AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want to pity her because she was manipulated by the people she kept referring to as they. But she has crossed the line now.
I know this feeling, and if one is not careful, it takes away the things that keep you grounded in your humanity. Like the feeling after your first kill.
She has lost it. The eyes I see are not those of a helpless woman; they are the eyes of a woman who will do anything to survive, to walk out of this alive, no matter the cost.
“Ruth,” Olivia lifts her hands midair, “You don’t have to do this.”
“You can’t help me,” Ruth sniffles. “I ruined it all, and now I will have to pay, but I cannot afford to, Olivia, because my life is the price...”
“Nonsense,” Olivia clips, “You are not dying.”
“No, I will not die because I won’t let that happen,” Ruth fires back.
“We can protect you if you just let us. We only need you to tell us who we are up against,” Olivia shocks me with her bravery. Having a gun pointed at her is not fazing her at all.
“You wouldn’t understand,” now Ruth has tears streaming down her face, and while I don’t give a fuck about her crying, I know Olivia does. There is no way anyone would have shown this much mercy to someone if it hadn’t stemmed from a place of love.
“Drop the gun, Ruth,” I’m losing my fucking patience.
“Get out,” Ruth barks. Maybe Olivia’s words, her friendship, have awakened something inside of her. “Both of you, just go and leave me alone, I promise not to say anything about this to anyone, they will never know you found out about our scheme.”
“Them who?” I take a step closer to her, and she doesn’t notice because her eyes are on Olivia, her target.
“I can’t say,” Ruth shakes her head.
“You can’t or you won’t?” I take another small step.
“Don’t fucking judge me!” Ruth flares, and now she is glaring at me, “I never had a choice...”
Olivia looks at me. “Ronan, stop–”
The sound of a ringing phone pierces through the room. It takes me a second to notice it’s mine.
“What is that?” Ruth gets more frantic than she already is.
“My phone,” I reach into the pocket of my jeans and pull it out, holding it in the air so she can see it. I cannot afford to trigger her now, “It’s just business, Ruth, work stuff,” I pick up the call, already knowing who it might be.
“The cops are on their way. I’ve sent them the link to the live recording of your conversation with Ruth, and I think they are close,” Liam whispers while divulging this important piece of information. I have mic attached to the inside of my shirt.
“Perfect,” I gulp.
“The both of you will need to get out of there and fast,” Liam continues.
“On it,” I end the call, about to call it a day because we have what we came for, and this does not need to get any nastier. “We will leave, Ruth,” I try to sound as lighthearted as possible. “But if you ever need to change sides, I will be here and willing to…” Blaring sirens cut me short, and I know at this exact moment that we fucked up.
“What is that?” Ruth growls, “You called the cops?”
“We did not…” Olivia reassures her, making the mistake of walking towards her.
“Get away from me!” Ruth hollers and pulls the trigger.
I sprint into action, not thinking. I come between Olivia and the bullet just before it hits the side of her head, but thanks to my height, it slits into my back, very close to my spine.
If anyone had ever asked me if I would lay down my life for another, I would have laughed and said that is left to be seen because I do love living, and I’m no fucking hero. But with Olivia as the target, the answer to that question is narrowed down to a resounding yes.
I drop to the floor, taking Olivia down with me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
