He listens again.
“Call me back immediately.” He hangs up.
Think.
I hear a car pull up on the gravel outside and I close my eyes. Fuck, here we go.
I hear the two men talking and the door opens and Stucco walks in smiling.
Antonio takes a gun and aims it straight at his head.
Stuccos face falls and he holds his hands up in the air.
“Do you have something to tell us?” Antonio growls.
“W-what’s going on?” Stucco stammers frightfully.
It’s really hard not to smirk as I watch these fuckers all turn on each other.
Antonio’s phone rings and he answers immediately. Stucco stands still with his hands in the air.
Antonio listens and his eyes flicker with fury before he hangs up. He drops his gun and shoots Stucco straight in the leg.
The gun shot rings loudly and he falls the ground, screaming out in pain.
“Where are the fucking diamonds?” Antonio growls.
“Ahhh,” he cries as he writhes around in pain. “What are you talking about?”
“Do not lie to me!” My father yells. He walks over and kicks Stucco hard in the stomach.
I scrunch my eyes shut. Oh no, I don’t want to see this.
“Who is working with you?” he yells.
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” he screams.
He kicks him again and I drop my head as tears fill my eyes. This is brutal.
I hear a bang outside and a commotion, and then a gunshot rings out.
What?
Someone is here. Someone is outside.
Antonio lifts his gun and points his finger in the air and rotates it. The three remaining men all lift their guns and disappear out the front door.
Oh no. Oh no. Who is that?
Stucco writhes in pain as he bleeds profusely, and I drop my head once more so I don’t have to see the suffering.
I can’t deal with this.
I hear a bang and then a crunch and I hear another man cry out.
Oh fuck, what’s going on out there?
Antonio lifts his chin to the last remaining two guards and they walk over to the window to try and see what is going on. After a moment they walk to the other end of the factory and disappear out another entrance.
I stop breathing.
I sit tied to a chair, alone in a room with two of the most evil men on the planet. Is that my Stace out there fighting? He needs my help? I begin to frantically try to untie the rope. I have to get out of here. I need to help him.
I hear another gunshot and my father disappears into the darkness of the factory.
Tears of fear run down my face.
The door bangs open and Stace comes into view covered in blood. Oh my God, he’s taken out the four men outside with his bare hands.
He holds his gun up at Antonio. “Untie her.” He growls.
Antonio smiles darkly. “Not a chance.” He raises his gun and points it at Stace. I rock my chair back and forward. I need to distract him. The chair falls and in that split second Stace runs at Antonio and tackles him to the ground. They go flying onto the hard concrete with a thud. He hits him hard three times and smashes the gun from his hands. Antonio rolls on top and hits Stace and blood spatters up everywhere. The sounds of the hits are so brutal.
Stace gets the upper hand again and rolls on top as he smashes his head on the concrete and my father walks out of the shadows with his gun drawn on Stace
No… dear, God, no.
“No!” I yell.
He turns and shoots me in the upper thigh and I scream out in pain.
The fighting immediately stops and Antonio is only semi-conscious as he lies on his back.
I scream in pain. Oh God, I’m going to die.
Stace stands covered in blood and holds his hands in the air in surrender.
“No,” I yell. “Run, Stace!” I scream as the burn of the bullet burns my skin and I see the large sea of deep, dark red blood puddle around me on the floor.
He has a deep gash on his cheekbone and his nose is obviously broken, the blood trickling down his face.
“Don’t kill her,” he whispers.
“Why not?’
“Kill me instead.”
Vikinos holds the gun at Stace. “On your knees.”
“Stace, no,” I cry.
Not again.
No, not again.
Stace drops to his knees.
“Hands behind your head.”
Stace slowly brings his hands up to behind his head.
“I love you, Rosh,” he whispers almost to himself.
My father walks around behind him and places the gun to the back of his head.
“Stop it!” I scream. “No, please,” I beg.
Two gunshots ring out.
“No!” I cry.
But it is my father that drops to the ground.
A bullet hole right through his forehead and another through his chest.
My eyes fly up to the ceiling above to see two men in black with sniper rifles hidden in the beams.
My face screws up in tears of relief and I drop my head and weep. Stace falls back to the ground from his knees.
He is covered in blood and exhausted.
A siren rings out from outside, and suddenly, after a commotion, ten policemen come storming through the doors in full swat gear.
They run to me. “Roshelle.” The policeman unties me. “Are you okay?” He lifts his face to meet mine. “What happened?”
“A man came in and shot him,” I whisper.
“What man?” the policeman asks.
“He left in a car,” I whisper as my eyes find Stace.
The hit men came through.
I need to cover for them because they just saved our lives.
I inhale deeply as I try to get comfortable. I’m half asleep, groggy, and incoherent.
“Shelly,” a familiar voice whispers.
I frown in the semi-lit room. Who is that?
“Shelly,” the voice whispers again. “Come back to me.”
I frown as I drag my eyes open and the pain in my leg throbs. It’s semi-dark, dusk, maybe. I glance around at my surroundings. I’m in a hospital room.
What? Where am I?
“Shelly. Oh my God. I thought I was going to lose you,” he whispers as he drops his head to rest on the bed.
I frown. What the hell? “Where?” I stop myself.
Todd takes my hand in his. “You’re safe now.”
I shake my head as confusion sets in. Stace. Where is Stace? My thoughts are interrupted by a nurse as she walks into the room.
“Oh, she’s awake.” She smiles, she walks over and takes my blood pressure and vitals.
“Do you know where you are?” she asks.
I look around the room in despair. “Hospital?” I whisper.
She smiles broadly and Todd picks my hand back up in his. I cough. My throat is so dry. The nurse passes me a glass of water and I sip it slowly.
“What happened?” I whisper.
Todd brushes the hair back from my forehead and I swat his hand away. “Don’t,” I whisper, annoyed.
“You have been through a horrifying ordeal,” Todd replies softly. “You are home now.”
My eyes hold his, and although I’m still foggy, I know I didn’t imagine him and Melissa at that nightclub.
“Home?” I ask.
“Yes, I’m here, and I’m not leaving your side. I’ve been frantic.”