AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The girls were protected from bullets with the vests, but I wasn’t sure how we were going to be able to fully defend them, seeing as there were five guards plus Tony, and three of us.
“I’ll surrender my weapons if they surrender theirs,” I said. “You can even take me, just let my brothers leave with the girls. I’m who you really want anyway, am I right?”
Tony’s smirk grew. Old feuds, nothing that I had deemed important enough to remember, seemed to flash in his head as he stared at me.
“I have to admit, you leaving the organization without fulfilling your obligations has irked me for years, but your father and I were still doing business together, so I didn’t want to ruin that but I never did forgive you for leaving.”
“Well, you have me now, do whatever the fuck you want with me, but leave my daughters out of it, they’re innocent.”
I grabbed my gun from the holster and lowered it to the ground, careful not to drop Lucy who was now fussing in my arms. It broke my heart that she was so upset. All I wanted was to get her out of there.
“Take me instead, and if the deal falls through, if I’ve fucked it up somehow, then you have me,” I said.
“As tempting as it is—”
A sudden commotion downstairs stopped Tony in his tracks.
“What’s going on down there?” he asked, looking at one of the guards. He instructed him to go check it out as my heart raced. As soon as the guard disappeared around the corner, the sound of gunshots could be heard off in the distance. Then, shouts of, “Police, on the ground! Surrender your weapons!”filled the air.
I looked to Dante and the two of us dropped to the ground, covering the girls with our bodies as shots rang out down the hallway, getting closer to us. I called out, “There are children, there are babies here!” as loudly as I could, hoping that someone would hear us. Roman was in front of us, shooting at the guards.
“Put your gun down, Roman,” I demanded, fearful that if the police rounded the corner and saw him with his weapon out, they might shoot first and ask questions later.
Roman, stubborn as ever, refused to listen.
“ROMAN!” I demanded, grabbing his ankle and yanking, forcing him to look down at me. “We need you.”
The sound of footsteps and disorder was getting closer. Roman held the gun up and my heart continued to race—I feared I might have to watch my brother get gunned down in front of me. Even with all of our differences, I couldn’t bear the thought of it.
Slowly, Roman lowered his weapon and just as the police rounded the corner, he got down on the ground beside me.
“Babies, we have babies here,” I yelled again.
A couple officers rushed to our side as silence finally settled in the house.
I lifted my head and saw Tony, on the ground, bloody and staring at the ceiling with blank eyes.
I looked over at Roman who was also staring at Tony. He had a satisfied smile on his face. A cocky grin. He was proud of that kill.
I know at one time, I was just like him, but taking a life didn’t bring me that sort of pleasure. I loved my brother dearly, but I had to admit, he still scared the living shit out of me at times. It was a good thing he was on our side.
40
Bella
My phone buzzed. An unrecognized number. My heart stopped as I stared at it, knowing that this call could seal the fate of my family.
“It’s going to be okay,” Brenda said to me softly.
My hands shook as I answered the call, placing the phone to my ear. My voice came out barely a whisper. “Yes?”
“Bella, it’s me.” Hearing Gabe’s voice caused relief to flood my body.
“Oh, thank God,” I said, relaxing back on the sofa. If he was alive, I knew that whatever had happened, he and our girls were safe. I knew that Gabe would never leave our daughters behind.
“I’m currently in police custody, and our girls are being held by social services until you arrive. But they’re safe, Bella. Our girls are safe.”
“They’re safe,” I said, repeating his words for everyone in the room, but also myself. “The girls and Gabe are safe, they’re at the police station now.”
