POV: KATHERINA
“We need to hurry before the cops find us,” Steve, the driver, replied to Megan as he drove through the busy roads.
Megan was sitting in the passenger seat, and I was stuck between two guards who were ready to attack if anything came up. There were three more guards seated behind us and a car up at the front.
I tried not to dwell on Cruz and the others who were dumbfounded that I’d known what was going on lately.
I focused on trying to figure out a way to escape Megan before Luca arrived and get to Chris, where I’d be safe and sound.
I couldn’t help but pity Megan. I told her that she needed to get away from me and stop doing this, but she slapped me and threatened to make her guards rape me if I wouldn’t shut up.
I wasn’t scared of the threat. I was more scared of what would happen to each one of them if they laid a finger on me.
With Cruz, it was different, and maybe he spared him because he’s a friend, even though that doesn’t justify anything. Maybe they had a talk I was unaware of.
What I knew for sure was Luca would make their deaths horrible for breaking in and taking me from him. It was better they didn’t add fuel to the fire.
“Under the bridge, Steve. The place is almost empty, and you can speed up there,” Megan said to the driver.
He followed her instructions and told the ones in front through the radio. We turned below the bridge. The path was clear, with cars parked at the sides.
I’m pretty sure Chris was aware of what was happening. I wished I could contact him, but it was too late. Megan searched me thoroughly, found the phone, and threw it out.
The cops and Luca are hot on her tail, and if she didn’t get caught by one, she’d definitely be caught by the other.
“Steve, watch out!”
Before the driver could react to her sudden warning, I saw a black car speeding from the right and hit the back of our car.
The impact was so harsh that I had to hold onto the driver’s and passenger’s seats, so I wouldn’t tumble forward. Steve lost control and crashed into one of the cars.
“Go, go, go!” Megan shouted, looking behind us.
I held myself firm, trying to control my uneven breathing. Steve soon regained control of the car, reversed, and sped up. I quickly looked back to see who it was.
Luca.
“Enter the city faster! They won’t attack in the crowd! Faster, Steve!” I could hear Megan’s panic-stricken voice through the gunshots.
Steve accelerated.
I heard the roaring sound of bikes and glanced out to see two motorbikes on either side of us.
The guards on either side of me started to shoot the bikers while the ones at the back were firing at the car behind.
The rider to my left released the handgrip and removed a sleek gun from his holster. The black inked cobra on his right hand, descending toward his knuckles, told me who it was.
Cruz.
He aimed at the guard to my left and shot him, making me jump as he fell limp on me. Blood poured from the hole in his head, and his eyes were wide open in shock.
My reflexes acted quickly as I screamed and pushed the man hard. I heard Cruz’s crazy muffled laughter coming through the thick helmet that covered his face.
The guard toward my right panicked and started shooting at his biker fiercely.
“Damn! He’s aiming at me. Steve, faster!” Megan screamed and screamed, beating Steve’s arm in the process, which only made Cruz laugh out loud.
Gunshots increased behind me, and I had to bend my head down often in case the bullet hit me.
A shot echoed to my right, and the guard fell on my lap. I quickly pushed his lifeless body down and pulled my feet up.
The rider took off his helmet and threw it on the road as it rolled away from him. My eyes quickly scanned his face.
Edward.
To my left, even Cruz removed his helmet, smiling widely at Megan in the front, who was screaming and shouting orders at Steve.
Cruz pointed the gun with amusement and waited. Megan’s screams increased.
“NO! HIT HIM! FUCKING KILL HIM, DAMMIT!” she screamed at Steve.
“I’m trying. Just shut the fuck up!” Steve shouted back.
Steve turned left, aiming to hit Cruz, who escaped. The guards behind fell limp, and the gunshots stopped all of a sudden.
I turned to see the door open. One of the dead guards fell down from the car, rolling on the road.
The car behind us ran over his body, and I lifted my head up to see Luca in the passenger seat looking right into my eyes. I quickly turned around.
Megan loaded her gun, Steve was at the end of the bridge, and Cruz and Edward lowered their guns.
Steve didn’t slow down even when a crowd of people appeared in our view and sprinted out of our way.
