Jax
Emilio topples to the ground howling, his non-bandaged hand slack, streaming blood from a wound on his palm. I grab the gun and point it at him.
“I came as fast as I could,” Bella says. “He had me locked up down there in the room.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I was coming for you.”
Her eyes are shining, and she looks sloppily beautiful, with her red eyes and improperly buttoned shirt.
“You should look away,” I say.
She gapes at me uncomprehendingly.
“I’m ending this,” I explain.
Her face falls. “I already incapacitated them all inside,” she says slowly. “You don’t need to do that.”
Now it’s my turn to gape at her. “Bella. Your brother was going to have you shipped out as a sex slave.”
As if he wants to help my cause, Emilio rolls onto his back and, eyes flashing, whimpers, “Fuck you both!”
But Bella doesn’t even glance at him. Instead, her face set, her eyes sad, she says, “I know. But Jax, he’s my brother.”
I tear my gaze away from hers, direct it at the pathetic sack of shit sobbing at our feet, the waste of space I’m going to put down.
“He killed my mom, Bella.”
“What?”
“He said that she was cheating with your dad, that he shot her.”
When I glance at Bella’s face, she doesn’t look as shocked as she sounds. I lift the gun, so it’s pointed at her, while the sick realization tumbles out of my mouth: “You knew. You knew.”
But at my words, Bella’s eyes just fill with more tears. “Papa told me a few days ago that he was involved with your mother. He never knew who killed her.”
Emilio gargles out a laugh. “If he did, he woulda… he woulda… thanked me. You should all be… Your mom was a slut.”
I shoot Emilio’s foot, and another ear-splitting howl erupts out of his lips.
Bella steps forward and extends her hand. “Jax. You’ve hurt him enough. Please.”
I look at her, the woman I love, the girl who can’t understand. This scum killed my mother. He kidnapped my sister. He tried to kill me. Letting him live would go against everything I’ve stood for, fought for. Killing him would end this.
I lift the gun. I have to do this.
“It won’t bring her back,” Bella says, and this time, there’s understanding in those dark eyes of hers.
Her mother is dead, too. And now, her father is gone as well.
Bella extends her hand out further. “Please, Jax. There’s been enough death and pain these past few days.”
I don’t move. My hand is holding the gun that’s pointed at the sobbing waste of space I’m going to shoot.
“Please, Jax. If you love me, you’ll do this.”
I look up at her, my love, whose tears are finally streaming down now. Who loves me and who’s putting that love, putting everything on the line for this scum. This scum who just so happens to be her brother.
I lower the gun, then raise it again. Then, finally, lower it.
I can’t shoot Bella’s brother in front of her.
“Look away,” I tell her.
She doesn’t move, and I point the gun at her.
“Look away, Bella, I mean it.”
Tears streaming down her face now, she can only shake her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
And now my hand is trembling of its accord, at the choice before me: my family or hers, my love or my revenge.
And my love is spreading her arms, and my revenge is sobbing a repentance he doesn’t feel.
I switch the gun back and forth from my love to my revenge. The gun stops in front of my revenge. I cock it.
I point it at Bella and… hand it over.
She takes it with a trembling hand. Then takes my hand with her other one. “Thank you, Jax.”
Emilio lets out a guffaw of ugly victory. My kick to his ribs transforms it into a howl of pain.
Tucking the gun into her pant pocket, Bella smiles, then shrugs. “He deserved that.”
I advance until I’m right in front of her, and say, “One more thing.” I press my lips to hers, while we hold each other tight.
Finally, we have to draw apart, shooting glares at Emilio, who’s making a spluttering gurgling that could be laughing or crying.
“I… should probably get him to a doctor,” Bella says. “Though it’ll be fun explaining how he got shot in the other arm and the foot.”
I smirk. “Just tell ‘em Emilio inadvertently shot himself twice. If they know him, they’ll buy it.”
We laugh.
