by Sasha Spice
Rob softly pushes me away as he stands back up. “You’re smuggling drugs?”
“Drugs?” Henri cuts in as he stands in front of Rob, “No, no, no. We only used the drugs to smuggle the real prize, my friend. The only true treasure in this wretched world worth smuggling, diamonds. And Stella here is a princess of the Kingdom of International Smuggling of Canadian Diamonds.”
I push Henri away and look up at Rob. “Please, I can explain.”
Henri scoff, “Here we go again with the waterworks.”
“Stella, tell me it’s not true,” Rob pleads.
“I only did it for my father, who’s a notorious drug smuggler in Canada. It was the only way I could pay for––”
But Rob’s brows furrow, and as he grits his teeth, he says, “You used me, Stella?”
“Rob, please. Listen to me.”
Before I can say anything else, Henri grabs the back of my neck and throws me to the nearest wall, “You know how drama bores me, chérie. And you know how I hate repeating myself, so don’t let me ask a third time, but where are my diamonds?”
Rob, still in a furious fit, lunges at Henri. But Henri easily steps away and lets Rob pass through. “Neanderthals never learn,” Henri complains as he raises both of his fists against Rob.
“I’ll give you a handicap, you Americans are quite well-known for boxing, right? Let me show you how the French do it.”
Rob cocks his fist back and swings wildly, only for Henri to easily duck and push Rob back toward the bedroom. Rob puts up his fist as well and jabs at Henri, who weaves his way inside his flurry of punches.
And when Henri closes the distance, he delivers a mind-boggling number of blows to Rob’s midsection. He grunts in pain with each impact. As soon as Rob drops his guard, Henri finishes him off with a blow under the chin, knocking him out on the bed.
“That was a fun warm-up,” Henri gloats as he pats off the dust from his suit. He walks outside the room and grins at me, “Now, will you please be a dear and follow your boyfriend inside the bedroom, or do you prefer we do this like in the old days with some rope and a bit of scratching?”
“Fuck you!” I spit back at him.
Henri is unamused, “Look at what this awful country has done to your one refined personality, chérie. Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
He angrily grabs me by the wrist and slaps me before he carries me inside the bedroom and throws me next to Rob. Henri disappears for a moment, and I quickly check up on Rob. Luckily, he’s still breathing, amid a few bruises on his once-handsome face.
But my moment of peace is cut short as Henri comes back with some thick rope. “Isn’t that sweet? I remember how you used to look at me like that. C’est la vie. So will you please lie down next to him or—”
“Just do whatever you want with us, Henri. But I’m never going to tell you where the diamonds are,” I snarl back as I follow his commands. Henri just giggles as he quickly ties Rob and me to the bed with the rope.
“I figured you’d say that much,” Henri notes as he finishes tying us up. “That is why I’m just going to search this house from top to bottom until I find my diamonds. And when I do...”
Henri bends over and takes out a handgun from his suit and gently caresses it on my cheek, “Well, let’s just say that you’d better pray I don’t find those diamonds, eh?”
With a kiss on my forehead, Henri whistles his way out of the bedroom before locking us inside.
Seventeen
Rob
How could I have been so stupid to trust a woman and get involved with her just because she had these sad puppy eyes and a hot ass?
The words echo in my head as I slowly wake up from my sleep with my temples screaming in pain. There are loud banging noises outside the room, and the room grows darker with each second. I must have been out for hours.
I’m gonna make that French motherfucker pay for this. It’s one thing to knock me out fair and square, but embarrassing me and the army is another thing.
“Rob? Are you awake? Oh, thank God!” Stella sobs, “Henri’s looking for the diamonds, and when he does, he’ll...”
I turn to my left and see Stella lying next to me on the bed, her hair a bit of a mess and one of her cheeks swelling a bit. As I look down, I find that we’re bound to the bed by thick layers of rope. Now I’m in really deep shit here with someone I just met this morning.
But as I look at Stella’s watering eyes, I can’t help but still feel the same attraction that I had for her, as if every fucked up thing I’ve ever gone through in my life was to prepare me for this...for her. I’ve never felt a connection like this from anyone before, and I doubt I ever will if things go on like this.
A loud car pulls up outside the house and, based on the voices that are getting louder, it’s those same guys that chased Stella and me. I listen silently, trying to figure out what’s happening outside the closed bedroom door. But all I hear is more of my grandfather’s cabin getting trashed.
Stella cries beside me, “Rob, please, before anything happens, you need to know why I did what I did.”
“Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it, Stella. At least not before we get out of here.”
“Get out of here? Rob, how are we even going to get out of these ropes?”
I check the ropes once again, and these look like the old hemp ropes grandfather used for trekking the mountainside, so they should be a bit worn for wear. A little nudge should be enough to get us out of here.
“Just get ready,” I inform Stella before sucking in a huge breath and flexing and tensing all of the muscles in my body. The massive increase in my muscle volume stretches the rope big enough to give Stella some leeway to wiggle her way out. As soon as she feels the rope on her side loosen up, she gets out just in time before I lose strength in my muscles.
