Chapter 47: Chapter 47

I open my eyes, and with a single glance at her, I knew I chose the right thing. "I choose Rachel," I announce.

Rachel’s swollen eyes locked in mine almost immediately as I spoke. I saw the pain in her eyes and I felt it. I saw how badly she is hurting and I felt it. She has a hint of shock on her face; I too am. I never thought I will be standing in a position whereby I have to choose between John and Rachel but more importantly, I never thought I will choose Rachel. I’m not even going to regret choosing her, I feel good that I did that. Rachel isn’t supposed to be here in the first place, she doesn’t deserve to go through any of this. All this is my fault and I’m not letting her suffer because of me. But at the same time, I am worried about John.

A smile tear escapes Rachel’s eyes and I feel relieved; knowing that she gets it. I’m never letting her alone. My eyes still locked in hers, I felt a strange feeling; not the bad kind of strange but the good kind. It’s like a deep feeling whereby I feel attracted to her, like a yearning to be close to her and comfort her. I would say it’s sympathy but it’s not. Maybe it’s love- I don’t know. All I know is that I hate to see her in pain and I will do anything whether it’s to lay my life just to see her smiling again. I’ve never felt this way towards anyone before.

My gaze moves to Aiden when I realize he’s looking at me. His expression seems to be a little shocked at first before it starts to change as if he is thinking of something. His hands are still wrapped around Rachel’s throat, and he speaks. "Let me make this clear, you are telling me that you choose her over your brother?"

Releasing a deep breath, I nod "Yes." I’m so sorry John but my heart says, Rachel. I may or may not forgive myself for this but if I had chosen John over Rachel, I might as well die with her.

"Really, you choose her?" He questions in disgust.

"Yes, I choose her now let her go. You’re choking her."

"But why her? Do you love her?" He asks.

I don’t know if I do. I’m in a position where my feelings for Rachel are very complicated. All I know is that I can’t stand to watch her in pain. That has to mean something.

Aiden chortles "That is so messed up."

"Let her go!" I say

"And why will I do that?"

"We made a deal. I choose between them and you let one of them go. I choose Rachel now let her go." I command

"We also made a deal that if you bring Alice to me I will let go of Rachel but did I?" He inquires

"You see Richie, I’m Aiden Smirnov I do what I want to anybody I want, at any time." He holds his gaze on me presumably to take in my thoughts "That is exactly what you told me; do you remember?"

"Let her go!" I demanded

He holds onto the eye contact for a while, my gaze triggering his like a lion ready to attack. "No." He says pulling her up by her hair, he scoffs as Rachel wince in pain. "You know what, I’m not letting any one of them go. The game is over, Richie. My plan is to see you tear up and I think I’ve seen enough. Now is the time to watch your loved ones in pain."

"Do not hurt them!" I warn

He scoffs "Watch me." Turning his gaze away from me, he commands "Pull the lever down."

My eyes bulged and I turn to see one of Aiden’s bodyguards pull the lever down. Slowly, the giant glass container under John begins to open.

"What are you doing?" Panic laced my voice. I rush to the window wall room where John is hanged; unconsciously. The bodyguard points at John, pointing a gun at him. "This is how it's gonna be, Richie."

I don’t respond to him and I turn to look at Aiden. The hostile laughter he lets out gives me goosebumps, realizing the situation I was in. "You have to stop this." Panic sinks in my voice. I can’t let him die, he’s my brother.

"Why should I? You chose Rachel didn’t you?"

My gaze turns to John as sweat beads down my forehead and I say "You can’t do this!"

"I do what I want Richie Maranzano and this is exactly what I want."

Rachel’s screams rip away my thoughts of John and I turn to see her beaming with tears. Aiden is yanking her hair, revealing the veins on her face.

"The acid bar opens and in a minute your brother will be roasted." He says

I am about to respond when I heard a gunshot from outside. Aiden turns to his bodyguard and says "Go find out what is happening there."

As soon as his bodyguard leaves, I heard another gunshot. This has to be something.

I glance at my watch. A sudden relief wave over me; It’s time. The one mistake Jacob made is taking the tracking chip and leaving my watch on me. "A minute? That’s more than I expected." I respond to Aiden

"What do you mean?" He asks

"Why don’t you see for yourself." A smirk appears on my face and I turn to look at the exit door; any minute now. Suddenly, an Armored truck burst the door open as it drove into the room.

"All of you, put your hands up in the air." The officer standing beside the car says.

I release a sigh, finally, Andrew and his team are here. I did as he said and I turn my gaze to Aiden "Having many people to protect is not a mistake." I needed to say that.

Aiden scoffs and pushes Rachel away. He says something in Russian to his bodyguards which made him walk out of the room. Aiden follows him behind. I turn my attention to Andrew as he stepped out of the armored truck.

"My team will take care of this, you just go get Rachel." Andrew says

"Thank you so much." I reply and rush out of the room. I go around the corner and into the room Rachel is kept. I am so glad that Aiden left it open.

