Then—
A loud crack split the air outside.A sound that didn’t belong here.
Gunshot.
I froze, fingers tightening around the sink edge.Another sound—shouting, then screams.Panic burst through my chest.Every instinct told me to run, but my body locked up.I hated guns.I’d seen too many.Heard too many.
“Matt,” I whispered.The name felt like a prayer and a curse.
He was out there.
Another scream.More chaos.
Tears welled as I tried to breathe— inhale, exhale, just like he’d taught me.I could do this.I had to.
Inhale.Exhale.
My hand shook as I grabbed the door handle.I pushed it open and stepped into the hall.The silence that met me on the other side was worse than the noise.Too quiet.Too still.
Bodies on the floor.Blood.Shattered glass.
I stopped moving.Every nightmare I’d buried came crawling back— D’Angelo, Nicola, the gunfire, the chaos.He’s dead, I reminded myself.Nicola’s dead.But maybe his men weren’t.Maybe this was payback.
My heart pounded as I searched for Matt.He wasn’t there.
“Matt?”My voice barely came out.
No answer.
The room tilted.Tears stung.I needed to get out.I turned for the exit, running— too slow, too late.
A bang.Blinding pain slammed through my head.The world spun, colors bleeding together.I hit the ground hard, vision flickering until everything slipped away.
And right before the darkness swallowed me, one thought stuck in my mind—
Oh, how I wished my life was normal from the start....
