Ines

I stay on the line like he told me to, but he's not talking to me anymore. I can hear him breathing, hear him talking to another man, hear the sounds of traffic—horns blaring, breaks screeching, people shouting and cursing. I can feel death approaching. And I don't know if it's my own, Rook's, or Silvio's. But I know someone will die tonight, and I'm shaking all over, can't think, can't move, because I know it will be devastating.

Silvio is still talking on the other side of the door and he's losing patience with me not saying anything back. He bangs on the door, slamming his fist into it and screams my name.

It's time to put on one more show for him. Be his Lady of Flowers one last time. Because after tonight I will never be her again.

So I put the phone in my pocket without hanging up, and step out of the huge shower stall where I hid to pick up the phone when Rook called.

"I'm so scared, Silvio," I say and my voice is shaky enough to be plausible, to make my next lie sound true. "I never meant to hurt you. I was out of my mind with grief over my father's death and your threats. You must not threaten me like that. It scares me so much I can't think straight."

"I must not? I must not?" he repeats exasperatedly. "You disobeyed me. You left to go somewhere on your own and without my permission. You promised me you'd never do that, and you know I don't allow it," he says angrily. Good, he's buying my lies. Now I just have to keep him talking.

It suddenly dawns on me that he's not breaking down this door and dragging me out, because he wants me to come out on my own, to prove to him he controls me completely, to show him I'm broken.

I'm not broken and I'm not coming out of this bathroom. Not until Rook gets here. I begged him not to, but there's no swaying that man when he makes up his mind. And despite fearing for his life so much my hands are shaking, a part of me is glad he's coming to save me. Because I've never done a very good job of helping myself.

If he dies here tonight, we die together.

"You sound so angry, Silvio," I say in a quiet voice. "I want to come out, but I'm afraid to. Promise me you'll go easy on me. I deserve to be punished, but I can't stand it tonight. Please, please understand. My papa died today. I feel as though a piece of my heart was ripped out and he took it with him."

Silvio has no heart, so he doesn't understand the pain I'm speaking about. His silence right now doesn't mean he's considering giving me what I'm asking for. It just means he's thinking up a clever response, one that will make me believe I’ll be safe when I come out. I know him very well. I can read his silences just as well as I can read his dark looks and the eerie, menacing undertone of his soft words.

"I understand, Ines, but unlock the door now," he says. "Come out and dress my wound for me. Help the wound you gave me heal."

He's given me wounds that might never heal and he never dressed them. The sound of his voice is making me nauseous now.

But that's OK, because it's over. The front door crashes open, and I can hear shouts from the living room, hear thudding footsteps. I can hear it all through the door and from the phone in my pocket because my line to Rook is still connected. Just like it always was.

"What's happening?" Silvio yells, addressing Juan and whoever else he had guarding the door.

"The beginning of your end, Silvio, that's what’s happening!" I yell through the door, the firm, steady yet fiery tone of my voice surprising me. I sound stronger than I’ve felt in a very, very long time.

"What?" Silvio hisses.

"Go and see," I add. "I'll wait."

But not for you. I will never wait for you again.

I hear him run across the bedroom, my fingers already fumbling with the key on the bathroom door. But as much as I want to run out, see Rook and help him free me, I know all this will be for nothing unless I stay out of harm's way. He told me he can handle this, and I have to trust him. So even though everything inside me is screaming to go help Rook, I ignore the voice and stay put.

Until now, following my base instincts brought me and the people who loved me nothing but suffering and pain. But I mean to change that. I will change my luck. I will break my curse. And it begins tonight.

* * *

Rook

Jobs in apartment buildings are a nightmare. We avoid them if we can, and never attempt them without careful planning, and staking out the setting as much as we can beforehand. And we never go into them without knowing exactly what kind of numbers we're facing.

