Chapter 33 #2
I lean my head against the seat, offering the both of them a smile, grateful for the joke even at a moment like this. “I love you guys.”
As Xavier pulls out of the lot, my gaze sweeps over the big wrap-around porch, past his mother’s rose bushes, across the family cemetery, toward the solitary trail leading to a grave. I shut my eyes, suppressing a sob at the realization that Thomas will have no visitors there.
Bo and Dante stumble back, their gazes locked on the car as Xavier floors the accelerator, pulling us out of the driveway. I watch them disappear from the side mirror of my door.
This road I’ve traveled my whole life, I give it one last look.
Somewhere within these acres lies an abandoned treehouse where Xavier and I spent a good deal of our childhood. Also hidden is a stream I would pass during my morning runs and the side roads we traveled whenever they brought me here for the summer.
We are both utterly silent.
Whenever I dare to look over, Xavier’s eyes may be on the road, but they aren’t seeing it.
His pupils are trembling in deep thought.
I have half a mind to remind him that they won’t hurt her, that Isabella will definitely be safe until the exchange, but I stop myself, knowing I’d break trying to get it out.
We’re crossing the bridge into the city when Xavier’s hand gently settles over mine in my lap .
A touch I wasn’t prepared for but so desperately needed.
With a smile that’s cracking, I grip him with both hands, spreading his fingers until I can bring them to my face, feeling his warmth seep through to my skin.
We’re both bloodied and exhausted, fueled only by adrenaline and the will to save one little girl.
I gently press my lips to his palm, sensing him flex as he stifles a sound.
As we approach the harbor, descending the ramp into the warehouse district, I’m certain we’re almost at our destination. I’m gripping his hand tightly enough that I know I must be hurting him, but he doesn’t stop me. He says nothing.
I concentrate on calming my racing heart.
I can’t break. Not now.
As the bright lights of the building unveil our destination, a private club, words spill from my lips, urgent and unfiltered. “The moment you have her in your grasp, leave. Get her out of the building.”
Taking his phone, I dial a taxi service, offering this address while his eyes pierce my soul before drifting to the windshield.
When I’ve made the call, hanging up, I’m rambling again. “They are going to slash these tires. You need to run to the taxi that’ll be waiting a few blocks down. They’ll try to stop you. It’s my father. He wants this to hurt you just as bad.”
Xavier gazes vacantly at the immense building as I ramble.
“I won’t lie to you like I did with Dante and Bo.” I observe our laced hands. “But I promise I won’t let them hurt me. I’ll make it quick.”
Gazing forward, his eyes appear hollow and devoid of life, yet his chest inflates, crashing on him every couple of seconds, exposing a frantic internal battle he’s keeping from me.
“I'm sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.” I lift his trembling hand to my mouth, hating that when I kiss him there, he can feel my lips quivering. “And… I love you.”
He was smiling this morning. We were laughing, sorting through tiles in bed. And now we’re here. And his daughter is just behind those doors.
That thought draws me in, prompting me to open the car door and slide out. Xavier follows suit, not bothering to grab the gun from the dashboard. They strip-search us before we can step inside the building.
The club's first floor caters exclusively to men. Depraved gentlemen from the city flock here for liquor, women, and thrilling bets. Poker tables span the length of the room, while scantily clad women cling to numerous arms.
Although the scene fills me with dread, the death-dealing pill in my pocket reassures me that I could never become part of this world.
That will never be me.
Xavier trails the bouncer, and I trail him.
My gaze darts around the rooms, searching for red hair. Once we reach the second floor, lined with conference tables and offices, it strikes me that we may have just stepped into their headquarters. We are then led outside to the deck where the men congregate smoking, scattered around the area.
With a quick scan, I count fifteen men. In normal circumstances, enough for us to have a chance against.
When I see a gleam of red hair as my father leads Isabella onto the deck, I search all faces for the man who brought this night into existence. Dominic is already looking at me, a smile tugging at his lips. “You’re early. I figured you’d be pushing the clock.”
“You were bartering with the life of a baby,” I snap.
He’s genuinely contemplating the morbid sentence strung together. “You’re right. It’s unspeakable. Marcello, you made the right choice.”
He doesn’t own me .
I made this choice on my own.