Cruz and Edward drove through the gaps in between the vehicles and even on the pavement as they followed us.
When we reached a crosswalk and the signal turned red, the pedestrians started to cross the road, but Steve did not slow down.
“Slow down! What are you doing!” I screamed, “STOP!”
“SHUT UP!” Steve screamed at me.
“You have to stop, please!” I sobbed helplessly.
Edward and Cruz slowed down on either side of us, and before I could prepare myself, Steve crashed into the people who were crossing.
One of them went flying in the air and hit the hood of the car. People started to scream and run for their lives.
My screams and cries were cut short when a car hit us on the side, making Steve lose control as the car drifted around and dashed into a pole. Luca’s car reversed back and hit us again.
I held onto the seats and choked on my sobs.
“Move, MOVE!” Megan screamed, but all of us knew that nothing could be done.
Edward got off his bike and came toward Steve. Before he could utter another word, Edward shot him repeatedly, shattering the window. Megan screamed her lungs out.
The door on my side opened, and Cruz threw the dead guard outside and clutched my upper arm, dragging me out of the car. Rickard was quick to reach me.
“Are you okay?” he said in a worried tone, rubbing his hand on my cheek. I nodded weakly.
Luca made his way toward us, and I almost started to blabber when he surprised me by pulling me into his arms for a tight hug.
I looked at Cruz at my side, and he stared hard before shaking his head slowly.
He didn’t tell Luca…yet.
I closed my eyes in relief.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.” Luca’s voice scared me.
The worry and affection in his eyes broke me. Without warning, his lips crushed mine. His kiss filled with passion and relief and was abruptly broken when we heard sirens.
“We need to leave,” Cruz said.
Luca intertwined his fingers with mine, and we started to get in the car, but the sirens were coming from all directions, halting us.
Cops surrounded us and got out, aiming their guns at us.
I gasped in fear, frantically looking around at the cops, and though I should have been relieved that the time had come for me to finally leave Luca, I couldn’t help but worry for him.
Sheriff Newman got out of the car with a megaphone in his hand, the same man who didn’t believe me when I said Luca was alive.
His eyes widened to see Luca alive again, but he straightened and walked forward.
I looked up at Luca in front of me and stepped closer to him. He was looking at the sheriff, and I didn’t think he’d escape death this time.
“Rickard, where are the men?” he asked Rickard though his eyes were on the sheriff.
“They have the cops surrounded,” Rickard said quietly.
“Thought so,” Cruz said, smirking triumphantly at Luca.
“Edward, you’re going to drive,” Luca said.
Edward quickly took the keys from Rickard.
“On my command, Rickard,” Luca said.
“Get away from the lady and put your hands in the air,” Sheriff Newman commanded in the megaphone. “No one has to be harmed.”
“Right, officer! No one has to be harmed,” Cruz screamed and laughed mockingly at the cops without an ounce of fear in his face.
“Luca, I’m warning you,” Sheriff Newman said in a controlled voice, but Luca did nothing.
I looked around to see the cops had outnumbered us, and with all the guns aimed at us, Luca was definitely dead this time. The image of his dead body without a soul clenched my heart.
“Luca, just surrender.” My voice was a mere whisper.
Luca immediately looked down at me. His eyes softened, and he brought his hand up, brushing my cheek with his thumb.
“This is nothing new to me, tesoro. I’m holding back because you’re here with me,” he said in a soothing tender voice like I was scared by a nightmare, and he just wanted to calm me down.
“The sheriff will kill you.” My throat constricted as a lonely tear rolled down my face. He moved closer, filling the gap between us, and cupped my cheek.
“I’ve finally got your heart,” he said, giving me a beautiful smile.
I slumped in defeat.
There is no way I could leave him. He’d won. I’m his, not just because he demanded it but because there was nothing I could do about it.
Luca’s smile vanished when his eyes fell on something behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Megan stumbling outside her smashed car.
Since Rickard hit them, she was badly wounded and bleeding, but the gun in her hand was steady. She looked like nothing less than a bloodthirsty monster.
