Chapter Twenty-Six
Olivia
Snake eagerly hands over Mom in exchange for his friend. I sneer at him. He’d promised he wouldn’t hurt us, but what does he think Vince is going to do? And where is Bruno? Whatever he had planned didn’t work. The trade went through. My mom and I are at the mercy of Vince now.
Mom’s face is scrunched in bitter disgust as Vince slips his arm around her. He puts the other arm around me, hugging us close to him.
“I’m back with my girls,” Vince says. “What a happy day.”
Snake isn’t even looking at us. He’s inspecting his haggard friend. What has Vince done to him? Anthony’s hand is bloody and mangled. His face is covered with bruises, some old and healing, some fresh. One of his eyes is swollen shut. He’s probably endured several beatings. What kind of sick fuck can do that to someone? The way Vince treats his captives is in sharp contrast to how Bruno treated me. He fed me, clothed me. He took care of me. Bruno is nothing like my father.
Vince leads Mom and me towards the exit. Gunmen flank us on both sides, ensuring that we can’t get away.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Snake,” Vince tosses over his shoulder. “You’ll be seeing me again very soon.”
We walk outside. There’s a line of cars parked on the curb. I reach behind Vince’s back and grasp Mom’s hand. She squeezes back.
“What a wonderful day for a family reunion, huh, Minnie?” Vince asks. He presses his mouth against her ear, lowering his voice. “You thought you could leave me? That you could keep my daughter from me? Looks like you were wrong.”
A soldier opens the backdoor of a car for Vince. He pushes Mom and me inside.
“Has anyone seen Nick and Tony?” I hear a soldier ask.
Vince smirks. “Probably sucking each other off somewhere.”
He gets in the car with us. The backseat is roomy. It’s almost as big as a limo. Vince raps on the privacy glass.
“Let’s go, Johnny,” he says.
The engine turns over. As we peel away from the curb, my stomach drops. This is it. It’s over.
Vince reaches beneath the seat. There’s a small refrigerator there. He holds up a bottle of champagne.
“You two look so grim,” Vince says. “It’s like you’re not happy to see me. You’re going to hurt my feelings.” His face twists in mock sadness before he smiles and laughs chillingly. He pops open the champagne. “This is cause for celebration. How about a drink?”
He offers the bottle to Mom. She presses her lips together, refusing to drink.
Vince’s face reddens with anger. “Lighten up, Minnie. I just saved you from those terrible men.”
Mom turns to him, her face dripping with venom. “I’d rather be dead than here with you.” She rears her head back, then spits right in his face.
Vince laughs creepily while wiping the saliva from his eyes. “You were always a spitfire, but I believe you’ve forgotten how to behave.” In a flash, Vince jerks him arm, elbowing Mom right in the nose. She cups her hand to her face and they quickly fill with blood.
My stomach roils. I feel like I’m going to vomit. I can’t be here. I can’t see this. I don’t want to watch my mother being beaten by a madman. I glance around the car desperately. There has to be a way out of here. My eyes fall on the privacy glass. If that driver had any respect for women, or human life at all, he’d do something to help us. But no, he’s in Vince’s pocket. I stare at the window, silently hating the driver. But as I do, his outline comes into focus, broad shoulders, a thick neck. My heart flutters with hope. Could it be?
Vince’s cell phone rings. He fishes it out of his pocket with an annoyed groan.
“What is it?” he snaps. “I’m having quality time with my family.”
The phone is on speaker. I can hear the man’s voice.
“Sorry, boss, but this is important. We found Nick and Tony in the alley. They said some huge guy knocked them out.”
I look with hope to the privacy glass. It is Bruno.
“What the fuck?” Vince yells into the phone. “You find whoever it was that did that, and you bring them to me.” He clicks off of the call, then looks at us. “Sorry, gals, in this business, there’s no time for rest. Where were we?”
Vince sidles up to my mom, slipping his arms around her shoulders. He tries to kiss her, but she jerks her head away. Vince’s chest puffs with rage. I’m afraid he’s going to hit her again. But a sound comes from the front seat, distracting Vince. It sounds like someone groaning.
“What the hell is that?” Vince asks. “Johnny, are you all right?”
Vince flips a switch on his side console, rolling the privacy glass down to reveal Bruno in all of his large, muscular glory. The sight of him awakens me. I feel a pull towards him. He’s here. He can help us.
Next to Bruno, slumped over in the seat, is a young guy around nineteen. Thick, dark bruises circle his neck. His eyes flutter open, and he’s groaning. Vince leans forward, gripping the headrest.
“Johnny, what’s happened to you?” he says. His eyes move to Bruno. “You. You’re the one. What are you and Snake trying to pull here?”
Vince pulls out his gun and turns it on Bruno.
“No,” I scream, jumping from my seat. I crouch in front of Bruno, blocking him with my body.
“Sit down, honey,” Vince says, patiently, and like I’m all of five years old. “Daddy needs to kill his man.”
“Olivia,” Bruno says gruffly behind me. “Get out of the fucking way.”
I lock my eyes on Vince, and the gun pointed at me.
“No way,” I whisper to Bruno. “Stop the car. Get out and run.”
“Not a chance,” Bruno says.
“Don’t make me shoot you, Emma,” Vince warns. “I was hoping we could get to know each other, but I will kill you if I have to. One shot, one bullet, and you’re both dead.”
