WANTED: Love of my Life

51. Final Fight

Crying out, Mitch stumbled forward. Whoever it was down there pulled himself up and the gangster down in the same motion. Mitch tried to grab the railing but failed and he tumbled over the side as Giacomo came shooting out of the darkness. I gaped at him. Was I just seeing an apparition? Giacomo couldn't be up here! He was trapped several hundred feet below. Had the terrors of the night been too much for me? Had I finally gone insane? Or was this all just a dream?

Then I noticed the bloody scrapes on Giacomo's palms and the tears in his leather jacket. I noticed his hard breathing, harder than I had ever heard before.

Oh no. He couldn't have... that was impossible!

“Why are you just standing there?” he asked. His voice was gruff and full of pain.

“Why are you?” I only managed a whisper.

“Because my body feels like it's on fire and I couldn't take two steps without falling over.”

In a blink, I had run up to him and thrown my arms around him.

“You idiot! You unbelievable, loony, lovable idiot! How did you do that? Why did you do that? Climbing up the Golden Gate Bridge?! You're nuts!! Why in God's name didn't you find another way?!”

“There was none.”

“Then why didn't you stay where you were?”

“I had to come and get you.”

“You shouldn't have done it!”

“I had to.”

“You could have been killed!”

“But I wasn't.”

“But you could have been!”

“But I wasn't. Shh. No arguing. I...” I felt him sway. He almost collapsed, and managed to straighten himself just in time for me not to be squashed.

“Sit!” I commanded. “Sit down, you're injured.”

“It's not that bad. I've had worse.”

“Sit down or I'm gonna knock you down!”

“I said it's not that bad.”

But he let himself fall backward onto the sidewalk anyway. A painful expression contorted his face, but almost immediately it was replaced by a smile.

“Did you really mean that?”

“That I'd knock you down?” I sat beside him, stroking his face. “Of course not.”

“No, not that. You called me lovable.”

“Oh, that...” My ears burned. I hoped he couldn't see that in the dark. “That was just a general comment.

“Really?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Angela, I...”

He hesitated.

“Yes?” I prodded.

“I...”

The crack wasn't very loud, really. Not threatening. Not at all. But all the same, Giacomo was thrown back and slammed into the railing. His jacket and shirts were in shreds, his breathing even heavier than before.

“Giacomo!” I screamed, scrambling forwards.

“Don't you move, chick!”

I looked around and saw Neil, gun in his hand, preparing to shoot again. I wanted to throw myself in front of Giacomo, protect him, but he was suddenly gripping me around my waist and tossing me behind him as if I weighed no more than a doll. And then he was sprinting forward, and Neil's gun was coming up...