Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Run as fast as you can, Katya,” I yelled. “Don’t look back. Run!”
“I won’t leave you!”
“I’ll see you soon!” I lied.
I told her I would one day, that I would be the liar, that I would lie and walk away. I never imagined the one lie I told would be so she would be the one to run in the opposite direction.
If this was how I kept my promise about lying to her, then I would take it. “Katya, I swear, I’ll see you soon.”
She picked up the gun and ran.
I slumped back against the ground as the guard’s fist came down onto my chest; my heart burned, and my lungs ached.
Another fist came up. I didn’t block it. It came down and then went limp as a gunshot rang out. He slumped on top of me; I shoved him off and tried to get to my knees.
Katya stood there, face white, hands shaking, tears streaming down her dirty face. “I lied.”
I stumbled toward her, barely able to keep my legs under me. “I did too.”
I pulled her against me as she sobbed into my neck and dropped the gun to the ground. We were free, but we were probably fucked. So I wanted to hold her during that moment.
“Warriors,” she whispered against my neck. “Let’s go out like warriors.”
I nodded, picked up the gun, limped over to the fallen guard, and took his gun. I handed her the Glock and kept the pistol. “Ready?”
“Always.” She smiled up at me.
I would keep that smile even in death.
We walked out of the room. I didn’t shove her behind me, no she walked next to me as several figures in dark clothing rounded the corner ahead of us. We shot, and we didn’t stop.
The air around us was calm as we walked and shot, only six men had shown up, but the place was bigger than it looked. There would be more. I picked up guns as we went, but once the ammo ran out, once they brought in an army…
We would still be standing side by side.
And would go down that same way.
After all, a warrior doesn’t shield another warrior… they bleed by their side.
Gunshots echoed through the next dark, damp hallway. I stumbled a bit, Katya tried to keep me upright, but she was weak too from being nearly dead. We were sitting ducks.
“I think I changed my mind about the olives.” She laughed through her tears. “I think I’d take an olive right now.”
“Green or black?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the pain.
“Both,” she whispered.
We took a right, the hallway was empty, long and empty, it led to darkness, but I had my light right next to me. So with my right hand, I held my gun at my side, and with my left, I grabbed hers and whispered. “I, Santino Sinacore, take Katya Petrov-Sinacore, to be my wife, forever and always, as long as we both shall live.” We took a few more steps as more gunshots rang out.
“I, Katya Petrov-Sinacore, take Santino Sinacore to be my husband forever and always, as long as we both shall live.”
“Through war, death, sickness, health,” I whispered, “I take you.”
“Through war, death, sickness, health—olives,” she added, “I take you.”
Our walk ended the way our relationship began.
In utter darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“No gangster is ever happy when he’s at peace. The main reason he’s in the business is to eliminate his enemies.” – Lorenzo Carcaterra, Gangster
Katya
Time stood still for us in the darkness. I felt him though. I felt him everywhere. I trusted him to save us, to save me, I trusted him enough to kill me or make me look dead as much as possible, and I trusted that he’d revive me. I trusted.
The only lies between us were the ones we told ourselves and the ones we told each other to keep each of us safe.
If that wasn’t love, I really didn’t know a proper definition.
I’d rather go out with Santino by my side than sit in that bedroom in my brother’s house and feel sorry for myself. I was exhausted, but I wasn’t afraid because I had Santino.
Just like when I’d had Pace, I just knew, I could use his strength and that he’d give it without question, without me even asking him. It was a given.
I would have followed Pace anywhere—and had.
And now, I was most likely following Santino the same way I followed Pace, except this time, I wasn’t sure about the ending, but I knew the beginning had been beautiful and wasn’t that all you could ask for in the end?
Pieces of your life that finally fit into place, beauty out of agony and darkness, and an ending that may not be what you expected but is perfect for you and your story.
I wondered what the stars looked like as we walked through that dark hallway toward certain death.