Page 90 of Die for You

But this isn’t fiction.

This is real.

We both knew sacrifices would be made, but when will this stop? How far will we go, selling our souls to the devil before it’s enough?

“You won’t win, Lenny. Your brother’s blood is on your hands. Give me back what’s mine, and all this will stop. Until then…I’m coming for you and won’t stop.”

Lenny tongues his cheek before he pulls out his gun and points it at me. “I can stop you. Here. Right now.”

“Go on then,” I challenge, casually walking toward him. “Do it.”

The rain soaks through my tennis shoes.

And my wet hair sticks to my face.

I look a mess, but I exude power.

Lenny’s gun never wavers from me as I stop only when the muzzle is pressed into my chest. This moment is where only he and I exist.

The rain encompasses us in our bubble, shutting out the real world and the atrocities it brings.

The pain in his eyes stabs at my heart.

I want to say so much.

But I’m a prisoner to silence.

However, with a simple nod, he sets me free.

“You’re about to lose everything you love,” he warns loudly over the punishing rain.

“Too late.”

Here we stand—together, but divided.

I want this to be over.

I don’t want this life anymore.

I know I need to fight, but this is a battle that I am fearful both Lenny and I will lose.

“I—”

My sentence dies in my throat. Just how I would have if not for Lenny shoving me to the ground to avoid the bullet fired from a gun that wasn’t his.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” The gun it was fired from was Bria’s.

“Run!” Lenny mouths to me, offering me his hand.

Our eyes are frantically speaking where our mouths cannot.

I pick myself up from the gravel, yank out Lewis’s body, and dive into the back of the van.

Lenny orders his men to stand down when they raise their guns. Bria careens down the stairs, and as Danny madly reverses away, she aims and shoots, shattering the windshield.

We both duck for cover.

Bria continues shooting until the van spins around frantically, and Danny speeds away to safety.