None of those facts are lost on me as I park the car across the street from Ines' apartment building. A guy in a suit is smoking a cigarette by the front entrance. I think it's Ines' driver, the one who brought her home the night I followed them, then stayed out on the sidewalk chain-smoking for hours. And I'm pretty sure at least two more bodyguards are sitting in the shiny black Mercedes near the entrance, but its tinted windows are completely opaque, so I can't know for sure. There could be more of them in there. Or it could be empty, but I'm never that lucky. It's a big risk going into this without knowing how many Ice and me are facing, but what choice do I got?

I need to get into the building. I need to save Ines. And every minute that passes while I sit here thinking about all this lasts years. If I screw this up, I'll never see her again.

"So how you wanna do this?" Ice asks, already holding his knife. "I figure a couple of them are in that Merc. I wouldn't say more than two, since I doubt the Gentleman likes riding with another guy in the back seat. There could also just be the driver in there, since he's here visiting his mistress."

I don't like him referring to Ines as the Gentleman's mistress, but it's a passing thought.

"Yeah, I think you're right," I say and once again survey the scene. “We’ll assume there’s at least two in the car.”

The smoking driver propped the front door open, and there's a doorman at the desk inside the lobby, but he'll be easy to deal with.

"I figure if there's three down here, there can't be more than three upstairs," I say. "That's a good thing. But we'll have to take these out to get there. I'll neutralize the smoker and take the gun that I'm sure he's packing under that fancy jacket. You'll ram this car into the Merc, and make sure no one on the driver’s side can get out. I'll take out the passenger while you get the doorman."

We'd need at least two more guys for this to go smoothly, but if we time it right, we have a chance. Ice nods solemnly.

"Try not to kill anyone," I add. That might be impossible, but since the MC will take the heat if this is ever traced back to me, I want to keep the flames down to a minimum.

"And keep your face hidden," I add.

Me and all my Devil's Nightmare MC brothers always wear a bandana around our necks, since it's an easy way to hide your face in a hurry. I'll pull mine on as soon as I knock out the smoker. But Ice doesn't have one, since he never hides his face for jobs.

"No one'll recognize me," he says, but pulls the hood of his sweatshirt over his head anyway. It doesn't hide his face all that well, but it's the best I'm getting. And I've already wasted enough precious minutes on trying to make a plan.

"Alright, I'll go ask the guy on the sidewalk for directions. Then I'll point to you pretending to be asking some more questions, and that's your cue to drive into the car. This thing has airbags, so you'll be fine," I say, once again realizing just how much I'm risking his life for this. But it's in motion and he did offer. Backing out now isn't an option.

It's been years since I walked into a job that was this badly planned. But this is gonna work. It has to.

"Ready?" I ask, already clutching the doorknob, the adrenaline pumping through my veins making my whole body pulse. But I'll be fine once the job starts. I always am.

"Yeah," Ice says. He doesn’t look nervous, or worried, or scared. He just looks determined.

The time for talking and planning is done, so I open the door and slip out, head in a straight line across the street to the smoking man, whose eyes honed on me as soon as I stepped out of the car.

"Hey, a quick question," I yell out in Spanish and jog up to him. "Which way is Plaza del Torros from here?"

He starts explaining, and I keep interrupting, pointlessly explaining to him my reasons for needing to be there the way Mexicans like to do. He's completely at ease by the time I point at Ice and the car amid some more bullshit small talk. Then I ask for a cigarette and he's just reaching into his pocket when Ice crashes the car into the Merc. Before he even has time to look at the accident fully, I slam my fist into the guy's temple, just above his ear, a move I've perfected over the years of walking away unhurt from jobs much like this one.

He loses consciousness and starts going down, but I catch him, get the gun from the holster on his right hip and only then let him fall. It all takes a couple of seconds at best.

A man inside the Merc is yelling and cursing, but it seems Ice took out the driver when he slammed the car into that side. He's covered in airbag dust and already at the passenger’s side to shut him up when I turn to go help. But he's got it handled, pulls the door open and yanks the driver out, landing a few fast and accurate blows to his face, the way only a champion cage fighter with years of experience can, I guess. The silence when the man finally shuts up is deafening.

