Page 47 of Fierce Lies
Hope was all we had left now.
Jackson's eyes dropped tom ine, and he gave a small nod. "Do it. But be fast. If Alfeo opens it and sees anything off, he'll shoot first."
I shifted him forward so I could reach his hands, trying not to move his leg too much.
My fingers trembled as I worked the knot, sweat making my grip slippery. It mingled with the blood, making a mess of my hands. I wiped them on my shirt to dry away the blend of sweat and blood before struggling again.
Damn that kid for knowing how to tie us up well. He couldn't have left them a little easy for us?
I wondered if the kid had military training too, or if this was just standard procedure for mafia kidnappings. Did all mafia children get taught how to tie knots?
Ivy met my eyes over Jackson's shoulder, and for once, she didn't say anything snarky. Just nodded. The weight of what might happen… all the things we'd never said, all the years of friendship, they were compressed into a single look.
We were family, and we were in this together.
I glanced down, letting out a soft breath as I finally got the knots undone and loosened his bindings.
Jackson didn't move his hands, keeping them positioned exactly as they had been. Only the slight relaxation in his shoulders told me he felt the difference.
Ivy let out a soft breath. I could feel her fear matching my own. At least she seemed focused, her eyes alert, not glassy. I needed her to be here with me, not checked out. It was not something I'd have expected of her, and I'm glad she'd bounced back.
"He doesn't need us alive anymore," Jackson said as he tested the loose bindings. "If he decides we're a liability..." He didn't finish the thought. He didn't need to. The image of the dead Malatesta man flashed in my mind, the way Alfeo had pulled the trigger so quickly.
Ivy's voice was sharp, cutting through my spiral of panic as I sat back.
"Then we run." She met my eyes, and I saw the same determination I'd known since we were kids—the same fight that had gotten her through her parents' neglect, through every hardship. It had reignited, burning away whatever shock or darkness had claimed her momentarily.
Jackson looked at both of us, and something shifted in his face. Resolve, maybe. Or resignation.
"Elena, undo Ivy's restraints too. All the way. But keep them loose. If he comes back, you'll need to fake it." His training was showing through, the man who'd been special ops. Either that, or it was just who he truly was. A man who looked at it from all angles, came up with plans and contemplated all scenarios. Maybe it was why he'd joined the service.
I could only hope I'd get a chance to ask him more, find out just who he'd been.
I shifted, focusing on Ivy's bindings as she turned her body to give me easier access.
Be quick, you got this.
"If I see a shot, I'll take it. I'll distract him. You two run." Jackson's voice was low, steady. There was no hesitation in his tone, no doubt. Just certainty.
My heart stuttered. I looked at him, really looked.
"You could get hurt. Or worse." The thought of leaving him behind made something in my chest twist painfully. How had this man I'd barely known for a week become someone I couldn't bear to lose? Was it because I knew he was our best chance at survival? Or was it because I'd started to feel things I shouldn't have, that I'd let him in?
He shrugged, like it was nothing. Like dying was just another mundane task.
Like he wasn't afraid to go out for a cause. That was what it really was.
"I've survived worse." But the shadows in his eyes told a different story. I thought of the scars on his back, wondered what nightmares kept him up at night.
Neither of us believed him. Not really.
The way Ivy looked at him over her shoulder said it too.
My hands were stained with his blood, and I couldn't shake the feeling that there would be more before this was over.
"Will the Donatis come for you?" Ivy asked as I cursed inwardly at the difficulty of the knots in her binding.
Jackson's jaw tightened, a muscle jumping beneath his skin.
