Page 93 of Deceit
Too bad for him, he only had two choices: jump into the water, or get pastme.
The fucker took too long to deliberate.
With his knife gripped in his hand, he took a swing at me seconds before Icrashed into him, knocking him backward and straddling him.
“Motherfucker!”I slammed my fist into his face as he waved the knifearound, doing his best to buck me off as blood pissed from his broken nose.“I’ll fucking kill you for hurting my wife.”
My rage powered my fists as they crashed into his face again, yet despite thepain I was causing him, he still attempted to fight back, the knife slicing my arm as he waved it around.
Despite the burn from the gash, I caught his flailing hand withease, twisting his wrist until a deafening crack rang out, and he screamed in agony. But his screams didn’t last long. Not when I plunged the knife I’d taken from him straight into his heart.
I didn’t wait to see if he stopped breathing before I tugged the blade out and took off again, the knifeclutched in my hand. Reaching the edge of the jetty, I glanced around, but Sofia was nowhere to be seen.
Diving in, the freezing water stabbed my body like a thousand needles, andthe knife wound in my arm turned into a blazing inferno from the salt water. With my eyes stinging, I desperately looked around the murky water, trying to find any sign of Sofia, but it was impossible to see anything in the darkness. When my lungs started burning, I had no choice but to resurface.
As I breached the surface, gunshots still echoed from the docks, but I didn’tdwell. Sucking in a deep breath, I dived under again, forcing myself to go down deeper.
Every muscle in my body burned, and my arm throbbed like fuck as Ipushed myself to go further into the darkness. With my vision blurred from the sting of the salt, dread consumed me as all I could see around me was the gloom of the water.
My lungs began to burn, desperate for air, and when I thought I wasgoing to have to return to the surface, a flash of white appeared through the darkness.
Determination propelled me as hope bloomed in my chest. Surely I wasn’ttoo late? I couldn’t be. I couldn’t lose her.
My lungs screamed in protest as I reached the weightless form of Sofia, herbrown hair floating gently around her, and her eyes closed. I grabbed her arm and shook her, hoping her eyes would shoot open and she’d know I was there for her,thatI’d come to save her.
But they didn’t.
Not ready to give up, I used her body to crawl to where her feet weretethered to the slab, weighing her down.Black spots danced in my vision, my head growing lighter the longer mylungs went without oxygen, but I didn’t care. If Sofia died under the water, I’d die with her.
Without her, without Theo, my life was empty.
With fading energy, I got to work, sawing at the rope with the knife, andignoring the survival instinct in my head screeching at me to get the fuck up to the surface. My arm ached as if I’d been weightlifting a car, andjustwhen I thought I couldn’t hold on anymore, the final frays of the rope broke, freeing Sofia.
I dropped the knife and wrapped my arms around her, and with the last bit ofstrength, I kicked my legs as hard as I could, pushing us to the surface.
When we broke through, my lungs caught fire as I took deep gulps of airbefore hauling Sofia over to the side of the jetty. Despite the oxygen now circling my body, my head was still hazy, and I had no clue how I was going to get her out of the water.
Until a hand reached down.“Give her to me.”
My head snapped up. The biker who’d come to our rescue had removed hishelmet, and it registeredthatthe gunfight had fallen quiet. Despitesplashes of blood coating his face, I recognized him, having seen him once before. But what the hell he was doing here, I had no clue, and I wasn’t going to waste time finding out.
With strength I wasn’t sure I had, I lifted Sofia into his waiting arms,enormous relief coursing through me when he pulled her onto the jetty.
Adrenaline, mixed with a desperate need to get to Sofia pushed me tosomehow climb the three iron bars attached to the side of the concrete. A shiver traveled the length of my spine as I pulled myself onto the jetty, but it wasn’t from the cool air.
It was at finding Sofia flat on her back while the man in leathers pumped herchest.
“Get out of the way!”I shoved him and took over pumping her chest, myheart cracking down the middle at Sofia’s lifeless face.“Come on, Sofe,”I panted, my breath already coming out in short spurts.“Please, Jailbait. I need you to wake up.”
I lowered my mouth, transferring air from my lungs into hers. Herchest inflated, but instantly, the air whooshed out. Giving her another three breaths, I started pumping her chest again, my eyes welling with tears I refused to let fall.
She wasn’t dead.
This wasn’t how our story ended.
Not when it was just beginning.
“Please, Sofe,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Breathe for me. Just fucking breathe.”
