Two months ago on the night
"For fuck's sake. Enough of this bullshit," Luca growled, firing a gun towards where we were. Screams erupted but before I could see what had happened, my eyes stopped over Celeste's body in Liam's arms.
He was shaking her, his hand on her cheek, trying to wake her up. My entire body stiffened at the sight. She wasn't breathing.
She was dead.
"Please, please, baby," he placed his lips against her forehead before pressing his forehead against hers. I looked over at Laura behind them who was holding Aldo close to her. He'd been shot.
"Run, little peasants," Luca coed. I rushed to Liam's side.
"Take her. Now," he didn't look up at me but complied and stood up with her in his arms. I pushed him towards the woods across from Luca and ran. Alex and Egon both shot from behind the trees at Luca and his men but he had one upon us.
As we rushed into the woods, Liam ran in front of me. I couldn't even register much of what happened behind me but I could hear bullets like it was my worst nightmare. I hid behind a tree as Liam did a few feet away from me. I took in deep breaths as shock, adrenalin and grief settled in while mixing with one another.
"Liam!" A scream erupted being us, causing me to look past the tree. Alex ran towards us. His face was pale, his clothes were drenched from sweat and a few drops of blood covered the side of his neck. Once he spotted me, he ran over to me before grabbing my forearm.
"What? You okay?" I asked, worried that something was very wrong with him. He looked around us, trying to spot Liam.
"I'm fine, but we need to get the hell out of here." I frowned before I placed my hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from freaking out completely.
"Alex, calm down. I'm fine we can go," I walked over to where Liam was as the sickling feeling made its way to my stomach. He held her in his arms but had his head tilted back against the tree and breathed quite frequently.
"Liam, we need to-" Alex grabbed me once a loud explosion erupted. Liam pulled Celeste to his chest even closer as her wound bled even more.
"We need to get her wound checked out," Alex said right behind me but once I looked behind him, I saw Egon running with Giorgio in his arms. His leg was injured from when we ran to find where Celeste was. Laura ran close behind him while Lorenzo fired bullets toward the black van.
Luca was already in the van because of his injuries so his minions were the ones fighting his battle. Marco helped Aldo follow everyone and when I looked back at Liam I placed my hand on his bicep, trying not to freak him out further.
He was lost. He was in his head and nothing around him caught much of his attention. "Liam, let's go," Egon reached us and before I could even get a better look at him, he started speaking, out of breath.
"Hurry, there are almost six more vans and they're coming here." His eyes looked over at Liam. "Liam, leave her. You won't be able to run out of here." Liam just shook his head slowly. "Liam-"
"You need to leave, all of you," Lorenzo said before he looked at Liam and then Celeste in his arms. "We'll come back for her. If they see us run out of here, they'll follow," I frowned.
"We can't..." I shook my head as I processed what was about to happen. "We can't leave her here. She..." I sucked in a breath before I turned away from her, barely being able to bear the sight anymore. "We won't be able to save her if we leave her," Alex placed his hands on my shoulders before turning me to look at him.
"She won't live, baby. There's no pulse no beating of the heart. The least we can do is come back for her body." I looked at him in disbelief.
"No, if Egon can carry Giorgio just fine, she'll come with us," Laura walked over to Liam as Alex looked back to see how much time we still had. She gently checked the pulse right by Cel's neck and then on her wrist. She sighed as she shook her head and then got a better look at the wound.
"No matter what we do, she's dead. We can't just take the bullet out and save her by sowing it. She doesn't have any blood flow practically anymore," she said before looking past the two of them and towards the vans.
"We need to go," Alex looked over at Liam. "You can carry her, right?" He didn't look at anyone but nodded.
We made our move and ran forward. Luca's men fired their guns towards us from the far but most missed.
"Turn left!" Lorenzo yelled out before Liam and I moved towards the left. the branches on the ground crushed as we ran through them and once I saw the road ahead, I swear I breathed in a calmer breath.
But not for long.
"Margo stop!" Alex yelled and before I could look back at him I stopped with Liam right beside me and only a second later realised what Alex meant by stopping me.
A bomb exploded almost ten feet away from us, forcing us to the ground. I winced as the sharp branches hit my skin, slicing some spots. I grunted as I tried to get away from the ground, shaking some of the dirt that had fallen on me away from my back.
"Are you okay?" Alex pulled me up before taking my face into his hands. He looked at me closely trying to see if I was alright. It warmed my heart but when the said heart was starting to shatter as every minute passed, the warmth couldn't register.
"I'm fine," I glanced at Liam who was now on his knees with Cel still in his hands. His hand caressed her cheek as he stared at her. She laid limb in her boyfriend's arms, her chest still, hands draped on the sides, no sign of any life inside her.
