I felt my eyes burn with tears as I left the room Colby was in.
"Very good, Juliana." Gold said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
"Is he safe now?" I whispered, my voice cracking. "We'll see." He said then led me into the supply closet.
"Watch this one. I don't want her doing anything crazy." Gold said to Austin as he pushed me into the room.
"Got it, boss." Austin said as Gold closed the door. "You knew all along." I said as Austin nodded.
"We've got a way of being ahead in this world. I got that job months before even thought about moving there." Austin said as I narrowed my eyes.
"How?" I asked as he chuckled. "There are eyes everywhere, Julia. Or should I say Briana." He said with a smile.
"Shut up." I grumbled and crossed my arms. "Your boyfriend is dumber than a box of rocks though. Both him and his friends." He said as my eyes widened.
"Who else is here?" I asked with fear in my voice. "A couple of your friends." Austin said nonchalantly.
"Don't let them hurt them." I begged as he chuckled. "I don't have any control over that." He said then pulled his phone out.
I shook my head, closing my eyes against the tears that were forming.
After only a few minutes the door was opening and my mom was walking in. She was with a girl who I've never seen before.
"Won't you just kill me now?" I asked quietly, keeping my eyes locked on my mothers.
I knew in my heart that she was a horrible and manipulative person but I didn't realize she would stoop this low.
"Oh sweet girl, you haven't even met the man who wants you dead." She hummed with a satisfied tone.
"Go get him then. I'm done here." I mumbled as the girl next to my mom breathed a laugh.
I let my eyes go hard as I stared at her. It took everything in me to not kill this bitch for mocking my pain and suffering.
As soon as her gaze met mine the smirk fell from her lips and a glint of fear filled her eyes.
"Relax, Juliana." Mom said then looked at Austin. "You and Margaret are dismissed for the day." She said as he nodded.
"Are we taking her with us?" Austin asked and looked at me. "No. She stays here. There's someone who is very excited to meet her." She hummed, keeping her eyes on me.
I was honestly feeling so hopeless right now but I knew I would have to either fight to get out of here or I would have to surrender.
I didn't know which would be worse.
At this point Colby hated me. I wanted him to. I wanted him to get out of here and run as far away as humanly possible.
No matter how many scenarios I ran in my head, I knew that no matter what, we both weren't going to survive this.
"Get some sleep, Juliana. You have a big day tomorrow." Mom said with a sickening grin. I hated how menacing she was because this time she actually had some power over me.
I could handle her hitting me, I could handle the mental abuse she used to put me through. This time she actually had the power to kill me or worse.
Once she was gone I curled up in a ball, crying into the empty room. There was an eeriness surrounding me that I couldn't shake.
Of course I was in a shitty situation and I put myself into it but there was something so horrible about them turning Colby against me.
It was better for him though.
I wanted him to run away from all of this and leave me behind. I wanted him to go back to the kids and keep them safe.
Now that my mother was involved I knew there was a possibility that she would go after them.
It killed me that I couldn't protect them.
I didn't get any sleep before the door was opening again.
"Come on. You wanna die so bad, let's make it happen." Mom said as I nodded. I didn't care about any of this anymore. I was either going to fight for my life or let them kill me but I didn't care.
As long as Colby and the others were safe.
We walked down the hallway and towards the main part of the warehouse.
I knew this was going to be the end for me and I was disappointed my life would end in a random warehouse in the middle of my hometown.
I was going to die alone.
When we got to the main part of the warehouse, Colby was standing in the middle of the room with a man I have never seen before and Gold.
I felt my eyes watering as I looked at Colby, his face hard with hatred. "Look who's here." The man next to Colby said with a smile.
"Juliana, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." The man said and held his hand out. "Snake." I said as he chuckled. "Very good, Juliana." He said then looked over at Colby.
"You're dismissed. We'll need you later to help finish the job." He said as Colby nodded, not saying anything to me before he turned to leave.
My stomach ached, knowing they were going to make him kill me. I deserved it after everything, but it wasn't going to make this any easier.
"What do you want with me?" I asked quietly as soon as Colby was gone. "Do you realize what you did?" Snake asked calmly.
I hated how nonchalant he was being.
I knew that his confidence was why people were so scared of him. His aggression was deep seeded that he seemed lethal but confident enough to kill you in one strike.
"I take my gang very seriously. Every member is like blood to me, and you murdered one of them because you were sloppy." He said as men started emerging from every corner.
Each of the four men looked like they could snap me like a damn toothpick.
"Usually I handle these things differently, but for you Juliana I want you to suffer." He said with a menacing tone.
"Not only did you kill one of my men, you killed your own father and another important friend of mine. You're a heartless killer. You need to get a taste of your own medicine." He said as the men all pulled out weapons.
Each and every one of them had a look of hatred on their faces which meant I knew this was going to be the hardest battle of my life.
"Have fun, Juliana." He said then turned on his heal and walked away, leaving me in the room with the four men, my mother, and Gold.
"Ya know, your father would have been proud of you if you didn't kill him." Mom hummed as she pulled out a knife of her own. "He sold my body, mom." I said shakily, feeling my heart aching.
I never had a good relationship with my mom so it was easier to grasp that she would turn on me and try to kill me, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt.
"You deserved it! We could have been an amazing gang. We could have taken over everything together but YOU CHOSE A BOY!" She screamed.
"We had a plan, Juliana! Your father and I were going to recruit you and your brothers and sister and we were going to be unstoppable." She said with a crazed look in her eyes.
"You chose a boy over our family." She said as I shook my head. "I didn't know about the gang, mom! I didn't know anything! How did you expect me to go along with a plan that you never TOLD ME ABOUT!" I screamed, feeling the anger swelling up.
"You didn't let your father explain! He tried to when you found out about him, but you chose Colby. You chose a man you just met over your family." She said blandly before clenching her jaw.
"Now he's against you, too. And you're gonna die for that choice. I hope it was worth it." She said then unsheathed her knife.
Before she could make a move, I pulled my own knife out and she chuckled.
"Before we do this though, take off the vest." She said and tilted her head to the side. "What?" I asked as she raised her brows.
"Take the vest off." She said as I shook my head. "No." I said and covered my belly with my arms. "Hiding something?" She asked as I shook my head.
"I'm not." I said as she chuckled. "That's not very fair to your daughter, is it?" She said as I clenched my jaw.
She could fuck with me and try to poke or torment me but when she brought my daughter into it, I knew that enough was enough.
Before I could even process what I was doing, I was lunging towards her with my knife in hand and a determined look in my eyes.