Chapter 61
SIXTY-ONE
Harry
The door slams behind me as we descend the stairs. The fire has dwindled to a light smoke that fills the hallways, thin enough to breathe through.
Gigi whips her head up as we reach the ground floor, eyes searching my face for any signs of injury. Hudson takes over on Andy as she stands and runs towards me. I pull her into my arms, holding her tight against the rain-soaked fabric of my T-shirt.
“It’s over,” I say, my voice hoarse. “He’s gone.”
She buries her face in my chest and sobs against my shoulder, her body shaking from the adrenaline, years of pent-up terror and the throbbing pain finally settling in. I hold her tight, whispering that it’s over. But it’s not – not with the alarms continuing their torment, blaring above us.
We always knew Richard’s death would come with consequences – someone darker, stronger, looking to fill the void. But now it’s here, now we’re faced with the truth, I can’t fathom going through this again.
The darkness isn’t gone, but I refuse to not find a way through it.
Jack hovers over Andy’s body, coated in the thick crimson. Teeth clenched, he barks orders to no one in particular. I blink as a flurry of men come racing in from the hall, weapons drawn. I’ll never quite get used to that.
Andy blinks, looking up at Jack.
“Hi, brother,” he says. “You missed me?”
Andy laughs barely, tainted with a sob, as one of Jack’s men starts wrapping bandages round his chest. Jack pulls out a syringe from a first-aid kit, pulling the cap from his teeth, because, apparently, he has a walking medical team as well as constant security.
Mouth obstructed, he starts, “This is going to hurt—”
Andy’s hiss pierces the air as the syringe is embedded into his chest cavity.
Fuuckkk. I wince, the tightness of my joints suddenly reminding me of every punch, blade, and bullet I’ve withstood this evening. I force it away despite how much my body screams with resistance.
The team takes over from Jack. He sits back on his heels.
“There’s not a lot of time.”
Silence descends, plagued with the thrumming beat, Andy’s occasional groan, and the tearing of gauze as the bleeding is brought to a minimum.
Soon, Jack will scurry off to whatever corner of the planet he’s hiding in, and Hudson will make peace with his Mafia connections, but Gigi, Andy and me? It’s only a matter of time before we face the consequences of our retaliation. They’ll want justice for Richard’s death.
“I can get you out.”
Andy’s eyes flick open a little wider. “W-what?”
“You want out?” Jack places a firm hand on his shoulder. “I can get you out of here. Set you up with a whole new life where you’ll never have to look over your shoulder again.”
I stare at Jack. This is permanent. He’s got the connections to give Andy the freedom he needs.
“I can’t have your society bosses knowing I’m alive yet,” he says. “It’s a one-time offer, but we have to move now. The jet is prepped to leave in thirty minutes.”
I hear Andy’s hesitation in the silence.
“You deserve to live,” Gigi wheezes. “You deserve t-to choose yourself.”
Andy peers at Jack, at Hudson, and then at me as if looking for permission. I want him to stay and find peace in London, but after everything he’s suffered, Gigi’s right. He deserves to make this choice for himself.
Even if it means saying goodbye.
Jack keeps checking the time, pacing like a man being hunted. If they don’t leave in three minutes, the risk of his appearance will border on too risky.
I stand on the tarmac at the bottom of the steps, my fingers twitching. My shirt sticks to my spine with sweat, the night air thick with the smell of jet fuel. Gigi stands beside me, her fingers laced tightly through mine as if she’s scared I’ll vanish.
Jack’s medical team dedicated time to ensuring our wounds were cleaned and dressed before we left, even bleaching my mouth free of Richard’s flesh.
I only spent ten minutes away from Gigi, and even that felt like too much.
They performed an ultrasound on the arteries on her neck, finding temporary vocal cord damage.
With voice therapy, she should make a full recovery.
For now, they’ve dosed her up on enough medicine for this final goodbye. She’s suffered so fucking much.
Hudson’s crouching on the floor, cradling his battered face in his hands. Poppy leans against his car, her arms crossed over her chest, one boot tapping a slow rhythm. She meets my eye and nods once.
She got all the girls out. They’re being treated by the doctor Hudson knows before being returned to their homes. Every family has been contacted, and Poppy has assured them she’ll personally drive each girl home safely.
I nod back at her, turning back to the plane.
The engine rumbles patiently.
“We have to go now.” Jack’s face is pale, smeared with blood. “She’s not coming. If we wait any longer—”
“She’ll … come,” Gigi whispers, her voice steady. “Mia wouldn’t let him go … without saying goodbye.”
Andy’s leaning against the edge of the stairs, wrapped in a dark jacket two sizes too big, blood still soaking his shirt. He’s fading but standing. He’d rather risk treatment or capture again than not say goodbye.
The cold night wind whips our faces, blowing Gigi’s hair behind her and drawing my attention to her wounds and the bruises on her neck. We’ve fought through so much.
She meets my eye, and as if she’s thinking the same, she squeezes our joined hands.
I hear the car before I see it.
The low growl of an engine cuts through the silence, headlights slashing across the floor. Brakes screech, and the door flies open. Mia runs, her long purple coat flying out behind her. Her mascara is ruined. Her eyes, even from here, look red and stained with tears.
She sprints towards Andy as if she already knows this is the last time she’ll ever see him. He tries to move but collapses to his knees from the pain.
Jack presses a hand to his shoulder. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
Mia drops beside him as if her whole body’s giving up. Her hands tremble as she carefully cups his face like he’ll shatter under her touch.
“You idiot,” she breathes, a mixture of a sob and a declaration of love. “You absolute fucking idiot.”
