A Little Give and Take
Jason’s POV
The words slipped out before I could stop them... before I even had the chance to decide if I wanted to hold them back. Maybe I didn’t. Maybe this was it, my breaking point. The moment when the last shred of fight in me crumbled.
My hands trembled at my sides, fists clenched so tightly it felt as though my knuckles might split open. Anger, sorrow, and desperation tore through me in relentless waves, each one more suffocating than the last.
My daughter... my light, my anchor, my sole reason for breathing, was caught in the cruel crossfire of a war she never asked to be part of. And no matter how hard I’d fought to shield her, the shadows closing in around her were merciless.
I had already lost her mother to the Marinos. That loss carved me into something unrecognisable, leaving behind a shell of a man burdened with wounds that refused to heal. But I made a promise... No... I swore to myself, with every broken fragment of my soul, that I would never let it happen again.
And yet, here I stood. Lost ... Having no choice but to throw in the towel.
I failed Amara, and I failed my daughter.
So if giving Emily up meant saving my Aurora, then so be it.
“Wow... I thought you’d put up a fight,” Marco’s voice moved smoothly through the silence, dragging me back from the edge of my spiralling thoughts.
“You win,” I said, my voice sharp and brittle like glass on the verge of shattering. “I just want my daughter back.”
The words hung heavy in the air, their weight sinking into me, suffocating what little resolve I had left.
Marco laughed, a low, cruel sound that clawed at my ears. He was enjoying this.
“What about your love for Emily? Do you not love her anymore?” Marco’s voice crackled through the phone, taunting and probing.
“I just want my daughter back,” I said again, my voice cold and unyielding, as though repeating it might make my choice to give Emily up all the more justified.
“So, how do you want the exchange to go?” Marco’s voice oozed mockery, his words deliberate and calculated.
“Release my daughter, and I’ll release Emily back to you,” I replied, my tone steady, though every fibre of my being wanted to scream.
Marco chuckled... a low, condescending sound that felt like he was twisting a knife deep into me. “Oh, Jason... Do you think you can play me? That’s the oldest trick in the book.”
“How do I know for sure that if I give Emily back to you, you’ll actually return my daughter?” I shot back, trying to mask the rising fury in my voice.
Marco paused, his silence brimming with amusement, before he finally spoke. “Alright, here’s the deal. I’ll give you back your precious daughter. But once you have her, you send back what belongs to me.”
His casual tone sent a fresh wave of anger surging through me, but I buried it. He had the upper hand, and I couldn’t afford to lose control.
“You have my word,” I said, my voice tight but resolute.
“Good. Your daughter will be at Road 69. Come and pick her up there,” Marco instructed, his words clipped and final. Then, with a click, the line went dead.
........
Lucas stared at me, his expression hard, scrutinising me like I was a puzzle he couldn’t solve. He looked at me as though I were a stranger, someone he no longer recognised.
“Come on, Lucas,” I said, my tone sharp, cutting through the tense silence. “Say whatever’s on your mind.”
He held my gaze for a moment longer, his eyes narrowing as if trying to assess what was going on in my head. Then, all at once, he snapped.
“Have you gone mad?” he yelled, his voice sharp and unrestrained, cutting through the stillness like a blade.
“You can’t just give in to Marco! Have you forgotten who you are?” Lucas’s voice rose, frustration dripping from every word. “Maybe you have, so let me remind you... You’re Jason fucking Russo. The most feared man in this city. And now you’re going to stoop to Marco’s level? Bend to a nobody? And give him the woman you love?”
He didn’t wait for a response, pacing now, his anger growing with each word. “You were going to buy a ring, man! You were going to make it official! You can’t just ruin everything- throw it all away!”
I exhaled heavily, my chest tight, the weight of it all suffocating me.
“He has my daughter,” I said finally, my voice low but firm, the only justification I could offer for my actions.
“Nonsense,” Lucas spat, his anger flaring. “We can go in with all our forces, get Aurora back, and you can keep Emily. You have the manpower for this! Why don’t we just kill Marco once and for all? You are giving him more power than he and his godforsaken family deserve.
“He has my daughter...” I said, my voice flat, like a broken record.
“What about Emily? Don’t you love her enough to fight for her?” Lucas challenged, his words sharp.
Without thinking, I punched him, the force of it surprising even me.
“Don’t you dare use that against me,” I hissed, my voice low with fury. “Fighting for Emily is all I’ve ever done... but I’m done. It’s time to fight for my daughter -the only thing I have left in this world.”
“You’re not even willing to consider the possibility of getting Aurora back without sacrificing the woman you love,” Lucas said, his voice laced with disbelief.
“I couldn’t save her mother... and I’ll be damned if I can’t save our daughter,” I replied, my voice hardening. “So if it means giving up the love I just found, then so be it. The universe gives, and now it’s about to take it all back.”
With that, I turned and walked out, my expression set in stone, each step heavier than the last.