“Please. Please, Marcus . . .” I beg him. “Let’s go, just you and me. We can be together. Like old times.”
“Fallon, what are you doing?” Jesse hisses. He’s confused and worried, and he has a gun pointed at his skull. “You can’t go with him.”
Marcus’s attention flips back to Jesse with a snarl. “Did you hear that? She wants to go with me. She’s picking me.” Marcus chuckles before saying to me, “Get in the car, Fallon.”
Jesse says angrily, “No. She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“Jesse, I need you to let me go.” I say the words, but I can’t look him in the eyes. If I do, I’ll never be able to walk away from him. So I look beyond him to Cason—the disappointment in his face is easier to swallow. “You have to let me go.”
“I’ll never let you go, Fallon,” Jesse says. I finally look into his eyes and try my best to tell him with a single glance that I’ll never stop loving him.
Marcus pushes me behind him, and I turn away from my entire life to climb through the driver’s side door of the SUV. Vic’s idiot guards left the engine running but it’s an idiot move that might have just saved Jesse’s life.
Marcus slowly backs up towards the door. “Do not follow us. Do not search for us. The moment I find out you do, I will put a bullet between her shoulder blades.”
“Fallon!” Jesse yells frantically as I close my eyes and look away. “Fallon, don’t do this.”
“I’m in the car. Let’s go Marcus,” I tell Marcus. He climbs slowly into the driver’s seat so he can keep the gun pointed out the window before shifting to close the door and pointing the gun at my heart. Then he slams on the gas and flies out of the warehouse.
I stare out of the window as we drive away from everything important in my life. I’ve accepted my fate. But Jesse’s life means so much more than mine. He’s going to make a difference in this world. He needs to.
I watch as we drive past a series of warehouses. The monotony of the landscape is oddly soothing. There are streetlamps hung from utility poles spaced out in even intervals. I focus on the poles, counting the seconds between each one we pass and the next. Focusing on the poles is better than focusing on leaving Jesse.
“Don’t worry, Fallon. We will have a good life together,” Marcus chuckles.
One, two, three, four . . . the next pole.
I thought this was over. I thought I was finally going home. I had hoped to be in Jesse’s arms again. But that isn’t going to be my life. It was never meant to be.
One, two, three, four . . . the next pole.
I’m tired. I’m tired of running. I’m tired of hurting the people I care about because of my poor decisions. I’m tired of continuing Marcus manipulating everyone’s life. It has to end. It all has to end.
One, two, three, four . . . the next pole.
I look over at Marcus. He’s driving down the road with a smug, satisfied smirk on his face because he knows he won. He’ll continue to win until someone finally stops him. I’ve let everyone try to stop him for me. I’ve let everyone I care about try to handle my problems. He needs to be stopped. I know now I’m the only one who can do it. And I’d warned him—when he wasn’t watching, I would be.
One, two, three, four . . . I reach up and yank on the steering wheel. I hold tight and aim for the next pole.
“What are you doing? Fallon! Let go of the steering wheel!” Marcus yells. He grabs onto my arm and pulls, but I hold with everything I have in me. We both struggle to pull the steering wheel in different directions, but I fight hard, and ultimately, I win. “Fallon! We’re going to hit—"
One, two, three, four. Metal crunching on metal never sounded so sweet.
I turn to my father. “Give me your keys.” I can’t let that asshole get away again. I won’t fail her again.
“Jesse what are you going to do? Is she really worth it?” James says as he stands back. He has no intention of giving me his keys. I can see it on his face—he figures he held up his end of the deal, and letting her go solves any potential issues he’d have trying to keep us apart later.
“What is it about her that you don’t like? You’re a fucking shit father, and to more kids than we knew.” I grab him up by the collar. “You’re just going to stand there and let him take her again? Give me your fucking keys.”
“I got her here. That was the deal. But I say good riddance. She’s a distraction for you. Let her go. She willingly got into that car with him,” My father looks me in the eye with distaste.
My fist is in his face before I can stop myself.
“Jesse!” Cason yells my name as he tries to pull me off of my father and someone coughs, diverting our attention.
“I’ll be taking my part of the deal,” Vic says with a snide smirk on his face.
“You’re not getting shit, asshole. How about you deal with your psycho nephew first,” I growl. I don’t let up on my father; I still have him pinned to the ground.
Vic looks to the remaining guard and nods to him. The guard pulls a sleek black piece out of his holster and directs the barrel straight at us. I finally let go of James and stand up. I stalk towards the old man with no balls. I growl as I gain a few more inches with every step.
“The deed. Now,” Vic snaps.
“Vic, do you really think this is a good idea?” James
