My tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip, my heart thrumming in my chest.
Blood rushes in my ears as my finger wraps around the trigger.
I thought when this moment came, I would know what to do. I knew what I'd have to do for my family.
And then Noah came along and showed me another side of him. He became someone I think it's hard to picture my life without. Someone I want to see again after this, but I don't know how that's possible when he's always going to hold this grudge against my family.
This isn't going to work.
If I thought it could once, I was foolish. Blinded by the desire to finally feel seen by somebody.
Noah's gaze locks on mine, his body swaying harder than it was before, his clothing soaked in blood.
I don't know what's his and what's not.
"You knew what this was. You knew it was always going to end this way. Get out of here."
"I'm not going to let you kill them." My voice breaks as I take aim at his good leg. "And I'm not going to let you run into that shit and get yourself killed either."
He takes a couple of steps back. "What're you going to do about it, then?" He scoffs and shakes his head. "You're not going to do anything, are you? No. You like being told what to do. You thrive off other people having control because then you don't have to worry about making the wrong choice. You have none of the power, and you might say you hate it, but I can see it in your eyes. You love it."
"I'm not going to let you do this."
Hate floods his eyes. "You never gave a shit about me, did you? This was nothing but a game of pretend to you. You wanted to see how close you could get to me, and then you were going to betray me like everyone else."
"Noah, I?—"
He presses his hand to his bloody wrist, squeezing tight. "You're just as bad as the rest of them. You've never given a shit about me."
His words are a knife to the chest.
A lump forms in my throat, tears burning in the corners of my eyes.
I know I could plead with him, tell him that I do care about him—far more than I ever thought I would—but he's not going to hear it right now.
Hell, I don't know if he's going to hear it when this is done either. Not after I do what I know I have to.
Maybe one day, he'll see that I'm only trying to protect him.
Noah smirks and shakes his head. "Go ahead. You have me right where you want me. Pull the fucking trigger and end this for your family. It's not worth the fight anymore. You won."
"I'm doing th-this because I need you alive." My voice breaks again even as I try to stuff down the sob that's threatening to break free as the first tears slip down my cheeks.
"Fuck you."
I pull the trigger.
What else can I do?
Tears burn hot tracks down my cheeks as he goes to the ground, blood dripping from his thigh.
Across the parking lot, Aiden watches us.
Fuck me.
As Aiden starts to jog toward us, I look down at Noah, biting the inside of my cheek and trying to hold it together.
"He's not going to kill you while you're this injured. He wants you alive and well so he can beat the hell out of you."
