by Olivia Harp
Remy
Remy looked around. Julie's party was a complete success. He was a man of numbers. Finances. Cold, hard cash.
She was a people's person. She knew everybody.
He smirked, if I ever threw a party I’d be lucky to have what, five, ten people come?
Someone sat at his table, two chairs away from him.
Trey.
He looked at Remy, trying to stare him down. Poor bastard, he kicked his ass once, he would do it again if he had to.
Motherfucker deserves a beating, that's for sure. Besides, he owed him. He'd insulted his woman… he was eager to make things straight. Now was his chance.
He didn't talk first, just waited for him to speak.
Remy smiled.
Trey was pulling some pseudo-intimidation bullshit but it backfired on him.
"Been looking for you," Trey finally said, combing his hair behind his ears, trying to act tough.
"You found me."
They stared at each other, Trey licked his lips.
"You have to come with me."
"You think?"
"Unless you want me to kick your fucking ass in here and ruin your little girlfriend's party, yes."
He saw them kiss. Good. That's why he did it.
"Are you stupid, Trey?"
He stiffened.
"Are you really that fucking dumb?"
Trey clenched his jaw, his face turning red.
"You're a fucking coward, coming at me at a party, probably carrying a weapon, with all your friends around. I would take you on your offer, but I don't want to ruin Julie's gala. What if we settle this on—"
"I didn't ask,” Trey interrupted him coldly, “I said you’re coming with me. Morgan boy."
His stomach felt heavy. How much did he know?
Trey stood up, brought out his cell phone and showed it to Remy.
Red-hot fury burned inside of him. He wanted to kill Trey, to take him out right now.
It was a picture of Julie, going outside with Trey's people.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"I just need to set things right."
He opened his jacket, flashing him his gun.
"You two need to come clean."
Remy couldn't do anything until he saw her safe. He stood up, fixed his bowtie and walked to the exit of the big winery.
He was tired of all this bullshit. He would take Trey down if that was the last thing he did.
Chapter 33
Julie
She walked downstairs, to the cellars. The staircase was narrow, barely able to fit one person. Two of Trey's goons walked with her, a bald one in front, one with a ponytail behind.
They told her her father was waiting for her. She didn't believe them at first but they showed her pictures of her and Remy.
He knew. He spied on us and now wants to destroy everything.
They got to the bottom of the stairs into a cold, wide room. Soft, yellow lights lit the way ahead, wood shelves full of bottles of wine adorned every corner. They kept going and entered a corridor and turned left into another room. This was one split in the middle by an old rack, also full of wine bottles.
These were the cream of the crop.
Ahead, in a rounded room, her father waited for her, sitting on a chair. He looked as if in the middle of a library, every shelf around carrying old wines, completely cold, as if forgotten by time. A lonely light bulb bathed him in soft light, he was still wearing his tuxedo.
Suddenly, she knew this wouldn't end up well.
"Julie?" He said, raising his eyes, "what's going on? Where the hell is Trey?"
The two men said nothing. She ran to hug him, "something's wrong."
"I want you to get Trey here now."
"He's coming, sir."
"He told me he had information on our enemies and this—"
"I know, but—"
"No buts! You work for me you asses, go get him right now!"
The two men looked at each other. Charles Crawford, head of the organization stood up, taller than them, his eyes fixed on the bald goon.
"We're leaving."
He stepped forward but they didn't move. If they didn't let him through they would seal their fates.
Another step forward. Julie held on to him, scared. They were four or five yards away from them. She could see them tense up. This was a decision that would mark them for life.
Another step and the ponytail guy stepped back to let him through. The bald guy did the same. Charles was about to pass them when a voice echoed in the circular room, through the shelves and glass bottles. The cold dampness around Julie felt like the embrace of death.
"Sorry I'm late, Mr. Crawford."
It was Trey, speaking from the corridor outside, but the first person she saw come in was Remy.
She couldn't move. Trey knew about them and was going to destroy everything. Remy's face didn't betray any emotion. He looked at her, his calm reassuring.
Trey followed him. He pushed Remy from behind, but he barely moved.
"Grab him!" Trey yelled when his efforts were so obviously fruitless.
The two goons moved fast and brought Remy forward.
She could see the gun in Trey's pants.
"What is this, Trey? Have you lost your mind?"
Ponytail pushed Remy and sat him on the chair.
"No, it's your daughter who's crazy."
Charles turned to her.
"Spit it out, dear," Trey continued, "you betrayed me."
"Fuck you, Trey. Dad, I was going to tell you everything."
"Tell me what?"
"I'm Remy Morgan," Remy said, sitting on the chair, his eyes looking straight at Charles, "the son of Edward Morgan, and I love your daughter."
Charles clenched his jaw, his face red with anger. She'd never seen him like this.
But it didn't matter. Hearing him say that again. It was music to her ears. The world could go to hell. This was her life, and she had been doing great at it. Everything else was just noise. She and Remy, nothing would stand in their way.
Trey laughed, a scornful laugh that would have driven her over the edge a second before. It didn't matter. He was an ant. An insect. What he thought about anything at all was of no concern to her.