"I'll give you one choice," a loud voice shouted, making us all turn in its direction. It came from the direction that we came here from and sent chills all over my body.
The broad shoulders. The tall build. That walk.
"Fottuto pezzo di merda," I cursed loud enough for everyone to hear. Once he stepped closer, still about twenty feet away from us, a smirk formed on his lips.
"Tyler?" Lorenzo and Laura said in unison.
"Leave her or I'll bomb the place," I frowned as I stared at him.
"You... you... what?" I could barely hide my surprise.
"I have orders to follow, Margo. And I'm just trying to help you out." His eyes travelled to Liam in the back. Tyler smiled as he looked back at me. "I knew that this wouldn't work. I think all of you thought so in the back of your minds." He chuckled as he stared at us. "The Rossi and Martinelli never worked and for some reason, all of you thought differently."
"You know nothing," Laura spat out.
"You're right. I do know nothing. But at least I have some sort of heart. I'm letting you escape. Run, do whatever you want with your freedom but leave her," I shook my head.
"How could we even trust you? We could comply but you might kill us anyway." I took a deep breath in. "You're not trustworthy, Tyler."
"Just this once, I promise you I will keep my word. Wasn't I the one who told you about where Igor would be? I was the one who helped you. You trusted me then."
"She trusted you. Not us," Liam finally spoke. "And I tried to talk her out of it. You're no one special in our lives-"
"But I happen to have all of your lives right in the palm of my hand." My insides were filling with rage as every millisecond passed. He checked the watch on his right hand. "There are exactly three minutes for you to make the decision." I looked up at Alex who looked at Liam.
"We need to go," he told Liam.
"She told us to go. She would kill us if she found out that we stayed here," Lorenzo said right behind Alex.
"We'll find her. Right after we leave, it shouldn't be difficult. And then we'll give her the rest of eternity that she deserves," Marco interfered. I tried to breathe as I thought it out.
Leaving her here, meant giving her away.
Staying here meant all of us would die.
If she had been alive, the decision would be much harder.
I stood up, holding onto Alex's arm. I looked over at Egon. "Give Giorgio to Lorenzo or Marco. We'll need to get Liam," I looked over at him. His eyes still stayed on Cel, his hands gently caressing her head. "Liam, let's go." I touched his shoulder, making him flinch. "Trust me, everything will be alright," I said as tears streamed down my cheeks, knowing what I would have to face soon.
"No, we..." he inhaled deeply. "We can't just leave her," he pleaded before placing a kiss on her forehead.
"One minute!" I cursed under my breath before I averted my eyes onto Alex.
"We need to-" he didn't even question me and nodded. Egon and he walked over to Liam and grabbed his arms.
"No," he screamed, making me look away and squint my eyes. I glanced at Cel one more before mentally saying goodbye. Laura rushed to my side and with tears streaming down her face she dragged me away. Lorenzo followed us with Giorgio in his arms and Marco had to drag Aldo away before he started screaming.
But the worst sight had to be catching the way the guys tried picking Liam off the floor. He tried resisting with everything in him but his strength was too weak for his friends.
I looked away before I could puke from the sight of it.
The last thing I remembered as we made our escape was the echo of Liam's screams. They made me shake from fear and guilt of leaving her.
Before I stepped into the black van sent by our people, I looked back as I heard one last agonizing scream from Liam's throat before Egon put him to sleep by pressing a certain pressure point on his neck.
Those screams were the only sound that echoed in my head for the next two months. Until I found out where the girl actually was and was in fact alive.
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I thought the memories Margo brought back with her talk, would make me cry but instead, once I started to bounce my leg, Cel placed her hand on my thigh without even looking at me. Like she sensed that it was hard for me. I grabbed her hand and held in it mine for comfort.
I found strength in her presence since she was okay. She was right next to me and was breathing. I pressed my lips to her hand as Margo finished the story.
"That's it."
"It's not as bad as I thought it'd be," my love admitted, making me chuckle. She glanced at me with a frown on her face.
"It was bad," I said before I placed a kiss on her hand. She looked back at Margo.
"Who took you in?" Dante asked his daughter.
"Vlad. I was never with Luca," something inside me exhaled a relieved breath.
"And tell me why were you climbing over the fence from Vlad's estate weeks ago?" Dante asked as I glanced over at her. A smile tugged her lips as she looked down at her lap.
"It's a long story," she answered abstractly.
"We'll need more than that," Aldo said, getting more and more curious.
"You'll need some backstory for it but let's just say, I killed Vlad and his family."
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