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49

LIA

Mael didn’t tell me where he was going today, but I had been feeling uneasy all day. Like something big was happening, only I had no clue what that was or whether it would be a good thing or not.

I let out a small sigh and looked away from the book I had found in Mael’s office. It had been a complete failure trying to read. It wasn’t like a book on… I turned the book around to look at its cover— World Economics —and grimaced. Yeah, it wasn’t like this could have possibly held my interest, but Mael’s very small collection of books didn’t offer many options. And the words were blurring on the page.

I closed the book and set it off to the side next to my phone on the couch. I hated the silence that followed as I turned my head toward the window and looked out at the bright sunny day. The snow from the days before was still very much on the ground, and I doubted it would go away anytime soon, but being up so high and in this apartment, I could convince myself it wasn’t so cold outside.

I rested my head on my hand, thinking of things I could do in this apartment that would keep me occupied enough until Mael got home. And he would come home to me. He had to. There was no other option. I pressed my hand against my chest and rubbed it when I felt a sharp sting there.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.

Everything was going to be okay.

It had to be.

Mael promised me, and while we weren’t that far along in our relationship, I had a feeling Mael took his promise to me very seriously. He wouldn’t break it. I had to hold on to that, or I might just lose it.

My phone beeped with an incoming message.

I grabbed it, frowning, when I realized it was a text from Victoria. I should have deleted her contact and blocked her the day we met at her job. I didn’t know what had stopped me. Obviously, there had been no genuine feelings on her part, and there was a part of me that believed she truly hated me and was jealous of Leo’s supposed possessiveness of me.

I opened the text and looked at the picture that had just come through. It took my mind a moment to realize what I was looking at, but when I did, I shot up from the couch, my heart beating uncontrollably in my chest.

My phone beeped with another text from Victoria, though I doubted these were actually from her.

It was a line of letters and numbers that took way too long for my panic-induced brain to process as an address. I didn’t think. I grabbed my purse and headed to the cabinet that held all the keys to Mael’s many cars in the garage just below this building.

I hadn’t even realized how many cars he owned until I found these one day while snooping around his apartment. I grabbed the first set of keys my fingers touched and was out of there, the picture that was sent to me firmly on my mind. A picture of Victoria standing in front of the camera and Leo standing behind her, a gun pointed at her head.

I tried to call Mael on the elevator ride down, but my call didn’t go through. I tried the same with Theo’s number, and nothing.

I looked at my phone.

There was no service at all.

What was happening?

How could I not have service when I had just received text messages on it earlier?

Maybe it was the elevator, and there was no service in it. I took in a deep breath and tried to call Mael again as soon as the elevator dropped me off at the underground garage.

I nearly smiled when the call went through, but it only rang once before I felt something hard against my back. I froze. I might not have much experience when it came to stuff like this, but I had a feeling there was a gun pressed against me.

“Hang up the phone,” a masculine, accented voice spoke out.

“I think you have the wrong person,” I said, stalling. I could hear the rings as the call went through.

Please, please, pick up.

The man behind me laughed. “I don’t have the wrong person, Lia. Hang up the phone. Now.”

I closed my eyes. It didn’t matter because the call went to voicemail. I should have called Theo first, and I was too scared now to think of anything else. I hung up and held the phone in my hand. The man grabbed it from me. I flinched when I heard him drop it to the ground and stomp on it, the glass crunching beneath his shoe.

“Now, be a good girl and get in the fucking car.”

He indicated to the small white van nearby, the side door already open and waiting.

I shook my head. I knew better than to let him take me to a second location. He poked at my back with the gun to get me going. The car keys were still in my hand. I took three steps before turning around and trying to jam the key into the side of his neck. I registered the shocked look in his brown eyes just as I made contact.

He let out a small grunt, but I doubted I had done any damage. I didn’t wait. I veered off to the left and tried to run out of there, but the man snaked his arm around my waist, pulling me back against him and lifting me up until my feet no longer touched the ground.

“Help me!” I screamed, struggling to get away. “Help?—”

My words were cut off when the man covered my mouth with his sweaty hand. I could taste something salty on my tongue, and I twisted my head to the side, trying to get away from his hand as much as I was trying to scream. He carried me over to the van. I kicked my legs out, trying to prevent him from putting me inside.

“Stop it, girl,” he gritted out near my ear. I struggled harder.

He used one hand and pressed against the back of my knees, making my legs give out, and he managed to throw me inside the van.

