“Deena!” Marco shouts and I lift my head to see the mansion before me. “Where are you, you fucking coward?”
Loud pings surround us as bullets rain down, hitting the cars, causing sparks to skitter. Adrenaline hits me, it rushes through my blood and picks me up better than any methamphetamine I’ve never tried. I rush round the rear of our SUV, my chest heaving as I press my back harder against the metal. This has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done for a girl.
Roman joins me, cradling his handgun to his chest.
“Fucking madness!” he shouts. “Christ!
I turn to him.
“I need a rifle!” I yell over the ruckus.
He flicks his head to the car we hide behind. “In the bag on the floor.”
Stuffing my handgun into my pocket, I pull open the rear door and reach for the bag on the floor. Crash! The window opposite me is blown out and I keep my head down as the glass rains down on me. I just manage to get the bag open and the rifle out when I hear the words: “Grenade launcher!”
“Shit!”
I turn and run like I’ve never run before. I run like I’m healthy, like I’m not at death’s door. The dune of sand in front of me becomes steep, so I scurry on my hands and feet to get over the top. A whistle pierces the silent night and I use the last of my strength to dive over the top.
“Unh!” I land on my back, air forced from my lungs, followed by an explosion big enough to alert every authority figure in the state.
I can’t believe this all started because I couldn’t keep my hands off a peculiar girl I met in a club.
I roll onto my stomach and cover my head as debris pelts down like hail.
I knew she’d be the worst kind of trouble. I fucking knew it.
When it stops, I grab my rifle and peer over the top of the dune. I see the mansion clearly and the men that stand at the front. Closing one eye, I prop my rifle on the dune, placing the butt against my shoulder, and I look down the Nightforce scope to get a better look.
I see the guy with the launcher. I watch as he dumps the portable M72 one-shot and is handed another one. Where the fuck did these people get these kinds of weapons?
Regardless, I have to stop him. I line him up in my scope and hold my breath, hoping to slow my heart. I wasn’t a sniper in the army. Sure, I had minor training, but it wasn’t my specialty. Lucky for me, I’m not shooting from a crazy distance.
I squeeze the trigger and his head is splattered across the gate behind him. He crashes to the floor and the rest of his buddies drop like flies.
Unscathed, I see Marco’s men rush the gates, Marco in tow. I force myself to my feet and rush through the sand, dodging chunks of metal and angry flames.
When I catch up, Marco eyes me sideways. “Nice shot.”
I flick my shoulder. “Thanks.”
“I still fucking hate you.”
“Good to know.”
Jogging beside him, one of Marco’s men takes Marco’s handgun and replaces it with a machine gun. “Open up the fucking gates, before I blast them off their hinges.”
We wait in the silence, but nothing happens. To the left, Roman takes a phone call and begins swearing his ass off in Italian before tossing the phone to Marco.
“What?” he answers, pointing his machine gun to the sky. “I don’t care, Ivan. I’m going to decapitate your brother and send you his Goddamn head! Oh, you’re threatening me with war? I’m already at the battlefront, you dead-eyed, motherfucking, ugly son of a—” Roaring, he tosses the phone against the cobblestone at his feet, breaking it. “Deeeeenaaaa!”
Slinging my rifle over my shoulder, I move toward the headless body with the rocket launcher and scoop it up. “Get back!”
I rush back a few feet before letting the bad bitch loose. The metal warms in my hand as she ignites and blows the gates to smithereens, slamming metal into a handful of Deena’s Lamborghinis parked along the drive. If I could smile with these nerve dead lips, I’m sure I would.
Grabbing my rifle, I rake my fingers through my hair and push forward. It doesn’t take us long to enter the huge establishment through the front door.
Inside is immaculate, oddly royal, and extremely quiet. Too quiet.
Then, they come out of the woodwork like the maggots they are. We scatter, diving behind marble columns and whatever fortified furnitures we can find. I take out as many as I can before my gun jams, rendering itself useless. I toss it to the side and grab the handgun from my damp waistband.
