have the nerve to say you loved me?”
Maya came
closer to me. “What did you call me?”
I turned to her. “You heard what I said. You were supposed to be my friend, my sister, and you went behind my back and screwed my fiancé the night before my wedding. What kind of person does that? What kind of woman does that? A trifling ass, skank, whore would, that’s who. I hope your coochie loses its muscle traction and can’t come again, ever.”
Maya shook her head. “You don’t deserve him. Why do you think he came to me? You don’t know shit about men and how to please them. As a matter of fact, why don’t I go and show the big one back there how a real woman feels? After you, he’d probably beg me for it like Gavin.”
My hand came up quick, and I punched her square in the face before I knew it. I didn’t think about being pregnant or possibly getting shot in the back by Gavin or any of his bodyguards. I swung again, and she crashed against the wall behind her. I growled loudly, going for her again when we heard a loud explosion and the front door exploded. Gunfire erupted, and as I ducked, I saw Maya go down, and all I could do was look into her lifeless eyes.
“Let’s go!” Gavin grabbed my arm and started dragging me. I fought, as much as I could, but Vegas came up behind me and poked me with what I assumed was a gun.
He confirmed it when he said to me, “Move, or I’ll shoot you and your unborn bastard.”
I stopped fighting and let Gavin drag me. Gavin’s father and his men came out of some room as we passed by.
“What the fuck is going on?!” he asked his son.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here and fast,” Gavin said, then looked over at one of his father’s men. “Get my dad out of here now.”
Gavin started moving away when someone started spraying bullets in our directions. I wanted to stop and get in the fetal position and cry.
I don’t want to die.
“Let’s go!” He yanked me hard, and I tripped and fell down.
“Leave her man,” Vegas said to Gavin, then spoke in rapid Spanish.
Bullets started flying close by us, and I scrambled up just as Gavin and Vegas started returning fire.
I didn’t know where I was going, but I kept moving down this hall trying to find an open door where I could hide or get out of someone’s window.
I found a door unlocked and slipped inside. It was an office with a huge desk and a chair. I didn’t bother turning on the light. I just went straight to the window. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I reached to unlock it, but the window was too high.
I looked around at the furniture in the room to find something to throw at the window, hoping it would break. I grabbed one of the chairs that was sitting in front of the desk and threw it at the window, but all it did was bang up against it.
Shit!
I grabbed the other chair and threw it, but nothing.
I decided to pick up something heavier and grabbed a lamp that was sitting on the desk when Gavin barged into the room.
Double shit!
God, he looked like he wanted to kill me. His face was red, nose flaring, chest heaving. He raised his gun and pointed it at me. This time I didn’t freeze; I threw the lamp at him and knocked the gun out of his hand.
The gun clattered to the ground, and I went for it, but he was faster. However, instead of picking up the gun, he went straight for me. I tried to fight him off by kicking him in his balls, but he seemed to recover too quickly for me to get away. He was too strong, and his hands easily went around my neck.
He pushed me up against the wall, with his hands around my neck, and I felt the ground disappear from under me.
I’m gonna die.
I can’t breathe.
I felt his hands grow tighter around my neck, and I tried desperately to move his fingers. He had a vice grip on me and by the look in his eyes, he wasn’t letting up until he saw the life leave mine.
I’m going to die and the last person I will see is this maniac. The last smell would be his breath on my face as he watches me struggle to breathe. The last thought I’m going to have is fear and regret.
I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t understand what I did that was so awful that my life would end like this.
Damn it, I’m stronger than this.
I tried to fight him, gouge out his eyes, but his arms were too long, and I couldn’t reach his face, let alone his eyes. I tried to kick him in the balls like I’d done earlier, but it was futile. It’s like he has brass for balls or something.
God, what was I thinking getting wrapped up in him? I knew the moment I laid eyes on him that it wouldn’t end well for me. I knew he would end me. I knew the moment his lips touched mine that he would destroy me, but I didn’t listen and now… Oh God!
It’s happening.
I blinked back the tears but as I felt them fall I knew I no longer had control of my body. I could feel the fight leaving my body. I could feel death circling my dangled feet. My brain was finally getting the message and starting to shut my body down.