I turned around and tried to run. He slapped me with the butt of his gun. I blinked, feeling disoriented from it, just as he gathered my wrists together and duct-taped them behind my back before pushing me further into the van. I lost my balance and fell hard on the floor. I looked around in a haze, but I couldn’t see anything that would be helpful to me. Not that I could see clearly when blackness danced around the edge of my vision, making it hard to focus.

I got in one good kick to his face when he tried to do the same with my legs. I couldn’t even allow myself to get any satisfaction from that because he still managed to tie me up and shut the van door, locking me inside.

A perforated metal separator was nailed down between the back of the van and the front seats, so that wasn’t a way to escape. I looked around, unable to get myself up while bound, my heart jumping erratically in my chest as the panic settled deep inside me.

There was no escape.

I could see the man getting inside the van on the driver’s side through the holes of the metal separator and starting the car. I hadn’t gotten a good look while I was trying to fight him off and escape, but now… even sitting down, I could see he was a big man. Much bigger than me.

And then we were off.

* * *

The drive was long.

I didn’t speak to him, knowing there was nothing I could say that would help my situation. Plus, I was getting a big headache from when he hit me with the gun, and my muscles ached from being in the position I was in. It didn’t help that there were no seats or seat belts in the back of the van that would hold me. I felt every pothole, every bump, and every uneven terrain the man drove on.

I lost track of where we were going about half an hour before he turned onto a dirt road.

I was trying hard not to lose it.

How was Mael going to find me now?

I closed my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks.

He wasn’t.

I felt my heart drop down to my stomach when the car pulled up to a stop in the middle of nowhere.

The man parked and got out. I jumped when he slammed his door shut, and I focused on the sound outside, trying to judge if there were more men with him, not that it would have mattered had that been the case. I was no match for the one man, let alone more than one.

I didn’t hear anything for a while, and then the van’s side door slid open. I squinted my eyes at the sudden onslaught of sunlight hitting my face, even as a cold gust of wind blew over.

I shivered in the thin sweater I had on, wishing I had thought to put on a bigger jacket before I left.

My mind had been elsewhere. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about Victoria now. Plus, I had a feeling I would be seeing her soon enough.

I took in the man standing in front of me. He smiled menacingly as he checked me out from head to toe, a vicious sort of glimmer in his eyes that had all my hackles rising. He was a bigger man, at least well over six feet. Maybe about as tall as Mael, who already came up to six foot four. But other than his size, he was unassuming in every sense of the word.

Short, greasy brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin, with stubble covering half of his face.

The man reached in and pulled me toward the door by my legs. I wiggled my body. I knew he would be able to get me out, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

He reached in and slapped me across the face. “I’ll fucking take out my knife if you keep this up, girl. I might not be able to kill you, but he said nothing about marking you.”

I flinched when he ran a finger down one side of my cheek, his hot breath close to my ear. I could smell the stench of beer on his breath and something putrid. I resisted the urge to gag.

“A pretty little mark, just right here,” he said with a nasty grin.

I closed my eyes and turned away from him. The man laughed before reaching in and lifting me up on his shoulder.

I bit the inside of my cheek when I felt his hand cupping my ass, disgust making my stomach roll.

“I can’t fucking wait until they give me the go-ahead to have fun with you,” he said as he walked inside an abandoned factory. I couldn’t see it in its entirety since I was draped over the man’s shoulder, but I caught enough of it to know it was broken down and not whole.

I glanced around.

It seemed like no one had been here for a while, and I could see a few areas that looked like they had been burnt.

Where the hell was I?

We got inside the factory, and everything seemed to be frozen in time. Trash littered the floors, and there were graffiti marks on the wall. The sun provided enough light to see, but I doubted there was any electricity. The man took the metal stairway off to the side of one wall, going up. I didn’t know how many floors we went up, but I was sure we were high enough that I would surely break something if I fell.

He threw me on the ground. I bit my cheek to hold in a scream when I landed on my tied wrists.

The man stood there and looked at me for a beat before he reached down and untied my hands. Before I could blink, he had a rope pulled out and was tying me to the railing that looked out from the edge down below.

I looked down.

I was right.

We were high up.

Too high. I looked away when I felt lightheaded, and the man tested the binds.

He tied it tight enough to hurt. I didn’t think he needed to worry about me escaping.

“Have fun, little bird,” he said with a laugh and walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, I reached my hand down and took the tape off my legs. It took longer than I wanted, but once my legs were free, I worked on the rope. I was right. It was tight enough that I couldn’t untie myself.

