I deserved it.
I wanted it.
The instinct to fight is overwhelmed by the instinct to just lay here and let it happen. Just like I did when I was younger. When I was too small to really fight.
The metal door comes crashing open, and along with it is Soren and two of the guards that work for both of us now.
His eyes are filled with red-hot anger, and it knocks me out of my frozen state.
I’m not too small anymore.
I can fight.
I use all the energy I have to shove the man off me at the same time that Soren grabs him by the back of his shirt and throws him to the side.
“Took you long enough!” I yell in Soren’s direction.
Soren pulls his gun out and points it at the man who’d just been groping me.
“No!” I shout with a huff. “He’s mine!”
I push myself up off the floor, my bloody leg screaming at me and I grab my gun that got tussled to the ground and point it at the man.
“Please I—” he starts, but the next moment my finger pulls the trigger, and a bullet goes straight into his groin. Then his stomach, then his chest.
“Who’s the nasty bitch?” I sneer and limp over to him as more bullets fly across the room.
“Ah fuck!” one of the guards on my side shouts, “Son of a bitch! You’re gonna pay for that, you fucker—” his words are cut off by the sound of him beating the other man to death with his gun.
The room is absolutely covered in blood and bullet holes.
As the guards get the only man alive in the room onto his knees, I look to Soren whose eyes are laced with a familiar emotion.
Guilt.
It’s difficult to stay standing, much less walk, but I make my way over to him as I hear the final bullet being placed in the last man’s head. Leave no man alive. That seems to be the Fiorelli way, but the way Soren is looking at me, and how the anger is blazing in his eyes, tells me that he didn’t just follow me into a trap.
“Did you know about this?” I ask him, voice low.
He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he looks to the side away from me. I feel like I already know the answer, but instead of feeling anger, all I feel at this moment is relief that he showed up at the last minute to handle these guys. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter right now.
All that matters is that we get the fuck out of here before someone else shows up.
As I make my way toward the door and out into the alley again, Soren follows me. I’m limping, and my head is getting dizzier by the minute. I don’t know how much blood I’ve lost, but I’m sure it’s a few pints.
“You’re injured,” Soren tells me.
“Wow, you’re a fucking genius,” I reply with a gasp. My voice sounds weaker than I expect.
Soren growls and moves in front of me. “Let me take care of you, for fucks sake. You’ve got a bullet in your leg, again.”
I shove him out of the way. “Not until you answer my question,” I insist.
He doesn’t reply, just stands to the side of me while the guard behind us is being lead out by another.
“He’s more injured than me,” I motion behind us. “Why don’t you baby him?”
“I’m not babying anyone. It’s my job to watch after you, remember?” Soren reminds me.