I help her pick Emilio up and carry him toward the house. The whole journey back is surreal. Last time I padded over this dirt I was sure I was going to die. Now, however, I know that my life has just begun.
I glance over at her, the remarkable woman I can finally take out. Her face is creased with the effort of carrying Emilio.
“Sorry, babe,” I say. “I do have some guys who could help us but if I asked them to help I’d also ask them to accidentally-on-purpose kill this bastard.”
Bella nods, holding back a smile. “Yeah, think it’s better I figured this one out myself. And Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m ready for that date when you are.”
We laugh, and I pump up my fist victoriously.
“And to earn it, all I had to do was blow up your two compounds, find out your true identity and almost kill your brother.”
At the door, I stagger with a sudden jolt of pain. I look down at my leg, the white pant of my lower leg now all red. I had completely forgotten the bullet lodged in it with all the craziness.
“Your leg!” Bella exclaims, “Are you ok?”
“Yes, I...” I take a step forward and fall down, dropping Emilio’s feet on the ground. Pain rips through my whole leg, and I shake my head. “No, I… think we need to staunch the bleeding.”
Bella places Emilio’s upper body on the ground. Then, taking a knife out of her pocket, she crouches down and slices through the bottom of her shirt, cutting off a wide strip of fabric.
I grin at her newly showcased bare torso. “Well, that’s an improvement.”
Grinning herself, Bella lifts my pant leg, pulls it back, then puts the fabric over top of it, tying it round as tight as she can.
Together, we head inside, though I can walk by myself now. The pain is almost completely gone actually. Bella’s tourniquet may have just saved the day.
As we enter the house through the sliding door, I glance over into the living room, where the men from before are, flopped unconscious.
“Hey… where are the – how did you get by them?” I ask.
“Oh, my traitorous lieutenants? I just shot them in both hands,” Bella answers casually.
We plop Emilio on the kitchen floor and, as Bella takes out her phone, I gape at her.
“What?” she asks. “I’ve been a sharpshooter since I was a kid.”
She dials on her phone then, glancing up, adds, “Don’t believe me? Check their hands. I’m calling an ambulance.”
While Bella goes upstairs to talk to an ambulance, I head over to the couches to get a good look at the men’s hands. But once I do, I have to stop, crouch down and stare for a good minute to make sure I’m actually seeing what I think I’m seeing.
In all four of their hands, the bullet hole is dead center in each of their palms.
As I rise and turn around, there’s a gun to my chest.
“Don’t you go trying anything,” a Mexican woman says.
Behind her, Bella’s dog barks at me.
“Uhh… who are you?” I ask.
“Who am I?” she demands, eyes flashing. “Who are you?”
She looks like a maid, and she’s holding the gun like a maid, all tilted wrong and in the incorrect position for shooting. I could take her out easily, but I better not until I know it’s okay with Bella.
“I’m Jax Forester,” I say, “Bella’s boyfriend.”
“Now I know you are lying,” the woman snaps. “Bella does not have a boyfriend.”
The woman shakes her bunned head, and Muffin barks out her agreement.
At this very opportune moment, Bella’s voice comes down the stairs. “Jax?”
The woman squints then glares at me, raising her nose in the air.
Footsteps and then: “Paula!”
Paula sniffs and doesn't lower the gun. “He says he is your boyfriend. I do not believe him.”
Smiling, Bella walks over. “Oh, is that so?”
“Would be so if you’d ever go out on a date with me,” I say, then, with a glance at the gun still pressed against my chest, “And if this Paula of yours doesn’t kill me first.”
“Paula,” Bella says in a reproving tone. She takes the gun.
Paula, however, only turns on her heel and stalks off, Muffin close behind. At the top of stairs, she declares, “Muffin doesn’t like him either.” The door slams behind her.
Holding back a smile, Bella turns to me. “Sorry, that’s my maid. She has very strong opinions.”
I glance down at the indent on my shirt from where the gun was pressed. “Understood. Next time I’ll come with two bouquets of flowers.”