“Daddy?” a feminine voice pierces through the madness and my ears prick at the sound.
“She’s upstairs!” I shout at Marco, who shoots from behind the thick column beside mine. “If you go right, I’ll go left.”
He nods at me before rushing to the next column. I go the opposite way, moving toward the staircase that curls around from each side, but meets in the middle.
I shout, demanding Marco’s men lay down some suppressive fire, but none of them know what the hell it even means, so I risk my own ass. I rush the stairs with only my handgun and two bullets remaining, using them both to kill the last two of Deena’s men. I throw my handgun to the floor and snatch a rifle from the dead body of the man at my feet.
Marco joins up with me a minute later, out of breath.
“Get the door,” he says to Roman and we stand out of the way.
Roman shrugs out of his jacket and inches up to the door, clenching a double barrel shotgun in his hand. I hold my breath as he slowly turns the handle and yanks the door open.
Marco rushes inside and his men follow without instruction. I wait, patiently, and the sounds of Marco losing his damn mind again is all the information I need to know.
Deena is in the room.
And the girly sobs that manage to seep through the mess and penetrate my soul tells me that so is Sera.
Chapter Thirteen
Sera
Deena holds me against his hard, chubby body, his handgun pressed to my temple as we stand behind his large wood grain desk littered with papers and God knows what else. I’m dressed in only a gray t-shirt much too large for me. The neckline of the shirt sags over my shoulder, threatening to expose my left breast to my father and his minions.
In the group that huddles by the large, oak double doors with their guns pointed in our direction, I see a lot of familiar faces except for the only one I really want to see. I gasp. What if Dad hurt him? What if he’s…I don’t want to think about it.
“I’m going to skin you alive, Deena,” my father growls, inching closer.
“Come any closer and I’ll blow her brains out.”
I swallow hard.
“You dumb fuck,” my dad swears. “I was considering your offer in exchange for her hand. You couldn’t wait a few weeks? You had to swoop in while I was away?”
Deena laughs and it vibrates against my back. “I didn’t go to your house for her. I came for the fucker that insulted me, the one that put a gun to my head,” I hear him sneer, right by my ear. “But when I saw them in the pool, all over each other, I thought I was doing you a favor by taking this whore off your hands. Free of charge.”
Dad flinches, clenching his jaw harder than I’ve ever seen. Tears well in my eyes as he looks at me not only with fear and anger, but disappointment too. It pierces my heart.
My soul.
If only he knew that Ben is a good man. He’s not like Deena. He’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met.
“If you’ve got a problem with me, Deena, let the girl go and we can talk.”
The tears that well in my eyes dry up and my chest inflates with hope. I watch my father’s group slowly branch out, Ben coming into the room from behind them, a rifle pressed against his shoulder. I gasp at the sight of him. His mouth bleeds, his eye almost swollen shut. My chest aches, the tears coming back full force. What’d they do?
“The time for talking is over,” Deena snaps in my ear, startling me. “I kill her or I kill you.”
I glance dow
n at the desk in front of me, spotting a gold envelope opener on the edge. I’d question why the hell anyone would still use one of these, but fuck it. Men like Deena thrive on nostalgia.
“Tell me, Ben. Is her pussy so good you’d give your life for it?”
Ben grimaces—or I think he does. It’s hard to tell under all that blood. “Stop talking.”
Glancing down, I slowly reach for the envelope opener. Grabbing it by its blade, I pull it back and hold it by its hilt. His chest vibrates as he talks, but I can’t hear him. All I can hear is my heart as it pounds in my ears. I moisten my lips and clench the envelope opener. I exhale, then inhale. All I gotta do is drive this into his thigh muscle and run. I lift the opener as high as I can without alerting Deena to what I’m doing. I close my eyes for the briefest moment and pray to God that he doesn’t squeeze the trigger on reflex.
