GROWL
Growl allowed himself a moment to watch the car drive away, watch Cara leave. He’d probably never see her again, and that was for the best. She would be happier without him in her life.
He shoved a knife into his next attacker. He would fight and he would die today. But not in vain.
And if he died, he’d die with the memory of Cara’s sweet taste, or her perfect skin, and pretty face. He’d close his eyes with a good memory, no matter what awaited him after.Cara
I banged my fists against the window, ignoring the dull pain zipping through my arms from the force of it. “Let me out,” I screamed again, even louder. Not that Mino hadn’t heard me the first time. We were barely two feet away from each other. Instead of listening to my request, he drove even faster.
I thrust my arms up and braced myself against the glass. Growl was surrounded by Falcone’s men. Even a fighter like him couldn’t possibly stand a chance against so many opponents.
I cried out. “Please, we have to help him.”
Mino shook his head. “I have strict orders to take you away from here.”
“But the man who gave the orders to you will be dead soon if we don’t help him!”
“Even so. A promise to a dead man isn’t worth less.”
I sank back against the seat. We were too far away. I couldn’t see Growl anymore. He’d survived so much. He couldn’t die, not like this. Not so soon.
“Cara?” came Mother’s soft voice, and I realized I’d completely forgotten about her and Talia. I turned to them. Confusion flickered on Mother’s face, but also a bitter realization. I’d given myself away, but I couldn’t even bring myself to care.
My eyes found Talia. She was staring down at her hands which lay limply in her lap.
I took her hand but she didn’t react. “We’ll be safe soon.”
I didn’t know what she’d gone through in the two months since I’d last seen her. She seemed physically unharmed but that meant nothing.
Mother wrapped an arm around my sister but kept her eyes on me. “Why did that man help us?”
“I suppose he felt guilty for what he did and wanted to redeem himself,” I said.
Mother pursed her lips. “That man doesn’t know what guilt is. He’s a monster. He’s been Falcone’s cruelest assassin for so many years, no one could do that without turning into something less human.”
I couldn’t deny it. Growl had been cruel. He was a murderer. He’d done too many horrible things to count. There was no way I could explain any of this to Mother, because I couldn’t explain it myself.
“I heard the stories,” Mino said. “How Falcone gave you to him as a gift. It was meant as punishment for your family for your father’s betrayal.”
He was watching me through the rearview mirror, a curious expression on his sun-weathered face. I didn’t react to his words. It wasn’t meant as a question.
Mother had paled at the mention of Father but she remained silent.
“What I don’t get is why you are crying over him. Shouldn’t you be relieved to be rid of him? He was a monster,” Mino continued.
I raised my fingers to my cheeks, feeling the wetness. “He was,” I agreed. I wasn’t delusional. I’d witnessed Growl’s darkness, his irredeemable side, several times, and yet I’d come to love him. Maybe because I knew of the other Growl, the person he kept hidden beneath many layers of brutality. That tender and vulnerable side, that caring and loving side. That had won me over. I knew the man in front of me wouldn’t believe me if I told him about that Growl. And it was probably for the best. Growl had always done his best to keep that side of him hidden, to protect himself. I wouldn’t destroy the image he’d worked so hard on, even if I hated the image he’d created for himself. But now that he was gone, it was too late anyway.
My heart clenched into a tight fist.
“Maybe you should see someone, a shrink. I heard about this shit. Stockholm Syndrome.”
Anger surged through me. I hated that he wanted to put a label like that on my feelings. Mother touched my arm and I could tell that she agreed with him.
Perhaps they were right. I didn’t know. Didn’t know if my feelings for Growl would have survived in freedom, I’d never get the chance to find out.We drove for two days and only stopped for toilet breaks. Talia didn’t speak at all the first day. On the second, she finally told us that she was okay. That she hadn’t been hurt. That the wife of her guard had taken care of her as well as she could.
I was so relieved, even though another hurdle lay still ahead of us. Convincing the head of the New York Familia to help us and take us in. Mother had called him from an old pay phone at a rest stop and told him, we’d be coming. He hadn’t made any promises.