Chapter 3

The whole ride to the Casa Resort and Casino was a screaming match between me and Achille. Cursed words and accusations were thrown between the two of us, blame and explanations were thrown out the window. I watched as Madelaine’s body moved across the backseat while Achille drove like a maniac. The bleeding had stopped and there didn’t seem to be any permanent damage although she might wake up with one hell of a headache, either from the blow to her head or caused by me and my brother’s overbearing voices.

For the first time, I was glad that the Hotel and Casino weren’t open for business yet. It gave us the perfect location to hide. What would have been better than an empty hotel where no one can hear us or suspect anything? We were able to move freely, speak freely not to mention hiding the unconscious body of an innocent child, freely. It is also the first time I have the opportunity to see the hotel for myself. I have seen pictures, but it didn’t do the place any justice. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling as we entered. The white marble floors reflected our movements as we strolled over them up to the stairs at the right side and onto the first floor. We entered the first room on our left side.

“What the fuck were you thinking anyway, taking the girl?” Achille questions. We have been over this, I made a judgment call almost resulting in killing the child. I heard him the first twenty-something times and I did not have an answer other than: ‘I don’t fucking know.’ He switches on the light of the room as he enters with me on his heels. Madelaine’s feather light body hung over my one shoulder. There was a double bed situated on the far end of the room, a door that led to a bathroom was situated on the right side and in the entrance to the right stood a black leather lounge suit next to a small bar fridge. The fucking rooms weren’t ready for visitors yet, but it had to do for now.

“I don’t fucking know.” I reply, finally catching my composure to not yell at him again, I softly lay Madelaine down onto the bed, making sure she was positioned in the middle of the bed so there was no chance of her falling off the bed. Achille refused to carry her. He said that it was my own doing and he wanted nothing to do with her. “She has a plan.” I repeat what I heard her say in the bar. That was the words she breathed and that was when I knew I had to take her out of there. She had something I have never seen before. She had hope.

“She has a plan?” Achille repeats my words in disbelieve starting to pace up and down in front of the door. He was beside himself. I have never seen him like this before. What was going on in that head of his? He never questioned my decision making before. “The child has a plan.” He repeats then takes a sudden halt. “We have plans… Rules. We don’t traffic whores.” He turns facing me, I could see the regret in his eyes the moment the words left his mouth, but he was right. We don’t traffic whores. Madelaine might still be a child, but she dealt with much more than she had to. She was a whore. Men paid her for sex and the way she tried to seduce us in the bar was the first sign. She knew who we were and that we had money and her trained instinct kicked in, She did what she was trained to do. She tried to sell her body. That was what these girls were trained to do. Years of drugs, money and obedience training goes into these girls and once they were set free, they were either so addicted to drugs that they had no other choice than to work the streets and get themselves a pimp or the emotional damage was to severe and they believed that was all they were good for, but there was something different about Madelaine and I couldn’t help, but to try and save that small piece of who she was that still cling to her.

“Just let me think for a fucking second.” I growl. Maybe we could assign her to someone. There must be someone out there who would want her. She is only fifteen. She turns sixteen soon. I massage my temples with my middle and forefinger. We can let her go. She would be too scared to even mention us or I could be wrong and she goes from here straight to the police and Roberto tracks her down and kills her. Think! Ben. Think! I drop my hands to my sides in defeat. “We take her home.”

“Well fuck, we cant exactly leave her here. If you haven’t noticed there are people here that will kill her just for existing.” Achille throws the obvious into the air.

“No, brother.” I shake my head. “We take her home.” I repeat the words slowly, letting him hear them.

“You seriously want to take her home?” Achille’s lower jaw almost hit the floor but he recovers quickly snapping his mouth shut before speaking again. “Do you want your mother to think you are some fucking paedophile?” He holds his hand above his heart for dramatic effect. He was such a fucking comedian.

“I don’t see any other option…” A loud bang in the hallway sounding like glass breaking followed by footsteps apprehend our attention and Achille immediately draw his weapon and exit the door to find the person the steps belonged to while I quickly glance over at the lifeless body still lying on the bed before doing the same. Could this night get any fucking worse?