"Hurry, let's go!" I shout and run into the building, reach the doorman before he has a chance to react. This part didn't go exactly to plan, but it went well, and we're inside the building.

The shocked expression is frozen into the doorman's face as my punch knocks him out. Some of the jobs the MC takes on requires people be dealt with, but kept alive, and I'm the number one man for that job because of my accurate knockout punches.

"I don't know about keeping all these fuckers alive, Rook," Ice says to me in the elevator.

"I do," I snap.

He doesn't press the point. The elevator ride up to Ines’ apartment on the 20^th floor is taking forever.

It opens onto a softly lit corridor and the single man standing by the door at the far end of it gives me renewed hope. The fucker kept his bodyguards downstairs because he wanted to be alone with Ines. His fucking mistake.

"Just walk up to him calmly," I whisper to Ice who nods.

The guy is eyeing us warily as we approach. It’s the same one who followed me into the store that first day I saw Ines, but I don’t think he recognizes me. I removed my bandana again when I spotted him. He knows we don't belong here, on this floor, at this time of night, but at the same time, he doesn't know it, so he's not making a move.

By the time I grab him and stick a gun to his temple it's too late. He's old anyway, no match for either of us.

"How many inside?" I ask in Spanish, but he just looks at me defiantly and keeps his mouth firmly shut.

I knock him out with the pommel of the gun, since we don't have time to question him. The only reason we got this far is because we have the element of surprise on our side. No one expected an attack here. I hope the surprise holds for just a little bit longer.

"Let's kick it down," I say to Ice, pointing at the door. "I'll go in first."

We both kick hard and manage to break the lock on the second try.

"Careful, Boss!" the old guy I thought I silenced yells.

Ice kicks him it the head, silencing him again, before I even think to move.

I'm frozen in place anyway, locking eyes with the man who stole my woman, the love of my life, my Ines, from me ten years ago. And my plan of keeping everyone alive makes no sense anymore. The first waves of blood rage are rising deep inside me. That rage doesn't wash over me often, but when it does, it sees no reason and doesn’t stop flowing until it’s spent.

The Gentleman's eyes widen in surprise as I rush forward, giving him no time to react, because he never expected a guy my size to move this fast. Few ever do. It's one of my many talents when it comes to defeating other men. And I've defeated plenty of men. Now the one that's done me the biggest wrong is mine for revenge. He's a puny motherfucker, and I could crush his head with my hands.

I grab his throat and punch him in the face again and again, not hard enough to knock out, just enough to hurt him, the last of my reason quickly getting washed away by the rage.

But I must control it.

Too many people could die if I kill this man. But I can always come back for him later, when no one will tie his death to Ines' disappearance or to me. I can move in the shadows with the best of them.

"We'll meet again and then you'll pay for what you did to Ines and me," I tell him in Spanish. "You’ll pay for it with your life."

His eyes are already swelling shut from my punches, but they widened as I spoke.

He has no idea who I am or what I'm talking about. But he'll find out, because I will be back for him. For now I just punch him in the temple. For someone who's made such a mess of my life he crumples at my feet like the rest of them.

"Ines! Ines, come out now!" I yell loudly.

A few moments later she's standing in front of me, shaking, her golden brown eyes wide, soft and shimmering. I could always forget everything when I looked into her eyes, forget myself, see only her and how much I love her. Even now, even with the blood rage pumping through my veins, I see only her.

"You came and you saved me," she whispers. "Thank you."

"Always, Ines," I whisper back. "I can't live without you."

She takes my hands and I squeeze hers, and all I know is that I want to kiss her, that I need to kiss her.

"We gotta go! We ain't safe yet!" Ice yells, and it breaks the spell she always puts me under. We're not safe yet. Not by far. We still have to get out of this building, then out of the city, and finally out of the country.

I pull Ines after me as I jog from the apartment.

