Page 97 of Stolen Mafia Vows
The moments seem to span an eternity. Then, “Ha!” I feel Olivia’s warm breath on my cheek. “You don’t care about me, Caleb. Where were you when I almost died, huh? Where were you when my father kept me locked up in a safehouse in Sicily?”
She pauses, and I flinch away from the sharp prick of theknife.
“Oh, that’s right,” she continues, “you were marrying your fake wife!”
Caleb’s gaze shifts to my left, a movement so brief, Olivia misses it. Does he want me to dive into the pool?
“It doesn’t mean that I gave up on you, Olivia. You could’ve come to me when you got back to the city. I’d have always been there for you.”
In my peripheral vision, I notice Eoghan’s knuckles tighten around the gun in his hand. I try not to think about him firing a bullet and killing someone. My dad is armed too. And my twin brothers. They’re all here to save me, but Olivia is the one in control, and there is only one person who can stop her.
Me.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins, and my hand instinctively flutters towards my abdomen. Eoghan notices the movement because his eyes haven’t wavered from me the entire time we’ve been standing here. It occurs to me then that he looks like he is part of the Murray pack, and my chest swells with love for them all.
I don’t count down.
I don’t even give it a second thought.
I lean backwards, my spine colliding with Olivia’s chest, as a gunshot rings out.
Olivia’s body jerks, and I hold my breath waiting for the knife to enter my neck. But instead, her arm tightens around my waist, and then we’re falling backwards with the momentum that I’d already put in motion.
We enter the water with a huge splash that seems to engulf us like a tidal wave. Down and down. My arms andlegs flail, and I’m going nowhere because her arm around my waist is locked into place.
I open my mouth to scream, and it fills with water. Red water. I don’t understand why the pool is red, but the thought passes as other bodies appear, wrestling with Olivia to set me free. She thrashes the water and lashes out with her legs. Eoghan’s face is close to mine, and I smile because he promised to protect me.
Then, something hits the back of my skull and the world spins towards a black hole…
“Emily? It’s okay, puisin. You’re safe. It’s all over, baby.”
Warm arms are wrapped around me, and the familiar accent that I fell in love with at the airport several lifetimes ago is murmuring in my ear as I’m rocked back and forth.
I open my eyes. My head is cradled against Eoghan’s chest. His sweater is wet. I can see droplets of water trickling down his neck, and my dress is clinging to my body, and my throat feels like it’s on fire.
“Eoghan?” My voice cracks, and my head, when I try to peer into my husband’s eyes, feels like it’s split in two.
“I’m here, Emily. I’ll always be here.”
“What happened? Olivia…?”
“You don’t need to worry about Olivia. It’s all over.”
His voice is like a cozy blanket wrapping around my shoulders and keeping me warm. But some twisted part of me is clingingon to all the lies, trying to knock this entire situation down like a Lego house and reassemble it into something that resembles the life I thought I had.
I push myself away from Eoghan, electricity passing from his chest through my hands and straight to my heart. “Caleb?”
“Caleb is fine.” The hurt in his eyes is unmistakable, but I also see patience, understanding, and love.
I peer around the pool and spot my dad and the twins nearby, their saturated clothes dripping onto the ground. They’re on their knees, surrounding someone else, someone who isn’t moving. Olivia?
“W-what happened?” My recollection is vague.
I pushed Olivia backwards into the pool, praying that she wouldn’t slit my throat. Did I kill her? Did she bang her head and drown while everyone else saved me? I touch the back of my skull, surprised to find it intact, my breathing growing shallow at the thought that I killed someone. How can I live with that on my conscience?
Eoghan folds me back into his arms, and I don’t fight it. “Nothing bad will ever happen to you again, Emily. I promise.”
I promise.
