Ali grabbed the guy’s shit and the tension calmed down. Roamyn and I turned to leave. We had a motorcycle club president to visit, and because of the fuck ups with the Sweet Tarts’ bust, I’ve got enough paperwork to last me a year. Not to mention when I leaned leaned into Lindsey earlier, I saw those tags hanging around her neck again and a pang of jealousy shot through me like a bullet. Curiosity was eating away at me as to who she keeps so close. But as I push back the lone strand of hair falling in front of her face and tuck it behind her ear, it doesn’t even matter anymore, because those eyes fixed on mine get me every damn time.

Her head tilts to the side as she leans lightly into my touch. It’s barely a move but it doesn’t go unnoticed. Unintentionally, her body’s giving me the green light while her words are intended to halt me.

“You need anything, you call.” My left hand brushes to the base of her spine and using the other I rub my thumb over the side of her neck, relishing in the sense of calm before the storm. Right now she’s safe, but it won’t stay that way for long.

“Wait, before you go.”

Ali’s voice cuts through the moment and our heads all turn her way. She pulls her shoulders back and stands straighter while fidgeting with the hem of her top.

“I’ll do it. I don’t want to do time. If you can guarantee me my freedom, then I’ll say whatever you need me to. But I need to know I’ll be safe. Lucio will never forgive me if I go against him.”

Her eyes flicker between Roamyn’s and mine. Genuine fear pours out of them and I can’t help but feel sorry for her if she thinks her freedom will be worth anything if Lucio gets a hold of her.

Lindsey shifts away from me to walk over to her sister. She lifts her hand to her shoulder to comfort her.

“Ali. You don’t have to. Are you sure this is what you want?”

Ali nods. “It is.”

CHAPTER TEN

Lindsey

The ice around my heart is splitting. I can’t stop it. I can’t protect it. Another crack for every kill.  

Pitbull’s voice thumps loudly in my ears as my body moves with the beat of the music.

Jab- right cross. My arms burn as my muscles work hard, driving each strike forward into the punching bag with as much force as I can push out. Every hit a ‘fuck-you’ to the Marinos for getting my sister into such a mess.

Jab- right cross.

I recall the conversation I had with Ali and the two detectives this morning.

Jab-jab- cross.

My blood pumps faster, my feet move quicker. My blows become stronger.

The music pounding in my headphones stops to receive an incoming call. Throwing me off my game, I give the bag one last hit before answering the phone.

“Hello?”

Olly’s low voice greets me.

“Linds. I couldn’t do it.  I need your help.”

My body stiffens to stone.

“Text me the address. I’m leaving the gym now. I’ll be right there.”

The cold wind whips a chill through me as I hurry up the steps to a shabby apartment in Brooklyn. I buzz the number Olly gave me and the door clicks open, letting me inside. I search for apartment 2B. Found it. I glance around, no one’s in sight. Raising a hand, I knock lightly. With my fist still up, ready to knock again, the door flies open and I’m pulled in by the hand.

“Jesus, Olly–” I straighten up and take in the room. Furniture is tossed, the TV is smashed. But the most concerning part is the woman bound to a chair by duct tape, with a gag in her mouth. Marissa. Tension forms in the base of my neck. I spin around Olly who’s bleeding from his eyebrow. “What the hell happened?”

He paces the room, gun in one hand and the other rubbing his wrist, which makes me more on edge.

“I had everything ready. I’d gotten the other girls out. I told them to leave and never come back. I was about to do it while she was asleep. But she woke up right as I was going to pull the trigger. We struggled and she fucking cried. I just couldn’t do it, Linds.” He stops pacing and his shoulders curl over as he drops his head. “Just get it over with.”

I sigh and an ache resonates in my throat. I move to Olly and squeeze his forearm. My heartbeat slows with the heavy weight of his pain. I pull him into a side hug with one hand and he leans heavily into my embrace, circling his arms around me. He drops his head to my shoulder and I twist slightly to kiss his hair.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper in a gentle tone.

Using my free hand, I reach behind me and take the gun from his hand. Still holding him to my side I raise my other arm and aim the gun at the madam. Her eyes widen as she shakes her head violently and wriggles around in the chair. I pull back the trigger.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Oliver flinches beside me. The silencer on the gun suppresses some of the sound and her head flops forward as red blotches seep through her clothing. Three shots to the heart.

Numbness. I’m completely blank. Remorse doesn’t harden my stomach. Guilt doesn’t build on conscious. Until his face appears in my mind. Until his voice echoes in my ears causing my heart to constrict. How does he do this to me?

I lower my arm and mumble to Olly. “Go. I’ll clean this up. Don’t worry about it, okay.”

He nods beside me before heading behind me to leave. He must halt at the door because a moment later I hear, “I don’t even know why we still do this shit, Lindsey. But I can’t. I’m out.”

My chest rises as I inhale a deep breath. My eyes drift shut and I sigh, letting it all out. The past. What we’ve done. Everything we’ve done. Marissa may have deserved to die for the misery she’d brought upon young girls, but at what cost?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lindsey

Eight days later

How far would you go to protect the ones you love? I’d bleed lies to set her free. I’d bleed truth to watch her fly.

Adrenaline spikes from the tips of my toes all the way up until it’s crushing my heart. I can feel their eyes on me. I can sense it everywhere I turn.

I discreetly scan everything in my vision without making myself obvious. I eye the alley just a few steps away. It will be my best option. With a calmness to my stride and my head held high, I take each step with more confidence than the last. I turn down the abandoned alley beside the courthouse. Leaning back against the brick wall, I wait a moment before peeking around the corner to check for anything abnormal, anyone out of place. Nothing catches my eye. Damn it. I’m not paranoid. I know I’m being watched. I’ve done it enough times myself to know how to blend in undetected. And considering what day it is, I’m not ignorant enough to believe I’m not putting myself in a situation where harm may come to me. I pick off the lint on my high-waisted skirt and flip my hair back out of my face.

I breathe in bravery, and exhale fear. I’ll be damned if those assholes think I’ll scare so easily.

***

The flashing of cameras blind me and the questions being hurled at us ring in my ears. Police keep the reporters at a distance but their questions sit in the back of my mind behind a loaded gun.

How does it feel to be the reason Lucio and Giuseppe Marino are being sent to prison?

Bang.

You’ve done the city a favor today. Are you afraid of blowback?

Bang.

Are you receiving police protection?

Bang.

Shot after shot, a new wound appears and I wonder if we will survive.

“We did it.” I hear Ali whisper the words I’ve been thinking but haven’t said aloud.