A low, guttural growl rises up behind me. In the corner of my eye, I see Johnny lunge for Bruno. The car swerves violently, then starts spinning. I feel my body being tossed around. I’m thrown to the side, hitting my head hard. I think I black out momentarily. When I open my eyes, the car is still.
I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to gather my bearings. Johnny was thrown headfirst into the windshield. He’s not moving. Bruno doesn’t move either. He’s slumped over the steering wheel. Mom and Vince are banged up and dazed, but they’re okay. They’re covered in fizzing champagne. A glass shard from the champagne bottle is embedded in Vince’s forehead. He grasps it with two fingers, grunting, and pulls it out. Blood flows down this terrible face.
“You two don’t fucking move,” Vince tells Mom and me.
He bends down, searching the floorboard. I lean over the front seat.
“Bruno,” I whisper. “Wake up. Please.”
Bruno stirs. He lifts his head slowly, then shakes it in a daze. Vince rises up, holding the gun in his hands.
“Run, Bruno,” I yell, desperately.
Bruno turns around, suddenly alert, and lunges towards Vince. But it’s too late.
The gun blast echoes painfully in my ears. Bruno is hit in the chest, and goes down in an instant.
“No,” I howl. This can’t be happening. He was supposed to save us. We were supposed to have a future together.
Vince throws his head back and laughs. The blood from his forehead is flowing over his lips, causing him to spit blood everywhere. I’m in too much shock to feel despair over Bruno, but I do feel anger. You sick fuck, I think, looking at Vince. I can’t believe I have your blood in my veins.
There’s no way he’s getting away with this. I search around the car for something, anything that can be used as a weapon. Vince stands over Bruno’s body, trying to shoot him again, but the gun’s jammed. It must have been damaged in the crash. Vince rams the gun against the palm of his hand, muttering to himself.
And then I see it at Mom’s feet, a wine bottle opener. The sharp coiled metal is our only hope. While Vince fiddles with the gun, I slide my hand over the floorboard, grasp it, and press it into Mom’s hand, squeezing three times.
Mom’s eyes go hard and determined. Vince has popped out the gun’s magazine, and is too busy inspecting it to notice what Mom is doing. She grasps the opener tightly in her palm with the sharp end hanging out of her hand. She winks at me, then thrusts her arm forward. Her aim is right on. The sharp metal end sinks into Vince’s ear.
He screams horribly, then turns on her, landing a punch in her midsection.
Oh shit, I think. It wasn’t enough to kill him. And Bruno’s dead. It’s all over.
Just then, I feel the car rock slightly. Something very big is moving in here. It’s Bruno. He rises up with a growl, lunges over the front seat, and wraps his hand around Vince’s neck. His jaw clenches as he squeezes with all of this strength.
At first, I think I’m hallucinating. Bruno’s dead. He hasn’t come back to life to save us. But then, I notice the hole in his shirt, the one blasted through by the bullet. There’s a thick, black vest underneath. It must be bulletproof. My heart thumps rapidly.
Bruno squeezes Vince’s neck harder. I hear the snapping of cartilage alongside choking noises. Vince’s face turns from red, to purple, to blue. He stops struggling. Bruno takes his hand away, and Vince slumps down into a heap.
“Is he dead?” I ask Bruno.
“Yeah,” Bruno says, raking his hands through his hair.
Mom delivers a solid kick to Vince’s side. “Good riddance.”
I’m in complete shock. I’ve never seen so much blood and gore in all my life. My skin is numb to the touch. I can barely move.
Bruno pulls Mom and me out of the wreckage. It’s nighttime. We’re on a deserted road in the warehouse district. I feel my mind leaving my body. I’m floating above all of this, watching from a distance. Bruno grabs my shoulders, kissing me desperately, and pulling me back into my body, back to reality. I clutch his shoulders.
“Bruno,” I murmur. “You’re here. You’re alive.”
Bruno pulls back and looks at me sternly. “We need to get out of here. The cops will come soon.”
I hear Mom laugh. “Since when are you worried about cops? Aren’t you a Mariano? You have the whole force in your pocket.”
“I’m not a Mariano,” Bruno says to Mom, then looks back at me. “There’s a bus stop a few blocks from here. Take the thirty-two to the end of the line where the greyhound station is. That’s where your car is parked.” He reaches into his pocket, then presses my car keys into my hand. I look down at them. They look like an artifact from another era.
“What about you?” I ask. “Come with us.”
I touch my hand to his face. Bruno grabs my wrist, his eyes filled with pain.
“You need to stay away from me.”
“No,” I whisper.
“They’ll come after me,” Bruno explains. “I’m a dead man.”
I slide my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. “No, Bruno. Please come.”
Bruno hugs me back, only briefly, before forcing himself to let me go.
“You two don’t deserve to live in fear any longer.” He cups my cheek, swiping his thumb across my lower lip. “Goodbye, Olivia,” he says, quickly, then walks away.
I start to run after him, but Mom catches my arm, stopping me.
“Let him go,” Mom says. “It’s too dangerous.”
“No,” I say, watching Bruno get farther and farther away, disappearing into the night.
“Olivia.” Mom pulls me towards her, making me lay my head on her shoulder. “He’s doing this because he loves you. Don’t you see?”
I do see. But why does love have to hurt this much?