Page 52 of Vigilante
“Tasha, Jules, you need to get rid of your phones. They could have tapped into your location and be following the signal.” Max says, turning down another road.
I quietly dig my phone out of my purse and turn it off, hands shaking.
“Here, I have a burner for you both,” Rocco says, reaching into a bag stowed by his feet. He hands me a sleek black flip phone that looks like it was made in the early 2000s. When I open it up, there’s a dim gray background. The buttons light up with a neon green. It’s the kind of phone that you need to hit the numbers in order to send out a text.
I swallow hard. This is my life now.
On the run with the man I love.
At the light, Tasha and I toss our phones out the window. We listen to the satisfying crunch of them shattering as we pull away—our old lives severed completely. There’s no going back now.
CHAPTER 32
Maximo
Everything comes down to this.
The months of planning so I could exact revenge on the man who ruined countless lives. And what do I have to show for it? A woman who didn’t have to trust me but does. Someone I fell for in the unlikeliest of situations, a soul that matches mine.
Julia.
She wasn’t supposed to happen but fuck me, I am so glad that she did. Rocco walks with his hand around Tasha’s shoulder, smirking down at her before whispering something inaudible into her ear. Rolling her eyes, she swats his chest. Rocco drops his head back and releases a heavy laugh that echoes through the airport.I can’t believe we made it here in one piece.
Catching my eye-line, I nod at him, and without pause, he leads Tasha away from Julia and me.
“Wait, what’s—” Julia protests, but I stop her. Pulling her hand—that’s clasped tightly in mine—to my lips and kissing the back of her knuckles.
“Bella,” I hum, “I need you to trust me.”
Lifting her free hand to cup my cheek, she searches my eyes. “I do.”
“The four of us remaining separate makes it less likely for us to be noticed. We are off the no-fly list, but we can’t be too sure about anything else.”
“I don’t?—”
“When we step through security, I need you to be eight to ten people in front of me. Keep your head down, and no matter what happens…” I pull her close to me, dipping my lips to the shell of my ear. “Whatever you hear, ignore it. Do you hear me? You ignore it, and you walk away. You get on that plane and fly to Sicily without me. There will be someone at the other end.”
“N-no, Max, no, I won’t?—”
“Baby, please.” I cup her cheek, leaning back slightly. “Promise me. I’m not saying it will, but I need to know that whatever happens to me, you’re safe. Rocco will be saying the same thing to Tasha by now. Say it. I want to hear you say that you’ll do it.”
Julia swallows thickly before giving me a controlled and brief nod. “I promise, I-I’ll leave you behind.”
“Good girl.” I smile. Pressing my lips to hers in an owning kiss, marking her as mine for one final time before we move past the point of no return.
I don’t care about myself. I fulfilled my plan, but she was never part of it. So, all I care about now is keeping her safe. Nothing else matters. I knew what I was getting myself into, as did Rocco when we decided to do this. We chose to kill a man who had damaged the lives of millions across America. We made our choice.
I place my hand on the small of her back and gently thrust her forward. The pain and fear in her eyes gut me from the inside out, but I can’t afford to let her see that for once, I’m just as afraid. Not for me getting caught, but the thought of neverholding her in my arms again, not being able to build a life with her.
If we make it through this…I’ll spend the rest of my time on earth showing her that she made the right decision coming with me.
I’ll never allow her to have that look on her face again.
Bag checks and security ran so fucking smoothly. The little voice in the back of my head convinced me that something would go wrong. Rocco, the girls, and I move down the line and toward the entrance of the plane with our passports and tickets in hand.
“Hello, welcome to Virgin Flights.” The stewardess greets us. Taking our tickets, she checks the names before pausing. “Max,” she smiles, “would the four of you like to follow me.”
“What’s going on?” Tasha asks behind me.