I could see the silhouette of my brother disappearing down the stairs to my left so I decided to inspect the right side of the hallway. He was more than capable of handling himself, besides I think a little distance could do us both some good. I held out my gun as I moved through the hallway, searching for whoever was trespassing. Truthfully I was praying for that person to rather be caught by me than by my brother. He was not going to take it easy on them. Not today anyway.

I have swept the whole first floor and was just about to return to the room when a small flicker of a light coming from the stairs leading upwards ceased my attention. If Achille was here he would probably have plenty to say because I didn’t check the stairs, but in my defence I didn’t think any sane person would go up in a building when they were trying to flee the scene, but I was wrong, not only about the fool being stupid enough to go up, because this person seem to be particular and special fucking stupid, I smile as I follow the light coming from a smartphone. I slowly round the corner of the stairs my gun pointed directly in front of me, but suddenly my heart drops. Oh, for fuck sakes! This couldn’t have been worse.

“Please don’t shoot.” A small voice pleads from the body sitting in the corner of the stairs her legs bend in front of her as she holds up her hands. The light that gave her away now floating above her head, in the air, held up between her fingers. I couldn’t help but stare at the photo on the background of the phone.

The most beautiful woman that I have ever seen was visible through millions of pixels. Her wavy black hair spiralled alongside her soft tinted face, complimenting her high cheekbones. I would have taken her for a pure bred Italian descendant if only it wasn’t for her sparkling emerald green eyes protected by long dark eyelashes. There were small dents in her cheeks as she blew a kiss at the camera.

“Get up and give me that.” I prey the phone from her fragile hands taking away the picture already embedded in my memory. What the fuck was a woman like her doing here? Alone? At night, dressed like that. “Let’s go.” I point the steel end of my gun against her bareback pushing her a little forward to start walking. She cringes as the coldness touches her skin. She was dressed like a fucking whore. “My brother is going to love this.” I remark out loud. The words wasn’t supposed to be spoken, but what did it matter. My night was not getting any easier either way.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I question her as soon as we enter the room where we all will probably spend the night. A very awkward and crowded night, we should have occupied a bigger room. The woman turns around to face me and that exact emerald eyes I saw on the picture that looked so happy suddenly were full of terror. The sudden urge to take her into my arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay overwhelmed me, but I fight it off like it was death clinging to me, I would anyway be lying to her. Nothing about this was okay. What was happening to me? Get your shit together, Ben.

“Please give me a chance to explain.” She begs her eyes staring directly into the barrel threatening her life, the gun was pointed directly at her before she backs up slowly until the back of her legs hit the couch behind her causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards with her ass on the pillow, but she doesn’t protest. She takes the seat as if she initially decided to sit there. She is clumsy, proud and too talkative. I hated it.

“This is going to be good.” I chuckle losing my seriousness for a moment but quickly take back momentum, hoping she didn’t notice. I nod my head giving her permission to continue.

“I lost my work 3 weeks ago because some prick couldn’t stand a woman showing him up.” She rolls her eyes and I wanted to tell her to stop stalling and get to the point, but I decided interrupting her might only slow down the process instead, so I didn’t say anything. “Can you believe they fired me because they believed that I was sleeping with my boss, who is a married man by the way...” She informs me like I should have cared or had an opinion about it. Even if I had I would probably believe the man if I was judging by what she was wearing. My eyes scan over her short shining silver dress with its small straps and low neck. “They said that it was a conflict of interest and…” I clear my throat and her eyes shot back up to mine again, glad to know she didn’t notice me staring at her. “Anyway… I have been searching for a job to no avail so tonight I decided to stop. I got an eviction notice and my car was already impounded so why the hell keep searching right?” She shrugs throwing her hands up in the air. Her body was starting to relax, but I kept my gun pointed at her. I didn’t want her to get to comfortable.

“I went to this one club to literally drink myself to death, I heard that was possible.” She clarifies. “But after a few drinks, I overheard some guys in light blue suits talking. That was actually weird they were all dressed in the same ugly blue, cheap if you ask me, suits, they even wore the same fake leather shoes and their hair. Please don’t get me started on their…” She dwells from the subject, again. Did this woman have an active brain cell or were they all just blabbering through her thoughts.

