callan
When those three little words left her mouth, I froze.
“I hate you. I hate you so much.”
My throat dried. I tugged on the door to open it again because I had done this all for her. She had been the one to tell me how she was terrified of Gunther. She had been the one to tell me that he followed her around. She was the only reason I was doing any of this.
But she shoved her foot against the gas and nearly ran over my toes. I leaped back and called her name as she squealed out of the parking lot and disappeared down through Redwood’s dark streets.
She was emotional right now, but I hoped that she didn’t slip and tell anyone what had happened tonight. If anyone even saw her covered in blood and found out that she had been with me, I would be in deep shit.
Not only with the police, but also with the mob. Because they hadn’t released me yet, they would force me to dispose of her. No way would I fucking do that. I’d much rather take my own fucking life than do that to her.
“I hate you. I hate you so much.”
My chest tightened. I didn’t care how much she hated me. She wouldn’t die.
Turning around, I dropped my gaze to Gunther, who lay in the middle of the parking lot. Blood pooled around him, his shirt dyed in it. I had no remorse for Gunther. He had been waving a gun around Sakura, out of his damn mind, and he had been stalking her.
Couldn’t forget about what had happened to the kid’s parents either. Murder-suicide that happened less than a year ago. It had been the talk of the Redwood mob for months since Zurn’s father had been laundering money for them. Gunther hadn’t been stable ever since.
I did the right thing. I did the right fucking thing.
Gunther lay across the pavement in a pool of his own blood.
“I hate you. I hate you so much.” Sakura’s voice rang out through my head.
My chest tightened. She was the only person that I had in this shitty town. She couldn’t hate me. I … I didn’t know what I would do without her, if she never got over this, if she hated me for all of eternity …
Growling to myself, I tossed Gunther over my shoulder and shoved him into the backseat of my car. I couldn’t believe that I was doing this. After sliding into the driver’s seat, I sped out of the student parking lot and toward the Redwood Hospital.
I should’ve been burying his goddamn body and cleaning up the blood.
If anyone else had asked me, I wouldn’t have done it.
But I’d told Sakura that I would do anything for her. And I’d meant it.
So, now, this fucker hung on to life in the back of my car, his blood soaking into my leather seats. I gripped the steering wheel and slammed my foot against the pedal, flying right through red lights with my flashers blinking.
Though I had shot him to protect her, she would hate me even more if he died.
I whizzed by dirty cops who probably recognized my car from the mob and squealed into the parking lot. Once I finally reached the hospital, I whirled up near the front exit, parked my car, and hurried to get Gunther inside for help. He lay in my arms, head dangling back, as I rushed through the lobby right to the front desk.
“What happened to him?” a nurse asked, calling for others.
Gunther was quickly taken out of my arms and into a back room by a handful of nurses and doctors.
I dropped my arms to my sides and gazed down at the blood covering my hands and shirt. “He was shot.”
“Do you have any other information? His name?”
“Gunther Zurn.”
“Is that al—”
“I have to go,” I said, turning around and heading back to the front entrance. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible, head back to the school, clean up and fix all the shit I had broken with Sakura.
“Mr. Avery, what happened to you?” a parent I vaguely recognized said, hurrying up to me. When she reached me, I read her name tag fastened on her white doctor’s coat—Dr. Abara. “There is blood all over you.”
“A student,” I said, stopping. “A student was shot.”
Fuck, I hate this. I hate lying. I hate feeling like scum.
“Who?” she asked, brown eyes widening.
“Gunther Zurn.”
After letting out a breath of relief, she placed her hand against her heart. “I’m sure they’ll call me in, but you should get cleaned up. There is usually a change of clothes behind the front desk for situations like—”
“I have to go,” I said, stepping away from her.
I had done worse to people, but this felt wrong. So wrong.
I hadn’t wanted to kill. I had never wanted to be in the mob. Jett had forced me to join them, holding my life and his daughter over my head. I had done things I had sworn I would never fucking do, and now, I had hurt Sakura.
No more. Never again.
Without saying another word to Dr. Abara, I stormed back to my car and slipped into the driver’s seat. I had cleaning supplies packed in my trunk for times like this. I had to get back to the school before anyone saw that blood.
But I vowed to make this right. I didn’t care how long I had to stay with the mob to take them down. But I would do it, not only for Sakura, but also for myself. I would kill each one of them if I needed to, cut their throats and bleed them dry.