“Mateo. Watch out!”
Mateo turns his head to lock stares with his father, who now has the gun pointed firmly at his chest.
“Son, I thought better of you. I didn’t think you, of all people, would betray me. Your own father.” He walks closer.
Emma stands still, and I beg her not to move. To cause him to have the trigger pointed at her instead.
“What a disappointment.”
We see and hear the gun go off. The bullet is set to hit its target right as Ramón jumps in front of his grandson, pushing him out of the way. The force of the bullet causes Ramón to fall backward and tumble down the stairs. Mateo runs after him, halting his rapid descent.
I watch in disbelief that Ramón saved my brother from his father. I breathe in a deep, meditative breath to calm the anxiety rising up, threatening to throw me into a panic attack. I hear a grunt and open my eyes to see Emma standing over Mr. Martinez.
“You sick fuck. You thought you could sell us. You and your son, Julian, are the worst kind of evil, with no chance for redemption. Now, I can end this, and I hope you meet your son where you both can rot in hell where you belong.” Emma holds the gun at Mr. Martinez’s head.
He sneers. “You don’t have the?—”
She fires, as blood splatters over Emma’s chest and face. She looks like an avenging goddess covered in her tormentor’s blood. She drops the gun and rushes over to me.
“Deep breaths, Evie, I’ve got you. I’ve got you like you’ve always got me.” Her hand runs over my forehead as I kneel on the floor, sucking in lungfuls of air without the feeling of my lungs fully expanding. I can’t get enough air to breathe, and I’m starting to panic.
“Evie!” I hear a familiar voice as my vision starts to go.
“Emma!”
Jameson and Eduardo are here with us. Eduardo is kissing Emma, despite all the blood covering her chest and face. I am immediately engulfed in a warm embrace, and Jameson’s soothing voice helps me calm my breathing.
“Count, Evie. Hold it in for two counts and slowly let it out. Okay, now do it again, baby. I’ve got you. I’m here. Let’s get you both out of here.”
I stand on shaky legs. I can take a deep breath once again. I nod. Now, Emma is next to me. She holds onto my hand as we descend the stairs and sees Mateo holding Ramón. Emma runs down the remaining stairs to help him.
“Mateo, how is he?” She drops beside him, feels his skin, and checks for a pulse. Blood coats his arm where a bullet intended for Mateo grazed him, but otherwise, it did not injure him.
Emma rips his shirt and assesses him for other gunshot wounds. “It’s just a graze, Mateo, but we should get him to a hospital after that fall. Something could be broken.”
Another man in a tuxedo with a skull-painted face approaches.
“Does he need an ambulance?”
Eduardo answers while looking at his fiancée for further direction. “Emma?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not sure of his injuries. If we call an ambulance, it might bring attention to us.”
The man talking to Eduardo looks over to me. “The area is secure. No one will say anything, and the property has beensearched. We found a dead body in the basement. A middle-aged woman. I believe it was his wife, Mrs. Martinez.”
I look over to Emma, and she nods knowingly. I’m glad they are all dead. “Let’s get Ramón to a hospital. He saved my brother, and I consider him part of our family now.”
Eduardo nods. “Agreed. Let’s get him help.”
They carry Ramón out of there, and we follow. Jameson holds my hand. I can’t help but look at where the band played a while ago and think of how differently this night started.
There is a large SUV waiting for us. Eduardo opens the door, and Emma gets in. Jameson pulls me in and onto his lap. I sit there curled up in his warm embrace as he rubs circles on my back. The vehicle idles. I’m waiting for us to leave when a blaze erupts from my peripheral vision. Jameson’s hand tightens around me, and I focus on the beautiful fire that engulfs the house.
“That is how it all started, you know,” I say aloud to anyone and no one.
Jameson places a kiss on my neck, trailing up to my ear, and places another soft kiss there. “And this is how it ends,” he whispers in my ear.
I bury my head into his chest and cry, and he lets me, just content in holding me tightly to him as I unleash all the emotions I have kept hidden. I cry for my parents, who died in that fire years ago, along with a part of me. Emma thought I was dead, and I might have been if it wasn’t for my brother, who saved me that night.
