‘They’ve split them up! For fucks sake, that wasn’t meant to fucking happen,’ Charlie forced through his teeth.

I turned at the sound of Charlie swearing under his breath. I could see my son on Vasile’s fucking shoulders. I looked around only moving my eyes, trying to find Lily. I couldn’t let them see I wasn’t focussing on my warm-up.

One of the goons that had got out of the car with her earlier was now stood by the car door, standing guard.

They’d split them up. Fuck. I clenched my fists to my side.

As the others walked back over to us, I continued to warm-up. Sprinting on the spot to send my blood pounding around my body. My adrenalin was flowing already at the sight of my son on that twisted bastard’s shoulders.

My son. He was making him cry and it was taking every fucking thing I had, to do nothing in response.

‘Now what?’ Charlie questioned John.

Once we had found out who they had lined up for me to fight, John’s plan had changed. We were gonna get in, put them at ease, source the hidden weapons, grab Lily and Harry and get the hell out. It appeared our plan had to change again.

‘Sorry, Jack. Getting them from separate places is going to take a little longer. You’re going to have to at least start the fight. Hopefully, it will only last just long enough to cause a distraction… Until the others get here… Are you up for it?’ John’s body language hadn’t tensed up, anyone looking at his suited back would never recognise we’d been caught on the fucking hop.

I looked over his shoulder at “Mad dog” until the ugly bastard stared back. I winked and blew him a kiss.

A growl left his mouth and he moved to the centre of the pseudo ring. ‘COME ON!’ he shouted at me, punching one fist into his other palm.

‘I’m up for it.’ I began to move forward.

Charlie stepped in front of me. ‘You don’t have to fucking do this.’

I met his eyes. ‘The fuck I don’t… I know the consequences, Charlie. Make sure you get my family outta here. Whatever happens Lily and Harry get outta here tonight, alive.’ I grabbed hold of the front of his T-shirt with both hands. ‘Promise me!’

He nodded his head, just the once, but once would do.

‘Let’s get the fuck on with this.’

I had been analysing “Mad dog’s” fights since they had announced who their fighter was a couple of days ago. It wasn’t nearly enough time to fucking prepare, but it was all I had. It was long enough to know what I had known all along, I was way outta my fucking league with the insane bastard. The only things that I had going for me was the fact that I was fighting for my family and he was fighting for money, and I was also lighter on my feet and hopefully quicker. I just hoped I was I strong enough to keep it going long enough for the others to reach the weapons that John had planted yesterday and then get my family.

I strutted to the centre, with all the bravado and confidence I could summon.

The referee went through the rules. It was a complete waste of fucking time. This fight was going to be a barbaric confrontation. I knew anything and everything would go.

Fuck the rules, the rules were redundant.

‘I want a clean fight, gentlemen, at all times. Gentlemen defend yourselves at all times.’ I heard the blocks of wood as they were banged together to signify the start of the bout and I stepped into what I knew was going to be a fight for my life.

How much longer?

I wasn’t going to sit in the car, watching and waiting. I just couldn’t.

Jack had been fighting for about ten minutes and he was looking in a bad way already. I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. My eyes moved between my poor little boy crying his heart out, watching something that he had absolutely no understanding of other than the fact it was scary, and Jack, with the animal he was courageously standing up against. It was like changing channels on TV. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and couldn’t watch for more than a few seconds at a time. I heard and felt every punch Jack took to his face and body and every sobbing cry that left my baby’s mouth.

Jack was already a bloodied mess. One eye was so badly cut that even from where I was, I could see it was beginning to close over. Every punch sent him staggering backwards. When I heard “Mad dog” laugh manically, I knew that Jack wasn’t going to last much longer.

I looked up to Harry again. Through his tears, he was holding his fat little arms up to the car, wanting me to help him.

It took no more thought. Jack and Harry were my life. I knew that any life without them wouldn’t be worth living, so what would be the point? Whatever happened, I’d had enough of being the downtrodden little girl that everything happened to. I was sick of being instructed what was permissible in my life, and what wasn’t. Sitting in the silent vehicle I realised I was stronger than I thought, stronger than anyone thought. In those few minutes, I acknowledged that I was going to fight for what was mine, or die trying.

My baby needed me.

Jack needed me.

Without thinking twice, I opened the door as fast as I could and slammed it with as much force as I could find into the back of Sorin. He went sprawling to the floor, that gave me a few seconds. I shut the door and locked it. Then I slid over the back seat to the other door and jumped out. My heart was pounding, my body lit up with adrenalin and terror in equal measure.

Suddenly, in front of my eyes all hell broke loose. I heard a few shots firing into the air. Where my vision had been clear before, smoke and dust occupied the space like a thick fog. Men streamed down the sloped entrance to the carpark. American and English accents filled the air as they shouted instructions.

‘DROP. YOUR. WEAPONS.’

‘GET. DOWN.’

‘ON. THE. FLOOR. HANDS. ON. TOP. OF. YOUR. HEADS… NOW.’

Some complied, but others didn’t. Everywhere I looked there was fighting and struggling. I was running frantically in between cars and men. I went past Alex and Nathan as they fought with two of the Vasiles’ henchman.

My eyes searched for Harry, but I’d lost him and Tony in the confusion. I turned around on the spot searching again and again. I still couldn’t see him anywhere.

