I grab my stiletto heel that was lying beside the closet, and I charge at the man nearest me. I don’t have a thought, not a single fear going through my mind. It’s all adrenaline. The second that man touched my daughter, I was seeing red. My stiletto heel nailed his shoulder, and his grip slackened on Cierra.

“Go to your room!” I tell her, as I strike for him again, the high heel aimed this time for his face. There’s so much fury behind my actions, and I’m sure they didn’t expect it from me. I’m still in my pink pajamas, my hair pulled back in a loose bun, and mascara rings still under my eyes from all the crying I’d done this morning before Cierra woke up.

But all my heartbreak is forgotten, and the only thing on my mind is protecting her.

These two guys are big though, and I’m not sure even a mother’s fury could overpower one of them, let alone both. I attack the guy before me all the same; it doesn’t matter that I might lose, that I might die, I just need to beat this guy down and then worry about the rest later. My daughter depends on it.

“You fucking whore!” he cries at me, punching me with the weight of an anvil, but I just keep attacking. I stab the heel of my stiletto into his shoulder and he cries out, the heel lodged in his flesh as he reels back. I don’t give in, and I claw at his eyes, push him back.

I’ve done so much for my girl. I gave up my dreams of owning and running a little bookstore and coffee shop, I’ve danced every night of the week for as long as I could handle it to pay for her future. I’ll fight these guys down, I’ll do it. I’ll make it happen. And I dig my thumbs into this man’s eyes, my nails breaking but the jagged pieces digging in all the same and making him scream out.

Nobody fucks with my daughter!

I break him down as he cries in pain, his muscles going to little use as he tries to pull my arms away from him, but it’s too late. I’m lodged in there, and no force on earth is going to make me back off.

And then he goes slack. I feel crazed, but I’m a mom now. And I’m only half done.

I look at the other guy, ready for blood. But he’s got a gun out. And suddenly reality floods back in: I’m going to die.

I could have strength enough to lift a bus, but a bullet will still end me.

I scream and get ready to attack him too, all the same. But the bang of a gun going off resonates and…

He slumps to the ground, lifeless.

I’m confused. Bloodied. But mainly confused.

Then I look to the door.

The last person I ever expected to see again.

Viktor. Standing there. Gun out. He’d shot the thug once in the back of the head, but didn’t wait, he moved to the guy I attacked. Then put a bullet in his head too, just in case.

“Is that all of them?” he asks me, sounding all business. Like a soldier.

“Yes,” I say, but my world is spinning, my arms shaking wildly. What have I done? What’s going on?

I have two corpses in my living room, and he’s standing in front of me like out of a dream. Is this heaven? Have I died, and now I’m just seeing the man I love, one final time? Hallucinating our victory before I pass over?

“Are you okay?” he steps up to me, placing a hand on my cheek, looking into my eyes. But it’s not a romantic gaze, as much as my first impulse is to see it as one. He’s checking me out like it’s a battlefield, trying to see if I’m hurt. “Where’s your daughter? Is she safe? I heard you cry out about her,” he explains.

“Cierra,” I whisper, before bolting from Viktor towards her room. I open her door, and I don’t see her at first. But then I see the closet is a little ajar, and I cautiously open it, finding my little girl’s terrified face staring at me.

Tears are already streaming down my face as I open my arms for her hug. “It’s okay. They’re gone,” I coo in her ear, rocking her as she cries into my shoulder.

Viktor enters the room a little while later, looking so serious, all business. I can’t tell if it’s the gangster or the soldier in him.

“Is she okay? If so, we should go. This place won’t be safe. They won’t be the last,” he says to me, as if this all makes sense. As if two thugs showing up out of nowhere, demanding to know where John is, was somehow all normal, expected stuff that he was prepared to handle.

I cover her ears as I look back at him. “This is our home. I can’t just... just... take her somewhere else. There is nowhere else.”

“Come to my place,” he tells me. “It’s new, it’s nice, there’s room for you both. I’ll protect you and your daughter,” he says to me with such conviction and certainty. “But whatever you do, we can’t wait. Trouble is going to be here any moment now, one way or another. We really need to go, Alice.”

I’m about to argue, but I know, in part, he’s right. At least going with the devil I know will buy me some time to figure out where to go. I go to my side dresser and take out a small stack of bills, then rush into the kitchen. In the back of the oven’s drawer, I take out three envelopes: everything I’d saved for Cierra’s future. No one knew about this money. Not even John. Especially not John. I tuck it in my purse, and quickly pack an overnight bag.

“We’re going to spend the night with mommy’s friend,” I tell Cierra in her room, as I grab some clothes for her. “But first, we gotta play hide and go seek.” I hold out a blindfold, and though she looks at me skeptically, she lets me tie the black fabric around her eyes. “I’ll just carry you outside and we’ll play at his place!”

She’s unsure and confused, but I manage to assure her and get her to go along with it as Viktor escorts us out. He peers outside like it’s some kind of action movie, but after what I just lived through, I’m convinced it’s necessary.

He takes me on down to his car, a nice but simple black ride, and he opens the door for Cierra and me in the back.

“Won’t be long and we’ll chill out at my place, you two,” he tells us, speaking in a reassuring tone for Cierra. And instantly he’s hopping into the driver seat and starting up. I worry for a moment he’ll tear out of there like a bat out of hell and freak her out, but he’s both speedy and safe, taking his time.

I can hear sirens and I start to panic.

“Viktor…” I say, tension high in my voice.

“Don’t worry, Alice,” he tells me, driving away calmly as if nothing is wrong. The cop cars racing by, undoubtedly on their way to my place after reports of gunfire. But they pay us no mind, and we head on down the road at a casual driving pace.

My heart is pounding so hard in my chest, but I slump back in my seat, cradling Cierra to my chest, rocking her back and forth gently. She knows something is wrong. She’s a smart kid, and she can feel the tension in my bones. But I can’t do anything about that. All I can do is feel relieved that she’s safe.

Viktor glances back at us in the rearview mirror and smiles handsomely, just like I knew he could.

“Don’t worry ladies. You’ll love my place. It’s almost fit for two lovely queens like yourselves,” he says in that disarming way of his. “How about I treat you both to some pizza when we get there, huh? I know a great place, you’ll love it. If you’re a good girl they even bring you some fresh baked cookie pie.”

“Would you like that, Cierra?” I ask her, and even though she’s shy and likely terrified, she nods her head eagerly. “Tell Viktor,” I urge her.

“I’d like that,” she says in a soft voice, and I kiss the crown of her head.

Though now that the adrenaline has faded, I catch Viktor’s eyes in the mirror.

Does he know that she’s his?