Until Love by May Gordon

Rose

Hearing Posie crying silently behind me breaks my heart, she’s terrifyed. I wish I could see her, but the chairs they tied us to are back to back. I want to tell her that everything will be okay, but I can’t. I don’t know that it will. Donovan is pissed, the fact I’ve outfoxed him for two years does not help the matter. Robert might be too injured to even know we’re gone yet or…No! Don’t go there. Whistling reaches my ears, the sound still makes me uncomfortable, sending shivers down my spine. Even after all these years. The room is already small, yet my brother’s size as he stands in the doorway makes it damn near claustrophobic.

"Hello, sister. Do you know how much of a pain in my ass you are?" He asks as he flicks the ash from his cigarette at me. "Where is it?" Donovan demands, but he’s not speaking to me.

"I search her place and the hick’s she’s fucking. I can't find it anywhere. My guess is she hid it." Max sounds almost as mad as his boss as he stands behind him.

Don takes a long drag , then calmly wants to know, "Where’d you stash it?" The softness is scarier than if he’d yelled it. Whether I answer or not, he won’t be happy, so I remain quiet. Big mistake, he strikes me, causing Posie to whimper as his palm connects with my cheek. Thankfully, he ignores her all together.

"I'm not telling you. I was only trying to protect my daughter."

Another slap as he corrects me, "She's mine. You stole her."

I want to laugh at his comment. I spit out the blood pooling in my mouth and remind him, "You gave her to me. I've been her mother since she was a baby, you never wanted anything to do with her.” It’s not like I can make him hate me more than he already does. All he wanted was to control me and my life.

"You always were a stupid bitch that never could mind her own business." With a nod at Max, he commands him, "Dunk her until she tells you what we need to know."

Posie screams as my restraints are removed and Max drags me away. Don yells at her to shut up, but she only gets louder. Max’s grip is punishing, his intent to inflict as much pain as he can while leading me to an open space where a hose and a metal tub full of water await.

“Where did you stash the book?” he asks but he doesn’t give me a chance to respond before shoving my face in the water. It fills my lungs, feeling as if I’m swallowing ice chips because it’s so cold. He does this repeatedly, never letting me speak. Not that I’d tell him anyway. I’m not surprised Donovan would go to these lengths, but if Posie is unharmed, I can take whatever they dish out. When Max tires of his one-sided interrogation, I’m dropped to the freezing cement floor, where I immediately start coughing to rid myself of the water.

The sound of a phone ringing must have stoped his abuse. “What the fuck are you talking about?" I hear Max bitch. It’s followed by glass shattering and a clinking sound as smoke fills the room. Max starts to holler, "We have a breach."

I struggle to my feet, needing to get Posie, but gunshots ring out just as I manage to stand. I fall to my knees, yelling Posies’ name, begging her to stay where she is in the other room, hoping to god she can hear me. When the smoke finally clears the sight in front of me chills my blood. Don is holding her with a gun aimed at her head.

"I don't know who the fuck you are,” he says to the darkness and smoke from the shadows behind me, “but I doubt you want me to put a bullet in her curly haired head.” Who is he talking to? A rival trying to usurp him? The cops?

"Robert!" Posie shouts.

My head whirl around to face him, I didn’t think it would be possible to ever feel so relived in my life. I’m shocked at his appearance. He looks like hell, Jeans ripped, dirty and I can see dark wet spots of blood on him, bruises forming on his arms and cuts littering his body, probably by the glass from the accident. He’s dressed as if this is war, bullet proof vest with numerous weapons on his person.

"Let them go and I'll return your fucking book," he snarls, his own gun pointed at Donovan. From the corner of my eye, I watch as Max removes something from his ankle and I immediately warn Robert.

"Max has a gun!" Without taking his eyes off Posie and my brother, Robert fires, causing Max to scream in agony as he clutches the wound to stop the blood pouring from his shoulder. How the hell did he hit him when he hadn’t even looked?

For the first time in my life, my brother is scared. "Where’s your backup?"

"It's just me and you. I took out every fucking guard you had."

"How is that possible?" Donovan asks in confusion.

"I came across far worse than you while serving my country." There’s no warning as Robert shoots Donovan, hitting his hand and sending the gun to the floor. Now free, Posie runs toward me, my brother too focused on his injury to notice he lost his leverage. The next bullet goes through his shoulder and he falls backward. Grunts and groans as he whither on the floor.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Robert asks suddenly in a panic. I'm shivering, feeling as if I’ll never be warm again, yet knowing we’re safe, that Robert is here, has me bursting into tears, Posie following suit.

“I’m okay.” I sob, rubbing my hands over Posie to check her for any injuries. "Did he hurt you?” I ask her. “Please tell me you’re all right." I doubt they can understand my blubbering, but I think they get the idea.

Robert kneels next to us and does his own inspects her. “That accident is more than likely the cause of her injuries and nothing appears to be broken.” he determines. Thank god. "Let's get you to the truck to warm up. Help is coming soon." I can already hear sirens in the background, so it won’t be long. I watch as Robert makes his way over to my brother and zip ties his wrist and ankles, not being gentle as he does so, then repeating the process with Max. When he stand, Robert scoops me up and gives me a deep, passionate kiss.

"Don't ever fucking scare me like that again," he whispers as he rests his forehead against mine.

"I won't, I promise," I say through my now chattering teeth. After setting me back on my feet, he takes our hands and leads us to Sage’s truck.

"Are they dead?" Posie's asks softly as we pass multiple bodies laying on the ground.

"No, kid, they are just sleeping.” I know he’s lying to her, not wanting this to scar her more than it already will. “Don’t worry kid, they are going to jail for a long time.”

"Good," she states, her voice growing stronger.

Once in the truck, Robert turns the heat on full blast, then grabs some blankets from the extended cab and drapes them on our shoulders. Other vehicles start to pull up, flashing lights casting an eerie glow around us. “I'll be right back. I need to go talk to some people.” But Posie reaches out to grab his hand, halting him.

Her eyes are full of tears that spill over as her bottom lip trembles. "What about Princess?"

Robert gives her a big smile, keening down to her eye levle. "July is working on him. She's the best, kid. I know he’ll be okay and can’t wait to see you." Then he kisses the top of her head and tells us, "You don't need to worry about a thing any longer. From this day forward, it’s our happily ever after. I love you both so much."

"We love you, too," we respond in unison, then watch as he walks to where Sage, Cobi, and Nico have congregated having just showed up. Closing my eyes, I hug Posie, squeezing her tight.

"Are we done running now, mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart. We truly are."

I never thought I’d be able to say that, but thanks to Robert, we’re finally free. We’re home.