Noemi, trapped in the pitch-black trunk, calmed herself eventually and forced herself to think logically. Leo’s car. She’d been in it a million times… The back seats were tricky. She could push them down, sneak into the backseat and…
She focused her thoughts entirely. She would wait until his speed picked up on a highway. He’d have to concentrate, so that when she burst through, he wouldn’t have time to react. She had to get to his gun or the steering wheel before he did… if she could crash the car, they might stand a chance. She would curl into a ball, protect her babies as best she could.
It was either that or resign herself to a bullet. No. No way. No fucking way. She’d had her fill of hospital stays—her life was with Rafa and Bepi and her babies and being on the right side of the operating table now. This bastard wasn’t going to stop her.
She counted down as she felt the car speed up. Ten… nine… eight…
As she reached one, she kicked out the seat behind the driver and threw herself through it. Paul gave a startled yelp as she wrapped her arms around his head, blinding him. He tried to steer with one hand; with the other, he yanked his gun from his pocket.
Noemi grabbed that hand and smashed it repeatedly against the stick shift until he screamed with pain and dropped the gun. “You fucking bitch!”
“You psycho motherfucker,” she growled as she wrestled with him. “You killed my sister! You tried to kill me and my children! Fuck you! Fuck you, Paul!”
The car skidded and swerved and plowed through the fence at the side of the highway. Noemi clung onto Paul’s head as the vehicle almost flew across a field and then, with a sickening crunch, it hit a tree, and Noemi was knocked unconscious.
“No! Noemi!” Rafa was beside himself as Drew drove through the broken fence towards the tree and the smoking wreck of Leo’s car. Rafa was out and running before Drew even stopped his car.
As Rafa got to the car, he smelled gasoline. Panicking, he yanked open the backdoor and extracted Noemi’s limp body. Paul was dead, his face mashed into the steering column, but Rafa couldn’t give two fucks.
All his attention was on Noemi as he carried her away from the car, his eyes on her face as he willed her to be okay. Drew was waiting. “Get in the back seat with her. I’ll drive us to the hospital.”
Rafa lay Noemi gently on the back seat, then got in, settling her head on his lap. As Drew drove, Rafa stroked Noemi’s hair. She didn’t appear to have any injuries other than a bruised face and a cut above her ear, but she was so pale, so still. He pressed two fingers against her neck and was relieved that her pulse was so strong. “I love you so much, Noemi Castor. Please... open your eyes for me, baby.”
He squeezed his own eyes shut then felt the slightest movement, then soft lips against his. “Hey, big guy.” Her voice was gravelly, gruff, and soft. Rafa opened his eyes and saw her smile, her beautiful smile, and he couldn’t help the tears that streamed down his face as the relief hit.
“Hey, beautiful girl…”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Is he dead? He killed Leo. He killed my sister!”
Rafa shook his head as he laid her gently on the ground, cradling her head. “No, darling. Leo’s alive… she’s holding on.”
Noemi sighed. “Oh, thank God… thank God…”
“You better hang on, too, Noemi Castor.” Rafa’s voice shook and she smiled.
“I’m okay, just a little groggy.” She touched his face. “Did you get even more handsome since this morning?”
Rafa chuckled, his emotions on the surface. “Noe… you are going to marry me, right?”
Noemi smiled, groggy, concussed but delighted to be alive. “I love you, Rafael Genova... but I gotta say... about damn time you asked.”
Rafa laughed and kissed her. “I’m going to take that as a yes…”
“I might be concussed, so ask me again when I’m better.”
Rafa winked at her. “And risk you saying no?”
“That, Rafa Genova, would never happen.”
“Then tell me yes again and again.”
Noemi smiled as she pulled his lips down to hers again. “Yes… yes… yes… yes…”
The End.