by Ivy Knight
"Don't hold back. Not today," I speak breathing heavily.
A mischievous grin grows on his face as he says, "I won't."
True to his words, we lock lips and his hands become more aggressive roaming every inch of my body, teasing and groping. His tongue slips in deepening the kiss making me moan. He pulls back, biting my bottom lip and trailing kisses down my neck.
His fingers curling underneath the hem of my shorts, he moves back pulling them down. I look at him breathing heavily as I bite my lip. His face displaying his eagerness, I know that this'll be a day I'll never forget.
...♛...
"What about this one?"
"Oh this one is actually one I got myself. I was learning how to ride the motorcycle when I was eleven maybe, and I slipped. The back of my hand landed on the cylinder, I could literally hear the sizzle from the motor burning my skin."
"Damn, what about..." I try to think of all the scars I've seen around his body, but can't think of any I haven't already asked about.
"I think you got them all," Kai says.
"Did I? You have so many."
"Well, it is almost mid-night," he acknowledges.
"Fuck, we should probably get going."
"Yeah," Kai says. I hear the sadness his voice, but he hides it behind a smile. Landing a peck on his lips, I sit up from his lap.
"My clothes are at the back, yours are at the front," I let him know. He climbs to the front and I turn around to pick my clothes from the back putting them on.
"Hey? You ready?" Kai questions.
"Yeah," I say as I slip on my shirt and turn around facing the front. "Hey you know what? I was thinking I should drive. You must be tired."
"Are you sure? I thought you'd wanna just fall asleep for the next hour."
"Nah, I haven't driven in a while anyway," I say.
"Okay," he says. He climbs over to the passenger seat and one's he's sat, I climb onto the driver’s seat. Putting my hand out, Kai puts the keys in my hand and I turn the key only to hear the sound of disappointment.
"Did we break the car?" I ask Kai.
"I don't know, it was working perfectly fine before. Let me go check, can you unlock the hood?"
"Yeah."
As he exits the car, I unlock the hood and Kai disappears behind the piece of metal trying to figure out what's wrong. A few minutes later, he steps out to the side and signals for me to turn on the car. I do as he says, but there's no luck.
He walks up to my window, "One of the wires came lose, I tried tightening it but I guess the circuits been lost."
"There's no way to fix it?"
"If I had foil to wrap around it, I could've made something temporary but right now, I don't have anything," he frowns.
"So we're walking?"
"I mean we only brought this one car, we have no other option."
"Fine," I step out of the car and pass him the keys.
"Let me just see if there's anything important in the trunk," he says and I wait by the hood. A few seconds later, he comes back passing me his jacket and I take it graciously before we start walking.
We walk for almost an hour and a half before we get to our safe house only to see dozens of cars parked outside and loud music blaring throughout the house.
"Wait," Kai stops me outside of the gates. "We never talked about it."
"About what?"
"You're getting married," he says.
"Oh, yeah," my lips form into a thin line. "Since the ring hasn't been shining in my face, I haven't thought about it much lately."
"I know, I don't think it's not a thing you're too excited about."
"It honestly couldn't be more obvious, but it's business. To be honest, if it were anyone other than Alessio I wouldn't agree to it. He's my friend and I know we'll both be able to treat each other respectfully and to the best of our capabilities."
"But are you sure you're up for it? To give it all up to him?"
"I know what I signed up for Kai and I know how much I can give. I'm willing to give it all up if it means my family will get what it needs."
"You know I admire that about you," he speaks. "You're unpredictable, and you do what needs to be done for the people that you love. You never show it, but I see it. You love your family despite the way they are and it's awful to know that I'll never be able to witness that first hand."
I look him in the eyes and as much as I wanna say these words to him, I prevent myself from doing so and just say them in my head hoping that he can read them through my eyes.
You don't have to be family to get what you deserve, I promise you that.
"When we step inside, this is it. There's nothing we can do, you know that right?" I question.
"I do," Kai says. His eyes glance longingly at the house past the gates.
"So what are you thinking?"
"Just about the million different ways our life could be like if we decide not to go inside."
"Then why are we still standing here? Why aren't we a thousand miles away travelling somewhere far on a plane?"
"Because none of them end with us being happy. We'd be running for the rest of our life. Maybe we'll die of old age or maybe by a bullet to our hearts, but our story. The way we'll get there won't be satisfying - not even once in the million ways I see it, that things could turn out to be pleasing for us."
"So we're going in."
"Yeah, we are," he says. His voice hollow with longing in his voice. I can see his eyes watering as his hands take mine in them pulling me closer.
"I love you," he says just before he kisses me. As we kiss, I feel the tears in his eyes drop mixing with my own.
"I love you too," I say as we lean our foreheads against each other’s. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'll always be there for you. Whenever you need me, I'll be there."
"And all you have to do is ask," he adds as we lift our heads and flash each other our best smiles.
"Well, I guess this is it," I say as I wipe my tears and take another step back from him.
"I guess it is," he says and soon as he does, I turn around and head inside. I manage to stop the tears as I do so.
