Page 110 of Wanted

“Our destiny was written,” Broderick’s weak voice reaches us from the ground. “It was your destiny to be the winner.”

I kneel beside him, this can’t end like this.

“Help is on the way,” Davis announces and to corroborate his words, at this very moment sirens sound in the distance.

“Did you hear that? Hold on, Bro, help is on the way.”

He closes his eyes for a moment. I take off my shirt, trying to stop the flow of blood from his abdomen.

When he looks up, he turns to Stella, who is sobbing next to me.

“I loved you from the first moment I saw you,” Broderick murmurs. “In my way, you were the only one, Stella. Always.”

“Don’t talk,” she replies, muttering. “Save your strength.”

“There’s no way out,” he says, his gaze unfocused, his eyes that are just like mine are clouded. “Forgive me, Lion. Forgive me, live your life, Brother, for you and for me.”

A lump fills my throat. I don’t know what to say and even if I knew, nothing would come out of my mouth.

“What happened at the house, the last time we were there…” Stella mutters.

“Nothing happened,” Broderick coughs. “I’m a bastard, but I’m not a rapist. I took off your clothes stained with vomit, cleaned you as best I could and put you to sleep.”

Stella can breathe easy now. I thank Broderick by tightening the fabric against his belly. Damn, why are they taking so long to arrive?

Broderick closes his eyes again. “Dammit,” I yell at him. “Look at me, Brother, look at me. You fought so hard for the money, you can’t give up now when it’s so close, live and spend it on whatever you want.”

“Sorry,” he groans again.

“Forget it, there is no bad blood. Relax, you and I are fine.”

A smile is drawn on his mouth and he sighs, his hands fall to his sides. I don’t have to be a doctor to know.

My brother is gone.

The noise of tires screeching on the road fills the silence, but everything is like a cacophony, the hurried steps, the screams. I can’t distinguish one from the other, only the weight of Stella’s body pressing against mine keeps me grounded.

Two brothers, same appearance, different in personality. Marked by a tragic destiny.

Luck? I don’t know.

What would I have done if I was in his place? I don’t know.

Live your life, Brother, for you and for me.

Those words reach my ears as if brought by the wind.

For you and for me, that’s what I plan to do, I answer silently looking at the sky.

“Rest in peace, Broderick,” I say, bringing my hands to his face to close his eyes.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“We should have gone to the hospital to have someone check on you,” I say to Stella as we are both submerged in the small bathtub in our hotel room, surrounded by fragrant honey and lavender bubbles.

There’s hardly room for the both of us, but somehow, we managed. Her body is accommodated between my spread legs, her back on my chest, while she caresses my hands, which rest on her still flat stomach.

“I’m sick of hospitals, I’ve reached my limit of them lately,” she murmurs. “To the extent I’m tempted to have a home birth.”

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