I started to pray first asking for God to forgive me. Since I messed up in this life, maybe He’ll have mercy on me in the next. I then thanked Him. I thanked Him for the good and bad that happened in my life; for the mistakes and triumphs, successes and losses.
It’s crazy really; that this would be my end.
I’m dying because I fell in love with a man who said he would love me forever, but has taken my life instead.
Drake
I found the piece of shit who had my guns, and I checked them both before I started moving through the house. I didn’t see exactly who came inside, but I had a clue of who it might be… they had perfect fucking timing.
I saw a couple of Santiago’s men come around the corner, and I shot them both in the head without breaking stride.
From memory, I moved through the lower level, knowing there was no way he would take her upstairs. I came to a long corridor, and I braced my back up against it. I moved quietly, ducked down slightly expecting the worse. I heard voices arguing, then speaking in rapid Spanish. I moved faster and as soon as I saw who was in the room, I started shooting.
Gavin and Vegas ducked as I watch Georgia scramble away from the room. Suddenly, there was gunfire coming from behind me.
Shit!
I returned fire behind me, moving to the opposite wall and doubling back. I saw one body fall, and the firing stopped. I didn’t ask questions or wait around to see who shot the stiff, so I reversed and started shooting back in the room. Gavin and Vegas returned my fire, then suddenly they stopped. I released my clips and reloaded.
“Is that you Lincoln?”
It was Vegas.
“Why don’t you come out and we can discuss this man to animal?” he added.
“I take it you’re the animal?” I replied.
He chuckled. “I could be. Why don’t you come and find out?”
I crouched down, and I peeked into the room quickly. He was alone, arms up and palms out to me.
I risked a second peek, and he was still standing there. I moved slowly into the room, guns up, and looked everywhere before I believed he was alone.
I looked at him. “Are you supposed to slow me down?”
He shrugged but didn’t reply.
“You think I won’t shoot you?”
He shrugged again. “I’m positive you won’t. You want to teach me a lesson, don’t you? Teach me all about who Drake Lincoln is because clearly I don’t have a clue. I was going to sell your woman, right after I fucked her, of course, and sell your unborn child. I should be punished, don’t you think? Taught a lesson?”
He was right, and I know he was baiting me into a fight, just like I did Eddie, and you have no idea how bad I wanted to.
I shot him in the chest, and he dropped. I walked closer to him and watched as he writhed around in pain looking shocked as shit. I said, “I don’t have time to teach you shit. Find out who I am in hell.”
I tapped him once in the head and thought about shooting him again, but the sounds
coming from down the hall brought me back and I ran.
Georgia
My eyes are going to close. I don’t think I can hold on any longer… This is hopeless.
I love you, Drake, I said to myself wishing I were able to tell him again.
“See if you would have just come to me…,” I heard Gavin say. I opened my eyes confused. He leaned into me. “If you would have just come back home from Cabo when Vegas went to get you, all of this wouldn’t have happened. You see this is your fault.”
My brain wasn’t working properly, but I could have sworn he just told me he sent his cousin down to Cabo for me. If that were the case, then he knew I was there all this time. And he probably knew I was in Philly too.
He confirmed it by saying. “What more of a hint did you need to come home? Was the destruction of your room not enough? Should they have waited for you to be there too?”
You have to be kidding me.
Without thinking, I clamped down hard with my teeth on his nose! I bit hard on the cartilage and wouldn’t let go, not when he screamed and definitely not when I tasted blood.
He finally let my throat go, and I fell on my knees and wrists. I took in as much air as I could when Gavin grabbed me by my hair. When he pulled me up, I spun around and kicked him in the balls again. He let me go, and I reached for his gun, picked it up and turned it on him.
Gavin straightened up slowly and a devilish smile crept on his bloody face. “What do you know about shooting a gun?”
I pulled back the slide, pushed the hammer down, and then pointed the gun back at him.
His smile fell away, and he put his hands up. “Are you going to shoot me now? Do you know what it even feels like to take a life?”
He moved closer to me, and I backed away slightly. “Stay where you are Gavin or I will shoot you.”
I tried to sound stern, but I could hear the quiver in my own voice, so I know he heard it too.
He smiled at me. “You can’t do it, can you? Pull the trigger.” I didn’t move as he moved even closer to me.
