We did the fucking impossible.
We defeated Franklin.
Miller steps up to us. “They’re taking him to Methodist Hospital. He has a room there, but it’ll take a bit to get everything in order. I’ll text you the details.” He flits his finger at us. “I’d use the time to get cleaned up.”
“What about…?” I wave my arm around us, halting my question when I notice the room is already tidier than it was.
Most of the bodies have been carried out. The weapons are piled into one general heap in the middle and cleaning supplies are stacked along the wall.
“Taken care of, ma’am.”
Did Miller seriously just call me what I think he did?
Johnny goes stiff beside me.
I follow his gaze to the lifeless form that caused all of this destruction.
Franklin.
“You’re sure he’s…”
Miller and I both respond, “Yes.”
Johnny seems to relax slightly, his body still rigid.
I take in a breath, steadying myself before I allow myself to speak. “Have you heard from Josey? Do you know if Rosie…”
Miller trains himself on me. “Josey would have taken her to the same hospital. Luciano has staff on call there. I haven’t spoken directly to him, no. But if they’re anywhere, it would be there.”
Miller appears young, but he seems to have his shit together. He knows the ins and outs of Luciano’s operation, and immediately stepped in when Luciano went down. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Miller was Luciano’s right-hand man. But Miller is barely out of high school, that can’t be true?
“Claire, Johnny.” Miller looks to each of us, as if confirming that’s our names. “You may have won your war, but this is only the beginning of what’s to come. With Franklin gone, and Luciano hanging in the balance, it’s only a matter of time until things erupt. The feud between these two has gone on for decades, a thick line drawn in the sand, with loyal men and women on both sides.” Miller glances at the door where Luciano was carted out of. “If he makes it out of this, he’s going to need your support.”
A life I never wanted for Johnny: crime and danger. A world he has been desperately trying to escape since the moment he stepped foot into it. One that has nearly killed him on numerous occasions and put countless others in harm’s way—including me.
We thought ending Franklin meant we could finally be free of this chaos.
In reality, it was the start of something much bigger.
Because who am I kidding? We can’t walk away now. Not after everything we’ve been through. If there are more out there like Franklin, there’s no way Johnny will sleep soundly at night knowing he could have done something to stop them.
And there’s no chance in hell that I’d forsake the man who has done more for me than anyone else. Who has proven time and time again that doing the right thing is, in fact, the right thing.
He’ll have his doubts, but not because he doesn’t think he should offer his assistance, but because he won’t want to involve me. His main reason for ever shutting me out in the first place was to shield me from any danger, to protect me. What good did that do, though? We were drawn to each other in an uncontrollable way, even when we both tried to keep our distance.
Where Johnny goes, I go.
I would follow Johnny to the ends of this earth, and I confirm that when I look over at him, his beautiful green eyes staring down at me, and say, “You’re stuck with me, remember?”
He stares at me, a sudden seriousness about him, like he realizes for the first time that I really am here to stay. No matter what, I am with him.
* * *
“He’s not answering,” Johnny tells me from our closet. He throws a dark T-shirt over his head and pulls a top out for me.
I rush over, dragging it onto my clean body while letting out a muffled groan. Does this mean that Josey doesn’t want to tell us the bad news over the phone? That Rosie didn’t make it? Sure enough he’d find some way to let us know if she succumbed to her injuries.
Rosie was someone who never should have been involved. An innocent bystander that didn’t deserve what came to her.