Chapter Thirty-Two #2
“As you can see, the girl is unharmed, Sullie,” Romano drawled, pulling me close to him.
Don’t fight.
Not yet.
“Kay. Let me see you!” My uncle’s voice boomed across the stadium, coating my body in warmth and security. I raised my head and met familiar warm brown eyes, paired with chocolate skin and a thick beard. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I tried to take a step to him.
He was standing on the pitcher’s mound. Alone.
“Ah, ah,” the pain in my ass taunted, pulling me back.
I could claw his eyes out right now, but the look on my uncle’s face was telling me to hold off. My eyes scanned the empty seats in search of someone—anyone. Back up?
Where the fuck was the FBI?
Where was my brother? Dom?
My heart jumped when I saw a shadow move by one of the concession stands. My soul knew it was him.
My demon, coming to rescue his angel.
“This was a trade, Sullivan. Where is the girl?”
I stilled and looked back at my uncle. Gwen. My eyes scanned the outfield quickly before catching a glimpse of something underneath the scoreboard.
“I needed to lay eyes on my niece first.”
The devil made a sound of impatience. “Now you have. Give me the girl.”
Silence stretched across the diamond. The sun was setting behind me, casting a warm glow over my favorite part of the city. Ballpark Village was dark, no sign of human life within its walls or on the rooftop. The streets outside the stadium were unusually quiet for this time of day.
My eyes snapped to the concession stand once more, my heart pounding as my demon lit a cigarette, its orange embers like a lighthouse in a dark stormy night. What was he waiting for?
Trust him.
Trust Sullie.
You are safe.
Collin promised no one would ever get the chance to hurt me again, and those words were branded onto my soul. I trusted him. I loved him.
Shifting on my feet, I mentally prepared myself for the fight about to come.
There were three of them and one of me. Ice Pack Dick was already injured, so I could take him out quickly.
His buddy was a bit bigger and seemed like the no bullshit type.
Kicking him in the balls would be something he would expect.
I could bite his ear off…but would I have enough time? Sullie was packing. The man always had a gun within reach, ever since I was child. He would be able to shoot Romano…He was an excellent shot. Hell, he could shoot the man right now if he wanted to…
Why hadn’t he?
Sullie could end this shit once and for all.
“I don’t have all day,” Romano growled from beside me, his hand tightening about my arm. He kept his injured side away from my uncle, a last-ditch resort to keep his image intact. To still appear ruthless. Something to be feared.
My nephew was scarier in his Batman PJs than this asshole next to me.
A small smile formed on my lips. Three months ago, the mere thought of Ray Romano scared the crap out of me.
He was a huge part of why I became a robot.
I shut myself off from the world, from myself.
Then, I saw Col that day, and everything changed. I changed.
Collin opened me back up and showed me how powerful I truly was. He showed me his scars and I showed him mine, and together, we became stronger than ever.
In a world that strives to be black and white, we found each other in the mass of gray.
Three months ago, the name Romano sent shivers down my spine. Now? Now, it just made my eyes roll.
“Tell me why you want her,” Sullie boomed, his voice bouncing off the stadium walls.
“That little bitch is going to pay for what she did to my empire—to my son,” Romano seethed beside me, and I suddenly smelled the faint scent of whiskey.
Sullie smiled, chuckling as he stepped down from the pitcher’s mound. “You want to know what kills a man in power?”
Romano stiffened.
“His unquenchable thirst,” my uncle said, his eyes darting behind me.
He wasn’t alone.
A grunt of pain filled my ears, and Ice Pack Dick was face down on the ground. Big surprise there.
The devil’s attention focused on his man, and I took the opportunity to rip free from him, staggering back towards Sullie. My breath hitched as I saw Dean Connors leaning against the brick wall, the barbed wire bat resting on his shoulder.
“Connors,” Romano choked out as he slowly backtracked in the direction of third base.
The baseball player was dressed in dark jeans and a black T-shirt, a gun strapped to his thigh, his hair was up in a bun. His hazel eyes flicked to mine for a second before scanning my body for injuries. The second man advanced Dean, and the man smirked.
“Finally, I was getting bored,” Dean murmured, stepping forward. In a flash, he swung the bat, hitting the man in the shoulder before gunshots sounded off.