I went to step over a body and realised it was Nicolae Vasile lying face down in a small puddle. His wig had come off his head and was upturned next to him like a tortoise stuck on its shell. He had blood pouring from his mouth. His lifeless eyes stared at me. Only a few years ago, I would have been horrified and sickened to my very closeted stomach.

But not now.

In the here and now, I spat on him as I stepped over him.

‘Karma is a fucking bitch, “uncle.” Rot in hell,’ I spat out from between my teeth, with more vehemence in my voice than I had ever heard before. Katy would have been proud at my use of vocabulary.

I looked up and around for Harry again. Instead my eyes were once again drawn to Jack.

In the middle of the cars Jack was almost unrecognisable, he was now lying on the floor covered in his own blood, with an insane looking “Mad dog” on top of him. I watched Jack’s head roll from side to side every time the crazed, inhuman machine rained down more and more blows to his head. I knew with a sickening realisation that Jack was either unconscious or dead. I placed a hand over my mouth as a cry escaped.

Behind him, I watched Charlie tentatively lift a gun. Everything went in slow motion. “Mad dog” pulled out a small knife from the back of the jeans he was wearing, he stretched out one of Jack’s bloodied ears with the other hand and lowered the blade to it. The monster was looking to take a vile prize, it made me sick to the stomach. I heard myself scream, but amongst the carnage no one heard it. At last the gunshot came and the animal fell away from Jack and down to the floor next to him.

His unused knife dropped to the floor.

I could see that Charlie hadn’t fired, but John had. I saw him standing to the side with his legs braced apart, with his gun now lowering. Charlie rushed to Jack’s side.

‘Lily, get in the car,’ John shouted at me and pointed at a black Range Rover. I nodded, but knew I wouldn’t get in it without my son.

John moved away to double check under cars and under the couple of bodies that were sprawled on the floor. I knew what he was looking for, but I refused to believe it.

I looked around again to find Harry. The noise and confusion in the garage was beginning to calm down. Men were being held against a wall by the police. But I still couldn’t find our son.

Panic was just starting to take over when I heard what I was desperate for.

‘Mummy.’ I heard the cry and my heart leaped.

Tony appeared from an unlit corner of the garage, the coward had been hiding behind a pillar. Now, he was making a run towards the slope. Carrying our little boy as a human buffer, and holding a gun to one of his tear-soaked cheeks.

I was unsure if Jack was still alive, no way was I prepared to lose our son, too. Jack had fought so hard, I knew that I had to find his strength.

‘STAY. AWAY! If you want him to live, keep away from me,’ Tony shouted to anyone who would listen.

I ran as fast as I could to one side of the cars, hiding behind the row of pillars, hoping to eventually cut Tony off. He was slow as he was constantly spinning himself and my crying baby around, as the bastard used him to shield himself.

I had one chance. I got within five feet of them and I flung myself out from behind a pillar with every ounce of strength I could find. Just as my feet left the floor and Harry’s little arms lifted to me once again, I heard Jack’s voice.

‘Don’t let him take my son… Take the fucking shot.’

I felt a dull thud in my back, and immediately my body stuttered and I began to fall.

The pain in the base of my back was all-consuming. I fell into Tony, and with relief I heard the gun he was holding to my son fall from his hand and clatter to the floor.

I followed it fast in free-fall, as darkness devoured me.

As the bastard’s weight fell away from my body, I forced myself up onto my elbows. Feigning unconsciousness was the only defence I’d had left and I think it had probably saved my life. My head was pounding from the intense pain, it was as if it had just been used as a fucking basketball. The vision in my right eye was blurry, and my view was streaked with pink.

‘Lie back down, gobshite. Let me look at you first.’ He used his heavy boot to kick “Mad dog” away from my side.

‘Where the fuck are they, Charlie?’ I shouted at him.

I cast my eyes around the fucking mayhem in the concrete box. Searching for any sign of the two people that I had more than willingly risked my life for.

I heard Harry before I saw him. He shouted out for Lily as he appeared in Tony Vasile’s arms from the one dark corner in the whole fucking space. I heard him shout for his mummy.

Vasile was holding a gun and it was pushed deeply into Harry’s tear-soaked cheek as he constantly turned around using our son’s body to protect himself. I had never felt anger like it. My body was on fire as the lava filled every single part of me.

My son needed help.

I needed to protect my son.

I would protect our son.

For once in my life, I was in the right place and at the right fucking time to protect someone I loved.

It had to work, it had to happen. I had never prayed before, but fuck me I prayed now.

I saw as several of the Blackmores’ security and the police lifted their guns to take aim and then I saw their hesitancy. I understood, really, I fucking did. But, we had such a small fucking window to save him. Once Vasile had him out of here, I was certain we’d never see him alive again. He knew he was mine and Harry meant nothing to him. If they aimed low, it wouldn’t kill Vasile. But it would take the bastard down. If it was low enough it should miss Harry completely.

‘Don’t let him take my son… Take the fucking shot,’ I shouted out, and watched as specks of blood left my mouth.

I moved my hand to try to push myself further up off the floor and felt a cold blade touch my fingers. Pure fucking instinct drove me on. I picked up the knife by the tip of the small blade. Taking aim as best I could, I released the knife from my fingers.

I watched the shard of silver fly through the air. Just as Harry lifted his arms and I saw Lily appear for the first time.

FUCK!

She was propelling herself through the air to save our son.

The knife that had just left my fingertips found fucking home in the small of her back, and the three of them fell to the floor.

‘NO!’ My cry echoed around the now quiet concrete box.