The living room packed with people, I squeeze in between everyone to get to the stairs.
"Hey Summer! Come over here!" I hear Donte and his friends calling me.
"Nah! I'm just gonna head upstairs!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah!" I yell through the music.
"All righty then!" one of Donte's friends replies.
Once I make it to the stairs, I head upstairs to my room. Luckily, my room is empty and it doesn't seem like anyone has been in here so I lock the door and sit on my bed feeling like there's something missing.
There's a part of me that wants to sob and another part that's craving an out for all these emotions dwelling inside of me. The pit of my stomach feels like it has been ripped out and replaced with the same emptiness I've been running away from my whole life.
I run my hand through my hair nervously and push it back as I feel my heart rate rise feeling anxious.
Finding my phone on the nightstand, I pick up my phone and call Anthony.
"Hey, what's up?" he picks up, two rings in.
"Hey, do you think you can pick me up?" I question.
"Right now? What's wrong?"
"I just... I'll explain it to you once you come and get me. Will you?"
"You're so lucky, I'm on the highway right now. Father asked me to deliver something to one of our heads down south. I'm about half an hour away from the safe house you're staying at," he makes known.
"Okay, I'll be right outside the gate then," I inform.
"Okay, bye."
"Bye," I end the call.
...♛...
"So are you going to tell me what made you cut your trip so short?" Anthony questions curiously.
"I wasn't feeling good," I lie.
"So your eyes are just swollen for no reason?"
"Allergies."
; "Yeah, to men?"
"Kind of," I admit.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Not really."
"I don't know who the person that hurt you is, but I have a pretty good feeling of who it could be and so I'll make sure to put him through hours on end of training and pure torture."
"No, don't. It's not what you think," I tell him.
"I don't care what it was, no one makes my baby sister cry."
"I'll be fine."
"I know you will be," Anthony replies. "I-"
Before I can hear another word, a loud blast goes off and I feel my body jerk helplessly. Everything accelerates at such a high rate, that it feels like it only lasts for a second and I hope that it ends right here.
Chapter 58
"Fuck," I groan as I open my eyes. I can't see much because the road doesn't have a single light and the only next best thing, is the moonlight helping me make out shadows.
I try to play with the seat belt, but it's locked in and won't budge making me stay glued to the seat.
My ears still ringing, I hear the roar of an engine and blinding headlights shining at our faces through the broken windshield.
Finally, with some light, I look over to Anthony. His face covered in blood, I can see a piece of glass imbedded in the side of his head.
"Anthony? Anthony, can you hear me?"
"Ugh- yeah," he replies. "Someone's coming."
I look in front and indeed, I see multiple feet making their way towards us.
"There's a gun in the compartment," Anthony breaths. As I reach out and up in front of me, I see a piece of glass cutting through my arm almost six inches in length. In a split second, the pain of it travels through my body making me gag. I hold in my desire to scream in agony and take a deep breath continuing to open the compartment.
A bunch of papers fall on my face and I hear a thud of the gun. When I look down, I spot the gun on the road almost two feet away from my reach causing a wave of helpless to take over.
"Search the trunk," I hear a familiar voice instruct.
A few seconds later, the person squats down watching me with pure amusement.
"Would you look at that, Summer White again with one of her brother's. Maybe I can stab him and take you again, how does that sound Sweetheart?"
I swallow hard trying to aid my dry throat.
"If you're not here for me, why are you here?" I ask speaking slowly as I catch my breath at the end of each word.
"It's not here," a voice yells from somewhere behind us.
August's face distorts in anger and he looks back down, but this time, past me to my brother.
"Where is it?" he questions.
"In your dreams," I hear a loud snicker from my brother.
"Anthony, let’s get your options straight here. Either you can tell me where the papers are, or I can let my men do whatever they'd like to sweet old, Summer here as you watch. I'm sure they've missed her for the last three years."
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Anthony bursts making me flinch. The outburst was unexpected considering his state.
"I won't have to if you tell me where the papers are," August retorts.
"Ugh!" Anthony bangs the wheel on top of him. His hands sneaking in to his jean pocket, he pulls out a piece of crumpled paper and throws it over to August.
I watch as August picks up the folded piece of paper and stands up.
"Get the fucking Chinese in the car to verify that it's the real deal," I hear August instruct. Once his guy leaves, August kneels down again. "Sit tight, I'll be right back."
He leaves and I whisper asking, "You bought the Fentanyl formula, didn't you? Father couldn't fucking resist. That's why you weren't there during the trade? It wasn't as valuable as having the fucking formula."
"It's not the real formula," are the only words to escape his lips. "Dean's probably putting it in the vault right now."
"You didn't bring back up?"
"I did," he says. "They must've taken them out."
"They're gonna kill you," I speak not believing the whole situation.
"I know, the fucking Chinese is gonna talk," he groans.
"Do you hear that?" I ask as I hear the slightest sound of liquid splatting the ground.
"What?"
"Shh," I insist and look around to find the source. When I look up at where Anthony's legs are, I hold myself back from panicking. "Anthony, can you feel anything?"
