Page 80 of Savior

I reach for Lorenzo, grasping at him for safety, holding onto the back of his shirt as he moves us toward the door.

I can see the SUV parked on the side of the street, but the few steps it’ll take to get there in the open air have me the most nervous I’ve ever been in my entire life.

We exit the street, and the first crack of a gun sounds through the night.

Lorenzo grabs and opens the door to the SUV, shooting his gun over the top of it blindly in the direction the gunshot had come from.

I jump in and slide over to accommodate him.

“Get in, Lorenzo!” I shout, tears streaming down my face as his breathing grows ragged.

He manages to get inside and slumps into my lap. The door is still open as the driver speeds off from the curb, and I hold on to Lorenzo for dear life.

“Help!” I shout to the driver. “Where is he hit?! Fuck! Help!” I cry in shrieks as my hand finds a wound at his side and presses into it with every ounce of strength that I have.

Lorenzo’s eyes frantically meet mine. “You’re going to be okay. You’re a survivor. Do you hear me? You’re going to be okay!” I shout as I press into his wound.

He nods at me, eyes locking on mine.

His phone rings in his pocket as the driver takes a corner quickly. I work it out of his front pocket, and I slide it open, blood swiping across the screen as I do so. “Ardesia, help!” I sob.

“Where is he hit?” he asks, already judging what’s happened by the tone of my voice and frantic pleads.

“His side, beneath his armpit. We need help.”

“We have to make sure you’re safe first,” he starts, but I cut him off.

“No! He needs fucking help. Fuck my safety, Lorenzo needs help, aren’t you listening to me?!” My body is shaking as I try to press into his wound as I hold the phone in my bloody hand.

“Alright, instruct the driver to take you to safe house F. I’ll have the surgeon meet you there.”

I shout the instructions to the driver, and he nods once, turning around and nearly hitting a truck in his wake.

Lorenzo looks as if he’s growing weary, and I scream at him to stay awake.

“Stay with me,” I cry, tears mixing with sweat from adrenaline on my skin.

The door still lies open, the chilly air of the coming winter rushing past, but it’s not enough air to breathe. Because in thisSUV, barreling down the city streets, I’m holding a man who’s toeing the line of death.

“Hurry!” I scream as the driver gases it.

Lorenzo keeps his eyes on mine as I let the phone drop from my face.

I close my eyes and pray for the first time in my life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

LUCA

Afaint buzzing rouses me, and I absently move my hand over my nightstand to find my phone. Renovations had taken all day, and I helped the volunteers until dark. My body is sore and screaming at me because of my efforts.

“Hello?” I rasp, sitting up on the edge of the bed, my feet touching the ice-cold floor to ground me.

“I need you to get to the address I texted you,” Ardesia says, his voice muffled by a car being driven at full speed in the background. He’s breathing heavily and sounds out of sorts.

“What’s happening?” I ask him, pulling my phone away from my face to see the time.

Three a.m.

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