With anticipation building inside me, I place my foot on the crate, fully prepared to bring an end to his existence. I wipe the sweat beading on my forehead. I just want to be back with Zara.
“W-where did Zara go?” Alex asks, looking around the room, making me hesitate.
“Someplace safe.”
“No, no. She’s not.” The panic in his blue eyes has me taking a step back.
“You don’t get to mention her name,” I say through gritted teeth. “Where is Romano, and where are the girls, Alex?”
“I-I don’t know where Romano is. All I know is he’s planning something big. George just instructed me to keep Zara away from you.”
My pulse picks up as the realization settles over me. Jax shoots me a worried look. I bet he’s thinking the same as me.
“What specifically did they say about Zara?”
“I was just told to keep her busy tonight, keep her away from you. I just wanted to keep her safe, Frankie. I’d never harm her.”
I swear my heart fucking stops.
“No.” I close my eyes. This cannot be happening.
“We need to go,” I say to Grayson and Jax, already making my way to the exit. I’m not about to let history repeat itself.
“You can’t just leave me here!” Alex whines as I reach the door.
“You better hope to fucking god nothing happens to her, Alex,” I seethe at him.
We jump in Enzo’s Aston Martin. “We gotta get back to the End Zone, as quick as you fucking can, Enzo.” I can barely get my words out.
“What’s going on, boss?” Grayson asks.
I hope I’m wrong.
I need to get her away from here–far, far away.
Keller picks up on the first ring.
“Tell me Zara is still with you.”
“Yes. She’s sitting here with me. Sienna and Maddie are in the ladies’ room. We have our men surrounding the club. We’re all fine here.”
“No one is to come in or out. Do you understand me, Keller?”
“I got it, boss. They won’t.”
I won’t be able to breathe until I have her in my arms. I turn to Enzo, who concentrates on the road.
“I’ll have some of our guys pick up Alex and bring him back to the safe house. We can finish him off there and get the girls location,” Grayson says from the back seat.
“That’s fine.”
The tension is so thick, I could cut it with a knife. I need that asshole alive. I’ll get the answers I need and I will fucking end this.
Romano may be out here somewhere. I have lived, breathed and survived with one aim; to kill him.
Now, my life has a new purpose. I will still end that motherfucker and I will make it hurt. But it is not anywhere as important to me as Zara.
There isn’t a price on my devotion to her.
I rush out of the car as Enzo pulls up, not waiting for him to stop.
The information Alex shared does not sit right with me at all. I need her as much as I need air to breathe.
With every step closer to the entrance, the more I can relax. She’s inside. Nothing has happened. I can protect her and our baby with my life from this second on.
Grayson, Jax and Enzo are right on my tail as we approach the neon signs of the club. That big red door to the VIP area is in my sights.
The echoing boom, a sound that is deeply ingrained in my memory, resonates along the street. The crowd outside erupts into a frenzy of screams that engulf me, causing my heart to fucking stop.
The force of the impact knocks me down to the ground. My hands instinctively shield my head, the explosion rips the air from my lungs.
My vision is completely consumed by the sight of angry flames pouring out of the club’s shattered glass windows.
I can’t let this happen again. Not a chance in hell.
As I claw to my feet and stumble forwards, a deep roar erupts from deep within me. I feel a searing pain slicing through my chest, causing my vision to blur.
Time goes still, and I am completely numb to the pain.
“Zara!” I scream.
The smell of smoke fills the air as I drag myself towards the burning building, the sound of glass crunches beneath my feet. I don’t even allow myself time to think as I run as fast as I can towards the VIP entrance.
Not a single thing matters in my life. Her life comes above my own.
If I have to follow her into the next life, I fucking will.