Clenching my teeth together, I slam the envelope opener into Deena’s thigh and he howls in pain.
Bang! I dive out of the way, crying out as my hip slams into the hard wood when I crash to the floor. Bang.
There’s a ringing in my ears I can’t seem to shake. I stuff them with my fingers, and I remain still, squeezing my eyes shut. Hands grab at me—all different kinds of hands—and they pull me to my feet. I open my eyes as my father’s men drag me toward the door. I watch the scene before me unfold in slo-mo. Deena cradles his shoulder on the floor, his face red, dribbling spit out of his mouth while he unintelligibly yells at my father, who towers above him.
To his left, Roman, Luca, and Levi stand above Ben, stomping their feet all over him. Screaming, I thrash against the men that hold me and manage to slip free.
My father moves toward Ben before I’m close enough to stop him.
“Dad, no!” I cross the floor, rushing over to him. Pulling back his leg, he kicks Ben in the ribs. Ben curls up with a groan, clenching his body tightly.
“Daddy, please!”
I force my way between them and kneel at Ben’s side, exposing my palms to my father, tears burning hot trails down my cheeks.
“Get out of my way,” he demands, flicking his head at Luca, who grabs my arms and tugs me to my feet.
I dig my feet in, no longer able to see the sharp lines of my father’s angry face. I beg him over and over to leave Ben alone. In a panic, I promise to never speak to Ben again. I promise to never leave the house. I promise to marry whoever he wants me to marry so long as Ben is spared.
“It’s not his fault,” I shout, a few feet from the room’s exit. “He didn’t do anything! I did.” I hiccup, wincing as my lungs and my throat burn. “He saved my life! And you’re not going to spare him?”
I’m tugged out of the room and the door is slammed shut in my face. I sag in Luca’s grip as all my fight leaves my body. I knew this would happen. I fucking knew it would…
…and still I persisted.
Ben
Once the last of my adrenaline is kicked out of me, my body gives up. I hear them shout above me, but I don’t have the energy to fully process the words they speak. Only once voice stands out above the fray, hers.
I hear it, but it grows more and more distant, and the further it fades, the less I want to stay here.
“At least let me call him an ambulance.” Her cry echoes through my head, and I can’t muster the energy to tell her I’m okay.
I hear faint murmurs of Marco as he demands they take Deena to “the warehouse” for his punishment and I wonder if that’s where I’ll end up.
It’s funny. I went from complaining because the jobs I was doing weren’t exciting enough to working as a bodyguard for some mafia princess. And now I’m lying on the floor of a mob’s mansion, minutes away from death because of a fucking girl I met at a club I didn’t even want to be at. Sera and I were destined to fail from the beginning, really. The sex was just too good for us to see the bigger picture.
My eyelids grow heavy, so heavy I don’t think I can open them ever again…
…man, my brother is going to be pissed when he finds out I couldn’t even keep this job for longer than two days, but hey, at least I tried.
Epilogue
Ben
Months later
I suck the last of my chocolate milkshake up the long, red and white straw, uncaring that it makes that annoying slurping sound people hate so much. I feel their stares on me and imagine their eyebrows pulling tightly together as their frustrations mount.
The milkshakes are mediocre today. They were the best once.
I pick up my napkin and swipe it once across my lips before scrunching it in my fist and dropping it into the tall, empty glass. Exhaling, I slide out of the spacious, red leather booth and pull my wallet out of the back pocket of my worn jeans. The milkshakes here didn’t always cost six dollars. I swear they hike the price up every time I come.
Bastards.
I drop a twenty-dollar bill on the table and turn toward the exit.
“See you tomorrow, Ben.”
I don’t look at the waitress, Donna, as I saunter past the counter where she pours a young gentleman in clean, denim overalls a fresh, hot coffee.
“See you tomorrow, Donna.”
Bells clash together as I press my palm to the door of the isolated little roadhouse on the edge of town and step outside. Warm summer air kisses my face and I sigh.