It hurt so much to see her turn out this way. We grew up together, and I’d known her my whole life. She’d brought this on herself.
I was able to take a step forward, but Luca gripped my forearm and prevented me from doing so.
She held the gun with both hands and lifted it up to us, but everyone was calm, except me and the cops.
Sheriff Newman started talking in the megaphone again, asking Megan to put her weapon down and saying she wouldn’t be charged for her father’s doings, but Megan remained unfazed.
“Megan, listen to me. You don’t have to do this. This is not who you are. Don’t do this,” I said softly.
“Megan Barbara, put the gun down, please,” Sheriff Newman ordered.
Megan’s upper lip twitched, and her finger went toward the trigger.
“Rickard, now,” Luca spoke very softly with his eyes still on Megan.
Within seconds we heard cars speeding toward us, breaking the dead silence that had wrapped around us at the moment.
The cars started to move on the pavement, disturbing the pedestrians who were watching and recording us and smashing shop windows, creating a commotion to distract everyone.
People started running everywhere, and the cops stood unable to shoot. So did Megan before she was pushed down by a man, and she lay there on the ground.
Luca pulled me to the car and pushed me inside.
“Wooo whoo!” Cruz screamed in victory before getting in.
Once Rickard got in the passenger seat, Edward started the engine and revved with the brakes on, and people quickly moved away from us.
Edward took off, and Cruz opened his window and put his upper body out to look back.
“Tonight ain’t your night, Bill Oldman! Come and get us, fuckhole!” Cruz screamed in excitement before slipping back inside.
“Now what?” Cruz asked Luca with so much excitement.
“Edward, the destination is yours,” was all Luca said.
He held my hand and put his head back.
“Yeah, come on, bro. Show us what you got!” Cruz punched his seat at the back, expressing his happiness.
“It’s gonna be a long and exciting night!” Edward screamed just like Cruz and sprinted into the night with the cops hot on our tail.
He drove skilfully, scaring the citizens but never hurting a single soul, and I understood how good of a racer he was.
Cruz and I looked back and saw the cops following us.
We were headed straight toward a fountain that stood massively at the corner.
“Let’s see what they gonna do now!” Edward shouted and took a sharp left.
I’m sure the car was just an inch away from the fountain, but the cops weren’t that lucky, and two cars collided with a loud crash on the fountain wall.
“Yay!” Cruz and Edward screamed.
The excitement didn’t last long as we heard the sound of an engine above us. Cruz put his head out to see what it was. Even without looking out, I knew there was a helicopter following us from above.
This wasn’t about me anymore. I was just a hook to catch a bigger fish.
Luca was wrong when he said I wanted to see him suffer the way he made me suffer. Now with the chance that Luca might die tonight for real, I just couldn’t seem to digest it.
I’ve lived with him and adapted to his choices and life, but it never changed mine. I can’t see someone hurt or suffer because of me.
It would’ve been different if the circumstances were different, and I was standing at the corner and watching him die. I couldn’t have even my abuser’s blood on my hands.
“A helicopter is not going to scare us,” I heard Cruz say.
I felt pressure on my hand and turned to see Luca watching me with his curious eyes.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Luca said.
“Nothing will happen to her, my friend. Don’t worry,” Cruz said.
I knew what he meant by that.
Rickard’s phone vibrated, and he put it to his ear. Edward kept driving while the cops followed us on all sides.
I saw cars with sirens coming on either side of the roads, which Edward escaped skillfully. Cruz was as excited as ever, and Luca watched the scene keenly.
Stuck between Cruz and Luca, I couldn’t do anything.
“We need to stop,” Rickard said once he was done talking.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” Cruz chuckled.
“Who was on the phone?” Luca asked calmly.
“Edward, stop the car,” Rickard said.
“What happened?” Cruz asked seriously.
“They have Becky, Emm, Parker, and my brother,” Rickard said heavily.
“What? How’s that possible!” Edward lashed out.
“Who was on the phone?” Luca asked again.
“It was Emm. I sent them to my brother’s place because Becky was shot and needed treatment. I don’t know how they knew his place,” Rickard said.
