Page 46 of Fierce Lies
"Alfeo doing this is not your fault. His beef is with me and the family I work for. You just happened to be caught in that." He held my gaze, unfaltering, and I sucked my lower lip in between my teeth.
"I—" I began, but the van suddenly slowed, cutting me off.
We all tensed as the vehicle turned, gravel crunching beneath the tires. We were slowing down, probably reaching our final destination.
My heart rate doubled, fear flooding my system with adrenaline.
"Listen to me," Jackson said urgently, his voice low. "Whatever happens, follow my lead. Don't antagonize him. Don't push him. Don't try to be brave. Just stay alive. He just killed his own blood. That makes him unpredictable." His voice was far too calm and level for my liking, but I was also grateful. We needed someone who could hold it together.
My stomach knotted with dread. Ivy snorted.
"We know he's dangerous. What's more dangerous than a mafia man?" she muttered.
Jackson's voice dropped, quiet and final.
"One with nothing left to lose."
Silence. Thick and suffocating.
Even Ivy didn't have a comeback for that. I could hear my own heartbeat, too fast, too loud in my ears. My mother would never know what happened to me.
"Are you worried about what he's going to do?" I asked, hating how my voice shook.
His eyes held mine for a long moment. "I've been in worse situations."
Somehow, I believed him. There was something in his steady gaze that spoke of experiences I couldn't imagine, horrors he'd survived. It should have terrified me, this reminder of who he really was—a man who lived in a world of violence and death. Instead, it gave me a strange, desperate hope.
The van stopped. The engine shut off. In the sudden silence, I could hear Ivy's rapid breathing, Jackson's controlled, measured inhales, and my own thundering heartbeat.
"Whatever happens," Jackson whispered, "remember that we're together."
The driver's door opened and slammed shut. Footsteps crunched around to the back of the van as my heart hammered wildly.
"I don't know how comforting that is," I whispered back.
Jackson's eyes never left mine. "I'll do my best to keep you both safe," he said simply.
I took only a small amount of comfort from his words, knowing that it wasn't a promise. He couldn't guarantee our safety. Not against a loaded gun.
I gasped as a bang rattled the outside of the van, and Ivy huddled closer. Alfeo's furious muttering was getting louder outside.
We could hear him pacing, and then his footsteps receded.
"Where's he going?" Ivy hissed, but neither of us answered.
We were parked somewhere quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that swallowed screams.
I glanced at Jackson, then Ivy.
"What do we do now?" I hated how small I sounded, how helpless.
Jackson didn't answer right away. He stared at the metal wall like it might give him a plan.
His hands were still bound behind him. He couldn't see anything from where he was wedged. Blood had smeared all over his leg and dribbled down to pool on the floor. I wondered how much he'd already lost.
I shifted, wrists aching, but my hands were in front. Which gave me more options.
"I could untie you," I offered. "Just enough so it still looks like you're restrained if he comes back." Hope flickered in my chest. It was small, fragile, but it was there.
