The gun doesn’t fucking go off. My piss poor luck crescendo’s in this moment, and I frantically look back up at Shriver and Levi. This can’t be happening. I can’t possibly have done something stupid enough to warrant this moment, this poisonous peak of events, and yet here I am.
“I-I don’t know what’s wrong with it—” I begin to stammer, but the explosive sound of a gun going off interrupts me, and I watch Shriver drop to the floor. Levi steadies himself before he accompanies the dead weight of Shriver’s bleeding body.
I’m stunned at the sight of blood oozing from the back of Shriver’s head, his eyes now unmoving and dead like the rest of his body.
“What just happened?” I scream, anxiously as I scan the room, and that’s when my eyes spot Silas. His expression is serious for once, and within his clutch is a gun. Levi follows my gaze. He frowns when he spots Silas, and he shakes his head.
“Do you understand what you’ve done?” Levi says hoarsely. Silas shrugs, and Levi shakes his head, his arm still hanging. “You know Jesse will punish you for that. You know that you’ve just picked the wrong side, Silas.”
“I do know that I’m capable of choosing what side I want to fucking be on in the first place,” Silas replies sternly. Levi rolls his eyes, and it’s as if the clock starts ticking again. I run to him.
I’m unthinking as I throw my arms around him. I forget about his injured shoulder, and yet he doesn’t admonish my mistake. He lets me throw my arms around him and jostle him, even through the pain, just for my own comfort. He even wraps his uninjured arm around my waist and inhales deeply with me in his arms.
“Levi,” I cry out, pressing a desperate kiss to his throat. His skin is salty, and I accidentally get a metallic taste of the blood Shriver has drawn, but it somehow makes me feel closer to him. It solidifies the trauma we’ve gone through, and I’m thankful he’s still alive.
My Levi.
My monster.
I would never let someone take him away from me.
“It’s only a matter of time, Silas, until they come looking for Shriver’s body. If he doesn’t return, they will know he is dead.”
Silas clicks his tongue mockingly, and it makes me turn my head sideways to get a look at his face. Always the jokester. He looks amused.
“Let me handle, Jesse… there are things you don’t know, Levi. Leverages that I secure.”
Levi frowns but doesn’t comment further on it. It must be a conversation for another time. One that I will not miss because I want to know how long I will have to peer over my shoulder.
“You were going to shoot yourself, Sasha,” Levi breathes, and I pull back to look at him.
“Yes,” I admit, foolishly. I know it was stupid. I know it was the illogical thinking of a little girl who felt trapped by another vicious, abusive man presented in her life, but all I thought about was saving him.
Levi.
He is my beginning and my end.
Regardless of how violent my fate may be.
He releases my waist and steps back to cup my chin and force my gaze upon him. His gaze is unwavering, intense. I want to look away, but I can’t and after what’s happened, I’m afraid to look away.
“Don’t you dare ever do something like that again,” He demands.
“But Levi—”
He shakes his head, interrupting me mid-sentence. “I swear to god, Sasha, no. I don’t care. I want you to live. I am not important.”
I glare at him and cross my arms over my chest. I try to pull my face away from his grasp but he’s not having it. He holds me firmly and even pulls me back toward his chest. He grits his teeth but that’s the only sign that he’s in pain.
“Your arm,” I reply, and he shakes his head.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You’re ridiculous. You need to get that fixed.”
“I’ll do it,” Silas responds from the other side of the room. “Think of it as payback.” Silas quips, and Levi scoffs.
“It’s the least I can do, I suppose,” Levi replies. I step back, and Silas moves over to Levi. I look away as Silas maneuvers Levi’s arm back into place. Levi curses at the same time that the sound of a ‘pop’ echoes in the room, and when I look back, Silas has Levi’s injured arm pressed against his stomach.
“Hold it like that. I’ll get you something,” Silas instructs. I move back to Levi and help him hold up his arm despite his protest.
“You should rest,” Levi replies. I scoff.
“Rest? I don’t think I’ll be able to for the rest of my life.”
“I’m sorry,” He apologizes.
“It’s okay. Not your fault.”
I don’t blame him.
Clearly, this life was meant for me.
“I am glad I met you,” I admit. He rolls his eyes and bites his bottom lip and it’s the cutest, boyish thing he has done that makes my breath hitch in my throat. He looks adorable. Normal. Not so intimidating.
“You are insane, woman,” He replies.
I shrug. “I never claimed to be sane.”
I grow tired of Silas’s absence.
“I can go look for him if you want?” I question and Levi sighs.
“You probably won’t be able to find him.”
“I can try,” I insist before I release his arm and move through the hallway. I faintly hear his voice in the kitchen, I realize, once I’m in the room. He’s on the phone.
“Yes. He is dead. I know what this entails, but I have a bargaining chip… one you cannot refuse,” Silas speaks into the phone. I watch his back, brows furrowing curiously.
What bargaining chip can he hold over Jesse? I’m too nosey. I listen and eavesdrop.
“I will meet with you tomorrow at dawn and discuss my terms.” Silas hangs up quickly before he whips around.
“Spying on me?” He teases. I shake my head and gesture behind me.
“I came to see if you were coming back,” I reply defensively.
He nods and holds up an arm sling. “Just finishing up a phone call.”
“What do you have to offer Jesse that will free us from his punishment?” I ask quickly, unable to keep my mouth shut. I have to know. I need to know if it’s something serious… whether I should have hope or not.
“Can it really keep Jesse from coming after us?”
A slow grin spreads on his face. It’s threatening and charming all at the same time. He moves toward me. I stay still, freezing beneath the angst of needing to know the truth.
“You really want to know?” Silas asks. I nod vigorously.
“Jesse has a rivalry with one of the other mafia families. One much bigger and worse than him.”
“So?”
Silas chuckles. The sound makes the hairs along my body stand on end.
“Jesse has a daughter.”
I’m not exactly following this.
“I am the son of the head of the mafia family that he has strife with, and yet he doesn’t know.”
“How does he not know?” And how the hell is that relevant.
“That is not important,” Silas says seriously. “There is one thing that will end the strife between the families, one guarantee that Jesse gains more power.”
My throat goes dry.
“I marry his daughter.”
But why… why would he do that?
“Why would you do that for Levi?” I question skeptically. “It doesn’t make sense… you don’t owe him anything. He brought this upon you.”
Silas shrugs.
“He didn’t ask me to pull the trigger, and I always knew I wouldn’t be able to escape this life for long. No matter how much I’ve wanted to avoid becoming exactly what my father has wanted me to.” He says with malice. He blinks and it’s gone.
“So, I will do this.”
“Are you sure?”
He nods. “Levi might be unapproachable most times, but he has always been transparent when it came to our friendship. I will do this for him and for me, okay?”
I nod, my mouth falling agape slightly. I guess I can’t fathom the fact that someone associated with whatever dark activities Levi has been associated with would be so selfless.
“Thank you,” I say. It’s not until Silas wipes a tear from my cheek when he reaches me that I realize I’m crying.
“Enough,” He says softly. “There will be plenty of time in your life left to cry. Rejoice that things have gone in your favor. Some aren’t so lucky,” He responds before moving past me.
And he’s right. Some aren’t so lucky.
It could be Levi dead on the floor. Or me burned to ash like my sister.
And yet I’m here.
And I’ve fallen in love with a man who should’ve already been my demise.
I’m thankful.