"Is there a service elevator or something?" I ask her and she shrugs, shakes her head.

"Stairs?"

"Yes, through this door," she says and leads us to a white door in the middle of the corridor.

"There's a back door to this building, right?" Ice asks her.

"Yes, I'll show you," she says and lets go of my hand so she can run down the stairs faster. She's fast and lithe on her feet, like a bird, and we have trouble keeping up with her.

I hope the scene we left behind in the street has brought the cops and ambulances by now. We need the diversion. That fucker upstairs might already be calling in reinforcements, although I think I knocked him out pretty good.

I can hear sirens in the distance, but only a cool night breeze greets us as we exit the building through a metal door bordered by trashcans. The alley it opens onto is walled up on one side. That’s not good.

"This way," Ines says, takes my hand and starts pulling me down the dark alleyway. Ice overtakes us, runs to check that the way out is clear.

I make Ines stop until he waves us forward.

The avenue to our left as we exit the alley is lit up with flashing police cars and ambulances parked in front of the main entrance to Ines’ building. But to the right—the way that leads to my future with Ines—all is clear.

* * *

Ines

We don’t speak, just walk very fast in the opposite direction from my apartment building. It all happened so fast, and even though I was expecting it and was warned it was coming, the events of the night are coming back to me in bits and pieces: Rook's phone call, Silvio's scary sweet voice urging me to come out of the bathroom, the way my hand shook as the knife I was holding grazed Silvio's flesh, Silvio's unconscious body lying on the hardwood floor, blood oozing from his mouth.

I'd planned to tell him he'll never see me again, tell him he's a monster, tell him I hated him all this time, that I'm leaving him for the man I truly love, that the only man I ever loved has come to save me, that I never loved him, but there was no time, because it all happened so fast.

"What happens now?" I ask as Rook tells us to stop and heads into a dark alleyway where a single silver car is parked.

"Now we get the hell out of this city," Rook says, pausing in trying to break into the car and looking at me with such fire in his eyes I see his face clearly despite the darkness. There's an edge in his voice. Maybe he thinks I changed my mind again, that I want to go back, but nothing has ever been further from the truth.

Words will never convey how wrong he is, so I just wrap my arms around his waist and hold him as tight as I can.

"Good, let's go" I mumble into his strong, wide chest. "Thank you for coming to get me."

He's holding me too, so tight I don't think he'll ever let me go. Nor does he, just hands the tool he was using to his friend then kisses me so deeply and so hungrily, I can see stars all around us, shining brightly enough to rival any sunrise, even though we're in a dark alley between two very tall buildings.

We've shared many kisses, but this one feels like the first, the one I've longed for, the one I couldn't breathe right without for all these years.

"Alright, let's go now," Rook's friend says. "You'll have enough time for that later."

He starts the car and Rook stops kissing me. He grins at me as he opens the back door so I can get in. "He's right, we'll have plenty of time now."

I grin back too, pull him after me into the back seat.

"Great, now I'm the chauffer," Rook’s friend says, but he doesn't sound very annoyed at all.

"Thank you for helping Rook tonight," I tell him, as he drives off. Our eyes lock in the rearview mirror and he just nods, glances at Rook for a second, before fixing his eyes on the road ahead.

I'm still holding Rook's hand, and I bring it into my lap, lean against his side and rest my head on his shoulder. I haven't been free in so long, free to do what I want, go where I want, free to think and act as I want, I've forgotten what it felt like. And that thought scares me now. I haven't even wished for freedom in years, have given up hope of ever being free again. I should be happy, should be ecstatic to be free, but instead my heart is thumping in fear.

We only stop briefly at the seedy hotel me and Rook spent two glorious nights at, so he can pick up his bag. The hospital is just around the corner from here, and somewhere inside it, my father’s body is stored. But he’s not really there, he’s in my heart, he’s all around me, and he wouldn’t want me to mourn him too much, or be too sad over his passing.

“I wouldn’t make us stop for this,” Rook explains as he gets back in the car after collecting his backpack from the hotel. “But my cut is in there.”