“They must have tracked their numbers, shit!” I heard Edward beat the steering wheel.
“Not possible. How did they even get the numbers?” Cruz said, scrunching his eyebrows as he thought hard on it.
“Someone must have called the cops using Leo, Becky, Emm, or Parker’s number. That’s the only way they can trace,” Rickard said.
“Oh God, you gotta be kidding me,” Cruz said. I turned toward my left to see him staring down at me with so much disappointment.
I didn’t know whether he knew I’d used Becky’s mobile to contact Chris, but I knew that he was definitely sure this was because of me.
“If anything happens to Emm…” He left the words hanging in the air, staring at me. I turned away, feeling guilty.
“I’m sending our men over there. They’ll be there in another two minutes. Everything should be fine. Don’t stop, Edward,” Rickard said confidently.
Edward tried to get away from the cops who came from all sides. The roads became emptier with sirens wailing in the silence of the night as they followed us as if their lives depended on it.
Gunshots followed us from behind, but Edward was careful to dodge them all.
“Shit! Shit! Slow down! Slow down!” Rickard started to scream, which made us look forward.
“Dammit! It’s security bollards! Take a right!” Cruz said as quickly as he could, but the road was already blocked by a cop car.
Edward reversed and tried to take another route, but the cops had surrounded us yet again.
“Shit!” Edward cursed.
“The guys have it taken care of. Leo and the rest are safe,” Rickard said.
“Kill the engine,” Luca said.
Edward immediately stopped the car in the middle of the road.
The cops got out of their vehicles and took their positions, all guns aiming at the car. Cruz got out, and so did Luca, followed by me and the rest of us.
Luca turned toward the sheriff while the helicopter started to land toward our right side.
“You want me? Take me and let them go,” Luca screamed over the helicopter’s noise as it started to settle down.
To my right, I saw Kevin wheeling Chris out of the helicopter with a couple of cops walking beside them. Chris’s eyes were solely on me.
Once the helicopter turned off, everything went so silent that I could hear my own panting and my heart beating out of my chest.
All eyes were on us, on Luca, but he stood tall, towering over everybody without an ounce of fear in him.
Sheriff Newman stepped forward toward us.
“Do you know how it feels to look at you alive after two years?” The sheriff spoke without a megaphone this time.
“Seven lives, Newman,” Luca smirked at him.
“Right. Maybe, that’s why I got direct orders to take you alive this time,” the sheriff confessed, crossing his arms.
“I’m all yours,” Luca teased, making Cruz chuckle.
“You might escape even tonight, Luca. But I’ve also come to get that girl back. I’ll save her even if I don’t arrest you. Tonight’s my night.” Sheriff Newman spoke confidently.
Luca’s back stiffened, and I knew the sheriff hit the right nerve.
“Let us go, cop. The longer you stay here, the sooner you’ll be dead,” Luca affirmed.
“Katherina. Come.”
The sheriff’s sudden diversion startled me. Everyone stood stiff, not even Luca turning toward me. The sheriff gave me an encouraging nod, and I looked at Chris, who nodded at me once.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead, breathing through my mouth. I was about to take a step when the voice behind me made me stop.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Think about it, Katherina. Luca’s been very good to you, something that no one has ever seen in him.
“The moment you take one step forward, it’ll break him. He will become worse than he ever was,” Cruz whispered.
I didn’t dare to turn around and look at him.
“Katherina, it’s all right. Go to Chris.” The sheriff spoke to me gently.
“What if she doesn’t want to go?” Luca quickly asked.
The sheriff looked at me before replying.
“Then I’ll leave her.”
It would’ve been must easier if these men started fighting among themselves, and I ran away with Chris. This was supposed to be the easiest and the best decision to make.
I knew Cruz was right, and Luca would never forgive me for this.
I looked at Chris, and I saw the life I had in my town. Even though it wasn’t the greatest, at least it was mine—my choices and happiness. It wasn’t forced on me.
“Katherina.” The sheriff’s voice turned stern when he saw my inner dilemma.
“No forcing, Newman,” Luca said to the sheriff.
Looking at Luca, I stepped forward, and the sheriff smiled, which made everyone turn toward me. Luca’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion and curiosity.
