Page 76 of Endless Love

“Should I tell you that? I mean?—”

That sharp pain, one that I’ve become more accustomed to than I ever thought I would, jabs at my chest again. If she doesn’t want to tell me, then that means that nothing has changed about her leaving. She’s still going to walk away from me. And there’s nothing I can do about it.

“No. You probably shouldn’t.”

The words come out sharper than I mean for them to, and I see Charlotte flinch a little. I don’t want to hurt her, but the thought that after everything, nothing has changed, cuts like a knife.

“Charlotte—”

My voice is lost in the sudden, sharp crack of a gunshot, and a hot, searing pain lances through my shoulder. Charlotte screams, and I duck forward, grabbing her as I start to run despite the pain.

“What’s happening?—”

“I don’t know! Just run!”

Charlotte clings to my arm, both of us bolting down the street. I hear another bullet ping against the sidewalk, another striking the side of a building far too close to us, but I don’t dare stop. I don’t dare look back to see if it’s Lev, or the FBI, or someone else who my father has sent, even as I hear the sound of boots hitting the concrete behind us. They sound close, but there’s no time to find out for sure Further off, I hear thesound of a car engine revving, and my gut clenches, wondering if there’s shortly going to be even more on us.

Another hot slice rips across my side, and I cry out, feeling my arm and my side start to grow wet with blood. I’m not sure how badly I’m bleeding, or if a bullet has lodged in me, or how badly I’m injured. But I know we need to get out of here.

“Get a cab,” I tell Charlotte, and my voice sounds hoarse and wheezy, alarmingly so. “Get?—”

Another bullet pings nearby, and Charlotte screams, her arm still locked around me as she looks around wildly. A cab is coming around the corner, and she waves at it, both of us moving down the sidewalk to meet it. The driver’s eyes widen as he sees us, and he starts to turn, but Charlotte bolts out in front of the taxi, forcing him to slam on the brakes.

“We’ll pay you whatever you want,” she gasps out. “Whatever. Just get us out of here.”

“Five thousand,” the driver spits out, looking wild-eyed at something behind us. “Cash.”

He’s putting out what he thinks is an impossible number, I know that. Expecting us to gape at him so he can veer off and drive away, leaving us to our fate. But I nod, gasping as I lean against the door. “Done,” I rasp, and the driver’s eyes widen even further.

“Fine. Get in.”

The sound of footsteps are closer as Charlotte yanks open the door, jumping into the taxi. She twists around, helping me in as more bullets pepper the sidewalk, and the driver slams on the gas, jolting forward as Charlotte yanks me into the car. She reaches over, hauling the door closed, and I feel the world tilting around me as the driver speeds down the road.

“Where to?” he snaps. “Give me the money, now!”

“In my—pocket.” Speaking seems to be harder. I know that’s not good, but I push away the thought, trying to focus on the here and now. On keeping Charlotte safe.

That’s all I’ve wanted, all this time.

Charlotte reaches into my pocket, pulling out a roll of cash. She flips through it, tossing it into the passenger’s seat before pulling out another, and throwing it to join the first. “There,” she snaps. “Five grand.” Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that the money is bloody, but the driver doesn’t seem to be complaining about that, at least.

Somewhere in the back of my slowly fading consciousness, I’m immeasurably proud of her. She’s tougher than even I ever gave her credit for, and even in this terrifying moment, she’s holding it together.

She didn’t leave me, either. Even though she could have.

The driver shouts again, asking where we’re going. I open my mouth, trying to give him a place, but I can’t speak. The pain is overwhelming, and I can feel the blood soaking my clothes. Dizziness washes over me, and I look up at Charlotte, her face swimming in front of my eyes.

“I—love you,” I manage hoarsely. “I’m—sorry. You made me—happy. But I dragged you—into—this. You were never—meant for—it. I’m—sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she says softly, so dimly that I wonder if I actually heard it at all. There’s a roaring in my ears, and I feel her hand on my face, but I’m going numb at the same time, and my vision narrows.

The cab lurches around a corner, and everything goes dark.

33

CHARLOTTE

Ivan passes out in my lap, and I stare down at him, terrified into silence. He’s still breathing, I can see that—but for how long?

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