“That was amazing, Rob,” she whispers as she quickly unties me. “I always knew you were a musclehead, but that was something else.”
But I wasn’t in the same festive mood, even with Stella’s usual jokes. Now that we were out, there were three, probably armed, men waiting for us outside. And I don’t know how long we have left before they find Stella’s diamonds.
I need to think fast.
“Now what?” Stella asks. “Should we escape through the window?”
The thought does seem appealing, but if what Stella told me about Henri was true, then he’d have no problem tracking us down in the wilderness. If we were going to do anything, it should be to deal with them now, while we still have the element of surprise.
I quickly go to the closet and go through grandfather’s old things, looking for anything that’ll get us out of this.
Stella complains behind me, “Are you crazy? Are you seriously thinking of taking them all on? Henri alone beat you up, Rob.”
Unable to contain my anger any longer, I turn to Stella with a frustrated tone, “I know damn well what happened, Stella. And it’s my fault for not keeping up with my CQB training after getting disheartened from war. But back when I was in the field…”
And that’s when it all comes back to me.
I check the closet’s wooden floors and trace them with my fingers until I find the protruding notches of my grandfather’s secret stash. Inside is a long metallic case, as long as a baseball bat, which housed our family’s greatest heirloom, an original 1860 Henry rifle, its golden metallic grooves and handles still shimmered under the setting sun. This gun has survived the Civil War and is now only a sort of symbol for our family’s great military history; who would’ve thought that it would actually save us now?
There are thirteen rounds in the rifle with no other spare left, more than enough to deal with the thugs outside. I silently thank grandfather as I wipe the gun. After checking that the firearm is clean and dry, I strap it on my shoulder and silently walk toward the window.
“What am I supposed to do?” Stella whines as she follows behind me.
“Hide under the bed or someth
ing. Just don’t get in the way.”
“You’re really going out there against three armed men with a gun that looks like it just came out of some 1950s Western?”
I look her straight in the eye and answer coldly, “You bet your ass I am. And I’m gonna show them what the US Army is well-known for.”
“Fuck,” Stella curses as she paces back and forth in the bedroom. “Well, can you wait just for a second? I need to tell you something.”
Frustrated, I turn to her, “Look, Stella, after everything all the trouble you’ve caused me, there’s not a single word in that lying mouth of yours that I’m going to believe, so why don’t you just—”
She slaps me hard on the face and kisses me passionately. “I love you, Rob.”
And I thought Henri’s uppercut hit me hard.
Eighteen
Stella
My hand is searing after that slap to Rob’s chiseled jaw. Half of me regrets it, but half of me is tongue-deep inside his mouth as we share a kiss in the middle of all this chaos.
I pull back after Rob’s body relaxes, “Good, now, that I have your attention—”
“Wait. What you said just now, you tellin’ me that was just to get me to shut up and listen?”
His flustered reaction brings a smile to my face. “That I loved you? Do you really even need me to say it after everything we’ve been through, Rob?”
But Rob grabs me by the waist and pulls me in, gazing into my eyes. “Darlin’, I need to know.”
I run my fingers on his disheveled dark hair. How I wish we were back in the bed exploring the rest of his well-built body. Life doesn’t always give you what you want, but it’ll always provide you what you need, much like how I met Rob.
“I love you, you big oaf,” I whisper in his ear before planting a kiss on his lips, leaving behind a thick, red kiss mark. “Now, will you please listen to me?”
Rob examines my face and eyes as if looking for a lost treasure that’s always been there before he finally nods, “Lay it on me. You still have the hots for your ex?”
“Ex?”
“That Henri bastard.”
The thought makes me push Rob away. “Rob, that’s disgusting. He’s a cowardly lowlife that I’d never dream of being friends with, let alone sleep with.”
Rob scratches his head, “Well, I just thought because of all the…nevermind.”
He looks so adorable when he’s sorry. I take his hand as he stares at the floor and kiss it softly, “Rob, if it really just can’t get through that thick skull of yours, then let me say it again. I care about you a lot, a lot more than anyone I’ve ever known in this world. You’ve done so much for me in a day, and you just met me this morning. I don’t think I’ve ever known such a kind-hearted, brave man such as you, and I don’t think I ever will again.”
A smile finally breaks on his face, “I’m not convinced, but…okay.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Finally. Look, you’re going to go out there outnumbered, guns-blazing. I don’t want to think of the worst happening, but I want you to know the truth about me.”
“No, you don’t have to say anything, Stella.”
I shake my head back, “No. You’ve helped me without asking anything in return; honesty is the least that I can give you. You see, I was tasked to bring these diamonds back to my father’s associate, and I’d get paid once he’d get past the border checkpoint.”
Rob looks at me sternly. “Something happened on the way to the airport?”
I nod. “Henri happened. I don’t know how but he knew about my job, and he ordered his men to ambush me on the way, and that’s when I met you.”
“The fucking start of the adventure.”
