by Amy Brent
“You see, Antonelli had a counteroffer for us when I called,” Colin went on. “And since you've been too busy spending time with that slut, we decided to take him up on it. Your head – or your other body parts – delivered to him.”
“And what are you getting in return, huh?”
“Control over the fucking Brotherhood, man,” Colin sounded on the verge of laughter. “Don't you see? You're out. I'm in.”
“Do the others know about this? Besides, your idiot brother, that is?”
“Not yet, but they will soon, Deacon,” Colin said. “But for now, I really must be going. Sleep well.”
The line went dead in my hand and my blood was boiling as I paced the room. I needed to think. Needed to plan. But first things first – we had to get out of there, and fast.
“Emmy,” I called to her, “We should probably be going, love.”
“Why?” she muttered from the loft. “Has my father found us?”
“No, but there's a host of other shit headed our way,” I said.
Emelia came down the stairs in nothing but my t-shirt, her hair all over the place. Never before had she looked more beautiful to me. I couldn't believe that I was falling so hard for this woman – and that was trouble. Especially now. Things were going to be complicated on their own when I went to war with Colin – and I would be going to war with him. But not only did I have Antonelli on my ass, now I had some of my own brothers on it as well.
And I had no idea who I could trust in all of this.
“Do we even have a car?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Yes, we do actually,” I said.
No one, not even Colin knew about it. But yes, we had a car, hidden in a garage off the property. See, he'd thought we were stranded out there when he'd driven off. But I was a prudent and cautious man. It was how I'd risen to the position I was in. So, Colin may have thought he'd left us without a ride, but he didn't realize that I would never allow myself to be stranded anywhere.
“Have all your things?” I asked.
“What things?” she said. “I literally only have the clothes I wore when you scooped me up and nothing else.”
I tossed her a pair of pajama bottoms – and of course they were much too large on her. She pulled the drawstring as tight as they would go, but she still had to hold them up on her tiny little frame. Still, it would work well enough for the moment – we'd worry about getting her something proper to wear later. In that moment, we had to get moving quickly.
“Come on,” I said, motioning for her to follow me out.
It was hard to believe that just days before, I'd been worried she might try to escape. Now, I let her walk freely, trusting she'd follow me. I glanced back, just to make sure there was no doubt in her eyes, and there wasn't. Only fear.
“If not my dad, then what?” she asked. “What's going on, Deacon?”
“I'll explain on the road,” I said.
We walked into the woods, and it was a trek to get to my hidden vehicle. Poor Emelia was shivering from the cold, but it wasn't like I had a coat to give her. I quickened our pace, just to reach the warmth of the vehicle a little faster. And once we finally got to the garage, I opened the lock and we stepped inside to find my dad's old Impala. Nothing fancy, but it would get us the hell out of there and it was a trusty old brute. I'd been sure to keep it properly maintained in the event she was needed. And right then, she was needed.
Emelia climbed into the passenger seat on her own, there was no forcing her. It all seemed so surreal to think that I'd kidnapped her, forced her to come with me, and yet, there she was coming willingly. I didn't even know how all of it had happened, but somehow, she trusted me. Or at least, she trusted me more than she trusted sticking around to see what kind of trouble was coming for us.
Once in the car, we drove out the back of the garage and down a dirt road that was hardly ever used anymore. I drove with the headlights off though, just in case. Colin might not be far and better not to alert him of our hasty exit with bright lights – even though I doubted he knew about the road we were on in the first place. Still, I was a cautious man.
Had Colin known everything and had it all figured out – like he thought he did – there'd have been no escaping in time, I was sure of it. But his betrayal was one reason I found it so very hard to trust anyone, even my best friend, and had to make secret contingency plans for myself. I gripped the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles white, and Emelia just sat beside me, quietly waiting for me to fill her in on everything going on.
“It's Colin,” I said finally. “He's gone rogue.”
I sighed and knew I had to give her the option. If she wanted to be released, to go back to her father, she could. I had bigger shit to deal with in that moment – bigger problems than this deal with the Italians. I needed to get control of my own men and my own organization back. Oh yeah, and I needed to put two into the back of Colin's head for his betrayal.
“So, what does that mean?” she asked, her voice soft.
“Which means, I can drop you off somewhere, if you'd like. And you'd be free to go,” I said.
“Go? Go where? Back to my father?” she said.
I nodded, staring straight ahead as I turned onto the paved road that led us away from the cabin. I let out a small sigh of relief – there was no sign of Colin. Not yet, anyway. Either he was at the cabin already or he was further away than I thought. Either way, I was glad to be gone.
“I don't want that, Deacon,” she said quietly. “You promised me I wouldn't have to – ”
“Shhh,” I said, calming her down. “I didn't say you had to be, but I'm giving you a way out. I felt like you deserved to have a choice in all of this. Things are about to get ugly, Emmy, and I hate for you to be in the middle of it.”
“Too late,” she said. “I already am, whether I like it or not. And I'm not going home now. Not to my father, and most certainly not to Tony.”