Above all, I want to scream that out to all these bastards who are playing games with people's lives, but I won’t utter a sound while Vito has his revolting hands on her.
Isabella’s wailing now that she’s seen her father. Xavier is gazing at her, and I see the first sign of life in his eyes.
It convinces me. He’ll find a way—For her, he will.
At this height, the wind hits with such force that I nearly lose my balance. Xavier’s grip is the sole support preventing me from falling as he positions himself between me and a group of men in suits.
Our literal worst fear come true.
The waves lap against the harbor below, sea salt mingling with clouds of cigarette smoke. My father stalks stealthily to my side, a menacing presence.
Xavier’s reaction is instant.
Within seconds, he’s invading Vito’s space, looming over him like a shadow ready to deliver death.
He offers a glimpse of the monster he keeps hidden inside—the Phantom of this evil underground that kills and relishes it.
The Phantom people whisper about on corrupted wire taps and run from in the streets.
Tension crackles in the air, so thick that my father flinches, his confidence shattered as he stumbles back into one of the heat lanterns, the flickering light revealing a brief moment of vulnerability.
“ Don’t ,” I whisper, squeezing Xavier’s hand, pleading with him to let it go. “He’s not worth it. Look at me. Listen to me. Baby, he’s not worth it .”
I say so much, soft words, scrambling to talk him down. Keep him sane and with me, so he can be here for Isabella.
We can’t win this. Not with her here.
“You came on time. You brought your wife. You fulfilled your end of the bargain,” Dominic says over my hushed whispers, tossing his cigarette butt over the edge of the railing into the depths below. “Now, give me Cara.”
There's something so sinister about the way he says the name Xavier gave me to escape this life. The name Xavier sent me off with so I’d never forget how he felt.
My skin crawls as Dominic reaches his arm toward me.
Xavier shakes his head slowly. “You’re out of your mind if you think I'm doing that without Isabella by my side.”
“You’ll have the advantage then.”
“What advantage?” Xavier gestures to the army currently caging us in. “I don’t have a weapon.”
Dominic grins. “You’re the weapon, my friend. You really think I don’t know who you are?”
“You have the two most important people in my life in your possession right now. Do you honestly think I'm going to jeopardize them both for a fight I won’t win?”
My father’s eyes shrink, trying to find the catch, but there isn’t one. Dominic understands that.
“Fine. Hand over the girl.”
Isabella screams in fear as she sprints toward Xavier’s legs. When she crashes into them, his hand shields the back of her head, gently stroking her disheveled hair. “It’s okay, baby. It’s going to be okay.”
My eyes close in relief, all tension easing from my body.
Because this fight—I can finally let it go.
Dominic lifts his brows, anticipating the final exchange.
Xavier’s fingers are cutting off the blood flow to mine. “I need to say goodbye.”
Dominic rolls his eyes, but allows him to face me. All that occupies my mind is finding a way to ease this for him, yet my hands betray me. I’m shaking, trying to smile, aware it doesn’t help him at all.
Xavier wraps tense arms around me as his daughter weeps uncontrollably at his feet.
He tenderly wipes the tears that fall from my eyes, leaving streaks on my burning cheeks.
With a gentle stroke of his thumb against my trembling lip, he leans in closer, whispering a soft, lingering kiss onto my mouth before turning to his daughter.
“Say goodbye to Sophie.”
As I crouch to hug her, my legs shake as I try to untangle her hair. She’s talking and pleading, but I can’t hear her words over her fearful cries. My eyes dart to the door where he’ll have to run the moment I’m in Dominic’s grasp.
As I straighten, Xavier’s hand slips around the back of my neck, tugging me closer with an intensity that makes the air around us crackle.
All words dissolve on my lips as his eyes seize mine, the previous void gone, replaced by an all-encompassing, searing determination.
It’s a sight that chills me to the core as he guides his only daughter into my grasp.
“I love you,” Xavier whispers, his voice quivering as if the weight of his words might crush him. “Take care of her.”
Xavier’s gaze sweeps to the abrupt edge of the deck, to the inescapably black depths of the Hudson, where unseen forces writhe and churn beneath the surface.
Dominic takes a step towards us. “Okay, you’re done?—”
Fueled by adrenaline and a desperation no one here could ever fathom, Xavier channels every ounce of strength within himself, hoisting us over the railing in one swift, fluid motion.