"What have you done?" His father asked.
She stepped towards Remy, he tried to stand up but Ponytail hit him in the back of the head and pushed him down.
His grunt made her shiver. There were four men here besides Remy. All of them his sworn enemies.
"We fell in love," she said.
"Quiet," Charles replied coldly.
"He's a spy," Trey said, "he probably knows everything about how we clean the money—"
"Of course I do," Remy interrupted, "I've also had plenty of chances to take advantage of that knowledge, but I haven't done it."
"Hit him again, Ray."
The man behind Remy balled his fist and tried to punch Remy, but he moved to the side just in time to catch his hand and twist it.
Ponytail —Raymond— screeched in pain, dropping to his knees. Bald guy jumped forward and kicked Remy right in the face. He fell back, the chair cracking as it hit the floor.
"No!" Julie yelled, but Ponytail kicked him in the stomach. She leaped towards him, trying to stop him but he jerked back and pushed her.
She hit the ground with a loud thud. Ponytail realized what he had just done.
Everyone stopped moving.
"What are you're doing?" Charles yelled.
Remy got on his knees, then put a leg forward, and finally stood up. Blood poured down from his nose and eyebrow.
"I'll do whatever it takes for her. I want your blessing, I want to marry her."
Julie looked at him, her heart beating faster than ever. She didn't know whether she was going insane with happiness, or Remy wanted them to kill him.
"You fucker!" Said Trey, "you're filth. Your whole family is filth! I'm going to kill you."
; "No," said Charles.
What?
Did her father just said no?
Charles stepped forward, facing Remy.
"Does your father know about this?"
"No," Remy answered.
"There's—" Trey tried to say.
"Quiet!" said Charles, still looking at Remy, the cold air around them like a dead winter morning. He looked like a wolf staring at his prey. And Remy stared back, unable to relent.
"Mr. Crawford…" Trey said, "Charles!"
He was sounding more and more panicked, his plan somehow was taking a turn into unknown territory.
"The Morgan’s killed my father. You know I can't let him go. I ask permission to take him out."
He brought his gun up, pointing directly at Remy's head.
Remy didn't flinch. He kept staring at Charles.
"What are you going to do, son?" Charles continued, "You know how stubborn your father is."
Remy's face was full of blood, his clothes ruined, but he kept staring straight at the head of the rival organization.
"I told you," he said, in a more even tone. He wasn't defying him now, he was saying exactly what he meant.
"I'm going to do whatever it takes."
Charles Crawford, one of the most powerful men in Chicago, smiled. It wasn't a big smile, no one would have been able to see it. But Julie recognized it. She knew her father too well. Remy brought all the walls down.
"Understood," he whispered, and her body, every muscle in it, trembled. It was a powerful feeling, getting rid of that weight.
"No!" Trey said, "they killed my father—"
"And your father killed Jacob Morgan. He fucked up back then."
"You're on their side?"
"I'm on our side," Charles said, quietly, "put the gun down Trey. The bloodbath is over."
Trey turned white, mad with fury.
"Fuck you!" He yelled, and turned to him.
Remy jumped forward, tackling him but it was too late, the gun went off.
Charles was down, blood pouring from his chest, tinting his shirt bright red.
Julie screamed as Remy wrestled Trey for the gun, she was on the floor, trying to help her father.
His eyes found her, and she knew he was dying.
Chapter 34
Remy
Trey's blind madness made him hard to predict. They crashed against a shelf.
Fighting a man with a loaded gun was the worst situation Remy could think of. The God damned imbecile shot Charles Crawford himself.
Trey has to kill all of us now.
The gun went off again, bottles exploded to their right, bathing them in broken glass and red wine. He grabbed Trey’s wrist, preventing him from pointing the gun anywhere but to the ceiling, Remy's elbow on his throat.
Trey choked, trying to knee Remy back, but Remy crashed his forehead against his nose, the crunching noise and his muffled yell of pain filled the dark room.
Burning bright pain on the side of Remy's face. The whole world almost went black.
Someone hit me. He looked away fast enough to avoid a direct hit on his chin. The bald guy was trying to knock him down. But he couldn’t let Trey go. He'd be dead if he did.
Before Bald hit him for a third time, he kneed Trey on the groin, whirled around grabbing the gun with both hands, Trey pressed the trigger one, two, three times.
Glass exploded all around him. He couldn't stop thinking of Julie. She needed to be lying down. The thought of a stray bullet hitting her was too much for him to think about.
Trey moved forward, pushing Remy aside, and then he saw Bald, dead on the ground, a bullet in his stomach. Trey realized what he'd done and yelled, his mad fury still blinding him.
He took another shot at Remy but he jumped away just in time, rolling on the floor and into the next stack of bottles.
"Don't let her escape, Ray!" Trey yelled.
Light only fell on the middle of the cellar, above the chair where Remy was. The rest of the room was engulfed in shadows. Remy moved through the maze of shelves, getting closer to the center.
The passages were long and cold. Trey fired again, he heard bottles explode behind him, far enough for him to know the asshole didn't know where he was.