“What were they talking about?” I intervened with my patience wearing thin.

“The one guy told the others that the Casa resort was finally opening soon and that there was lots of business coming in. He said that the owner is in town from Italy and probably staying at the Resort tonight so I just thought that maybe I could come to see for myself. Maybe I could apply for a vacancy, you know? Anything would be better than nothing. I thought that maybe tonight was my lucky night. That I would bump into the owner and talk to him, but instead I ended up running into you guys.” She shrug.

“Us guys, right.” Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean. I ignore her further gander. If Roberto’s guys were throwing around information like that I can bet that we will have more company soon and they will not be here for a job interview. My mind drifted to Achille. I needed to find him.

“Wait.” She suddenly jumps up from the couch catching me offguard. “Where is she?” My eyes dart directly to the empty bed in the back of the room. Fuck she is gone. That must be why Achille’s is taking so long. He will find her, but I needed to get rid of Mia, before he returns. She didn’t see anything, yet. She can still get out of this without ever needing to know more. So I pointed a gun at her? It was registered, I have the legal permits. She was on private property. I didn’t shoot her, maybe I should just shoot her and get it over with.

“Who?” I play dumb watching her walk across the room. She couldn’t have seen Madelaine, could she? Maybe she saw her passing her as she ran away. Achille is probably bringing her back here as we speak. Think Ben!

“I saw you guys carrying her in here. There were two of you.” She accuses letting her head turn viciously around looking for either Madelaine or Achille or both. Fuck! Now the only option was to kill her. "I heard you talking about what you were going to do with her and I wanted to help… help her.” She clarifies as she removes her head from under the bed where apparently people like us hide unconscious girls nowadays.

“She isn’t dead is she?” She questions, her eyes turning dark as she near me. She was getting brave. I could almost feel the heat radiating from her body once she reaches me. I was pointing a gun at her and she was worried about someone she didn’t even know or did her little clumsy mind just conveniently forget?

“Sit down,” I order her but instead of following a simple instruction she takes a step closer, closing the distance between her and the gun. I needed space to breathe. For some reason, it felt like she was smothering me. I needed her to move back before I show any weakness. “I said sit the fuck down!” This time she listened taking a step back and slowly planting her little ass on the couch she sat on before. It must be the New York air that was messing with my nervous system. It was the only conclusion that I could come to that made sense.

“Then answer me!” She yelled back. “Is. She. dead?” She questioned me in phrases like a fucking school teacher. I really wanted to tape her mouth shut by now, but that would require me to put away my gun and with her unstable personality I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.

“I am fine.” Madelaine’s voice burst through the room as she enters from the bathroom. Her face was washed clean and her hand covered the side of her head where she was hit. Blood stained her blonde hair. “Can you guys just keep it down? My head fucking hurts.” She complains as she walks over and comfortlessly takes a seat next to Miss Emerald. Teenage girls weren’t supposed to talk like that.

What the fuck was happening? This is why I don’t traffic whores and the exact reason I don’t date. Women never know their place. They do as they please and when they don’t get their way they throw a fit. I might actually get why they get shot all the time. “And the crowd grows.” Madelaine acknowledge the second woman’s existence, before she takes a seat across her on the matching chair.

“How old are you?” Miss Talkative creases her eyes together as her words leave her mouth, directed at Madelaine. Everyone could see that she was a child. Was Roberto really that stupid or did he just not care?

“Eighteen and you?”

“Bullshit.”

“I know… the blood makes me look older, right?”

“Did he do this to you?” She points her finger in my direction, but I wasn’t planning on intervening. Whatever these two were up to could not faze me in the slightest. If they were talking to each other they weren’t talking to me.

“Him?” A smile crosses her face. “No, this was done by another dickless fuck.” She shakes her head. “You can either believe me or not when I tell you that the one that hit me over the head with the back of his gun was actually the gentleman between the two.” She scoffs. “This one almost killed me.” She says matter-of-factly.

“You know for such a young girl you have a big mouth.” I warn her, but I couldn’t disagree with her statement. She was right and I couldn’t make her out to be the liar when in fact I did almost get her killed. She could have just gone over it with a softer attitude.