Bella giggles and I kiss her. Mid-kiss, I remember and pull back. “Shit!”
“What is it?” Bella asks.
“The guys… I… did you see an iPhone 7 anywhere when you were gunning down those lieutenants of yours?”
Bella heads for the couches. “I was pretty preoccupied with shooting two pairs of hands, but let’s check now.”
Sure enough, wedged deep in the recesses of the taupe couch is my beloved iPhone 7. The message I see which they must’ve sent to Whitey makes me smile: Nothing yet. Wait for my order.
That was sent ten minutes ago.
I show the text to Bella with a grin, then gesture outside. “C’mon, I want you to meet the boys.”
She nods. “Okay, but first let’s stash all of them in the secret room, so they can’t escape while we go.”
“Good idea,” I say.
And, slowly but surely, one by one we drag the dead weight down and throw it in the secret room.
Finally, once we’ve shoved the armchair in front, we cast each other tired victorious smiles and head out. The boys aren’t still waiting at the front door, and I don’t blame them. It’s been a good thirty minutes. They probably figured I found Bella and wanted to have a bit of fun before I let them know.
As we walk there, Bella pauses and stares into my face. “Hey, are you okay?”
I shrug. “Yeah, my leg doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“No, I mean… what Emilio said about your mom.”
I keep on walking. “We don't have time for this.”
“Hey,” she says, putting her hand on my cheek, “Are you okay, Jax?”
I stop, keeping my gaze on her hand, my voice steady. “I always wondered why my father left after Mom was killed. Now I know, I guess. He found out the truth and couldn’t take it.”
I shake my head.
“It’s funny, all this time I’ve hated him so much that I forced him out of my mind – I never spoke of him, never even thought about him. He tried getting back in contact, and I pushed him away. I wanted nothing to do with him. But now, I still don’t condone what he did, but I at least understand it. I never did before, and this is why – not knowing that mom was cheating. This is the missing piece.”
I take Bella’s hand and squeeze it. “C’mon.” And we continue on.
Down the street, I can hear the music from half a block away. When we near the van, Bella and I stand off behind a mailbox so we won’t be seen. Here, we watch them, the whole van bobbing with the Rolling Stones, while my three friends wedged in the front seat sway from side to side, their arms slung around each another, singing their heads off.
When the song finally falls silent, I knock on the window.
Whitey glances over, freezes, his smile sliding down. He rolls down the window and sighs. “We missed it, didn’t we?”
I nod and grin. “That’s not all.”
Looking past me, to Bella, Whitey sighs again. “You didn’t kill her, did you?”
I step back, sling my arm around Bella, and open the door. “Boys, meet my girlfriend, Bella Russo.”
They all shake her hand in silence.
Brax is the one who finally says it: “So uh, yeah, Bella Russo. So, isn’t she something of what you’d call our enemy? Yeah?”
Bella smiles. “Not for long. I’m changing the Russo family business. Going legitimate. We won’t be giving you boys any more trouble.”
Everyone nods their approval, then Whitey pats Bella’s arm. “Hey, boss? This one ain’t so bad.”
We all laugh.
“Jax got shot,” Bella says. “He’ll have to be taken to a hospital.”
They all nod, then Whitey shoots me a sidelong look. “Hey, boss, what do you say to a Dairy Queen run after the hospital, eh?”
“You wanna come?” I ask Bella, but she shakes her head.
“My family could be back here any minute, and then the ambulance is on its way too. You go.”
I step away. “I want to be here for you.”
She smiles. “You have been. But you’re hurt; you need to go to the hospital. Besides, it’s best if you leave now. It’s going to be a shit show as it is.”
I take her hand. “You sure?”
She kisses me. “I’m sure.”
I kiss her again, this time savoring it, as the boys give supportive whoops.
I get in the van, and she waves. “Goodbye, Jax Forester.”
I wave back. “Goodbye, Bella Russo.”
Then I close the door, and we’re off.