He doesn’t say anything at first, just buries himself deeper into her touch. “You’re gorgeous when you’re angry.”
She laughs through falling tears. Leaning her forehead against his, she says, “You’re not coming back.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t last much longer under their control. You’re the only reason I’d ever want to stay, and that’s why I must let you go.” He brushes his thumb over a fallen tear. “I love every colourful part of you.”
She kisses him, slow and heavy.
He mumbles against her mouth, “Unless you come with me.”
She shakes her head, tears wetting her cheeks. Mia has a life here, a family back home, friends, a well-paid city job, normality. She’d be sacrificing it all to be with Andy, and although I can tell her heart is begging to leave with him, she bravely steps backwards.
“I’m giving permission for you to go. Live. You deserve it.”
Jack shifts on his feet and coughs. “We have to go.”
Mia and Andy share a final lingering kiss. Gigi doesn’t say anything, just leans her head against my shoulder like she has done before. But it’s different now. There’s a weight to it, like we’re bracing for something bigger than what we’ve already lost.
Jack peers up at us both, impatience limited to a tick in his jaw. “I really shouldn’t be making more trouble for myself,” he says, “but what about you two?”
I look down at Gigi as she tilts her head up from my shoulder. There’s nothing for us in Paris. And I’m not particularly fond of prancing round in some small European town together pretending we’re different people. Eventually, our past will come to find us.
“Not for us,” I say.
Jack tips his head once, a goodbye, though something tells me it won’t be the last time we see him.
Mia sniffles, wiping her eyes, as she steps up to Gigi’s side.
The jet doors close with a whine.
A statement more than a question, Mia says, “Gigi … your brother’s alive.”
“Long story,” she mutters.
The engine growls as it starts to charge the runway. A cry catches in Mia’s throat, echoing in the air, as the jet lifts off into the sky. I peer over, watching as she cries into Gigi’s chest, melting into her. She buries her head in her hair, and I bring the two of them into my arms.
I stand there cradling them both, eyes locked on the shrinking silhouette of the plane carrying some of the only people I still trust in this world off to safety. Everyone’s head is tilted up at the sky, but Mia stares with an intensity, like she’s trying to memorise it.
Then, finally, it disappears into the night.
Mia’s cries vibrate through her as Gigi rubs her back soothingly. Through the echo, my ears prick with awareness. Sirens wail in the distance, faint but gaining on us, moving fast.
“They’re coming.” Poppy lifts her head then says with quiet emphasis, “For you both.”
Whether it’s tonight, in a week, or a month from now, they’ll catch up to us.
There’s probably a boss already manning the Circle headquarters, worse than the last and preparing for the rebuild.
Hudson says quietly, “They won’t let either of you rest. It’ll be their job to track you down.”
We’ve been through everything, but this? This is different. This is the crime we won’t come back from. Our penalty for killing Richard will be death.
Mia steps out from my arms. Gigi tilts her head up, eyes searching. She’s close enough that I can still smell the faint scent of roses in her hair.
“We can’t fight?”
“No, baby,” I say. “Not this time.”
“Then it’s always going to be this … isn’t it?”
“You know how long I’ve waited for you,” I say, my voice thick. “And that I would’ve waited longer.”
She looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters. “Would you?” she asks softly, her throat catching. “Run with me?”
I don’t even blink. “Always.”
She stares at me for a long second as if she needs to be absolutely sure. Her eyes meet mine – eyes I’ve followed into hell and back – and something unspoken passes between us. She nods once. No panic, just certainty.
“I don’t care where we go,” she says, her voice scratching with the effort to speak.
“I don’t care if we sleep in bus stations or abandoned barns …
or eat out of cans for the rest of our lives.
It all means nothing if I can’t h-have you.
” Her breath catches, then she leans in until her forehead is pressed to mine.
The sirens are louder now, a high scream bouncing over the tarmac. Still, I don’t move.
“If we have to spend our life running, I’ll run with you,” she whispers. “Until they kill us, Harry … or until we disappear.” She buries her face in my chest, and my arms cage her in, protecting her.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” I murmur into the top of her head. “Just as long as I finally have you.”
“Even if there’s no peace at the end of it?”
“There’s you. That’s enough.”
And just like that, she kisses me with a desperation as if trying to pour everything she can’t say into my mouth. I kiss her back, wrapping my arms round her middle, as if the world might end in the next second – and maybe it will.
We break apart when Hudson barks our names.
“They’re coming fast. You’ve got three minutes!”
I look over them all, finally pausing on Poppy. “What will you do while we’re gone?”
“Survive.” She shrugs, uninterested. “It’s what I always do.”
I’d hug her under different circumstances, but I imagine it’d end with no less than a fist across my jaw. Her gaze narrows as if she’s telling me not to even think about it. I raise my hands in mercy, backing off as I look at them all together one last time.
Our strange, dysfunctional family.
Even Hudson fucking Anderson. The minute I saw him take Gigi’s hand in Pixies, I could’ve sworn his life would end with me slicing him open.
Mia raises a hand, almost like a question. “Since you deleted my boyfriend from the planet, I think it’s only right you drop me home first. I drove on a flat tyre all the way here.”
I nod, stiff. “Fine.”
She claps her hands.
I grab the duffel bag from the floor and sling it over my shoulder. Gigi’s already pulling a hoodie over her head, fingers brushing mine again as we rush towards the G-Wagon.
She climbs into the passenger seat, Mia behind her, as the engine growls to life.
And then we’re flying down the tarmac.
I reach over, taking Gigi’s hand again. “Where to now?”
“There’s one thing I need to do first,” she says. “I made a promise to someone.”
“And after that?”
“After that, we run.”