“How long will we be here and will we be smuggled in containers or drugged and flown across the sea?” Madelaine’s question confused me. How did she know we were leaving America?

“Smuggled? Drugged?” Fear finally struck again in those beautiful green eyes as she repeats the terrifying words that Madelaine sprouted so easily.

My eyes move from her to Madelaine again as my mouth opens to question her, but snap-close, again. She was a smart girl.

“I told you. I know guys like you.” She answers the unspoken question before I could form the right words. She turns towards emerald. “I have been here before. Just do as they say and you might make it out alive or at least your body will survive. Your mind will never be the same, but if you are strong enough you can heal. Most importantly never run.” That explains why she was still here. She probably had much more experience in the outcome of running before, except for her run into Achille's earlier. “Make peace with it now rather than later. You do not have a say anymore, you are now a possession…”

I watch closely as Madelaine tries to inform her of what to expect. Sharing a little about herself with the newest addition to our so-called kidnapping party.

She was eleven when she was finally sold to Roberto by one of her mother’s boyfriends, but she knew abuse long before that. Her father died of an overdose earlier on in her life, she can’t recall any memories of him and her mother shared her body with strange men from early on in exchange for heroin. She was ruined even before her life started.

I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to her if someone like me has heard about her earlier. She might have had a chance in life. I would have made sure of that. “That is me in a nutshell.” Her voice was a little friendlier now.

I couldn’t listen to her going on any further about what to expect in the coming days, listening to Madelaine telling her that she might get dosed with narcotics or abused over and over again, before getting sold off to the highest bidder. What was this? Taken? “Maybe if you are lucky you get bought by a real nice pimp who takes good care of you.” She adds. The first thing I am doing when we get back is get Madelaine to a therapist.

“…What is your name?” She questions and my hearing immediately sharpens. Atlast something I would also want to know.

“Mia.” She sobs. Everything about her shouted Italian except for everything didn’t say Italian at all. She was as loud and overpowering, but also as fragile and dependent.

“Well isn’t this a party?” Achille growls from behind me and the girl’s eyes shoot up from their intense chatter.

“What the fuck?” I turn around to follow the line of sight the girls were staring in. Achille stood in the door his white shirt torn and painted red. Blood seeped from his left arm letting drops of blood fall from his fingertips. He was hurt badly, but hides it very well, like he always does. Since we were kids Achille has been like this. When he first arrived I was so excited to have a brother so I was the one who wanted to show him our room, it was only once we were inside the blue decorated room that I noticed how crocked his nose was and like a child I said something about it. I can’t remember what I said until this day, but he attacked me like a vicious dog. I was older and were able to hit him in the ribcage, but when my fist connected to the fractured bone it send Achille to the floor. It gave me such a fright that I wanted to call my mother, but Achille convinced me not to. He said that it didn’t even hurt that much, but later that evening when bedtime came I saw all the cuts and bruises on his body. That night I promised myself that I would always take care of my little brother.

“I had to fight off five bloodthirsty guys while you were enjoying the fruits of heaven.” He exploded. “There is probably more on the way. We need to leave.” He warns before gazing over Madelaine and Mia.

“Come on.” I grab Mia’s arm first because I knew that she would be the one that would try to run. I look over to Madelaine and like she was already part of everything she fell in place next to Achille who seemed a little confused at first but didn’t waste much time thinking about it. He had one objective and so did I; to get the four of us out of this country alive. All other matters were now long forgotten. We needed to trust one another now more than ever, it didn’t matter what we felt, how long we knew each other or even how we met. The only thing that mattered now was survival and I could see that Madelaine knew this and it did help to know that she would be able to persuade Mia to trust us too, or at least I was counting on it.

We turned right into the hallway walking directly towards the stairs that lead to the upper level, the same stares where I found Mia hiding from us, although this time we were not hiding we were fleeing. Halfway up the stairs there was an emergency exit to our left which we entered through and I could hear the words Mia uttered clearly; “I could not have seen that earlier.”, but we ignored her as we went down another flight of stairs at the outside of the building. We weren’t very high up, but we were high enough to see the two pairs of car lights coming towards us. There wasn’t time to go to the front where our car was parked we needed another way. I pulled on Mia’s arm almost dragging her across the grass and into a plantation of nearby bushes when we reached the ground.

