Chapter 148 Fear
CHAPTER 148
Fear.
ROMAN — POINT OF VIEW
Smoke is the first thing we see. My mom’s little home has been swallowed by chaos. Gunshots ripple in the air. The smell of copper hangs heavy, and my heart squeezes.
I strap on the bulletproof vest and grab the gun. Luca passes me the helmet, and we walk ahead.
The men are waiting for instructions. I watch Luca give it – kill every Cartel bastard, and keep the women safe. No survivors. Kill all of them.
Five minutes later, I see the house clearly. My heart pounds hard. I can see Emiliano’s soldiers. I can’t see Scarlett anywhere, or Adeline, or my mom.
Are we too late?
“Make sure to use the sniper. Eyes on the target. Take them out clean and easy.” I instruct, pushing back against the fear I feel.
I walk over bodies, looking for my wife.
“Your mother is secured.”
“Found Adeline. Scarlett is missing.” Luca’s voice comes through, and my blood runs cold.
My feet halt, and I am swallowed by a profound grief, one I refuse to feel. I cannot let this happen. Scarlett is mine, every fucking version of her, every identity, every name, every lie she has ever told, every secret, everything; she belongs to me. Me. Me. Fucking me.
“Roman,” Adeline's voice cuts through the comms.
“Where is she, Adeline?” I whisper, holding on to the gun firmly.
“I … I don’t know. Oh, God. They … he will break her … oh god.” She starts crying, and I stop listening.
Easily, the cartel bastards are subdued. I don’t let my guards down. I look everywhere for her. I have never believed in destiny, in fate, in something beyond what is real, but in this moment, I know Scarlett is mine, hence I will find her.
I close my eyes and let the universe order my steps.
I turn a corner, and I find her.
She’s on the ground, chained, bleeding, bloody and dirty, but she’s still alive. She’s surrounded.
“Found her. Behind the cars.” I murmur.
“Do not move, Roman.” Luca orders.
“Surrender now, Rosalina.” The bastard yells at her.
“Never! I am not going anywhere with you. Be prepared to take my corpse!” She snarls, eyes bloodshot.
“Then, he’ll fuck your dead body, bleed you dry, and finally legalise his reign. It won’t be hard to find a girl that looks like you, pretend she’s you, or maybe we’ll find a child, claim she’s you and Emiliano’s child.” He taunts, and my brows furrow at the depravity.
“W … what? No.” Scarlett pales, and my heart pounds. I need her fire and rage back.
“No one will know. No one cares about you. You’re here to be a breeding tool. Your name and womb are all you are good for. Perhaps I should end you now, and get this over with, you’re not worth the trouble …”
I move immediately. He does not see me coming. I wrap my gloved hands around his neck from behind and bring down the knife on his heart repeatedly.
Luca and Addie are here, shooting their way through, dropping bodies easily.
I let the bastard fall to the ground. He gurgles, bleeding from his mouth.
I turn to Scarlett, but I’m a second late.
A masked man wraps his hand around her, a gun to her head.
“Stay where you are, or I pull the trigger.” He warns, tone cold and true.
I look at Scarlett. Something flashes in her green eyes. Then, she smirks. My eyes widen as I realise what she’s about to do. I can’t stop her. I don’t try to.
She swings the chain high, wrapping it around his neck.
The gun falls to the ground, and I move immediately.
She does not need help. She holds him down, tightening the chain firmly around his throat.
She’s going to kill him.
She wraps it further and murmurs, “Here’s the thing you don’t know about me. You should know by now, but you obviously don’t. I might not be a man. I do not have a dick. I am not a son, but I am a Diaz. I will die as Rafael Diaz’s daughter, his only fucking child, and I am getting my revenge. Nothing is stopping me, not this, not Emiliano, no one. You are all traitors, and I will burn you with the fire you burned me.”
With a turn of her arm, she cracks his neck, and his body goes limp.
I look at her, goosebumps breaking over my skin.
There’s blood and grim all over her body. She stands up, does not walk to me, and instead steps towards Adeline. A smile flickers over her face as she stretches her chained wrists.
Adeline pulls the trigger immediately, shattering the chain.
It clatters to the ground, and she almost drops to the ground from exhaustion.
“Alright, come here,” Luca wraps his arm around her, holding her steady.
Something bitter curls in me. She should have come to me. She should be with me. Yet, she chose to walk to them.
“You’re bleeding,” Adeline groans, eyes burning with tears.
“I … I think I got shot, and stabbed. It took a while for them to chain me. I … I didn’t want to give up.” She murmurs, sounding sleepy.
I turn around, “Where’s the fucking ambulance?”
“Roman is here,” Adeline tells her, trying to keep her awake.
I turn back to them. My gaze flashes with hers. It’s impossible to put a name to all I am currently feeling.
I am glad that she’s alive. I am not glad that she lied to me.
I don’t know who she is. I don’t know how to merge this person standing in front of me and the Scarlett I know.
I don’t know what I am supposed to call her. I don’t know where we stand.
She does not need me anymore. Is she going to leave me? Am I going to let her?
At my core, rage bubbles in me because my father was collateral damage. All for her.
Still, I step forward and try to cup her face with trembling hands, but she flinches, fear flashing in her eyes.
My heart sinks. My stomach drops. I step back.