Page 111 of Hearts Of Darkness

“Seriously? That’s all you care about? The police will be here any minute.”

“And you said you’d never visit me if I got locked up.”

“Let’s not hang around to find out.” Throwing my sweatshirt over my head, I help him into a sitting position. “Do you recall everything I ever said to you?”

He nods and nuzzles into my neck, smelling like sweat and death, and the man I love most in this world. “Every damn word.”

We stagger to our feet and I half-drag, half-carry him to the edge of the dockside. He’s twice the size of me, and my arm muscles are screaming. We stop to rest as we pass by the body of Emilio. He’s sprawled out on his back, a thin trickle of blood oozing out of the corner of his open mouth. He eyes are no less cold and flat than they were when he was alive.

Did I really just kill a man?

“You did well,” murmurs Dante.

“I didn’t expect to feel this…numb.”

“It gets easier.”

Not for me.

“Santiago!”

Joseph exits the warehouse dragging his left leg behind him, chucking away his gun as he goes.

“Grayson.”

They touch each other’s hand briefly, as if disproving a mirage. Two soldiers surviving against all the odds, yet again.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” says Joseph wearily.

Dante nods, looking gray and exhausted himself as he takes my arm. The cops have reached the roadway, but a lone speedboat is racing alongside us. It pulls up as close as it can, but there’s still a huge gap between us and no time to unload a gangway. The two men glance at each other.

“Jump!” I cry. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

Dante grips my arm tighter. “Are you ready for this?”

“Not me.” I yank myself free. “I can’t swim.”

“It doesn’t matter. We can keep you afloat between us.”

“You’re both bleeding too heavily. You’ll barely be able to keep yourselves afloat.”

“I won’t leave you,” he snarls.

“There’s no time for this!”

“Eve—”

“Please, Dante! They have your name. They know what you look like. You saved me. You saved my father. You don’t belong in a cage for that.”

“Come with us,” he pleads again,taking my face in his hands, smearing his blood all over my cheeks.

I shake my head, my heart shattering into a million pieces. “There’s too much mess. I need to stay here and face the consequences. I have no idea how I’m going to explain everything to my father, but I have to at least try. They can’t lose me, too.”

I see the dawning comprehension in his eyes. He has to let me go. He has to make that sacrifice. He has to return me to my family because it’s the only way he can ever hope to atone for my brother’s death.

“My angel,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine, wrapping me in his warmth for one final time.

“My devil,” I whisper, smiling through my tears. “Find your daughter’s body. Grieve. Come back for me.”

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