But on the projection screen isn’t a blueprint. Instead, it’s been replaced by an email from Byron, stating how all the donors are “morons” for donating to a hotel that will never see the light of day.
The reaction is startling, and everyone in the room immediately starts talking.
Outrage ensues, but Byron hasn’t caught on.“As you can see, this beautiful layout will transform the city of —”
A man stands, screaming, “Liar!”
Byron turns, finally noticing the image behind him. “Excuse me. What is this?” he yells, trying to save face. “What kind of a prank is this? Folks, we have someone trying to display false information.”
But the projection changes to his bank statements. Escort services on the company dime, pictures of him in the Bahamas with half-nude women, more emails. The screenshots just keep coming.
The crowd erupts in a fury.
Another donor throws his champagne toward the front of the stage.
“Settle down,” Byron mutters, unable to calm the crowd. “There’s an explanation for this. I promise you, folks. We’ll get to the bottom of this charade. Obviously, someone skilled has hacked into our accounts. They have tweaked our documents. We are a legitimate business.”
But nothing can work to calm the fire that’s currently being fanned. Rocco runs down the stairs. He eyes me and winks, then walks toward Byron.
Taking the microphone, he says, “This man has been lying to you for years. It’s time we demand justice. Refund their money or suffer the consequences.”
Byron begins to walk off the stage, wiping his forehead. His men guard him as the whole scene moves toward the doors.
Outside, he runs. A helicopter hovers above, and it’s clear that Byron is heading for it.
“We need to get him!” I yell, but it’s far too late. The crowd is too shocked by the news to react properly.
As Byron jumps into the helicopter, Rocco grabs his ankle.
But he doesn’t get the grip he needed.
The chopper disappears into the night.
Rocco
I had that bastard by his shoe, and he still got away.
As he hovers above, I grab my pistol and aim, wondering if it’s worth it to take the shot. I weigh my options and decide to pocket the weapon.
“Shit!” I scream, heading back to Madison. “We have to go. Quick.”
“What about everyone else?”
“Don’t worry about them. We’ll deal with that later. We can’t let him hide. He knows too many people in the city. He’ll be a ghost.”
We head toward the hangar. Dasha runs behind us.
“Where are we going?” she yells.
I bite my tongue. “Back home.”
When we board the plane, our hearts are beating wildly. There is just too much at stake now. If we don’t get to him soon, we’ll never find him.
When we take off, Madison freaks out. “We need to get the police. They can handle this. That’s what they’re there for.”
I shake my head. “Do you really think he’ll get a fair sentence with all the money he has surrounding him?”
“How do we find him?” she asks.
“Leave that to me. I think I know where he’ll be.”
The night is quiet, but our minds are racing. Dasha wants to go home to her daughter, and I don’t blame her.
I tell Madison to go with her.
Her eyes are full of fear, doubt, and regret. “No,” she says. “I want to be near you. I don’t want you out of my sight anymore.”
“I can’t afford to put you in harm’s way,” I mutter. “Everything will be fine. Do you trust me?”
“Hell no, I don’t,” she says, tears welling up in her eyes. “But the way you’re looking at me tells me I’m going to have to.”
I nod. “When all this is said and done, I’m going to ride you into that sunset, honey.”
She places her hands in mine. Our fingers lock, and a warm feeling shoots through my body. “Don’t joke around.”
Suddenly, I feel like I can do anything. She gives me all the goddamn strength in the world.
“I hope you know I wouldn’t do this for just any girl,” I say.
“Don’t say that,” she says. “I’m not worth it.”
“You have no idea how worth it you are, do you?” I ask.
She looks away, tears in her eyes. The sound of the plane’s engine is in the near distance.
“It’s all for you, Madison. Everything. I’d gladly lay my life down if it meant you being happy. When this is over with, I’m going to show you what I can give you.”
“I only want you,” she says. “That’s it. Just come back in one piece and I’ll be happy.”
We embrace passionately. As my hands hold the back of her head, our lips connect. We kiss for what feels like an incredible century. Our tongues slide, and we breathe as if this might be our last breath on this earth together.
All I can think about is our future.
My proposal. Our marriage.
I want to buy a new house, somewhere outside the city. I want to give her as many kids as she asks for, and I want to see them grow old and fall in love.
I hope it’s a little less volatile than this. Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
This is our story. Our romance. No one can take that away from us.
Ricardo pulls up, and I’m forced to say my goodbyes. “Enough making out. We have to hurry,” he says.
I kiss her one last time, my bottom lip folding against the top of her mouth. She stands in the hangar, hair blowing wildly from the wind. As we peel out of there, I keep my eyes fixed on her.
She disappears as we pull away.
“So things didn’t go according to plan?” he asks. “I had a feeling Byron wouldn’t give up that easy. You should have sent it to the police. It would’ve done you more good.”
“Public outrage is much stronger than any American police department. I wasn’t about to take any chances,” I said. “But I’ll admit. This has gone too far.”
I cock my pistol and hold it near my heart.