"No, why?"
"Not even the slightest pain in your legs? Back? Anywhere?"
"My head hurts," he says. "That's not a good sign, is it?"
"Uh- just. Let's just think about how we're gonna get out of this," I do my best to keep calm.
"They're coming," Anthony says and we both wait.
August bangs on the car and I groan as the sound amplifies in my ears.
"Guess it's your lucky day. Both of you are free to get out of this however you'd like. But here's an incentive," he says throwing out a burner phone that lands next to the gun on the road. "I'd reach that as fast as I can. Last time I checked, it only had twenty percent battery left and if that's not enough, from the looks of it, your brother will die from intensive bleeding in about thirty minutes."
"August," I call out, stopping him from getting up.
"Yeah?"
"When you... see Nick, tell him – tell him that his brother's a much better fuck than him," I grin laughing, but it's cut short with a string of pain travelling through my body.
"You just love pissing him off, don't you?" August questions.
"No, I like dying slowly," I tell him.
"Oh, don't you worry about that. Nick will make sure of that," August assures before getting up and leaving.
As I watch his car leave, I feel reality set back in.
"Hey, Anthony?"
"Yeah?" he forces himself to speak.
"I need you to stay awake, do you understand? Talk to me, I'm gonna get us out of here," I say.
"Yeah... okay," he replies. I look up at the plastic cutting through his abdomen trying to assess the bleeding. It's most likely going through to his spine. There's blood dropping every second, and at that rate, I assume I have less than fifteen minutes to call nine one one and get the ambulance here in time to save him.
Sneaking my arm under the seat belt, I rip off my shirt and crumple it up handing it to Anthony.
"Anthony, I need you to hold this up to where your stomach is. Don't look, just hold it up there to slow down the bleeding."
"It's that bad, huh?" he questions.
"Yeah, but you're gonna be okay, okay? You're gonna live," I assure.
Zoning my gaze onto the phone, I take a deep breath.
The only way I'll be able to reach it is if I can get this seat belt undone and crawl over to it.
"Hey, tell me about Zoe. Did you guys choose a date yet?" I question. As I wait for his response, I try to find a piece of glass long enough to hold and sharp enough that it'll cut through the thick belt.
"Yeah, it - it was sup - supposed to be in three w-weeks from today," he informs.
"Wow, that's - " I take a deep breath feeling dizzy, " - that sounds exciting. Tell me about Zoe, how'd you know she was the one?"
I don't find any eligible glass, except for one and it just so happens that it is imbedded in my arm.
"She - she wasn't clingy in the sense of she knew what she wanted. She wanted me, but not my lifestyle; though, she never asked me to withdraw from it either. I neglected her a lot, but she never got upset. She waited patiently as she did her thing and I did mine. I felt guilty for almost always putting my work before her, but she never said anything because she knew she needed me and I needed her."
As I listen to him, I put my arm against my stomach and grab the glass sticking out of my arm. I can't take the whole glass out, because if I do, my arm won't stop bleeding and I might injure more nerves so counting down from three, I snap the glass so that only a few centimeters of it is sticking out of my arm no
w.
"We had each other and that was enough. We'd go days without talking, but when we did, it was everything. She was everything I needed, and I'm so glad that she'll finally be mine forever."
Using the piece of glass, I cut through the belt and instantly put my hands down on the roof so that my head doesn't take the impact.
The pain my arm's bear, makes me want to scream and curl up into a fucking a ball, but I hold it in. I hold in every emotion trying to break out, because I know Anthony is more important right now.
"Hey, Summer?"
"Yeah, Ant?" I turn around and get on my hands and knees.
"You tell her, I love her, okay?"
""You can tell yourself, okay?"
"I hope so," he replies.
Crawling over the shards of glass, I grab the phone and dial nine one one.
As soon as they pick up, I let them know our location and whisper my brother's condition to her so that Anthony can't hear and panic.
I don't know how long everything lasts after that call. Every image coming in front of me turns into a blur and every sound becomes distant.
...♛...
I wake up with an unexplainable numbness in my body. As my eyes flutter open, memories of the accident flash before me taking place of the white ceiling.
As everything comes back to me, I sit up ignoring any pain I feel. I pull out the IVs stuck to me and climb off the bed. Grabbing a jacket off the side, I put it on and head outside of the room to the main desk.
"Anthony White, what room is he in?"
"You shouldn't be out of your bed, Miss. White," the nurse retorts.
"Anthony White, tell me where is or I swear to god, my life will be the least of your worries," I threaten.
"Room o-one seventeen, just down the hall," she replies.
"Thanks," I say as I head in the direction she pointed out to me. Finding the room, I look through the window.
Anthony lying still on the bed, his skin is dangerously pale as the doctor checks his monitors.
I wait outside until the doctor comes out.
"Miss. White, you should be in bed," the doctor sounds concerned.
"Can I see his files?" I question.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you do that, Miss. White," the doctor replies.
"I remember that night, Dr. Santiago. At the rate of his bleeding, he either shouldn't be alive and if he is, he shouldn't be walking. Give me his file."
