Page 14 of Redemption

“I need to go. I need to tell him…”

“That you fucked up when you walked away from him all those years ago?”

“…and every time since. Please can you text me Rafe’s number? Or at least tell them I’m coming and where they are?”

“Sure. But I expect better from you. So, does he. There is a problem. He needs blood and they are low on his type.”

“What is it?”

“O- negative.”

“That’s what I am.”

“Are you serious/”

“It must be a Palermo thing. Yeah, I’m sure.”

“In that case I’m sure they’ll send an escort for your ass. Hang tight. Don’t disappoint us.”

I don’t respond. I doubt Tati and Seb know just how dirty of a business Roque runs or why he was in the Bahamas in the first place. All they want is to save the life of their best friend.

In a rush, I throw my things in a bag, pull up my travel app and find a flight to Nassau. Somehow, I hold my emotions together, hiding my anxious eyes behind my oversized sunglasses. Roque always seemed indestructible. Nothing ever touched him. How stupid I was for thinking I was the only enemy who could get close enough to take him down?

7

Roque

Three days earlier…

I’m fading in and out of consciousness. Johnny’s face hovers over me but I can’t hear anything he’s shouting. I knew I was hit. The bullet somehow finding a gap in my vest. I remember thinking my blood was the same color as her hair in the sun as it spread across my crisp, white shirt.

Chopper. They’re carrying me onboard a chopper. I look left, out the open door. I’m flying home. The water is the same blue as the Med. I see her face. Her blue hair her blue eyes in the rolling waves. My thoughts aren’t making sense. I laugh to myself. It’s her face I see as I die, but it’s as my baby Blue.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as we lift into the clouds. “I thought we could still have it all.” Then I turn my head to Johnny as he presses his hands against the blood pouring from me. “Take care of Chloe. I never killed her Johnny. Your woman, she lives. I kept her safe… my prisoner until you could get your head straight.”

I still can’t hear him, but I can read his lips as he screams, “Don’t die on me your fucking bastard!” The light that he lost in his eyes this past year is back.

“She’s in Oregon. I stashed her with Creed, in a room under Rog’s bar.”

“I love you, brother.”

“Love your stupid ass too. Keep both my loves, safe. I know you can’t stand Romina but she’s my….” I fade out, losing all vision as the darkness finally comes for me.

In a flash, I see it all. My childhood, the closet, my days with Constantine…. Her. Blue then Red and the chase in between.

Then I’m gone. Fading to black… sailing past stars.

8

Roque & Chloe

My fists clenched in my pocket. Adrenalin ran like wildfire in my veins as my eyes swept her from head-to-toe. I don’t speak as I slowly walk forward, flicking my wrist to indicate to my men that I wanted to be alone.

“No one will save you,” I rasp, cutting the distance between us. She finally lifted her eyes.

I smirked. “I’ve broken you.” But she couldn’t utter a word. Not with the thick piece of rope between those plump lips. Lips that I once dreamed of.

Cherished.

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