Page 44 of Rage & Paradise
Bullets whiz past my body as I grab hold of Estrella and yank her toward the front door of the clubhouse.
She’s not moving fast enough.
I didn’t go through all this just to lose her now. Not when I just got her back.
“Estrella, move!” I shout at her as I finally get her into the doors. Thankfully, everyone makes it inside. I don’t see any blood or wounds.
AZ quickly has Carina and Angela get the other ol’ ladies and the kids to go to the back to the tunnels. If she goes bad, which it already is, we’ve got an escape route they can take to get to safety. Hopefully, they can make it.
I need to get Estrella to go with them. I have to get her out of here.
“Starlight, get on your feet. You’ve got to go.” I shout in her face but she’s not here. Her eyes are fixed and her face is ashen. She’s not listening to me.
“Starlight. Come on, stay with me.”
“I did this. I didn’t save her. She’s like this because of me. I did this.” She mutters and I realize what’s going on. The guilt of not being able to get Sina out of harms way all those years ago is eating her up.
“No, you didn’t do this.” I duck as I hear something heavy batter hard against the doors. Smoke starts to billow under the cracks of the door but then I hear the anti fire system click on.
Thank god for the renovations.
Our clubhouse has been engulfed in flames more times than I want to think about. When we decided to rebuild the one addition that we all agreed on was the anti flame system. Burning down is the last thing this clubhouse would do.
“I did, Santi. You heard her. I should’ve tried harder. If I didn’t pretend. Didn’t let my father make me believe that this was the best I could hope for maybe I could’ve gotten more of the girls out. Maybe I could’ve just…”
“Maybe you could’ve gotten yourself killed. Maybe you could’ve made it worse for them. You can’t do this to yourself now.” I huddle down further and swipe my hand over her face trying to get her to focus on what’s going on right now.
I wanted her broken but not like this.
“Oro! We don’t have time!” Lobo yells at me as he rushes over to me with an AK. We’ve got an enemy right at our doors. The fire might not make it’s way through but sooner or later, all those bastards are going to find a way to make their way into the clubhouse. We’re going to be over run.
I need to figure out a way to get her safe, then I can worry about building her back up.
She refuses to move from where she’s sitting. I look from her to the door that looks like it’s seconds away from buckling in. At the last second, I throw myself on top of her and the doors come tumbling down. Wood splinters and lands on top of us.
I hear gun shots but not as much as I would expect from the force that was outside.
It means that not all of the Canos have weapons. They aren’t equipped to take us on. I bet that wasn’t even the plan. Sina is flying off a big hate for Estrella.
I know the feeling. When she first got here I was ready to do anything to make her feel what I thought she did to me. I was ready to risk it all to hurt her.
Now Sina has shown her hand. She thinks she’s in charge but really she’s nothing more than a pawn in this game.
“Oro, give her to me! We’ve got her.”
I look up from where I’m laying on top of Estrella. Coca and Prissy are there. A determined look on their faces as they reach down and try to yank Estrella from underneath me.
I want to be the one to save her, but right now I’m going to have to depend on the club bunnies to do what I can’t. I can’t stop the demons that are screaming in her head. Stop the doubts and guilt from running rampant. All I can do is make sure that Sina and the rest of the Canos know that we’re not to be fucked with.
We taught the Canos this lesson years ago, it’s time they got a refresher course.
“Fuck!” I hear Vado yell out. I look in his direction just as Coca gets hold of Estrella and pulls her away from the danger.
Vado is by the window and one of the Canos has punched his way through the pane of glass and is trying to yank Vado back through. He’s half way out by the time I get to him.
I pull him back in my direction. Blood trickles down his face from a new cut on his face. If I would’ve come just a second later or the man would’ve pulled in just an inch to the left the glass would’ve cut through his neck and we’d be mourning something much worse.
The Canos are running around the clubhouse trying to find a way in. I hear screaming just as Vado and I get reset.
