Needful Surrender

But so am I.

Rage boils within my veins, rushing through me at lightning speed as I run to them. I aim my gun at his head, but in the next moment, her hands are there as she slaps at him. Then I move to his chest, and again, she’s struggling against him, her arms and legs getting in the way of a clean shot.

Knowing firing isn’t an option, I throw myself against him with the force of a sledgehammer, shoving him off her with my shoulder against his ribs. A loud crack rumbles between us, but in the chaos as we roll several feet from her, I don’t take the time to determine if it was his bone or mine that broke.

When we finally stop, I quickly get to my feet. A sharp pain lances through my neck, down my arm to my fingertips. For a moment, I lose all feeling and drop the gun. I attempt to get it back, but before I have a chance to grab for it, Lorenzo attacks.

“!Puto perro!” Fucking dog! he screams. “You and your bitch are going to pay!” He attempts to take me down, hooking his leg around mine.

I thrust my fist upward into his chin, and his neck snaps back, but he maintains a lose hold on me. With one hard whack, I bring my head against his, and he falls to the ground. I follow him, grabbing him by the throat in the same way he held Aurora. “I told you that if I ever saw you with her again, I’d kill you.”

Behind me, I hear Aurora coughing and scrambling to stand.

Lorenzo’s eyes shift to her, then back to me. Somehow, through his bloodied and swollen lip, he manages to sneer, “She’s watching. You don’t have the fucking balls to show her who you really—”

I cup his mouth and nose with my hand. He thrashes beneath me, grasping for my wrists. But he’s as useless at fighting someone his own size as I imagined he’d be.

“You are a disgrace to your father,” I hiss. Then, using the palm of my hand under his chin, I force his head to the side in one swift, powerful motion, until I feel the crack of his bones giving way to my strength.

Instantly, he goes limp and quiet, his gaze affixed and relaxed.

“Esteban!” Aurora gasps. “Someone’s coming!” She points to where one of the men Lorenzo was with is racing toward us.

“¡Mierda!” Getting to my feet as quickly as possible, I snatch up my gun but don’t have time to aim before the other man throws himself on me. “Run!” I order her, and in my peripheral vision, I see her go.

The guard punches me in my side, momentarily knocking the breath out of me. Without giving me time to recover, he takes another shot. This time, I lift my arm over my face to protect it, but it lands on my injured shoulder. White-hot pain spears through it all the way to the bone, and for a moment, that’s all I’m aware of.

It’s all he needs.

From somewhere, he produces a long blade and lifts it high above his head. But just as I see the gleam in his eye that says he’s going to enjoy killing me, he’s knocked off me.

I remain in stunned surprise as I see Aurora hanging onto his back as if he’s a bucking horse. She clings to him as he tries to fling her off, reaching behind him and grabbing hold of her pants, pulling on the material. But as I’m well aware, she has strong thighs and he can’t peel her off.

A few inches away, I find the knife and grab it as I roll and stand. “Aurora, drop!”

She doesn’t hesitate to obey, letting go of the man and dropping into a crouch just as I plunge the knife deep into his side. He falls, gasping for air like a fish out of water for a few moments. Then all movement ceases and he lies dead only a few feet from Lorenzo.

I extend my hand to Aurora, helping her up. “Are you hurt?” I demand, searching her over.

“No. But you are.”

“I think I dislocated my shoulder.”

“Esteban! Behind you!”

In the distance, we spot the second of Lorenzo’s men. Aurora and I exchange a glance. We both know I’m in too much pain to fight again and win. But the choice to engage is taken from me when the other man spins on his heel and runs in the other direction.

My first instinct is to chase after him because he’s now a witness. I follow, the ache in my arm turning into downright agony with each step, each movement of my body.

However, he disappears from sight as he exits the cemetery, leaving me to stare in every direction, scanning the streets. He’s nowhere to be seen.

“Fuck!” I jam my fingers through my hair in frustration.

“Where did he go?” Aurora asks, slightly out of breath as she catches up to me.

“Probably to tell Omero what he saw.”

“Omero? The man from the Teatro de Banderas? He’s involved in all of this too?” The way she asks, with a hint of disgust in her tone, has my hackles rising.

“I need to get my phone.” I grab hold of her wrist, tight enough that she winces but doesn’t pull away. “The next time you get an inkling to run, remember I may be a monster, but what’s out there is the real evil.” I point to the street. “And trust me, what they have in mind for you is far worse than anything I could ever do.”