Chapter 271 Chapter 271

Chapter 271 Chapter 271
Hailey's POV.

Time was ticking. Sophia needed medical attention, Damien needed an intervention and I needed to find a way to help them.

I fixed my eyes on Damien for guidance. This was the first time I had to make decisions that would ruin lives. Literally.

Damien kept a straight face with wide eyes that seemed to say “Don't you dare?” He was ready to die as long as I wasn't going to submit to the enemy. But I had to think of Sophia, Marco, Benita, and most importantly, our son.

My eyes turned teary, they flowed down my cheeks like streams on a cliff. I clutched my hands to myself and dropped them to my sides. I felt a stiff shape behind my waist and I gasped silently. I hadn't even realized that I was hiding Marco's gun at the back of my waistband.

Suddenly, I felt a shimmer of hope shine down on me. Things didn't look so bad anymore.

“I'm waiting for your response,” Luca voiced, cocking his gun.

“No. That's my response now and forevermore,” I replied.

“Well then, say your last words to the father of your child,” he turned his back to me to kill Damien and I took a deep breath.

“Everybody, brace up,” I screamed.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline course through my veins, I took out the gun from my waistband, cocking and pointing it to his chest in quick succession before his guards could react.

In the blink of an eye, I pulled the trigger sending a shot cracking through the air like fireworks. Luca dropped his gun to the ground, jerking back and eyes wide with surprise.

I shot a man. I just shot a man. The shock ceased my breath as Luca fell to the ground. The voices around me faded into background noises. My hands trembled and the gun fell off my grip.

“No,” I gasped, falling to my knees. What had I done? I couldn't take my eyes off Luca, his cold body lying still in a pool of blood. I took a life. I killed him.

My action seemed to have weakened the morale of the men. Damien and Marco spring into action, eliminating the men before they could harm us. A few of the men fled the scene unable to comprehend the fact that their leader was just gunned down.

I felt warm hands caress my face and pull me into his arms. “Are you okay?” He asked. “You are fine, you did what you had to do, don't be scared.” Damien uttered in my ears, but that wasn't enough to console me.

In my head, I was nothing short of a monster. His words of consolation felt distant, cold and unreasonable.

“I didn't mean to kill him,” I whispered back with a shaken voice. “Somebody help him,” a tear dropped from my eyes.

“Please,” I begged, unable to look at him.

“Hailey, look at me,”

“Somebody help,” I screamed. “I wasn't thinking, I acted on impulse, I thought he would… I thought you would… Why didn't you stop me? Why…” I cried, beating my hands on his chest.

“Hailey,” he thundered, grabbing my shoulder. “It's not your fault. You fought for us, you protected us.”

“No, I killed him,” I argued.

“He was gonna kill us,” Damien stated. I paused and looked at Luca once more. Damien was right, Luca was about to kill him that was why I took action. It was self defense.

“Sophia, I'll get help right away,” Marco said aloud, stealing our attention.

How could I have been so ignorant? Sophia needed help too, she was losing blood and I was in my feelings like a fucking diva. I wiped my tears and rushed to her.

“Sophia, stay with us. Help is on the way,”

Minutes flew by and a police siren echoed through the air. Paramedics came with ambulances. Sophia was carried by the paramedic on a stretcher.

I could only hope she would be okay as they took her into the van and shut the door.

Seconds later we were surrounded by police and asked to raise our hands in the air. For now,we were the prime suspect of the crimes that happened here.

Damien stepped in front of me on his instincts and raised his hands. He wanted to protect me, he wanted me to know that I was going to be fine.

A police guard came to place us in handcuffs. He handled me a little too rough, forcing Damien to try to protest.

“Don't,” I whispered to him. We had done enough damage already and it could get worse than this.

They lined us up against the wall and stuffed us into their cars like we were sardines.

We got to the stations and we were separated into different rooms. Mine smelled like papers and gunpowder, but I didn't complain.

Detective Sarah barged through the door, not even surprised to see me in the room. I bowed my head in disappointment as she stood at the door gaping with thoughts. I couldn't read her expression, I didn't even care to.

She walked towards me and brought her badge out. “I was having a feeling that we were going to meet again, Mrs Hailey,”

Well, she guessed right.

I took my hands off the table and she stretched her hands forward. “Are the cuffs uncomfortable for you?” She asked, her tone genuine.

“I don't know, I have never been in handcuffs before.”

She took a deep breath and gestured to me to stretch my hands. Then she took off my cuffs and sat across the table.

“I can't say I expected to be in an interrogation room with you, I guess wonders do happen,” she whispered. “Let's dive right into business. What happened? I hope you all get your stories straight coz your freedom is banking on it.”

“I shot Luca,” my voice came out faint. “We were out shopping and enjoying ourselves when the bullets came from all directions. We tried to run out but we were separated from each other. We tried to get back together and that was when I found out Luca had us cornered.”

I stared deep into her eyes, drawing in a sea of regret and emotions. “He threatened to kill them all if I didn't marry him. He was crazy, only a crazy man would ever do that, but he was serious. So, I had to shoot him. I didn't mean to kill him, I just thought he would… he… he,” my voice broke into tears and I coiled my arms.

“That's enough,” Sarah stated, moved by my tears. She was back to the woman who managed to convince me to seek help from the feds, a lady with emotional depth and not just a puppet for the government.

She cleared her throat and stood up from her chair. “I'll be right back,” she said.

“Where are you going?” I asked with interest.

“So far, the accounts you all gave me matches. I will need to see for myself from the CCTV footage before I make a decision.”

“Okay,” I replied softly, watching her shut the door and stare at my reflection at the glass wall across me.

I had seen this in the movies. Some people had been watching us on the opposite side of the wall, taking notes and reading my expression.

Hours passed and sitting in silence turned into a bite for me. I couldn't anymore. The silent turned into torture, the dimly lit room and darkness around the corner was this a sneak peek of life in prison?

Finally, the door clicked open and Sarah walked in with agent Connors behind her. His dead look hadn't changed for the better. It made my heart race. I was in deep trouble. My eyes moved to the folder in his hands and I crawled my chair back.

“Alright, you are free to go,” Sarah smiled at me. “Agent Connors here will ask you a few questions then you can be in your way,”

“Really?” My eyes crinkled up with hope.

“Yes, the CCTV footage matches your report. All your reports,” Connors replied. “You are free to go,”

I didn't waste any time answering Connor's question. As soon as I was done, I was led outside and made to wait for the others. The cold air hit my face as Damien stood up and ran to hold me.

“Are you okay?” He asked , cupping my face with both hands.

“I am now,” I replied.

He kisses me hard with a desperate relief. I missed him too. I kissed him back, his hands rubbing my hair and we breathed hard when we pulled apart.

“Marco joined us seconds later, clearing his throat to announce his presence with Benita. “I think we need to go visit Sophia in the hospital,”

“Yeah, we need to,” I smiled.

We held hands as we walked to the car then Damien whispered into my ears. “We won, we fucking did it,” he said with glee. It had been a long time since I saw him genuinely happy.

We sure did. I had begun to think that the battle would go on for ages but Damien had taken a great step to winning and being three steps ahead.