And then Susanna does something shocking.
She runs to my side and plants herself in front of me. “Don’t kill him.”
Alek rocks back on his heels while Luca narrows his eyes and raises his gun.
“I have to,” Luca says, right before he pulls the trigger.
Chapter Fifteen
Susanna
I’m expecting to get shot since Luca’s gun is pointed right at me but instead, Alek surges forward right as Luca pulls his trigger and aims the gun into the sky. The bullet goes high and doesn’t hit anyone.
Gabriel pulls me into him, clenching his hands on my arms. I find myself leaning into his touch. Luca didn’t hesitate to point his gun at me to get to Gabriel which means he’s not the one who will ever care for me.
Gabriel is.
He may have started off as my kidnapper but he’s the one who sees me for me. Who actually likes me for me.
“What are you doing?” Alek demands, staring at Luca in disgust. “You could have killed Susanna.”
“Gabriel needs to die,” Luca growls. When he tries to raise his gun again, Alek grabs his arm and shoves him back.
“No. Not when Susanna is standing right in front of him.”
“The question is,” Dimitri chimes in, “whyis she standing right in front of him?”
All three men look at me with confusion. Alek’s gaze also contains hurt. He doesn’t understand why I put myself in front of the enemy to save him.
“Let’s go,” Gabriel says into my ear.
“We don’t have a car,” I remind him. “They’ll only follow.”
“What is going on?” Alek asks, taking a step towards me. The urge to run to him hits me in the gut. He helped raise me. Protected me. I want nothing more than to hug him again. There were so many times I turned away from his embrace because I was a moody teenager. Now that’s all changed. I miss him.
Miss my sister and mom.
But I can’t go back home when Luca is willing to put me in harm’s way to get to Gabriel. Even though Gabriel kidnapped me, he protected me from Chip. He sees the real me and accepts me.
I will never find someone like that for me. Someone with money and power and status. Someone that I have a connection with even if it doesn’t fully make sense to me.
“What are you doing, Susanna?” Alek asks. “Just walk forward. Gabriel won’t shoot you in front of all of these people.”
It’s then that I remember we’re in the street. Normal citizens are watching us in horror.
“Luca, you have to get out of here,” Dimitri says. “Before the cops come. You just pulled your gun on Gabriel. You have to go. Now. Unless you want to be arrested.”
“We should all go,” Alek says. “Susanna, come with me. Now. Just step away from him.” He turns his eyes onto Gabriel. “Let my daughter go.”
I gasp. Alek so rarely calls me his daughter. Usually his surrogate daughter but never just his daughter.
“The police will be on their way,” Gabriel says. “You boys better run. We’re the victims here. You hit us. You fired a gun at us. We’re just innocents. So go.”
“Susanna,” Alek says, holding his hand out to me. I want nothing more than to reach out to him in return… but I find myself stepping closer to Gabriel.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
His eyes tighten in hurt.
