“You’re alright, baby.” I kiss her hair and look around the room. I can’t fucking believe she’s the one who fired first. She put herself in danger. She put the rest of us in danger. To be fair though, we all knew. Every fucking one of us was wearing Kevlar. They weren’t. Cocky fuckers.

Dead bodies are still lying on the ground. Two have been removed. Their blood left streaks across the floor as they were dragged out of the room. Valettis. It fucking hurts my chest. Two lost. But that’s two too many. The cleanup crew sprays something on the ground. They’re almost done cleaning up the evidence they don’t want found.

One’s a young boy, maybe in his early 20s. He wasn’t here when this shit started. He’s not one of the group that flew in here when bullets started flying. Vince was smart. The numbers were stacked in his favor, but they were hidden.

I need to take her out of here. I walk us to the back quickly and spot an open door with soft voices coming from beyond the jamb. At this distance I can only make out incoherent murmurs. I know it’s the women, though. The shipment. I walk to the open doorway and take a look inside.

Nine women are lying on their sides in the middle of the room. They’re strung out on something so fucked, they couldn’t even sit in the chairs. They’re normal women. Wearing I’m guessing whatever clothes they were taken in. The entire room smells like piss. Most have scratches or bruises somewhere on their bodies.

One woman is leaning against the wall. Her eyes are vacant and her body is swaying. Two men are beside her. One is holding her up, while the other is kneeling on the floor. The one kneeling digs through a small black bag. When he looks up at her, I recognize him as Anthony. He stands up, opens her eyes, and flashes a small light into them.

Fuck. That poor woman. All of them.

I force myself to look away. They’re safe now. But they wouldn’t have been. I wish I could’ve done something more. I wish I’d done something sooner, before any of this shit happened. Maybe this sick feeling is why my uncle turned to the feds. Regret consumes me. I know I’d be dead if I had acted earlier, though. And then where would those women be? I hold Ava tighter and keep walking.

Vince is straight ahead. I have to ask to make sure. “You call them yet?”

“Not yet.” We're just waiting on Anthony to give the okay to leave them so we’re gone when the LEOs get here.

“They need to remain in the room.” His eyes dart to Ava. “Just so they'll be easily found.” My grip on her tightens.

“I understand.” I say it simply, but my tone is hard.

“We’re all set, boss. She’s gonna make it,” Anthony announces from behind me. He walks past me to Vince. As he stands at his boss’s side, he also looks at Ava and then at me.

I won’t fucking do it. She needs me. I won’t leave her with the Valettis. And they aren’t taking me away from her either. I struggle to come up with an excuse. I know she’s not okay. The way she looked after she fucking mutilated Vadik. I know she’s not alright. But I can help her. I need to be there for her. I know they won’t let her go when she knows as much as she does. She’s a mafia princess. She should be respected and she knows the rules to keep her mouth shut. But I don’t know if they’ll live up to the unspoken rules. I’m not letting her go. Not with them. Not with anyone.

Vince stares at me as he answers Anthony. “Alright, time to call 'em.” He finally looks at Anthony and says, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

The two of them walk past me and Vince glances over his shoulder. “You’ll hear from me later tonight.”

I nod my head and stay right there, holding onto my girl. The thought warms my chest. That’s exactly who she is. My girl.

I hear the men yell as Vince turns the corner and tells them to get the fuck out. I take that as my cue and walk her out of the back. I quicken my steps to get to my car as fast as fucking possible and get her in the passenger side. The other cars are in front of me, but the Valettis aren't there yet. I look to my right and there’s no one there. As I walk around the car to my side I look to my right, still no one.

And then I open my door and slide in, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I feel like a fucking thief. I need to get her out of here. I put the car in reverse and look in the rear view mirror.

Vince looks at my car, and I swear he makes eye contact with me. But then he turns around and walks to a black Range Rover in the back.

I know he saw us.

I don’t know what he’s going to do about it.

But I don’t fucking care. She’s mine.