Chapter 20: Truth and Consequences

POV: Scarlett

The radio crackled to life, making me jump.

"All units, this is Command. Target location confirmed. Warehouse district, sector seven."

I pressed myself against the bathroom door, heart hammering. Vincent was in the next room, but he couldn't hear the FBI radio I'd hidden in my jacket pocket.

"Tactical teams Alpha and Bravo, move into position. No survivors except the primary target's daughter."

My blood turned to ice. They were talking about me.

"Sir, what about Vincent Capone?" a voice asked.

"Eliminate on sight. Director's orders."

The radio went quiet, and I slumped against the door. My father was sending agents to kill the man I loved.

I had maybe ten minutes before they surrounded the building.

"Scarlett?" Vincent called from the other room. "You okay in there?"

"Fine," I managed to say.

But I wasn't fine. I was about to make a choice that would destroy my relationship with my father forever.

I walked back into the main room where Vincent was cleaning his gun. He looked up and saw something in my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Vincent, we have to leave. Now."

"Why?"

"Because my father is coming."

Vincent stood slowly, his gray eyes turning cold. "How do you know that?"

I pulled the radio from my pocket. "Because I've been listening to FBI communications."

"You've been what?"

"I never turned it off. Even after I chose you, I kept listening. Just in case."

Vincent stared at the radio like it was a snake. "How long have you had that?"

"Since the beginning."

"Since you were working for them."

"I stopped working for them weeks ago!"

"Did you? Or are you still playing the long game?"

The hurt in his voice broke my heart. "Vincent, I swear to you, I'm not working for them anymore."

"Then prove it."

"How?"

"Help me disappear. Right now."

I looked at this man who'd saved my life, who'd shown me what love really meant. He was asking me to run away with him. To abandon everything I'd ever known.

"If we run together, there's no going back," I said.

"I know."

"My father will never forgive me."

"Do you care?"

I thought about my dad, sitting in his office, planning operations against people like Vincent. He'd raised me to believe in justice and law. But he'd also raised me to believe in love.

"No," I said finally. "I don't care."

Vincent's face softened. "You mean that?"

"I mean it."

He grabbed a bag and started throwing clothes into it. "There's a boat at the marina. We can be in Canada by morning."

"Vincent, there's something else."

"What?"

"Tommy Romano knows who I am. He's been using me to get to you."

Vincent froze. "What do you mean?"

"He's the one who's been feeding information to both sides. He wants you and my father to destroy each other."

"Why?"

"So he can take control of everything."

Vincent cursed under his breath. "How do you know this?"

"Because I've been listening to everyone's communications, not just the FBI's."

I pulled out another device - a scanner that picked up criminal radio frequencies.

"Tommy's been coordinating with corrupt cops and federal agents. He's playing everyone against each other."

Vincent stared at me with something like admiration. "You really have been protecting us all."

"I've been trying to."

"Why?"

"Because I love you. And because this war is going to get innocent people killed."

Vincent moved closer and cupped my face in his hands. "I love you too. More than I thought I could love anyone."

"Even knowing who I am?"

"Especially knowing who you are."

He kissed me, and for a moment I forgot about the danger closing in around us.

Then the lights went out.

"FBI! BUILDING SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"

My father's voice echoed through the darkness, amplified by a megaphone.

"Vincent Capone, you have thirty seconds to release my daughter and surrender!"

Vincent grabbed my hand. "Back exit?"

"Blocked. I can see their flashlights."

"Roof?"

"Probably covered too."

"Then we fight our way out."

"Vincent, no. They'll kill you."

"Better than spending life in prison."

I looked at the man I loved, ready to die rather than surrender. He'd rather go down fighting than live without freedom.

"There's another way," I said.

"What?"

"I go out first. Tell them you let me go. That buys you time to escape."

"Absolutely not."

"Vincent—"

"I'm not using you as a human shield."

"You're not using me. I'm choosing this."

"Scarlett, if you walk out there, your father will take you home. You'll never see me again."

"Maybe that's better than watching you die."

"Not for me."

More voices outside. They were setting up a perimeter, getting ready to storm the building.

"Vincent Capone!" my father shouted. "I know you're in there! Send out my daughter and we can talk!"

"He's lying," Vincent said. "The moment you step outside, they'll come in shooting."

"Then what do we do?"

Vincent looked around the warehouse, calculating options. "The old tunnel system. These buildings are connected to the sewer network from the 1920s."

"You want us to crawl through sewers?"

"I want us to live."

He led me to a metal grate in the floor I'd never noticed. It was rusted shut, but Vincent pried it open with a crowbar.

"Ladies first," he said with a grim smile.

I dropped into the tunnel and landed in knee-deep water that smelled like everything horrible in the world.

"This is disgusting," I said.

"This is freedom," Vincent replied, dropping down beside me.

We waded through the tunnel system as FBI agents stormed the warehouse above us. I could hear them shouting, kicking down doors, searching for us.

"BUILDING CLEAR! THEY'RE NOT HERE!"

My father's voice was filled with rage and desperation.

Twenty minutes later, we climbed out of a storm drain six blocks away. We were covered in filth but alive.

"My car's parked two streets over," Vincent said.

We ran through empty alleys, avoiding street lights and main roads. Behind us, police sirens wailed as the FBI expanded their search.

Vincent's car was exactly where he'd left it. We jumped in and drove toward the marina in silence.

"You saved me," Vincent said finally.

"You saved me first."

"Why did you do it, Scarlett? Why did you choose me over your father?"

I looked at this man who'd shown me what real love felt like. Even covered in sewer water, he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"Because I love you," I said.

"Even though I'm everything your father taught you to hate?"

"Especially because of that."

Vincent smiled - the first real smile I'd seen from him in days.

We pulled into the marina parking lot and got out of the car. The boat was a small speedboat, nothing fancy, but it would get us across the lake to Canada.

"Once we get on that boat," Vincent said, "there's no turning back."

"I know."

"Your old life will be over."

"My old life was over the moment I fell in love with you."

We walked toward the dock, hand in hand. Behind us, Chicago glowed with police lights and helicopter searchlights. My father's army was looking for us.

Ahead of us was dark water and an uncertain future.

"Scarlett," Vincent said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I promise I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret this choice."

"I already don't regret it."

We reached the boat and Vincent started the engine. In five minutes, we'd be on open water. Free.

That's when I heard slow clapping behind us.

We spun around to see Tommy Romano walking out of the shadows with six armed men.

"Beautiful speech," Tommy said with a cold smile. "Really touching."

"Tommy," Vincent said carefully.

"Vincent. And the lovely Agent Scarlett Justice. Though I suppose it's ex-Agent now."

"What do you want, Tommy?"

"What I've always wanted. Control of this city."

"And?"

"And you two have been very useful in helping me get it."

Tommy pulled out his phone and showed us a recording app.

"I've been recording your conversation for the past ten minutes. Your father will be very interested to hear his daughter confessing her love for his greatest enemy."

My heart stopped. "You're going to send that to my father?"

"I'm going to send it to everyone. The FBI, the other crime families, the media. By tomorrow morning, the whole world will know that Director Justice's daughter betrayed the FBI for love."

"That will destroy both our families," Vincent said.

"Exactly," Tommy smiled. "And when the smoke clears, I'll be the only one left standing."

The sound of boat engines echoed across the water. More men were coming.

"You saved me," Vincent had said just minutes ago. "Why?"

"Because I love you," I'd replied, not knowing Tommy Romano was listening to every word.