“Stay here,” I order Mia and Madelaine. “Whatever you do, don’t make a sound.” I push Mia deeper into the green leafs letting go of the grip on her arm for the first time since I grabbed her arm at the end of the staircase. Please don’t be stupid. I begged internally. “Take this.” I hand her the gun which I took from Achilles's hand before unstrapping the one at my ankle and handing it over to Madelaine. “If anyone sees you or comes near you, you shoot.” I demand. In that moment I only wished that I could take away the fear from the girl’s eyes, but I knew that praying alone was not going to work and as much as I wanted to stay with them to make them feel save I knew this was the best way of actually keeping them save. I turn around the moment I couldn’t see them anymore, leaving them unprotected.

I withdraw my own gun from my side as we walk towards the front of the building. “Are you okay?” I question my brother as I scan over his body placing my hand on his shoulder. I quickly tear away the material to look at the wound on his arm. The bullet went through. I rip off the rest of the material and quickly bind it above the gunshot wound.

“I am fine.” He tugs his arm away from me once the material was tightened into a knot. “Those are police lights.” He points to the cars coming our way. “You go talk us out of this shit.” He grins as he take a moment to get his breathing under control. “I will wait here.” He leans with his back against the wall letting his head follow.

“Officer.” I greet the muscular man with his chestnut brown hair as he steps out of the police car. My eyes quickly scan over the cars searching for a headcount. There was one more in the passenger seat which I would believe was his partner and four others in the other car, probably for backup. “Benvenuto Damian, owner of the Resort.” I introduce myself, but I had a feeling that he already knew that.

“Jack.” He nods ignoring my extended hand. “We had an anonyms call complaining about gunshots.” He gets right into interrogation-mode.

“I received the same news.” I nod. “When I got here there were already five dead bodies covering the entrance floor.” I recall Achille’s words. “All with GSW’s” I add. “But I can't seem to find the shooter/s” This was the best I could do. I couldn’t go into more details. I didn’t know anything more. I could only transfer the information Achille told me.

“So what happened?” He lift his hand pointing his fingers to my bloody clothing.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “As I said, they were already dead by the time I arrived; I just tried to see if anyone was still breathing.”

“Are there any surveillance cameras?”

“Many.” I point to the one eye hanging above our heads. “Unfortunately none of them are installed yet.” He must have known that the hotel wasn’t open for business yet. This was actually a huge relief to me, although if we had footage I could have had someone run facial recognition.

“Do you mind if we take a look around?” He question respectfully although he didn’t really need my permission. He had good cause.

“Not at all.” I point him towards the entrance gesturing for him to go inside, where I believe five dead bodies lied staining the brand new white marble floors. “Maybe you should take some backup,” I suggested when I caught the glimpse of his partner stroking his hand against, what I believe to be a handgun, in the corner of my eye. Something was off and my chances on survival were much higher if they took me on in smaller groups than all at once. “As I said I never saw the shooters. They might still be inside.” Relief came over me when he agrees calling all four men from the other car to join him. I could take down this guy quietly, but we needed to leave fast, before the officer inside and his men realize what was happening. Taking this route will most probably end up in a high-end car chase, but the probability of surviving was the highest. Achille is too hurt and as good as I was not even I could take on six men alone, could I?

“Please wait with my partner. We are going to need a statement from you.” He orders as he walks away, the four men following him closely as he waves his hand in the air, signalling for them to do so. I notice one of the men glancing over his shoulder at me and an unsettling feeling made my hand dart towards my gun. He was no cop.

“I would not do that if I were you.” Jack’s partner warns pushing his gun against the back of my head before rounding me. I was so focussed on the other asshole that I didn’t notice the man getting out of the car. He looked much younger than before under the poor lighting. The low light actually did him justice; it hid the dark circles around his eyes. “When we heard you were in New York I had to see it for myself. The man who made himself king.” He chuckles. “You made quite a few enemies.” He was nervous. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“It seems I did.” I agree. That meant I was doing it right. “Now what do you want?” My voice was laced with irritation. I was sick of these men using children to do their dirty work.