As I opened the door, Rachel turns to look at me and a sigh escapes her lips. Tears begins to form in her eyes and I quickly shielded her with my arms. I rest my palm on her back and I rub it slowly for comfort. I feel what she’s feeling right now and I will do whatever it takes to make her feel better.

Rachel begins to cry into my shoulder and I wrap my arms tightly around her. I hold her close and rub her back while she continues to cry. We stay like that for a while, just to comfort her. "It’s gonna be fine. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." I say; my voice inches away from tearing apart. I hate seeing her like this.

"H-he."Her words breaks up and all she could say is stuttering sounds. Hot tears streamed down her face, and I rub her hair hoping she’d feel better. Rachel’s choppy breathing and watery eyes remain for quite some time before she pulls away.

I wipe her tears away and I say "It’s gonna be fine. I promise you." But inside, I'm questioning if It’s actually going to be fine. Will I be able to make up for my mistakes? Will I protect her?

So many thoughts poured into my brain like a tidal wave but it all drained out when my gaze lands on Aiden. He is trying to escape while Andrew is fighting with his bodyguard. I may or may not be able to be the best person Rachel deserves but I do know that I won’t let Aiden get away with this.

"You stay here, okay. I’m gonna be back soon." I say

"No, don’t leave me."

"I’m not gonna leave you, never have I, never will I." I palmed her face and said, "I will be back soon."

I walk out of the room and as I approach Aiden, I jerk him back with his shirt. By surprise, he turns to look at me but doesn’t have a clear view as the beast I didn't realize lived in me comes alive. I immediately punch him, giving him a black eye. The next punch to his face makes him fall on the down and I jerk him up immediately. I’m not yet done with him; after what he did to Rachel, I will kill him. I don't hold back my anger and throw punch after punch, breaking his ribs next. My already bruised knuckles were bleeding, but I don't care.

This man tried to kill Rachel, he assaulted her. I don't care if I fucking lose my hand. I want to break every bone in his body. Aiden screams in pain, begging me to stop, but it only fuels my rage.

My knuckles are getting extremely bloody and bruised, but that doesn't make me want to stop either. I continue punching. I don't give him a chance to fight back. He made her cry, now I will fucking make him regret his whole existence.

I take out all my anger on him as I grab his head, I begin to bang it against the nearest floor, screaming in frustration. Aiden’s warm blood coats my skin and blinds my vision. I can't stop. Tears fill my eyes as I imagine how Rachel must have screamed and begged him to stop.

I throw my head back, yelling, tears streaming down my face. She suffered, he assaulted her and God knows how many times he did that.

I freeze when I feel the touch of cold metal on the back of my head and hear the click of a gun's safety coming off. Slowly, I rise with my hands up in surrender. I turn around to face the person holding a gun to my head, it’s Jacob and he has Rachel with him.

"Go back." He slightly push me with the gun "I said move back or I will shoot her!" He pushes me with one hand

"Let her go," I say taking a step back.

"Move backward or I will fucking shoot her!" He growls pointing the gun at Rachel

"I’m moving back, okay. Just drop the gun, let’s

talk this man to man."

"I want none of your fucking talks, just get me out of here."

"Okay, okay but you’ve gotta relax. Let her go and I will get you out of here." I say taking a quick look around. Andrew's eyes met mine and he quickly threw a gun at me while punching one of Andrew's guards. I immediately bent and grab it, pointing the gun at Jacob, a strange feeling hits me. The feel of the gun, its heavyweight, everything about it suddenly reminds me of a past I tried to forget.

"Shoot him." Andrew says to me. I hold the gun tighter, still pointing at Jacob but I couldn’t pull the trigger.

"What are you doing, Richie? Shoot him." Andrew yells at me. My hands suddenly start to shake and I lower the gun; I can’t do it.

Jacob scoffs "He’s not gonna do anything."

"Shoot, Richie. Shot!" Andrew repeats.

My body froze momentarily as my heartbeat becomes the only sound my ears could hear. My mind fractionally moves to my past thoughts and I find myself thinking about a dreadful flashback. I could feel the pressure and tension I felt last time and just the way my heart kept beating last time, it felt the same now. It feels like I am standing in that same position again.

"What are you doing, shoot him!" Andrew’s voice echoes in my head. I jerk out of my thoughts when the gun was snatched out of my hand.

Flinching back to reality, I see Aiden pointing the gun at Rachel. The moment he pulls the trigger, I waste no time and push Rachel away and the bullet tore through my chest.

For a moment, silence encircles my ears. Everything becomes blurry and I lifelessly fall to the jagged ground. I hear sirens. I hear Rachel screaming my name. I hear a banshee laugh.

My head is lifted up and rested on a pad of flesh. I open my eyes, only slightly, and find Rachel looking down on me with tears in her eyes.

"Why? Why did you do that?" She cries out, letting her tears fall.

"Do not cry. I hate to see that." I say.

"No, you-" Her words break into stuttering sounds. With a sigh, she rests her forehead on mine. I take in her scent and at this moment, I felt a unique touch in my heart that I can never let go of. I think I’m in love with Rachel.