I let out a frustrated groan when a familiar feminine voice came out. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I turned and took in my ex-best friend. “Victoria? You’re okay?”

She laughed, the sound mean and cold. “You were always a little too nice, a little too stupid, weren’t you? Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I saw the messages. Leo?—”

“Loves me. He would never hurt me.”

I shook my head. “You’re wrong. He’s not capable of loving anyone.”

Her eyes flashed, and she walked over and slapped my face, the same side the man had slapped earlier. Perhaps that's why this one felt harder on my skin than it did when the man had done so. Tears blurred my vision. I looked up to see her standing there.

“You’re a fucking lying whore.”

I let out a small laugh. “A lying whore? But you’re the one willing to do anything for Leo, even sell your soul to the devil.”

Luckily, I saw this attack coming. I turned to the side as I felt her palms rain down on me. She mostly got my arms and the side of my head.

I looked back at her when the hits stopped. “Tell me, do you know about him?” The look on her face said she knew exactly what I was talking about. And I had been trying to warn her about Leo when she had been complicit. “What he’s done to all those poor women and children? And you’re just okay with that?”

She straightened and flipped her long red hair over her shoulder. I had always thought she was beautiful. And there was no doubt that it was still true. But looking at her now, I thought she had never looked more ugly.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then enlighten me. Tell me what you think is really going on,” I said. Mael wasn’t wrong about my dad and Leo. But I wanted Victoria to tell me she didn’t know. That what she thought was going on wasn’t actually the case. That she could at least resemble the girl I had met in college.

She turned from me, giving me her back. I closed my eyes. It was exactly as I thought. She knew about everything, but her love for Leo had blinded her to it all. She was willing to let all those women and children suffer as long as Leo was happy.

“Victoria,” I pleaded. “You have to help me.”

She turned around and faced me. “Why would I help you?”

“Because I don’t deserve to be here, and you know it. I don’t know why Leo wants me here so badly, but this isn’t right. Help me make it right. Come with me. I’ll protect you. You can still make it right?—”

She let out a loud laugh. “I don’t need you to protect me. And you do deserve to be here, especially after all the shit you put your dad and Leo through.”

I blinked. She was beyond reasoning with. I should have known that.

“Did you ever care about me?” I asked, hating the way my voice cracked at the end.

She sneered, her eyes hardening over, giving me my answer before she spoke.

“Care? Do you have any idea how unbelievably hard it was to be your friend?”

Had I been so difficult? I hadn’t thought so. At least my feelings for her had been genuine.

“And if I have to hear him talk about you anymore, I might just rip my hair out.”

I frowned. “Leo?”

“Who else?” she spat out, taking a step toward me. I took in her face. Why did she look so deranged? Did loving Leo make her like that?

“I don’t know why he talks about me,” I answered her slowly, calmly.

She shook her head. “Yes, you do, you fucking tease. You knew about his obsession with you. You like the attention, but you don’t love him. Only I love him. Me!”

I flinched back against the hard metal railing as she got closer to me, her voice getting louder.

“I don’t want his attention.”

“Bullshit!” she screamed. I closed my eyes, feeling my heart beating wildly in panic. “Bullshit. All you ever do is hurt him. And all I ever do is love him. Me, only me! No one can love him like me, and I fucking hate how much you're hurting him.”

She screeched and pulled out something from her waistband. It all happened so quickly. One moment, she was screaming at me. The next, a flash of silver caught my eyes when Victoria pulled out a small knife. She raised her arm and aimed at me. I closed my eyes, bracing for the pain.

It never came.

A loud shot came out from behind.

Tears were already streaming down my cheeks before I opened my eyes and looked at Victoria’s face in shock.

I shook my head.

She collapsed on the floor by my feet, the knife clattering down from her hand. She turned around and looked at something behind her.

I did, too. Leo was standing there with a gun, smoke billowing out from the end.

“Why?” Victoria croaked out. Leo slowly made his way over to us. I managed to hide the knife under my shoe, pulling my legs along with it toward me before he got to us.

He didn’t seem to be thinking about anything as he stared down at Victoria. All the while, she struggled to breathe, her arms lifting, reaching for him.

And I could do nothing but watch as she took her last breath.

I gasped when her arms fell back down to the ground.

She was dead.

I couldn’t say anything for a while. I could barely think.

Leo crouched down in front of me, the gun still in his hand. I jerked back when he reached his hand out for me.

His bloodshot eyes hardened over the move, and I could do nothing but look at him.