“What I want is to rip your heart out and shred it into pieces for dragging me and my men away from a really good night, but it doesn’t matter what I want, now does it?” He pounds onto his chest with his empty hand the other hand still pointing the gun at me. He doesn’t even have the authority to kill me. “The Boss wants to meet…”

The loud banging sound of several gunshots fill the air echoing from inside the Hotel. After tonight the bloody hotel’s lobby would definitely need a makeover, I mentally roll my eyes at the thought of the discussion I am going to deal with when I see Antonio again, when I could see that the young man was a little distracted, he wasn’t expecting any real activity. So I took the opportunity to move the gun pointing at me to my side by shoving it rightwards with the back of my hand and quickly grabbing onto his wrist making him realize what I was doing, but it was too late. I pulled him closer punching him hard in the face with my left hand and flicking his finger from the trigger with my right hand, ending up with me pointing his own gun at him now.

“They will kill you.” He threatens as he finds his balance staring down his own gun. Threats…

“I am counting on them trying.” I spit when another man comes from behind the car and jumps up flying against me causing the both of us to stumble towards the ground. My head hit the concrete with a hard thump and my mouth instantly produced the taste of iron. Motherfucker. I dabbed him right into the ribs causing him to lean forward as I folded my arm around his neck and ripped it downwards. The crackling sound confirmed that his neck was now broken.

“Get on your knees.” The other man orders as he gets control of his handgun again. It fell from my hand when I went crushing to the floor. “My boss wants to see you now. On your knees!” He orders again and any sane person might have gotten up to their knees but I wasn’t planning to bow down to anyone so I did what any fucked-up proud person with too much self-assurance would do; I rise to my feet and that was when the hard crack exploded and zinged through the air making my ears ring.

I take a step back realizing that I was still on my feet when my head fell forward, my eyes watching as blood-drenched the rest of my dress shirt, changing the colour from white and pinkish to dark red. I immediately started looking for any wounds, but found none. It was only once I lifted my head up again that I could see Achille standing behind the man dressed in a police uniform falling forward and I took another step back. I didn’t want more of his insides ruining my shoes. “You American’s with your fucking meetings.” My brother lowered his weapon.

“Gee-zizz.” I breathe staring at my brother almost fully covered in blood. He looked pale and tired. We needed to get out of here before anyone else showed up. “Let’s go.” I grab him placing my arm beneath his shoulder for support. The smell of death and iron infiltrated my nostrils. When we finally reached the car I helped Achille into the passenger seat before closing the door and running towards the bushes where I told Mia and Madelaine to wait, hoping they listened.

“Whoa!” I retract my head as soon as my eyes fall on Mia pointing a gun at me. At first I thought it was because she couldn’t clearly see, maybe she thought it was someone else, but I quickly realised that she knew exactly who she was pointing the gun at. Carefully I take another step back my hands slowly reaching for the air above my head as she fully withdraws her body from the leaves. I did not want to make any sudden moves that would set her off, but we also did not have time for this. Achille was bleeding badly and I am sure that there were more thugs on their way here. We will not be able to fight back for much longer and if she didn’t want to brace herself with what Madelaine told her, she would stop this so we could go.

“What are you doing?” Madelaine follows her out from behind the bushes before taking a stand next to her. Her voice was a little panicky, but she kept it under wraps.

“I am saving us.” Mia prompts, but her hands were shaking. She was scared and confused. “We don’t have to go with them.” It sounded more like a question than a statement.

“Are you kidding?” Madelaine’s voice surprised me, after all she did try to run before, but that was with the Gambino’s. In the hotel, she didn’t run. Maybe she realised that we were not the bad guys; that warm feeling pressed against my chest again, she felt saver with us. This was a child. I had to remind myself because she didn’t sound like one right now. “You can’t run from these guys. They will track you down and do much worse than kill you.” She clarified making us the bad men again, so much for positive thinking, we were taking these two girls against their will, but it was for their own safety. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince myself or make it sound better in my mind.

