Page 91 of Beautiful Sinner

“And there he is,” Matteo says. “That’s him. Julia?”

“Y-yes,” I stutter. “That’s the man.”

The guard takes out a taser gun and points it towards Connor. “Hold still, man.”

Connor looks between us and the guard. “You think this is funny? You think you can stop me? You belong to me, Julia. I will have you.”

“We have a situation here,” the guard says into his radio. “Code silver.”

Connor whips out his gun and points it right at the guard’s head. The nurses and doctors passing by all gasp and lean against the walls, trying to seek safety. So, Connor has really lost it.

“You’re going to step out of my way,” Connor says to the guard. “And you’re going to let me at them.”

The nurse rounds the corner with the discharge papers (took her long enough) and stops dead in her tracks when she sees the situation.

Slowly, Matteo begins to back up.

“Don’t,” Connor warns. “Or I’m going to shoot this innocent man here.”

“Go ahead,” Matteo says. “I don’t care about him.”

“Maybe not you. But Julia? Can you handle being responsible for the death of an innocent person? Or has your brother hardened you more than I thought?”

The guard looks at me, silently begging for help. He doesn’t deserve to die. Not when this isn’t his fight.

“We should go with him,” I murmur to Matteo.

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “No, we should not.”

“What if he starts shooting at all these people? We could be shot too. We should leave with him.”

“He’s going to shoot us then.”

“He might not shoot until we’re out of the hospital. Maybe we can escape before then. It’s our only chance, Matteo. All these doctors and nurses don’t deserve to die. The innocent patients. We have to do this.”

Matteo slowly nods, knowing I’m right. This is why I love him. He’s not as violent as other Mafia men are. He has a conscience. I just hope it’s not the thing to get us killed.

“Ok, Connor,” Matteo says. “We’ll go with you. Now, lower the gun. Come on.”

“You’re not leaving with him,” the guard says. “He’s the man who shot your wife.”

“We’re leaving,” Matteo says, ignoring the guard. “Let’s go.”

Connor keeps his gun trained on the guard as he walks around him, closer to us. “Ok then. Let’s go.” He points his gun at anyone who moves when we begin to walk down the hallway. No one intervenes.

Except, until, a doctor does. He’s in his fifties and has a kind looking face. “Don’t do this,” he says. I don’t even know this man’s name.

Connor scoffs. “Don’t try to stop me, doc.”

“Just think about what you’re doing. Do you want to be defined by this moment for the rest of your life? So far, you haven’t shot anyone. You can make it out of this.”

“Get out of the way, doc.”

Matteo can’t try running past the doctor as there’s a good chance Connor will start shooting. We just have to hope that this doctor will stop playing the hero and move.

“I can’t do that,” the doctor says. “So, you’re going to have to either shoot me or lower your gun. Don’t do this, man. Don’t.”

Connor doesn’t even waver. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. We’re the fucking Mafia, man. We’ve killed countless of people. And you’re not an exception.” He shoots the doctor in the stomach. I cant stop my scream. It’s joined by countless others in the hallway.