Ice nods and starts the car, and I just lean against him again. I’m not quite sure what a cut is, but I think it’s that leather jacket bikers wear with the colorful logos on the back. Rook explained about those to me when we first met, and how you must earn the right to wear it. But he didn’t have one at the time.

"You let Silvio live," I say as we pull onto the highway, and Rook tense beside me.

"He'll never stop looking for me," I clarify. I didn't mean to criticize, but I think that's how he took it, because he's still completely tense beside me, every muscle in his body coiled.

"I'm thinking the same thing, Rook," his friend says and it breaks the tension between us.

"Couldn't be helped for now," he says and kisses the top of my head. "But if he ever comes close to you again, he's a dead man. And he's a dead man anyway, as soon as enough time passes so he doesn't connect it to you."

I like the certainty in his voice, the conviction that it can't happen any other way than the way he thinks it will. It makes me feel safe, secure, just like it always has. I snuggle even closer to him, wrap my arm around his stomach and watch the sparse lights lining the highway whizzing by. I listen to his breathing, his heartbeat, the steady sounds slowing my own racing heart too, until it's beating in tune with his, as one, the way it was always meant to be.

I must have dozed off, because the sun is already climbing into the sky when Rook's friend stops the car near the bus station of a small town.

"Here's where I leave you two lovebirds," he says and hands Rook the keys over his shoulder.

They both get out, but I just open my door and rub the sleep from my eyes.

"Just get your bike then head on home, Ice," Rook tells him. "Best if you do it at night and stay out of sight as much as you can. The Gentleman has eyes everywhere."

Rook sounds almost fatherly as he gives his friend these directions, and certainly like a concerned boss. I can see why they call his friend Ice, he's as calm and collected as any stone statue, even as he says in an annoyed tone, "I can take care of myself, Rook. Do you have a message you'd like me to take home?"

Rook shakes his head, glances at me with such softness in his eyes it feels like a caress. "I'll call Cross and tell him what happened. Don't mention any of it to anyone until he decides how to handle it."

Ice nods and offers Rook his hand. "Well, I guess that's it. I'll see you soon."

It sounds like a question, the way he says it, and Rook nods as he shakes his hand. "You will, brother. Thank you for standing by me."

I can't quite read the expression on Ice's face as Rook thanks him, but it's certainly not calm and cool anymore. It looks like something between extreme pain, regret, happiness and pride, all rolled into a very turbulent mix.

"Anytime," he says, and I think there was a silent "brother" at the end of that sentence that he couldn't quite say.

He nods at me then strides away towards the bus station, taking long steps like he's in a hurry to get away.

I step out of the car and Rook pulls me closer, kissing me deeply, yet tenderly, the way only he can.

"So, where would you like to go now?" he asks, brushing my hair off my forehead and smiling at me.

I shrug. "Anywhere you want." It's been so long, since I could go anywhere, I don't know how to pick.

He chuckles. "No, Ines. Anywhere you want. You're the one who's been a prisoner for ten years. What's the one place you've been dying to visit?"

That's easy. "The beach. I want to go to the beach," I say and smile at him.

A part of me never left that sleepy seaside town where we met ten years ago. And now the rest of me will finally rejoin it. I just wish this fear still resting in the pit of my stomach would go away now, so I could enjoy it. It's always been there, it's how I feel about Silvio, and I've grown used to feeling it all the time. But there's no need for it anymore and I want it gone. But Silvio is still alive and he won't stop looking for me until he finds me.

"Alright, the beach it is," Rook says and guides me around the car to the passenger side where he opens the door for me. "Hop in."

I love the soft promises in his ocean blue eyes, especially the one that Silvio will never lay his hands on me again. I also like the one telling me he plans to do nothing but be with me for a good long while, as soon as we get somewhere where we'll be alone. So I push all my fears from my mind and just think of that. Just think of how good being with him, free and unafraid, will feel.