“Cover her!” I hear Enzo yell, followed by heavy footfalls.
Blood squirts out, landing across my face as I yank the knife out and scurry backward.
I watch Mack fall to his knees, his hands covering his eye as if he is trying to stop the blood from pouring out. I look at him, and my mind goes back to all the times he hurt me.
He needs to pay, and I’m going to collect that payment today. I find myself scooting closer to him, the blade still in my hold.
“Do you remember all the times you threatened to slit my throat—after you fucked me, of course?” I can barely recognize my voice as my own.
A rumble sounds in his chest as I hear him mumbling the word bitch, which only fuels the roaring fire inside me. “Bitch? Hmm... I guess Enzo taught you something, after all, huh? Die with honor, it is.” Those are the last words I say to Mack as I roughly plunge the blade into his neck and drag it across, cutting his throat.
I loom over his body, listening to the gurgling sound he makes, blood covering his face and neck as it drips to the cement floor. I watch him fight to breathe, the rise and fall of his chest coming and going.
A breath escapes me as I watch the light leave his undamaged eye. I killed him. I look down at my hand, covered in my enemy’s blood. I think I had to do this. I needed to be the one to take Mack’s life. I needed my revenge, my closure.
Mack goes completely limp, and I know he is gone. Silence surrounds me, making me realize that the gunfire has stopped.
I look around and find Eli kneeling next to me a few feet away, his gun drawn but pointed somewhere up at the window.
The sound of someone approaching makes me spin around. Enzo and Jared are running toward me. Both of their eyes filled with concern as they take me in.
“We took them all out,” Jared explains. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eli lower his gun and tuck it away.
I get to my feet just before Enzo reaches me. I know the moment his arms wrap around me that he thought he would never see me again. His lips kiss at any skin he can get his mouth on, and I sigh against him. Relief floods me, and tears fall from my eyes. For once, they are happy tears.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” Enzo whispers between each kiss. “I was so worried.”
I want to tell him I’m fine. That everything is going to be okay now, but I can’t get my throat to work yet. Emotions clogging it.
“Do we leave him?” Eli asks.
“Yes.” Enzo nods, pulling the blade from my blood-stained hand.
“You gave her this?” Enzo asks, eyeing the blade.
“Yes, I knew she would need it. I know you gave it to me for safekeeping, I never gave it back to you. I wanted her to have it.” Eli smiles at me, catching the confused look in my eyes and answers my silent question.
“That’s the blade his mother gave him when he was a child. It was his first throwing knife.” Realization hits me at that moment—the engraving on the blade said something I didn’t understand. It was Italian. How did I not know that?
“What does the wording mean?” I ask.
“Per il Mio Caro figlo,” Enzo says the words with elegance. “It means, for my dear son.”
I killed the man who has been our nightmare with the blade his mother had given him. It’s kind of like his mother had been here with us this whole time.
“We need to go.” Jared interrupts the sweet moment, his voice pounding in my head.
“Yeah, let’s go,” I mumble, heading toward the door, but Enzo pulls me back.
“I can’t,” Enzo tells me. Panic seizes me as Enzo pushes me into Jared’s arms.
“What do you mean you can’t? Mack is dead. We can have our lives back.”
“Someone has to pay for all the damage done, Amara. Someone has to turn themselves in.” Enzo eyes me, his own face hidden of any emotions.
“You… You can’t, you won’t,” I plead, fighting against Jared’s hold.
“I can. I have to, Amara. I want you to live a happy and healthy life without a monster like me around. I have done some really fucked up things in my life, but loving you and taking you was never one of them.”
“You can’t fucking do this to me,” I scream, my fists beating against Jared.
“I have to. This is the only way you can walk out of here right now. So go. I love you. I love you so fucking much, but you had to know we wouldn’t ever get a happy ever after, Amara.”
I reach, wanting to feel his skin against mine, even for a fraction of a second. As if he can read my mind, he cups the side of my cheek and kisses me with so much passion. I can feel every word he never said to me in that single moment.