“You could go anywhere, you know that?” I said. “Anywhere you'd like. No one said you had to go home and you certainly don't have to go with me if you dont' want to. What I'm trying to say is that you're free, love.”
She was quiet for a few moments and I thought she might take me up on the offer. Yes, part of me hurt just thinking about it. Despite my best efforts, I'd already grown rather attached to this beautiful, young woman – even though I knew it was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas.
“No,” she said after a few moments. “I don't think so. I'm going to stay with you, if that's okay with you?”
As much as I loved that idea – I was also terrified by it. I wanted to believe I could protect her. Keep her safe. But the truth of the matter was, when the bullets started flying – and they would eventually – nobody was ever truly safe. I knew that it was going to gut me if anything happened to her.
Still, she was free to make her own choices and if she chose to stay with me, so be it.
“Whatever you like, Emmy. Like I said, you're free now. You're no longer my prisoner. So any choice you make is yours – good or bad.”
“I'm your partner,” she said with a smile. “Your partner in crime.”
DEACON
“Partner in crime, huh?” I asked.
Emelia looked at me from the passenger seat, a broad grin on her face, looking quite pleased with herself.
“Partner in crime,” she confirmed.
I gave her a grin as the Impala roared down the darkened highway. I had no plan and was just winging in it – which made me nervous. I was a man who needed a plan. It's not that I wasn't quick on my feet – had to be in my line of business – but I was always at my best when I was able to plan something out. Especially, when it was something important.
And I couldn't think of anything more important than keeping me and Emelia alive.
“Do you have a plan?” Emelia asked.
I turned and gave her a wink. “A secret one,” I replied. “Don't you worry about a thing, love.”
<
br /> Her laugh was soft and rueful. “So, there's no plan.”
I smirked. “There's no plan,” I said. “At least, not yet.”
“Well, that's not all very comforting at all.”
The road was dark and I kept checking behind me for headlights, but still saw nothing. It wouldn't be too long before we hit a major highway and could lose ourselves in the crush of people in the city. I ordinarily wasn't a big fan of crowds, but this time, it might just save our lives.
“Right now, my plan is to get us as far away from that cabin – and Colin – as humanly possible,” I said. “We're gonna lay low for a little bit so I can sort all of this out and figure out what our plan of attack is going to be.”
“Seems like a good place to start,” she said.
“As good as any at this point, love,” I said.
My mind was spinning with everything going on. I couldn't believe that Colin had betrayed me. We'd come up together. Had been through a lot of shit together. I'd always considered him my best friend. Closer than a brother. And knowing that for a chance at the big chair, he'd betrayed me, filled me with a deep, dark rage.
I was going to kill Colin for his betrayal. There was no question about that. But I was going to make him suffer for a while first. It was the fuel that kept my fire burning. I was going to get out of this mess and make Colin pay for it.
We roared down the highway and when we passed a turnoff, I thought I saw the moonlight glint off the hood of a car. I wasn't sure though and thought my paranoia might be kicking into overdrive. But then I saw the headlights turn onto the road behind me.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
Emelia turned and looked out the back window and then back to me. “Is that them?”
I nodded. “Yeah, probably. Either that or it's a cop and we're in a speed trap,” I said. “And for the first time in my life, I hope it's a cop.”
My phone rang on the seat beside me – which told me, it probably wasn't a cop behind me. Glancing at the display, I saw that the call was from Colin. I connected the call and put it on speaker.
“What?” I demanded.
“Where ya headed, mate?” Colin asked, amusement in his tone.
“Budapest,” I said. “Care to meet me there?”
“Tempting,” Colin said. “But I have some business to attend to here.”
“Pity,” I replied. “I'd love nothing more than to shoot you in the face and dump your body into the Danube, you treacherous son of a bitch.”
“Oh, c'mon now, Deacon,” he said. “After all we've been through together and that's the way you're gonna be?”
“Funny how that works,” I said. “You stab me in the back and I want to kill you. Coincidence?”
Colin laughed. “Are you there, lassie?” he asked. “Emelia Antonelli, I assume you're there.”
She looked over at me and then looked at the phone as if it were a coiled snake ready to strike. I shrugged, letting her know it was okay to answer if she wanted – or not.
“What do you want?” she hissed.
“Well, to be quite frank with you, love, a couple hours alone with you would be nice,” he said.
“Fuck off,” she snapped.
“Oh, you've got quite the mouth on you, don't ya, love?” Colin laughed. “Don't worry though, I've got somethin' for that too. Anyway, your daddy is looking forward to having you back home. Of course, before we hand you over to your daddy, I'm gonna have some fun with ya first. And I gotta tell ya, love, I'm really looking forward to that.”
“Yeah, over my dead body,” I snapped.
“That's kind of the plan, mate,” Colin said.
“I assume that's you behind us?” I asked.
The headlights on the car behind is flashed on and off, giving me my answer. “Yeah, knowing you like I do, I assumed you had an exit plan, mate,” he said. “So I sent a couple of my boys to the cabin and figured I'd watch the road myself. And like a gift from God himself, you drove right by us.”