"Come out you fucker, unless you want your little girlfriend shot."
You're going to pay you fucker.
He needed to act fast. He sneaked to the end of the passage, grabbed a bottle, Chateau Roth DeGausse, and got ready.
Trey stepped like an elephant over the poodles of wine. He was being careless, it wasn’t hard to know exactly where he was.
Raymond, the idiot with the ponytail had Julie by the hair. The mere sight of that made Remy want to rush out to him and beat him to a pulp. But he also had a gun, he couldn't risk him hurting her. Remy had to play it smart.
He rolled the bottle on the ground to the other end of the corridor.
It didn't make any noise, until it hit the shelf across the small open area.
"There!" Raymond said, shooting blindly to his side, thinking he knew where Remy was. As soon as he turned his back on him, Remy grabbed another bottle and crashed it on his skull.
Raymond fell down, firing his gun once, but still not dropping it. He tried to turn around but Remy chokeholded him as hard as he could.
"Fucker!" Trey yelled, coming into the open, pointing the gun at him.
Remy rotated and covered himself with Raymond. He felt the bullets enter him, Ray’s body going soft as they did, his last breath uttering the words "mom."
He almost felt sorry for him.
"Ray?"
"He's gone," Remy said, snatching the pistol from his still warm hands, "you killed him."
Trey shot at him again but he was too predictable now. Remy understood him. He could deal with him more easily now. Remy jumped before Trey even pressed the trigger.
Remy walked slowly on the third passage to the left, looking at the center of the room. He's got her.
Trey had her by the hair. Charles Crawford lay on the floor, bleeding. Hardly breathing.
Julie cried, looking at her father.
"This is between you and me," Remy said, coming out of the passage, to the right of Trey, his gun pointed directly at him.
"Let's settle this once and for all," he continued, "do you like hiding behind a woman?"
Trey smirked, but he wasn't mocking him. He was trying to act tough, as if he didn't care. He was dumber than Remy thought. Easily manipulated.
"Your father would be proud."
"Shut the fuck up!" Trey said and shot him.
"No!" Julie screamed.
He thought it would be painful. Different than this. Remy knew he had a bullet in his chest, but all he felt was warmth. It was his own blood, dripping down his body.
It was hotter than he ever imagined.
But he felt no pain. He kept on walking.
"You're a tough man," Remy continued, "you won. Let her go."
"She has to go too, don't you know? You killed them all and I had to stop you."
Remy couldn't get a clean shot. He wasn't going to risk killing her. He raised his gun and looked directly at Julie. He took three shots, all of them right above their heads. Trey released her, covering himself from the rain of glass falling over him.
It gave her enough time to jump forward.
Trey fired back, missing his first two shots. Third one's a charm.
He got Remy again, right on the chest. He was dead for sure now, but he would take Trey with him even if it was the last thing he did.
He pressed the trigger, every explosion like music, the bullets hitting Trey in the chest and arms and throat, the cellar shelves behind him painted red with blood.
Remy walked a few more steps to Julie, who covered her ears.
Another step, the last one he'd take in his life and she turned to him, her eyes full of tears. Remy fell to the floor, leaning back on a thick wood shelf.
Charles Crawford, his father-in-law, lay ne
xt to him.
"He's still breathing," Remy whispered, "get some help."
"Remy," she said and jumped to hug him, "Remy please, no, I love you."
"And I love you, Jules Crawford."
Her warm tears hurt him more than the bullets in his body.
"Get your father some help," he whispered in her ear, then smiled, "I think he liked me."
Tears rolled down her cheeks but he could still made her laugh.
"Will you marry me, Julie Crawford?"
She didn't even have to think about it, "yes, of course I will."
He would have smiled, if he had the strength. His whole body felt like burning. Like a candle flame trying to stay alive a few more seconds before ceasing to exist.
"You stay alive," she ordered, "or I'll make you pay."
Julie jumped up and ran faster than he'd ever seen anyone before.
Silence. Cold. Death was coming for him fast. It had been worth it. He got to meet her. To kiss her. She would live. The love of his life.
Worth it.
He closed his eyes. His mind started to fade, like sleeping. He smiled.
He was ready to go.
Chapter 35
Julie
Julie stood in silence, looking at his grave. His father, the great Charles Crawford by her side. He did make it, in the end. He was strong.
The doctors put him in an induced coma for ten days, the surgery was a success. Two months later, he was discharged from the hospital.
Her father wanted to go see his grave, so she took him. She hadn't come back since the burial. Didn't want to see it. Didn't want to remember.
"Are you okay?" Her father asked.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I still can't understand why."
He put an arm around her.
"There's no answer to that. Don't dwell on it, you'll drive yourself crazy."
Things spiraled out of control so fast she couldn't see it coming.
She sighed. Her father was right. She would drive herself crazy trying to answer that question.
It was painful, every time she thought about it, it was like sticking needles inside her heart. The memory still hurt her. But she had to move forward. She had to keep going.
"Come on," she said, "it's getting late."
The two of them walked away to their cars.
It was a beautiful day. Sunny but not really hot. Clear sky.