He didn’t look the way he usually did. He wasn’t in one of his regular suits but in a black, short-sleeved T-shirt, dirty jeans, and white tennis shoes, and his hair was a mess.

“Why did you k-kill her?” I stuttered out.

He shrugged. “She was a means to an end. Either she died by my hands, or I sold her to the highest bidder. I could probably make a pretty penny off her, but she is not just a random nobody you pick off the street. She had a family who would probably be concerned about her going missing. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they find her body later on and give her family the chance to send her off properly.”

I was stunned.

Hysterics bubbled up inside me.

This was crazy, wasn’t it? He was crazy. The way he was talking about her… everything he had just said.

I let out a small giggle. Leo frowned at me as if he thought I had lost it. I just might have. God, what the fuck was I supposed to do?

“How could you do this to me?” I asked.

“Me? How could you not fucking tell me you were whoring yourself out to your fucking stalker? And a fucking killer, at that. He killed my men at the cabin.”

“Men you sent to me, right?” I asked bitterly. “To teach me a lesson?”

“A lesson you needed to learn. You’re not supposed to lie to me.”

He looked me up and down. “Apparently, you haven’t learned that lesson.”

He reached over and cupped my cheek with his hand. I tried to move away, but his hold was firm.

“Do you have any idea all that I have done for you?”

I shook my head, or as much as I could with his hold on me.

He leaned over and kissed me. My scream was muffled when I felt his lips on mine for the first time as disgust rolled in my stomach. I was careful not to move my legs, afraid he might notice the knife, but that meant I was helpless against him, unable to get out of this.

I bit his lip hard.

He let out a small grunt and pulled back as a droplet of blood dripped down his chin. I blinked and tried to wipe my lips with my shoulder.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

He gave me a backhanded slap. I nearly fell to the side, with only my binding holding me in place.

I felt my skin vibrating in pain from the contact and turned away, trying to get my bearings. I was still recovering from the previous slap. Tears stung my eyes as I looked back at him.

“You’re so fucking disrespectful, girl.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out, my eyes moving away, trying to focus on anything but the menacing look on his face. They came to a stop on the monarch butterfly tattoo on his forearm. I blinked as memories of a night long forgotten teased my brain.

I licked my lips as everything fell into place. The late-night arguments between my parents that I had long ago blocked from my memory, the tension in our home when my mom was still alive, to…

“You were there,” I said. “The night of my mom’s accident. You were there. You were wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and I saw your tattoo.”

I hadn’t seen an actual monarch butterfly that night. I saw him. I saw his tattoo. In my disoriented brain, trying to make sense of everything, I saw him standing over my mom’s body as she struggled to breathe and heard the hateful words he uttered.

You deserve this. You shouldn’t have tried to take her away from me.

He could have called for help. He could have saved her. Instead, he watched her die with the same expression on his face when he watched Victoria die.

“You were the one who caused the accident,” I said.

He didn’t deny it… just watched me.

“How could you?”

His lips pulled back in a sneer. “She fucking deserved it. She was going to take you away from me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You were promised to me. Me! Your father gave you to me, and you were always meant to be mine. It was because I didn’t want to traumatize you, so I gave you a chance to grow up a little. But you were always so lost, so directionless in your life. It’s because I waited too long. You needed my guidance, and I left you flailing. For that, I’m sorry. But she tried to take you away from me. She deserved to die.”

A sob burst free from my lips.

He was crazy.

“I’m not yours.”

“Yes, you fucking are, and if I have to beat that into you, I will. I just need to get rid of your little stalker problem. Not that I can blame the bastard for being obsessed with you. But he picked the wrong girl to obsess over. Don’t worry… I know how to take care of this little problem.”

He pulled out his phone and took a picture of me. Then he stood up. “Everything is set up. Now all you have to do is sit there and be my pretty little bait, and this will all be over soon, sweetheart. I promise.”

With that, he walked away, taking the stairs down to the lower level and leaving me alone with Victoria’s body, her blood pooling out from under her and seeping into my shoes.

* * *

I didn’t know where he went, and I didn’t know when he would be back.

The sun was still out. But it was cold in here. I shivered, my numbed fingers trying to hold on to the handle of the knife as I worked it on my binds.

It was hard. The rope was thick, and I didn’t feel like I had enough strength.

I could feel frustration building inside me with every minute that ticked by, and I still wasn’t making much progress, but I tried not to let that get to me and to remain levelheaded.

Footsteps coming up the stairs made me stop, and I pulled my hands down, hiding the knife and the marks I had left on the rope just as the man came into view.

