Bow Down(202)

Soon, we reached a wall. We began to skirt it, heading toward what I hoped was the exit. I held her wrist tightly as we ran, and she kept up the best she could.

Suddenly, from the smoke a person emerged. It was a mafia guy, his gun leveled. I didn’t recognize him, and I didn’t know what I would have done if I had.

But I didn’t hesitate. I slapped the gun down, punched the man in the throat, and then pulled my own weapon. I put two bullets in him before we continued moving. He was dead, and I had betrayed my own people.

This was how it had to be. We couldn’t stay. We couldn’t make this work. I needed her, needed her to live. Pregnant or not, I needed her, and we had to get away.

“That was one of yours!” she yelled.

“I don’t have anyone anymore,” I answered. “Come on. Keep moving.”

We went through the thick smoke, shots and screams ringing out all around us. I stopped suddenly, pulling her down. Ahead, a Spider appeared, aiming toward us. I squeezed off three rounds, and she fell into the smoke. There were more of them coming from all over the place.

“There’s more of them,” I said. “They’re here. But where the fuck did they come from?”

“The basement,” she yelled. “They were in the basement.”

“How do you know?”

“The smoke came from the floor.”

“Fuck. Come on.”

I pulled her on, my heart racing with excitement and adrenaline. I didn’t know where we were going or if we were close, but I kept us moving.

Finally, we reached the exit. The smoke was pouring out into the night, and I stumbled out. We were both coughing as we sucked clean air into our lungs.

People were all over the place. Some were Spiders and some were mafia, and they were fighting, brutally and deadly. I yanked her along, and we were running through it. I stopped to kill a man who got in our way, shooting him clear through the eye. No hesitation or thoughts; I simply killed him and continued moving. Nothing was getting in my way. Nothing was stopping me from saving Cassidy. Blood was drenching the ground as bodies were torn to bits.

Ahead, some of the cars were already pulling out. I shoved her ahead as I turned and got off more shots. I held them off as she ran toward the truck.

Once she was in, I followed. I threw the door open and dove inside. I started the engine and peeled up, steering off into the night. I went the opposite direction of the compound, heading away from the fighting and away from the mafia.

And we were away. The gunshots continued as the fighting escalated, but we were running, flying away along the roads.

We drove for ten minutes, out of the city and into the suburbs, before I finally pulled over.

The full magnitude of my decision hit me in that moment, and for some reason I didn’t care. All that mattered was that Cassidy was safe beside me. She stared at me, horror and fear in her eyes from what she had seen.

I grabbed her face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said.

I let out a breath and gently released her. “Good.”

“Rafa, what are we doing? You killed mafia guys back there.”

“We’re done with them,” I said. “We’re leaving.”

“What?”

I looked at her. “I can’t make you come, but I want you to.”

“Come where?”

“I don’t know, but I have money. A lot of money. I can get us new identities. We can start over.”

“This is insane.”

“We’re not safe here. We’ll never be safe here. The Spiders, the mob, someone will try to hurt us sooner or later. But if we leave right now and never come back, the chaos will shield us. They’ll think we died or something worse. We can start again.”

She stared at me, taken aback, shocked. I couldn’t believe I was willing to leave the mob for her, but it was the truth.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“I love you. I need you. Come with me. This is real.”

She bit her lip. “I love you too.”

I knew it. I felt it. I needed it.

I kissed her, and she kissed me back.

After a time, maybe years, I couldn’t tell, we stopped. I put the car in drive.

I took her hand. I pulled out.

I loved her. It was real. I knew it was real, and I knew I had loved her from the very start, but now we had said it. Somehow, saying it out loud made it all the more real, made it somehow actual.

I would give up anything for her. I would do anything for her. I didn’t care if she was pregnant or not. It really had never mattered, although I wanted it to be true.

She was mine. She made me a better man, and I knew I was doing the right thing.

I could give them a real life.

I was going to give them a real life.