It’s a good day to be alive.
The recovery from the beating I took was a long road. I spent a few solid weeks in the hospital and an extra few at Chad’s place as he helped nurse me back to health. When I was ready, I called my brother and I apologized for complaining about working an average job. I promised I’d give it my all if he gave me another chance and he did. The only good thing to come out of my brief time working for the Ventillis was the fact Marco paid off my mother’s house as thanks for helping him save Sera. No words were exchanged, just a note that said:
“Consider this payment for your two days.–Marco.”
Which brings me to now.
My name is Ben Campbell, I’m a full blooded American, and I no longer serve in the United States Army. Instead, I fetch coffee and mix concrete, but I don’t get shot at and, after the last eleven years of my life, that’s all I can ask for.
I never left Vegas, even though Marco demanded it the night everything went to shit. I figured if he wanted to kill me, he would have already. Besides, I’m not leaving my mother’s house. She loved it more than anything.
Stomping down the metal stairs in my heavy, brown boots, I reach into the front pocket of my jeans and pluck out a fresh, full packet of cigarettes. Flicking the cardboard flap back, I take out a cigarette and pinch it between my lips. I move toward my big black truck, resting against its bull bar, bending my leg at the knee. I pluck the cigarette from my lips and glance down at it.
I don’t even feel like having it. I stuff it into the back pocket of my jeans and push off my truck.
Behind me, the sounds of gravel crushing underneath the tires of a car get awfully close. I turn around and my heart drops into my intestines at the sight of a sleek, black town car, the number plate reading a surname I never thought I’d see again.
Ventilli.
I wait with bated breath before the rear passenger door opens and out steps Marco, wearing a black polo and matching slacks.
Fuck. I fold my arms across my chest. What the hell did I do now? If he’s here to demand I leave, he’s in for a rude awakening. He’ll have to kill me.
Pursing his lips, Marco steps to the side and flicks his head at whoever is inside. My lips part when I see her bounce out wearing a cute blue summer dress that doesn’t expose her cleavage, but cuts off high above the knee. Her long, wavy black hair curls around her breasts and she beams widely at me, so wide her cheeks look like they’re about to pop, but holy shit is she as beautiful as ever.
Marco turns to me and my heart races. “If you want to see my daughter, then we need to lay down some ground rules, all right?”
I open my mout
h and a pathetic rush of air comes out. I just…I just can’t believe I’m laying my eyes on her. Right now. In the flesh.
“Swing by the house this evening and we can have a chat.”
Marco mutters something to Sera before lowering himself into the car. I watch the car drive off, leaving me alone with her.
Alone.
For the first time since that awful night.
“Hi,” she says when the dust settles, smiling sweetly at me.
“Hi.” I shake my head, still in shock. “You look good.”
Blush swells in her cheeks and she glances down at her thin strapped sandals. “So do you.”
The air between us feels like it should be awkward, but it isn’t. I just don’t know where to start. I scratch my head. If I knew I was going to see her today, I would have put more effort into my appearance. I would have shaved this stubble and ran a comb through my hair. I look like shit. Worn jeans and a grey tee covered in faint white powder from a hard day’s work.
I grab my baseball cap at the front and lift it to nervously scratch at my hair. “This isn’t a test, is it?”
She steps closer, placing her hands behind her back. “You haven’t touched me yet so, if it was, you’ve passed with flying colors.”
Holy fuck, I’ve missed her. I pull off my cap and open my arms to her. Grinning widely, she rushes toward me and throws her small body against mine. Inhaling her sweet scent, I lift her off the ground and hug her tightly. She cups my face and plants a long kiss on my mouth. I close my eyes and pray this isn’t a dream. She smiles against my lips and her touch doesn’t fade away, like it does most nights. She’s here. She’s in my arms, and this time it’s not sordid or something I should be ashamed of. For the first time in a long time, this place finally feels like home.
I melt into Sera as three little words come to mind.
God bless America.