I flinched, ducking my head slightly. Relief washed over me as I saw Romano’s last man falling to the ground, a bullet in his forehead. My head snapped to the left to see James Garner walking to me, his gun now on Romano.
His eyes were wide with fear as he looked down at his men. His army was gone, and he was nothing but a man now, his immortality stripped from him right before our eyes. The fear in his eyes melted as he looked at Dean, who was spinning the bat in his hands.
“How ya doing, boss?” he asked with a snarky smile.
Dean Connors, the smartass, ladies and gentlemen.
“You will pay for this! All of you! Where is she?” Romano screamed, snapping his head to my uncle, who stood halfway between Homeplate and the pitcher’s mound.
“You rang, asshole?”
Gwen’s voice caused a broken sob to rise from my throat, one I couldn’t hold back. So long. It had been so long since I laid eyes on my beautiful friend.
She emerged from the visitors’ dugout, and I could see the fire in her eyes from where I stood. My best friend looked like a nightmare in all black: boots, jeans, and a long-sleeved shirt. I noticed she was the only one wearing a bulletproof vest.
I looked back to the FBI agent, who looked just about unhinged as our mutual enemy.
His hair was a mess, which was different.
The agent I knew was always put together and clean cut.
This man was savage. He was wearing cargo pants, was covered in weapons, and donned dark gray Henley with a gun holster around his shoulders.
“You little slut—ah!”
I looked back towards third base to find Romano on the ground, Gwen standing above him. He was clutching a knife protruding from his shoulder. “While I appreciate the greeting, perhaps we could talk somewhere more private?” she asked, smiling down at the man she had been wanting to kill for years.
My mind drifted to Collin, and I found myself scanning the thousands of empty seats for him, but I stopped cold when I saw men emerging from the darkness. Those weren’t Col’s men or my uncles.
Seriously, how many men did the old mafia have?
Romano started laughing weakly once he noticed them descending the steps. He looked back at Sullie. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t have back up?”
The smile that spread across my uncle’s face was downright sinister, and for the first time in my life, I caught a glimpse of the old Sullie. “Did you honestly think I would let you have this city?” he asked, raising his arms out wide.
Car engines roared all around the stadium, and people emerged from all levels, one man in particular leading the masses.
My brother.
A tear slipped from my eye and down my cheek.
Dom emerged from the Cardinals’ dugout, weapons covering him from head to toe as he aimed his semi-automatic at the line of fifteen or so men.
Dean yanked the fallen king off the ground and turned him to see the people, hundreds of people, yelling and cheering.
The evil man’s dark eyes were wide once more as he tried to comprehend the scene around him.
“This city is our city!” Sullie roared. FBI agents filed out onto the field as people—innocent citizens—began chanting.
“Our city! Our city! Our city!”
“You never had it to begin with,” Dom yelled before ordering the mafia goons to stand down.
Gunshots fired, and screams echoed across the space.
James dove for me, knocking me to the ground.
Twisting under him and craning my neck, I saw two of the goons go down, but Dom wasn’t the one firing. Another shot ran out, slicing through the air and landing in the chest of another man. The bullet came from above. Spinning around slowly, I looked for him.
My demon. He was helping from above, watching over me high in the shadows. My secret blessing.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” James ordered Dean from above me, his arms wrapped around my head.
The baseball player was on the ground covering Gwen, shielding her from the bullets with his body despite the vest she wore.
Romano was trying—failing—to crawl away, but a gun was pointed to the devil’s temple in the next second.
My brother’s gun.
Jer’s jaw was tight, his nostrils flared as he looked down at the man responsible for Ty's death. Everything always led back to the Romano family. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words.
My ears were ringing, and my body should have been on high alert, but I knew those bullets were being fired to protect me—my family.
My soul felt like it was trying to extend out of my body, stretching and reaching out for his darkness, my light shining like a beacon in the chaos for him. I looked up to the shadows just in time to see the gun firing and then my demon stepped into the light.
Just for a moment, I saw the hard lines and curves of his face, his head turned down to me and a shiver went down my spine when his eyes found me.
Could I see them? Not clearly, but my body knew.
I love you, Col. I’m coming back to you. Hang on.
The gunshots finally ceased, and my demon stepped back into the shadows. I tried to push James off me, but he stopped me. “Hang on,” he ordered, his eyes darting all around. “The shooter is probably reloading,” the agent above me said as he looked down at me. “Are you alright?”