“It would be wise to listen to her,” I warn taking a step towards her, which made her take a step back. She was afraid of me and I hated every second of it, but I had to do what needed to be done to save her life. Even if it meant she would hate me until the day I died. “I can promise you that you would be safe if you just give the gun to me and come with us. Great job, Ben. Telling her the exact words any other bad guy caught with his pants down would tell her, but this time it was true. ” I take another step closer, as does she. “I know you are scared.” Her back hits the bush behind her so I close in on her giving her nowhere to run. The point of the gun was now dabbing into my ribs.

“You will be safe,” I promise her. I have never promised anyone safety before, but I would give her that. Even if it meant I had to protect her myself.

“Safe." Mia breaths and her emerald eyes start to water up. There was no emotion inside of them they grew empty. This wasn’t good. “I have never been more unsafe until the moment I met you. You kidnapped me, pointed your gun at me, I was practically told that I was your whore now. This was my closest encounter to death since the day I was born.” Tears started to roll down her flaming red cheeks.

“Mia.” I cock my head to the side feeling the hard end of the steel digging deeper into my ribcage when I spoke.

“How do you know my name?” She whimpers in disbelieve. I heard when you told Madelaine. I listen to you when you talk. I wanted to say, but I couldn’t show any remorse, anymore. I was the boss and she needed to know that.

“We need to go. We can talk about this in the car.” I re-adjust my composure just in time for the light to fall onto us, causing Mia’s body to react. Achille must have gotten tired of waiting so he brought the car around. That stubborn brother of mine, always following his own head.

“I am not going with you.” She protests, her dark hair now sticking to her wet face as she brushes away more tears streaming down her already tear-stained face. Her finger rubbed against the trigger, threatening the release of a bullet.

“What the fuck?” Achille stopped dead in his tracks as he reached Madelaine who was also frozen to the spot. They watched with intense eyes as things between Mia and I was about to unfold, before Achille lost his patience.

“Let her go, Ben.” Achille softly utters. He knew how urgently we needed to leave, but I think the thought of me dying like this was much more weighing on his shoulders.

“They will kill her!” I speak through gritted teeth slowly turning my head to Achille. This was not the time for him to dismiss my orders. Mia suddenly moves to raise the gun to my head so that it was in line with the side of my head and backed up a little, causing Achille to react and draw his weapon on her and my chest contracted. “No matter what happens. You do not shoot her.” I order and like clockwork, the gun goes off making me believe there is a God or some higher power looking out for me. This was twice in one night.

My reflexes were fast enough to mainly dodge the bullet. It barely scratched the surface off my right ear, although the ringing in my ear caused much of a discomfort all by itself, but all I could care about was Mia; when I saw her tumbling back to the ground. I immediately fell forward cursing as my hands graced her body. “I am so sorry.” She started to cry beneath me. She was okay. It must have been the recoil of the gun that sent her falling down to the hard cement. “I don’t know why I did that.” She sobs covering her face in her hands.

Before my brain could wrap around what I was doing my body betrayed me as I picked Mia up from the ground and carried her to the car. Her legs were dangling from my one arm as I steadied her back with the other.

“It’s okay,” I assure her as she buries her head in the crook of my neck. “We really need to go now.” I place her onto the backseat watching her settle into a foetus position and I couldn’t will my feet to move. I wanted to climb in next to her and hold her against my chest. Tell her that she was save, that nothing bad was going to happen to her, but I also was the only one that could get us out of here. Achille’s was in no state to drive.

“It’s okay. I got her.” Madelaine waves her hand in a gesture to hurry up. I nod at her when I come down to earth from my thoughts, before I push the door shut and get into the driver’s side. Achille was already waiting impatiently on the passenger’s seat. I don’t look at him as I turn the key in the ignition and the car’s engine roars to life.

“Through all the years, all the dinners with Madre, nothing. Yet, today you decide to develop a heart!” He chuckles as I put the car into drive, pushing my foot down on the gas pedal. What the hell was he talking about? I have never before hurt an innocent woman, why would I start now? I would have done that for anyone.

“Boss.” Gian answer on the second ring, his voice filling the car.

“Get the plain ready. There will be four more passengers.” I blurt over the line before pushing the button on the car’s steering wheel to end the call. They were leaving tomorrow morning, but I needed to put distance between me and New York, 4505 miles to be exact.