The Impossible Choice

The Impossible Choice
Isabella's POV

I threw the phone against the wall as hard as I could.

The screen cracked and pieces of glass scattered across the floor, but I didn't care. Nothing could break my heart more than it was already broken.

"Your father is working with him!" I screamed at Tony. "Your own father wants us dead!"

Tony sat on the bed with his head in his hands. We had been hiding in this cheap motel room for three hours, arguing about what to do next.

"I know," Tony said quietly. "I know."

"How could you know?" I demanded. "How could you know and not tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to believe it," Tony said, looking up at me with tired eyes. "Because I hoped I was wrong."

My anger melted away when I saw how much pain he was in. This wasn't just about discovering a traitor. This was about discovering that the person who raised him, who taught him everything, had been lying to him his whole life.

"Tony," I said softly, sitting down next to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"You have every right to be angry," Tony replied. "Everyone we trusted has betrayed us."

I took his hand and squeezed it. "Not everyone. We still have each other."

"Do we?" Tony asked. "Because right now, I don't know if we should surrender to Vincent Senior or try to fight him."

That was the problem we couldn't solve. Give up and become Vincent Senior's prisoners, or fight back and watch our families die.

"What if we try to find the ship?" I suggested. "Maybe we can rescue my father ourselves."

"Isabella, we don't even know where to start looking. The ocean is huge."

"But we have to try something," I said desperately. "We can't just sit here and wait for Vincent Senior to kill everyone we love."

Tony stood up and started pacing around the small room. "You're right. Let's go to the harbor. Maybe we can find someone who knows about Vincent Senior's ships."

We left the motel and drove toward the water. The sun was setting, making everything look orange and red. It should have been pretty, but all I could think about was my father somewhere out there, scared and alone.

"There," Tony pointed to a group of fishing boats tied to a dock. "Let's ask the fishermen if they've seen anything."

We parked the car and walked toward the boats. The air smelled like salt and fish, and I could hear seagulls crying overhead.

But as we got closer to the water, I noticed something that made me nervous.

Two men in dark suits were walking behind us, trying to look casual but clearly following us.

"Tony," I whispered. "We're being watched."

He looked back and saw the men too. "FBI agents. Sarah must have people all over the city looking for us."

"What do we do?"

"We keep walking and try to lose them," Tony said.

We walked faster toward the fishing boats, but the agents started walking faster too. Soon we were almost running.

"This way!" Tony grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a maze of shipping containers.

We ran between the huge metal boxes, trying to find a place to hide. Behind us, I could hear the agents talking on their radios.

"They're calling for backup," I said, breathing hard.

We turned a corner and almost ran into someone.

It was Marcus.

"Marcus!" I said, so happy to see him. "How did you escape?"

But something was wrong. Marcus looked scared and kept looking around like he expected trouble.

"I didn't escape," Marcus said. "They let me go."

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"It's a trap," Marcus said quickly. "Vincent Senior wanted me to find you. There are FBI agents surrounding this whole area."

My heart sank. Even Marcus was being used against us.

"We have to get out of here," I said.

But it was too late. Agents in black uniforms appeared from behind the containers, surrounding us completely.

"Nobody move!" one of them shouted.

That's when I saw her. Agent Sarah Chen walked out from behind a container, smiling that horrible smile.

"Hello again," Sarah said. "Did you really think you could hide from us?"

"Let Marcus go," Tony said. "He's done nothing wrong."

"Marcus is coming with us," Sarah replied. "Vincent Senior has special plans for him."

Two agents grabbed Marcus and started dragging him away.

"No!" I yelled, trying to run after them.

But Tony caught my arm. "Isabella, don't. It's what they want."

Sarah laughed. "How sweet. Tony's trying to protect you. Too bad he can't protect himself."

Before I could ask what she meant, Sarah pulled out her gun and pointed it at Tony.

"Any last words?" she asked.

"Wait!" I screamed. "I'll do whatever Vincent Senior wants! Just don't hurt him!"

"Too late for deals," Sarah said. "Vincent Senior changed his mind. He decided you're both too dangerous to keep alive."

The gun was pointing right at Tony's chest. I could see Sarah's finger moving toward the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down. I could hear my own heart beating. I could smell the salt air. I could see the fear in Tony's eyes.

"I love you, Isabella," Tony said.

That's when I realized something that changed everything.

For the past week, I had been feeling sick every morning. I had been tired all the time. I had been emotional about everything.

I was pregnant.

I was carrying Tony's baby, and I was about to watch him die.

"Sarah, please!" I begged. "I'm pregnant!"

Sarah paused, her finger on the trigger. "What did you say?"

"I'm pregnant with Tony's baby," I said, tears running down my face. "If you kill him, you're killing the father of my child."

For a moment, Sarah looked confused. Like she didn't know what to do.

But then her smile came back, more evil than ever.

"Even better," she said. "Vincent Senior will love having a baby in the family. More leverage."

The gun fired.

The sound was so loud it hurt my ears. I screamed and closed my eyes, not wanting to see Tony fall.

But when I opened my eyes, Tony was still standing.

Sarah was looking at her gun with confusion. "What..."

That's when I saw Marcus. He had broken free from the agents holding him and tackled Sarah just as she pulled the trigger. The bullet had gone into the ground instead of into Tony.

"Run!" Marcus yelled. "Both of you, run now!"

Tony grabbed my hand and we ran toward the water. Behind us, I could hear Sarah screaming orders to her agents.

"The boat!" Tony pointed to a small fishing boat tied to the dock. "We can escape by water!"

We jumped into the boat and Tony started the engine. As we pulled away from the dock, I looked back and saw Sarah standing at the water's edge, pointing her gun at us.

She fired three times.

The first bullet hit the water next to us.

The second bullet hit the back of the boat.

The third bullet hit Tony.

I watched him fall forward, blood spreading across his shirt.

"Tony!" I screamed, grabbing him as he collapsed.

His eyes were closing and his breathing was getting shallow.

"Stay with me," I begged. "Please stay with me."

But Tony wasn't responding. His skin was getting pale and cold.

I looked at the blood on my hands and realized how bad it was. The bullet had hit him in the chest, right near his heart.

"Tony, you can't die," I whispered. "You can't leave me. You can't leave our baby."

The boat was still moving, carrying us away from the shore. But I didn't know where we were going or how to stop it.

All I could do was hold Tony and pray he would survive.

That's when I noticed something terrible.

The boat was taking on water. Sarah's bullet had hit something important, and we were starting to sink.

I looked around desperately for something to help Tony, but there was nothing. Just fishing nets and empty bottles.

The shore was getting farther away, and the boat was sinking lower in the water.

I was pregnant, alone, and watching the man I loved die in my arms.

And somewhere in the distance, I could hear the sound of more boats coming toward us.

Vincent Senior's boats.

They had been waiting for us to run to the water. This was all part of their plan.

I looked down at Tony, who was barely breathing.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

But even as I said it, I felt something strange.

A tiny flutter in my stomach.

The baby. Our baby was moving for the first time.

Even with everything falling apart, there was new life growing inside me.

I put my hand on my stomach and made a promise.

"I will protect you," I whispered to the baby. "No matter what happens to me, I will protect you."

The boat was almost completely underwater now. In a few minutes, Tony and I would both be in the ocean.

But I wasn't going to give up.

I was going to save my baby, even if I couldn't save Tony.

Even if I couldn't save myself.

The last thing I saw before the boat sank was Tony's eyes opening.

"Isabella," he whispered.

Then the water closed over our heads.

And everything went black.