Page 23 of Connected

I swallow, tearing my eyes away from him to take another look at the woman, but she disappears into the private room. My gaze wanders back to him and tears blur my vision as I stare at him.

I didn’t feel him.

I.

Didn’t.

Feel.

Him.

Something behind me grabs his attention and his eyes go wide with terror. His lips move, but I can’t hear him.

I didn’t feel him.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his gun. It’s in that second, while the man I love aims a gun at me, that I realize how to end the pain once and for all.

I close my eyes.

Joaquin screams.

Guns blaze in every direction.

A bullet pierces my flesh.

And then another.

No more pain.

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