I despised sarcasm, but given the circumstances, I let it slide. “Yes, it was. But I only did it because I had bills up to my neck, mostly from my sister’s sickness, while the rest were from my mother’s depression, Rob. I know it’s not a good enough excuse, but I had no choice.”
“Just like when I had no choice when you decided to jump into my cab, right?”
The words shoot out of Rob’s mouth and sting as they reach my heart, but I deserved that. “You’re right. And I’m truly sorry about that, Rob. But I swear to on my sister’s grave, Rob, I would only do one job, and then I was out. I never had any intention of joining my father in his diamond smuggling business. Please, tell me you believe me.”
Rob looks at me unamused and takes a deep sigh, “I believe you.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Rob coldly answers before turning his back and heading for the window.
But I still have one thing in my mind. “You never said it back.”
Rob stops. “Said what?”
“That you love me back. Do you, Rob?”
Rob turns to face me, his eyes wavering at his confusion.
Until they don’t anymore.
And he looks at me just like he did the first time he saw me, with kindness and compassion. He slowly leans toward me until I can feel the warm gust of his breath on my lips and hear the pounding of his heart.
“Where the fuck is it!” Henri shouts from the other side of the door as we hear more furniture getting tossed around, disturbing my moment with Rob.
A frustrated breath escapes my lips as Rob pulls away and heads for the window. I want to scream at him, beg him to just run away with me forever. Or at least just long enough for him to say that he loves me back.
But that’s not the kind of man Rob is. He’s the kind who’ll stop a train with his bare hands if a child is stuck on the rails, or at least he’ll die trying. Maybe that’s why I love him so, and such a foolish love it is.
“Look, I’m coming back, okay?” Rob blurts out as he silently jimmies the window. “We’ll get out of this alive, and when we do, we’ll talk.”
With hope in my heart, I nod back. “You better come back, or I’ll frickin’ beat you up, you hear?”
Rob laughs, “Yes, ma’am. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He jimmies the window open and jumps out.
The cold night breeze gusts toward me as the man I love disappears into the night.
It doesn’t take long for me to wait before the first gunshots rattle the entire cabin.
Nineteen
Rob
Creeping around to the front of the house, my grandfather’s rifle gripped tight against my body, I hover near a window and peek in.
There are three scumbags tearing apart the inside of the place. They’re looking for diamonds, I guess, but all I see is a bunch of bastards upending my family’s house. They needlessly smash lamps and heirlooms onto the ground as they go.
Even without everything else that’s happened, what I’m seeing is enough to make me feel fine with what I’m about to do.
Quietly, I plant my feet, raise the rifle, and take aim. The gun’s muzzle erupts with a small flame as I squeeze the trigger. A windowpane shatters and almost simultaneously I see a bloom of blood burst from the head of the guy I was aiming at. He drops without making a sound.
Then I duck out of the way as the rest of the window explodes in a barrage of return fire. They’re still shooting at where I was as I whirl around to the front door.
I kick it open and find myself confronted with another one of the goons. He spins on me, his gun already up and ready. I fire before he can finish his turn. The shot tears through his gut and sends him flying backward.
I can’t see the third guy. I rush into the house—and get a punch in the face that sends me staggering sideways. The rifle flies out of my hands and skitters away. I blink back the darkness threatening to overtake me, just in time to see the third guy level his handgun at me. I charge him.
My hands wrap around his, forcing them upward. He fires into the ceiling, and plaster rains down on us as we wrestle for control of the gun. We’re both grunting with the strain.
He’s stronger than me and starting to overpower me, so I come up close to the guy as w
e struggle, then hurl a knee into his side. It knocks the air out of him. He bends over, letting go of the gun, and I grip the warm muzzle and swing the other end across the side of his face.
A few of his teeth clatter to the floor. Then the rest of him follows as he drops unconscious at my feet.
I regrip the gun and point it at Henri.
He’s just standing there in the middle of the living room, amid the upended furniture and broken items. His eyes are wide as he takes in the carnage, then they land on the guy responsible for it.
Me.
His fear just makes me all the more angry.
“You son of a bitch,” I say through gritted teeth as I march toward him, my gun leveled.
He drops to his knees, shaking and sweating, hands raised. He starts mumbling something in French that I assume is him begging for his life.
I don’t care. I put the gun to his forehead and press the tip of the muzzle against him.
“No!”
I whirl then immediately shoulder the gun. Stella is standing in the doorway, a little breathless.
“What’re you doing?” I demand.
“I followed you out the window.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Too bad, handsome.” She strides over to me and places a delicate hand over mine. I let her guide me as I lower my weapon. “You did great, but this doesn’t end with him dying.”
I take a deep breath. The rush of the combat begins to subside. I glance from her to Henri.
This is her fight, I suppose. She can end it whatever way she wants.
Stella passes me and stands over Henri, still kneeling on the ground, hands in the air.
“We’ll let you live,” she says, and Henri nearly doubles over in relief. “For the price of three Canadian diamonds,” Stella adds.
Henri starts. I can see he’s about to protest, but then he shuts his mouth and swallows hard. He gives a barely perceptible nod.
