Chapter 42 Jasper
FORTY-TWO
JASPER
He’s dead.
I got here too late, and now, my fucking brother is dead.
Three bullet holes ripped through his skin, one in the stomach, another near his spine, and the final one landing on the meaty part of his thigh.
Most of the blood came from the thigh, the bullet likely hitting the femoral artery, and I can’t do a fucking thing to help.
I’m sitting beside him, staring down at his lifeless body, my grasp on his hand so tight, I feel my arm going numb.
A very broken cough comes from beside me, and Carter nearly jumps, dropping Tyson’s limp hand and ripping the t-shirt off her body.
“He’s not gone, Jasper. I need something to keep pressure on these,” she exclaims, tears streaming down her cheeks while she speaks, but I only shake my head, unable to find the words to tell her to stop.
I heard his final words, felt the last breath of air leave his lungs, and anything more we do is just ripping away the only shred of dignity he left this world with.
“Fucking help me save him!” She slaps me across the face, bringing me back to reality as our eyes meet, and although I feel like I’m moving in slow motion, I strip the sheet from the mattress, tossing it to her.
“We need to get him into the closet,” I say, my voice finally finding itself, but she shakes her head, ripping into the fabric with her blade, placing one half on his thigh, and the other over his torso.
“We can’t move him, this bullet has no exit wound next to his spine. We could paralyze him, Jasper. Please, just … get us out of here,” she cries, her cheeks stained with Tyson’s blood, and I nod, obeying her wishes.
Thinking on my feet, I rip an automatic rifle from one of the dead men on the ground, shooting my way out of the room, and down the hallway to the right where Carter and I were just ambushed.
To the left, there’s a giant hole, dead bodies lining the ground of each floor, as my grenade was able to knock out the foundation and reveal the kitchen down below.
There’s not much time, nor am I positive that Tyson’s alive, but for Carter, I’d burn this fucking world down, and that includes taking down each and every man that attacked our home.
Before I can round the final corner that leads to the stairs, I hear what sounds like glass breaking, followed by Carter’s blood-curdling screams.
In an instant I take off running, not caring if my backside is covered, the only thing going through my mind being Tyson’s last words.
I made him a promise, one I intend to keep, and I will my legs to move faster, bringing the rifle up as I reach the door.
“Let fucking go of me!” Carter screams, kicking and punching the man who has his arms around her, his black bodysuit and mask hiding his identity just like the rest of the attackers.
“Drop the girl,” I warn, turning on the red-dot attachment, a bright target painted right in the center of his forehead.
The sound of my voice stops him in his tracks, his head turning until he’s facing me, and I can only imagine the sight he’s met with, my wild thoughts racing a mile a minute.
“I can’t do that,” he says calmly, still holding onto Carter with a death grip, even as she fights and claws with every bit of strength she possesses.
“Jasper. Take the fucking shot!” She yells, not meeting my eyes until she stops moving completely, giving me the chance to pull the trigger.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Son. Ms. Cassini, your father gave me strict orders to kill anyone who got in our way of rescuing you.” He takes a step backward, moving toward the open window, while Carter looks like she saw a ghost, her face stark white and pale.
Suddenly, I feel the barrel of a gun pressing into the back of my head, but my eyes never leave Carter’s, even as she squeezes her eyelids shut, the alarming lack of fight in her body leaving me in awe.
“Carter, what is he talking about? Do something! Fight, Principessina. Fucking fight!” I scream, my words coming out in a desperate plea as I’m forced to watch her be slowly dragged away from me, from Tyson’s dead body, and our decimated home.
“Jasper, please, you have to let them take me,” she cries, the sobs racking through her chest as she breaks her gaze from mine, looking down at Tyson’s lifeless frame. “I’ll go with you, just don’t hurt him.”
With her words, the masked man drops her naked body, and she lands on the floor, still walking toward the window rather than making a break for it.
