Page 103 of Like An Animal

“Max.” A sob falls from my lips before I say, “He told me about the tracker you put on me. I’m going to need you to start following it as soon as the call drops.”

“Baby, just wait a minute?—“

“Max doesn’t have a fucking minute!” I take a breath to calm myself before speaking calmly. “Listen, they are going to take me. The compound is states away so if you’re fast enough, you’ll be able to catch up before they reach it. The compound will block any signal once I enter it. Make sure that location stays pinged if you don’t catch up in time.”

“Don’t do this. Please.”

I look up at the monitor as Isaac counts off, pointing the gun at Massimo’s back. Then, I get up and press in my date of birth into the key pad. The door slowly swings open, revealing me to them. Isaac slowly pulls off his mask before smirking.

“Hello, darling.”

My gaze drops to Massimo and I give him a bittersweet smile. “It’s okay, Max. Everything is going to be fine.”

His eyes narrow slightly, but I see the flash of disappointment. He’s not surprised though. He knew I would never put my life above his.

I move my gaze to Isaac before stepping out of the panic room. “You offered a deal, Father Isaac. I’m out so please, let him go.”

Isaac looks down at Massimo before he chuckles. “You see, we made a deal once before and you didn’t fulfill your end of the bargain. Consider this payback.”

He cocks the gun and I watch as Massimo squints his face, fully accepting his fate, but the word bellows from my mouth.

“Nooo!” I scream, but I’m too far away to stop it. Isaac pulls the trigger and shoots Massimo in the back…the bullet piercing straight through his heart. It goes straight through and lodges in the wall as blood soaks his shirt. I watch the life leave his face as he falls face down to the floor, his face smooshing against the carpet.

In the blink of an eye all of the memories, good and bad, that I have with Massimo Aronin flash through my mind.

Every hangout.

Every clink of our beer bottles.

Every idle chitchat.

Every joke.

Every hug.

Every goodbye that I wouldn’t realize until now was bittersweet.

Massimo was never just my friend. He was my family, my ride-or-die, my confidant, my home.

All three of them were and now only two remain breathing.

“What have you done! Are you insane?” Dimitri screams as I cry and run right to Massimo. Dropping onto my ass, I flip him over onto his back and pull him into my arms. “No, no, no. Max, wake up!” I run my fingers over his face, but there’s no air coming out of his nose. The oxygen around us becomes more dense.

He can’t be dead. He justcan’t.

This is all a hallucination, right?

I did what Isaac asked me to and he was supposed to spare Massimo.

“I told you he was not to be killed!” Dimitri explodes again.

I guess what Jeremy said was right. He wasn’t going to let Massimo be killed, but it happened anyway.

I press kisses across Massimo’s forehead as I sob over and over again.

“Stop with the theatrics, Mary Elizabeth. This goon wasn’t your family. You have no family.” Then, Isaac kicks Massimo's foot and I snap.

“Don’t you fucking touch him, you vile son of a bitch!” I snarl at him as I cradle Massimo’s face against my chest, running my fingers through his hair. “You don’t know the first thing about me or him.”