Chapter 54 I wanted a choice (second half)
Lina's POV
The first guard swears. “We’ve got company!”
A standoff forms in seconds.
Weapons raised.
Red laser dots tremble across chests. I’m still held between them. One of the strangers speaks, calm and cold. “Hand her over. No one else needs to bleed tonight.”
“She’s under Don Carlino’s protection,” the guard growls.
The stranger tilts his head. “That protection looks thin.”
From the main road, more headlights flood the darkness.
Then—
Silence.
A single car pulls up slowly behind the armed line. The engine slowly died down. The door opens.
I don’t need to see him to feel him.
The air changes.
Carlino steps forward, shirtless. Like he left mid-breath. His gaze finds mine instantly. Relief was nowhere to be found.
Not anger.
Calculation.
“Lina,” he says evenly. Lina, not Tesoro.
The guard holding me loosens his grip but doesn’t release. Carlino’s eyes flick to him. “Let her go.”
The guard obeys.
I step away, but I don’t go to him. The stranger across from us smiles faintly. “Seems she was on her way out.”
Carlino doesn’t look at him. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“It concerns anyone who profits from instability.”
Profit.
So that’s what this is.
I feel suddenly sick—not from running. From understanding.
“She’s leverage,” the stranger continues.
“And leverage unattended invites bids.”
Carlino’s jaw tightens. “You miscalculated.”
“And you underestimated your enemies.”
Weapons remain trained. No one fires. I stand between them, breathing hard, dirt streaking my hands, heart still racing from the run.
Carlino’s gaze returns to me.
“Is this what you wanted?” he asks quietly.
“I wanted a choice.”
“You had one.”
“No,” I reply, voice steady despite everything. “I had walls.”
A flicker of something, hurt? No. Anger? passes through his eyes.
“You think the world outside is kinder?” he asks.
“I think it’s mine.”
The stranger laughs softly. “Bold.”
Carlino finally turns to face him fully.
“Leave.”
“And if I don’t?”
Carlino’s expression doesn’t change. “You won’t get to see the sunlight again.”
A tense beat.
Wind rustles through trees. Guns remain raised.
My pulse pounds in my ears again. This is bigger than me. I see it now—the cracks in alliances, the opportunists circling, the shift in power waiting for a spark.
And I was almost that spark.
The stranger studies Carlino, then me. Finally, he lifts a hand. His men lower their weapons first.
“For now,” he says. “But next time, Don, don’t let your queen wander.”
They retreat to their vehicles. Engines roar back to life. Within seconds, they’re gone. Silence rushes back in.
Carlino’s men slowly lower their guns. No one speaks. He steps toward me. But I don’t step back.
“You could have been killed,” he says, voice low.
“So could you,” I fire back.
His gaze hardens. “This isn’t a game.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because if I stay without choosing it, I disappear.”
His hand lifts—then drops before touching me.
“You think leaving would protect you?” he asks.
“I think staying makes me a target.”
“You already are.”
The truth lands heavy.
Headlights flicker again at the bend in the road. Another vehicle approaches—faster this time.
Not his.
Not the ones who just left.
A different vehicle.
The men around us tense instantly.
Carlino’s head turns sharply toward the sound. I followed his gaze. The approaching car doesn’t slow. It accelerates. This time, there’s no mistaking the intent.