“He’s fucking dying, Carter! You can’t just go!” I lunge forward, catching them all by surprise as I cross the room to reach her, but before I can touch her, a lone shot rings out, missing me by a hair, and I come to a screeching halt, recognizing it as a warning shot.
“Ms. Cassini, we have to go now. There’s a chopper on the roof that will take you back to the jet. Your father is waiting,” the man says, pushing her closer toward the window, but she pushes back, holding a hand to his face.
“Is there a medical team?” She stops him in his tracks, turning her back to me, but I’m still locked onto her frame, wondering what the fuck stunt she’s about to pull.
“Excuse me, Miss?”
“Is there a fucking medical team with you? My father wouldn’t let you attack this place without a team standing by,” she asserts, forcing his weapon down as she gets right in his face.
She’s tough as nails, and I’ve seen first hand what she’s capable of, but these men seem to obey her, to falter at her feet, just like I did.
“Yes, ma’am, we have a team on standby,” he answers, and she nods, holding her hand out until he places a radio in her palm.
“Third floor, fourth room down the hall. We have a man down with three gunshot wounds and two exit points. Bring the team up here, and have another chopper on the way, he needs to be airlifted to the closest hospital.” She hands him back the radio, a slight nod in her head before spinning back to face me.
“He’s going to be okay, Jasper. I’m so fucking sorry. ”
I’m dumbfounded, at a complete loss for words as I’m still being held at gunpoint, while she is about to walk away from me – from us – like nothing happened here tonight.
“Carter! Carter, don’t you fucking dare leave me. Carter!” I scream to no avail, being forced to stare at the back of her head while she climbs out the window, and out of my sight.
Everything feels like it’s crumbling, my world quite literally falling apart as the two people who meant the world to me are fucking gone, leaving me all alone.
“Carter! Please, Principessina. Come back,” I cry, dropping to my knees in pure anguish, the pain almost too much to bear as a hole begins to form in my chest that may never fully heal.
A hustle of footsteps enter the room, and I pick my head up in awe, watching as men dressed in scrubs attach pads to Tyson’s chest, and tend to his wounds with gauze.
It all feels performative and pointless, since I felt the second his body gave out, and his soul left this Earth.
A fierce rage creeps in, settling exactly where the newly formed hole in my chest is, and I turn to face the man still holding his weapon on me, not caring if he shoots me dead, too.
“Who the hell is that girl?”
“The one in charge? That’s Miss Cassini, the heiress to the family of the same name,” he answers, a slight chuckle in his voice at my lack of knowledge, and my hands ball into fists, needing to smash into something as an outlet for the pain I’m feeling.
Everything comes crashing down all at once, and my gut instincts take over, that same feeling I had when I first met Carter barreling back at full force, a harsh reminder that I did know something was off about her.
It all clicks into place now, and I realize that I never knew that girl, not in the fucking slightest.
She left us here to die, orchestrated the attack that has stolen my brother’s life, destroyed my home, but most importantly, she stole my fucking heart, and made me believe in something I never thought existed – love.
This entire time, the real Carter Cassini was not the girl I came to know, because nothing about her was true.
Every single thing that left her mouth was a lie, because during all the time she spent convincing us of one thing, she was the real actress, the actual threat – not the Ricci’s, or even my own father – and I slept with the enemy, giving her all the ammo she needed to take us down personally.
I was wrong about her, about everything she stood for, but in the end, Tyson and I were the ones she left behind in an inferno created to murder us in cold blood, while she ran away from the life we dreamt of sharing with her.
I was right to trust my instincts, but she’s been the ultimate temptress, the true Angel of Death I was convinced she embodied, and worst of all, the dirty traitor I sniffed her out to be the second I laid eyes on her.
I was right about her motives, but chose to believe in the woman she presented herself to be, and every second that we’ve spent in her orbit has been a ticking time bomb, the clock counting down to our demise.
Only one thing remains true: spending a single second in Carter Cassini’s life, or even breathing the same air as her, was a fucking death wish.