“So, what's your plan here, Colin?” I asked.
“Well, we're going to run you off the road to start,” he said. “Put two in your head and leave you on the side of the road. And then, I may take the lassie to a nice hotel – or I may just bend her over the hood of the car and make her look at your body while I fuck her. Haven't quite decided on that part yet.”
“Yeah, well good luck with that,” I said.
“Oh, I think Lady Luck is on my side this time,” he replied. “Has to be with the way everything fell into place. Wouldn't you agree?”
“Yeah, I guess we'll see about that,” I said.
I disconnected the call and dropped the phone onto the seat next to me. Emelia's eyes were wide and I could see the fear in her face.
“Don't worry, love,” I said. “I'll get us through this. I promise you.”
It was a stupid thing to say. There was no way I could guarantee that I'd get us through this. But I knew she needed something in that moment – needed some reassurance that everything was going to be okay. And if I could allay her fears for only a few minutes, I was happy to lie through my teeth.
On the road behind me, Colin's car started to pick up speed and close the distance between us. It wasn't long before they were right on my back bumper. The one thing I had going for me though, was that this car was made from good old fashioned American steel. Colin was fond of driving cars that were fast, but would disintegrate in an accident. I knew he couldn't afford to bump me too much – not if he wanted to keep his car intact and on the road.
It was a small advantage, but an advantage nonetheless.
I looked in the rearview and saw flashes of light – Colin had his hand out and was shooting at the car. As if to underscore the point, the sound of something hitting the steel of the trunk sounded.
“Keep your head down,” I said. “Duck low in the seat. In fact, get down onto the floorboard.”
Emelia looked over at me, her eyes wide and fearful, but her jaw set, a look of determination in her eyes. She wasn't going to let her fears run roughshod over her.
“Do you have a gun?” she asked.
“What?”
“A gun,” she snapped. “Do you have one?”
I looked at her, my expression one of disbelief. “Glove box.”
She opened the glove box and took out the 9mm I kept stored there. She checked the clip, chambered a round and disengaged the safety. Clearly, there was more to this girl than met the eye. A lot more.
Rolling down the window, she turned around awkwardly in her seat so that she could get her arm out and pointed in the right direction. When she'd accomplished the feat, she squeezed off a round. The car behind me swerved wildly on the road and fell back a bit. But then I saw the muzzle flashes and heard bullets whining as they grazed the steel of the car.
“Get your ass back in here, Emelia,” I snapped. “You're going to get yourself shot.”
She ignored me and squeezed off another couple of rounds, making Colin's car swerve and fall back a little bit more. I had to admit, Emelia was doing a nice job of keeping them at bay. But then I hit a pothole in the road which bounced the car violently. Emelia screamed as her arm hit the top of the door panel and the gun went sailing off into the night.
“Shit!” she screamed.
She sat back in her seat, a look of pure frustration on her face. Behind us, Colin must have seen what happened, because his car sped up and hovered just inches off my bumper. He moved to the left, trying to get around me, so I cut the wheel and stayed in front of him. He moved to the right and I cut the wheel to the right, keeping him behind me.
But he was diving a smaller, faster car – and he was a pretty damn good driver. So when he moved left again and I moved to block, he cut quickly to the other side and got on my right. I wasn't going to be able to keep him behind me.
“Get down,” I snarled. “Keep your head down.”
Emelia did as she was told, practically laying down with her head in my lap. In any othe
r circumstance, I might take advantage of that – but not when the stakes were life and death. I knew I had to do something. If I let them pull up alongside me, they'd simply shoot through the window and kill me.
The engine on the Impala roared, echoing into the night, while the high pitched whine of the asian car he was driving tried to compete. While my Impala made a better sound, his car was moving quicker and his driver's side window was almost to the passenger side window. If I didn't do something then and there, I was going to get my ass shot.
So I did the only thing I could – I cut the wheel to the right.
The sound of my car running into theirs was horrendous. It was as if somebody wearing a steel boot stepped on a plastic cup. The crunching and creaking of the impact drowned out the sound of the engines for a moment.
The wheel shuddered in my hand and the Impala was groaning loud, but the plan worked. I watched as Colin's car slid off the road, saw the shower of sparks and flames when it hit a tree. At the speed they were going, I wasn't sure that they could have survived the crash. Maybe the did and maybe they didn't. I wasn't going to stick around to find out. The only thing that mattered in that moment was that Emelia and I were free.
Emeilia sat up and tried to look in her side view mirror, hoping to see some of the carnage. But it was to dark and we'd put too much distance between us anyway. All that I knew was that – at least for the moment – we were entirely free.
I punched the accelerator and shot off into the night, looking for a place to lay low for a few days.
EMELIA
“I think I'm going to be sick,” I said, slinking down low in my seat.
I hadn't felt well for days, but the adrenaline rush of having to run from Colin had allowed me to forget about my sick stomach long enough to do what had to be done. But now that we were safe, that greasy feeling in the pit of my stomach returned and I felt like I was going to throw up all over again.