I looked up to see Dad standing there. He didn’t appear to be concerned.

There was no look of horror or even shock when he saw me tied to the railing.

And I didn’t know what I could say to him at that point.

I licked my parched lips, and he shook his head at me. He seemed to have developed more wrinkles since the last time I saw him. His brown hair was a mess, and his green eyes were dull.

“I have never been more disappointed in you.”

“Me? Did you really promise me to Leo?” There was no emotion in my voice as I spoke. I was beyond that now.

He shrugged. “He helped me out a lot over the years. He saved my life countless times. Giving you to him seemed like a small price to pay.”

“But I’m your daughter.”

He shrugged. “Do you really think that matters much to me?”

That shouldn’t hurt. So then, why did I feel little stabs of pain piercing my heart?

“I found the book,” I said.

He didn’t need me to clarify. I saw it in his eyes. “That boy is always causing trouble for me, even after his death.”

I frowned. He meant Caden, didn’t he? He figured out Caden had hidden the book where only I would find it, but saying he caused trouble for him…

“What did you do to my little brother?” I whispered.

“I took care of a problem.”

“He was never a fucking problem. What do you mean you took care of it?”

I could feel my emotions bubbling up inside of me.

“Answer me!” I screamed when he didn’t say anything.

“You know he was always off getting high somewhere,” he said, finally.

“Because he was in pain.”

“That’s not an excuse. Sooner or later, he would overdose on all those pain meds. I just helped him get there faster.”

I shook my head, biting hard on my lip to keep from crying out.

“You killed him,” I said.

“He would have killed himself, eventually.”

“No. We were talking about rehab. He wanted to get help. But you fucking killed him. You’re a fucking monster. You killed my little brother.”

I closed my eyes and turned away from him. I didn’t want to look at him anymore.

And the worst part was, he didn’t sound sorry. He killed Caden because my baby brother found out his fucking secrets, and now… Caden was no longer here.

I fucking hated my dad.

More than Leo. More than anyone else in this world.

I just wanted him to go away. To leave?—

The doors to the factory burst open.

I flinched, my eyes opening, and I looked down to see Mael standing there. He was alone.

I let out a happy cry, drawing his attention. He looked up until he found me. His eyes flared a bit, and he made his way up the stairs. Dad had already reacted, moving over closer to me and kicking Victoria’s body out of the way.

He held a gun to my temple.

Mael froze when he saw us before he aimed his gun at my dad.

“Let her go,” he gritted out.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Leo said, coming up the stairs, a gun in his hand. Mael moved further onto the platform, his gun moving from my dad to Leo.

I struggled with the binds, keenly aware of the knife still in my hands. I just had to get free, and then…

I didn’t know how I was going to help Mael, but I needed to get free first. I struggled harder against the binds.

“What do you want?” Mael asked calmly.

“Easy. I want you dead. Put the gun down, or Luckas is going to blow his daughter’s head off.”

“No!” I screamed. Dad hit me in the head with the butt of the gun.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” Mael yelled.

“Then put down your weapon.”

Mael looked at me. I shook my head. His eyes turned away from me and took in my dad, then Leo. I watched as he lowered his gun to the floor.

“Good,” Leo said. “Now kick it away.”

He kicked it away.

I struggled to breathe.

Leo walked over to Mael. Even when he was the one holding a gun, Mael still looked more intimidating, and I knew Leo could see that. He walked over and kicked the back of Mael’s legs until he was kneeling on the ground. I could feel the binds giving way from my wrists. Just a little more.

Leo pointed his gun at Mael’s head.

“No!” I screamed out. “Don’t hurt him. Please.”

“Shut the fuck up, girl,” Dad said menacingly in my ear. I tried to pull away from him.

Mael shook his head, telling me not to say anything. But how could I not? Did he expect me to just watch him die?

His eyes implored me.

I stopped struggling.

Was this all a part of his plan?

Mael had come here alone. But he didn’t work alone.

Where was Theo?

I nodded, finally understanding.

Mael twisted his head to look up at Leo, who punched Mael on the side of his face.

He lost his balance a little from the move but managed to right himself back to a kneeling position.

Leo grabbed Mael’s face, looking at him closely.

“Your eyes, boy…”

Leo trailed off. Something seemed to go off in his brain, and he threw his head back and laughed.

“Don’t tell me you were one of the two fucking little boys who managed to escape here, no?”

Mael didn’t say anything, and Leo laughed harder.

“You were always such a good little whore. Taking my dick nicely.”