Taking a deep breath, I made the decision.
With whatever confidence I had left, I turned and took a step toward Chris.
“Katherina, what are you doing?” I heard Rickard but didn’t turn around. I started walking steadily toward Chris.
“Katherina!”
That made me stop abruptly. My arm was held in a firm grip, and I turned around to face the man in front of me, whose angry black eyes bored into me.
“What are you doing?” Luca asked softly with his face inches away from mine.
“It’s the right thing to do, Luca.” I released my arm from his deadly grip.
“This. We. Us. It’s all wrong. So wrong,” I said and stepped back.
“It’s wrong if we don’t work it out. It’s wrong if I don’t work this out,” Luca replied firmly.
“Nothing’s wrong in this world if you’re willing to do it with your heart, Katherina. Don’t tell me you’re doing this because you hate me and don’t want me.”
I took a deep breath and stared up at him. There was no time to explain to him what he needed to realize, but I couldn’t step forward and leave him behind either because he would come back for me.
It’s fucked up that somehow, he’d gotten under my skin in those past three and a half months and left his mark on me. I couldn’t change it, and he couldn’t reverse it either.
For myself and for the safety of my beloved, I said what he desperately wanted to hear from me.
“I submit to you,” I whispered. “I submit all of me to you.”
Luca looked stunned, but I saw the joy in his eyes. His happiness didn’t last long. I took a step back and turned around, walking toward Chris.
“No, no, no, no, no. You can’t do this. You can’t do this to me! Katherina, come back! Katherina!” I heard him scream, but I didn’t turn around.
I could hear how broken he was, and I don’t know how I managed to break him while he intended to do that to me.
“Katherina, come back! COME BACK TO ME! NO!”
I started to cry, unable to listen to his desperate cries that rang hopelessly loud in the silence of the night. Kevin pulled me into his arms once I reached them.
I hugged him tightly, relieved to get back the freedom I longed for, but Luca still called to me.
I released myself from Kevin and turned around to look at him. The man who was feared by so many was looking at me with such pain and calling for me as Rickard and Cruz held him back.
“Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me, Katherina.” He started shaking his head to and fro, his hand stretched out for me to take.
I wiped my eyes and clenched my teeth, trying hard not to end up in a fit of tears. Luca stopped fighting, and Cruz and Rickard released him.
Luca walked toward me with a heavy heart and fell down on his knees.
“Please!” He stretched out his arm and waited for me. A single tear left his eye and rolled down his cheek.
Tears rolled down my cheeks furiously as I choked on my sobs, unable to look away from him.
His dark orbs held so many emotions that I’d never witnessed before. His hand was still stretched out, but I was unable to take a step forward.
My heart was aching as I shook my head at him silently.
The roaring sound of the engine alerted everyone but Luca. Several cars came around just like before, and the cops started to fire at them.
One of the cars stood beside Luca, protecting him from the bullets. Edward got inside the car, and Cruz and Rickard lifted Luca from the ground, who kept looking at me and struggled in their arms.
“We need to leave, Kat.” I felt Kevin pulling me, but I didn’t move. I kept watching Luca struggling to get free.
“Katherina! KATHERINA! TESORO, come! Baby, please don’t leave me!” His screams made me cry harder.
Edward got in, and Cruz tried to push Luca inside, but he couldn’t. Luca instead pushed Cruz aside and started to run in my direction.
Kevin pulled me harder now, and I had no choice but to run toward the helicopter. The blades above started to rotate, and Chris was already being placed inside.
I turned to see Luca held back by Cruz and Rickard on the ground. His eyes were only on me.
Kevin’s hold tightened on my hand, and soon he pushed me in. The cop inside took my arm and pulled me in, and Kevin followed.
I sat at the corner and looked back at Luca, who was being taken forcefully toward the car and pushed in.
The helicopter rose above the ground, and Edward turned around, driving away from the boulevard to the empty road while Luca’s men kept firing at the cops.
The commotion started appearing smaller, and the noise disappeared into thin air while we moved up and away from them.
I closed my eyes and laid my head back.