“Jesus. You’re really willing to take it this far, aren’t you?” he asks.
“Does it look like I’m playing around?” I ask him.
“Once a gangster, always a gangster. Is that how the saying goes?”
“You know Byron is armed to the teeth. He’s not stupid. He knows I’m coming after him,” I say.
“Be careful,” Ricardo warns me. “You haven’t fired a gun in years, right?”
I shrug him off, but it’s a fair point. I’m going to need some help with this. I’m going to need someone like Ricardo to watch my back.
I grin. “Want to make another fifteen grand?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Are you going to make me do what I think you’re going to make me do?”
He looks worried, but I know he can’t turn down that much money.
I eye him carefully. “It’s another fifteen grand. Your wife will be happy, right?”
“It’ll be bitter sweet,” he says. “But, you know me too well. I’m game.”
“Head toward the old Napolitano warehouse. You know the one?” I ask him.
“You think that’s where he’s run off to?”
“Definitely,” I tell him. “I bet he’s got a fortune stashed away in that place. He’s not going to split without taking some valuables as currency. Then I reckon he’ll flee. Who knows, maybe he’ll leave the country. I can’t wait around to find out. I need him out of my life for good.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” he says, turning the wheel.
The car skids. We head in the direction of the old Napolitano warehouse.
Rocco
We stop near the warehouse entrance.
“Look,” Ricardo says. “Over there.”
Sure enough, a helicopter rests on top of the building. Three armed guards patrol.
“Let’s move,” I say.
I hold my pis
tol in front of my body, carefully maneuvering up to the chain link fence in front.
I search for an entrance. “How do we get in?”
A line of barbed wire surrounds the fence.
Ricardo reaches into his bag, pulling out a small black rug. “We can use this.”
He tosses it over the wire, and I look at him like he’s crazy.
“You’ll just have to be careful,” he says.
I place the front end of my boot through one small opening of the fence. “If you say so.”
He follows my lead.
“If I cut myself, I’m taking it out of your cut,” I joke.
I climb over the rug and fall on my back, landing smack dab in the dirt. “Well, that one hurt.”
“You okay?”
He jumps next to me, landing on his feet like a cat. As soon as he helps me up, I dust my suit off, rubbing the sore spots against my back.
“I’m fine.” I groan. “Shit, I haven’t done anything like this in a long time.”
We head to the front of the building. I lean in and look inside. It’s completely empty on the first floor, but I can hear yelling coming from the top.
“Come on.” I motion. “Let’s go. Top floor. Hurry.”
Quietly, we run toward the voices. Each step seems to last a fucking lifetime. I’ve got my gun, but I haven’t used a pistol in years. I’ve never even shot at a guy before.
I keep thinking about Madison’s face, her hour-glass figure, her beautiful soul. She pushes me forward.
I just need to think of the end goal. I need to get back to my woman.
When we get to the top, there’s only one door separating us from the bad guys.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
Ricardo nods, weapon in hand.
“If I die,” he whispers. “Tell my wife and kids I love them.”
“Do you realize how cheesy that sounds?” I ask him.
“Just do it,” he says.
I nod and grip the handle tighter. “Sure thing,” I whisper. “All right, let’s do this.”
I kick open the door and Ricardo takes aim.
There are the three men we saw below. Two of them open fire, but the bullets ricochet around us. We duck behind the A/C unit and hold our breath.
“You good?” I ask.
He nods.
“Okay,” I say.
I jump up and fire twice. Two drops.
Byron is the last man standing, and he’s furious.
Frightened, the pilot of the helicopter takes off in fury.
Byron screams, “You bastard! You threw me to the fucking wolves!”
He turns around and opens fire. I roll out of the way.
Catching my breath, I reload.
I lunge forward and pull the trigger, hitting him in the arm. He falls back but shoots again.
I feel nothing besides the rush of adrenaline. But when I glance down, see red. Blood.
It doesn’t phase me until I realize I’m fucking hit. I fall to the floor and look up at Byron’s barrel. Laughing, he kicks my gun from my hand.
It’s either him or me.
In that moment, time slows down. I see Madison’s face. I feel her kiss.
I kick my thigh upward before he takes the shot. His gun slides across the room.
I hear Ricardo yell, “My fucking gun is jammed.”
That’s when I know I have to fight, not only for my life, but to see Madison again.
Byron fumbles to pick up his weapon, but I grab his feet and pull him back. In the process, I kick his pistol, and it falls toward the edge of the roof.
It’s a real fight now.
Byron hits my thigh, right where he shot me.
He pins me down, hammering my jaw. My head falls back and connects with the roof below.
Dazed, he hits me again and everything turns black. It seems every time I open my eyes, he hits me.
I’m losing…
Adrenaline kicks in to the highest degree. I reach in my pocket and feel the sharp blade of my knife. He knocks me right in the nose, and I lose grip of the handle.
I open my eyes again, but everything spins. I grab the handle one more time and grip it hard. I pull it out and swing upward. It connects against the side of his ribcage.