I flinched from his words, my gaze focused on Mael. He didn’t seem to be feeling anything.

I just wanted all this to stop.

He gripped Mael’s face and turned his head. “Do you see it? The fucking destruction you caused with your little stunt. I’ve lost a lot of money because of you.”

Mael grunted and pulled his head away from Leo’s grip.

“Isn’t this fucking rich?”

Mael smiled. “Here’s another fact for you. I’m also the man you hired to kill Luckas Whitlock.”

Beside me, Dad tensed. “What?”

Leo's eyes rounded in surprise, and he pulled on Mael’s hair. “Shut it, boy.”

“It’s true,” I said when turning to Dad. “Leo wanted you killed. But he wanted the black book first.”

Dad turned to Leo. “You know about that?”

I felt his hand holding the gun fall a little.

“They’re lying,” Leo said.

“Then why aren’t you asking me about what black book Lia is talking about?” Dad asked.

Leo didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He knew he fucked up.

And I took the chance. I nodded at Mael and pulled my hand back with the knife, plunging it deep inside Dad’s thigh.

He howled out in pain, the gun in his hand falling down. I scrambled to get it, feeling the heaviness of the metal in my palm just as Mael stood up and headbutted Leo.

Leo stumbled back as Mael ran for his gun, and a loud thud came from my right as something heavy fell onto the metal flooring. I looked to see Theo standing there, a rifle in hand. I moved out of the way as both Mael and Theo focused their weapons on Leo.

“Any last words?” Mael asked.

Leo opened his mouth.

Theo shot his leg, causing him to fall to the ground, screaming out in pain. Both Mael and Theo walked closer to him.

I looked away when Mael stomped on Leo’s injured leg, causing his screams to become louder.

“Well, what do you want to say?” Theo asked.

Leo could only whimper.

I looked back in time to see Mael reach down for the blade tucked inside his boot. He turned to Theo.

“Together?”

Theo nodded. “Together.”

And together, they plunged the knife into Leo’s chest, over and over again.

I knew it was something they had to do. It didn’t make the sight or the sound any easier to take in.

But I kept my eyes on them. I kept watch as Leo struggled until finally, he couldn’t struggle anymore, and I knew he was dead.

Mael and Theo had finally done it.

They killed their abuser.

Mael stood and turned to me, his chest heaving.

My lips were trembling. I just needed him to hold me. I felt like I was on the verge of losing control.

Mael began to move toward me. He was about halfway when movement flashed in the corner of my eye. Mael saw him coming before I did.

With a shout, Dad ran over to me and pushed me off the railing.

“No!” Mael shouted, his voice drenched in agony and desperation.

The fall came suddenly.

I felt lightheaded and unaware, as if I was watching the scene unfold high above the factory ceiling and unable to make sense of it.

Mael ran to me, jumping over the railing to grab me.

We both fell.

He wrapped his arms around me, covering my body with his own and twisting until he was on the bottom.

Our eyes met for a brief second, but it was enough.

I tried to tell him no.

I didn’t want this. I didn’t want him to.

It didn’t matter.

We fell.

The fall jarred me, and pain instantly exploded. But it was nothing… fucking nothing because I had been protected safely in Mael’s arms while he took the brunt of the impact.

I struggled to push myself up, but when I finally did, Mael wasn’t moving. His eyes were closed, and the arms that had been wrapped tightly around me had fallen to his sides.

I pressed my hand on his chest, panicking, making it hard to think.

I knew better than to shake him, afraid I might break something, so I pushed myself off him and grabbed his wrist, checking for his pulse. I couldn’t find one, but I didn’t know if it was because I didn’t fucking know how to check for a pulse or because he didn’t have one.

Which was it?

Which fucking one was it?

Pain and dizziness made it hard for me to think clearly.

“No, no, no. Mael, wake up. Please. Fucking wake up.” I let out a pained cry. “Please. You can’t leave me. You promised. And you can’t break your promise to me, so please. Don’t leave me. I don’t know what to do with myself without you. I need you, baby. So please.”

There was no response. Nothing at all to indicate he heard me. Tears fell from my eyes and hit his face. Then more tears fell, and they wouldn’t stop. I blinked and swiped at my eyes, but it was useless.

“Please,” I begged. The desperation for him to be here with me, for him to be okay, clawed at my inside, leaving me feeling hollow.

He couldn’t leave me. He promised me a lifetime, and we were just barely getting started.

I could feel the darkness descending.

What the fuck would I do without him?