The blows stop. Byron collapses, screaming.
I fall back, holding my gunshot wound. I’m drowning in pain, and I can barely even look at Byron without passing out.
Nudging away with one ankle, I hear Ricardo move toward me. In an instant, a loud popping noise disturbs the wind.
“I’ll see you in hell, you bastard,” Byron mutters under his breath.
Ricardo’s gun, now unjammed, fires the rest of its rounds into Byron.
Ricardo stands, smoke drifting around his body. “You won’t see nothing.”
I cough, tears spilling from my eyes. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” I whisper.
“Rocco,” Ricardo shouts. “Rocco, are you all right?”
“We weren’t supposed to kill him,” I keep repeating. The blood is draining from my leg.
Is this what it feels like to die? Hopeless and afraid?
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. We were supposed to take him in alive.
Instead, there’s enough blood surrounding me to fill a small pool.
I’m dying…
Everything fades to black.
Madison
Dasha runs me to the hospital.
No one tells us what happened. All we know is that he was dropped off in front of the building. I got the call that Byron has been killed, but the details are kept from us.
Finally, we track him down.
I’m not thinking straight. I have no idea how to even react. Is he in bad condition? Is he dying? I keep running the scenarios over and over in my head, and I can’t stop crying.
My chest feels like it’s caving in. This is all my fault…
When we get to the hospital, they won’t let us in the room. “Friends and family only,” a nurse tells me. “You’ll have to take a seat in the waiting room.”
“You don’t understand,” I tell them. “My boyfriend is back there.”
She bars me from entering. “Please, sit down. A doctor will update you when he’s ready.”
The look in the workers’ eyes tells me it’s not good. The ER is practically empty tonight, but everyone is concentrated to Rocco’s room.
A trail of drying blood leads inside.
“No…”
I shouldn’t have taken him for granted. People come and go. They’re not around forever. I should have realized it wasn’t all fun and games. Now, I’m planning for the worst outcome.
Dasha hands me a bag of tissues from her purse. “You need to calm yourself. You don’t know what’s going on. Don’t rush to conclusions.”
But her tears don’t make me feel any better.
“He’s dead, Dasha,” I cry. “Did you see the blood outside? How can anyone survive something like that?”
Her eyes fold with empathy and sadness, and she breathes heavily. For a second I wonder if she’s going to break down with me, but she holds strong in the end.
“We’re not specialists. I’m not going to make any diagnoses. We’re going to sit here and wait until the doctor comes out of this room and gives us a solid update.”
Kasha’s daughter, Holly, wraps her arms around me. “Don’t cry.”
She’s been so polite this whole time that I almost forgot she was here.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “You’re helping me a lot, you know that?”
She hugs me again.
“You’re both right,” I sigh, wiping my tears away. “I need to stay strong for Rocco. We don’t know the details. He’s still alive.”
I nod, over and over again, in defiance of death.
The night goes on and people come in and out of the ER. I end up falling asleep.
I have dreams of our future. Rocco and I have a child together. We have a nice house, not
too far away from the lake I used to frequent.
In these dreams, Holly is close with our daughter. I can’t make out most of the details, but I know that we’re happy. We’ve always been happy together, except for one small period of time. This time.
But that’s just because I feared getting too close to him.
Oh, how stupid I was. He’s the sweetest, most charming man I’ve ever laid eyes on. When I met him, he was wild and bad, and everything my mother told me to stay away from. But when I got to know him, I understood who he really was.
He’s a man who wants to give his life for love. That’s the noblest thing a man can do, in my opinion.
“Ma’am?” a voice from above says. “Ma’am, it’s time to wake up.”
“What?” I swipe at my eyes with my fingers. “Is it time to wake up? Is he okay?”
I jump out of my seat, blinded by how exhausted I am, and I nearly run through the door to his room.
“Madison, hold on,” Dasha says. “Let’s just hear what she has to say first.”
I glance at the doctor. She looks like she’s had the battle of her life back there. She breathes steadily and looks me in the eye.
“He’s going to pull through this.”
I feel an emotional release shoot up inside me. Love. This is what love feels like. It’s painful and heart-wrenching sometimes, but when you hear those words, you want to thank the lord above for giving you one more day with him.
“You’re lucky he’s a fighter,” she says. “That bullet hit an artery. I’ve never seen anyone pull through something like that before.”
“He’s… he’s okay?” I manage to say, drying my face with my shirt. “There’s nothing wrong with him?”
“He’s going to be in and out for a while. He’ll have to stay here and rest. We need to run some more tests and see where he’s at,” she says. “But he just woke up from surgery and he keeps calling for you. Normally, we’d put him to sleep, but he’s denying the protocol. He says he needs you in there.”
I glance at the door, and the woman says, “Follow me. You only.”
She glances at Dasha and Holly, making sure they stay put.
“Go!” Dasha says.
I nod and follow her inside the hall. My steps are heavy, but my body feels as if it’s floating on through.
Beg Me: A Billionaire Syndicate Romance Page 14