In the distance I see Berkley, with a man beside her holding her close. I’m guessing that’s Amos. He’s got his arm wrapped around her and his other hand at her side holding what I can only assume is a gun. I step forward on the bridge and Guzik appears with his hands in front of him. The bridge is only about fifteen feet or so long, but it’s too much distance for me.
“That’s close enough,” he says coolly as he moves beside Berkley and Amos on the other side of her. “Did you come alone?”
“You’ve had your scouts here for hours. You tell me.” I clench my fists at my side, desperate to get to my girl.
“I see you did your homework. My men reported you arrived alone, so you must be smarter than you look.” He smiles at me like we’re old friends and he’s not a criminal.
“You okay, sweet thing?” I look Berkley right in the eyes and she swallows hard before she nods. “I’m going to get you out of here just as soon as I can.”
The man holding Berkley grunts as he holds her tighter and I think she may have just elbowed him. I want to tell her to be still but also I want to tell her to rip his throat out.
“How touching.” Guzik rolls his eyes as he enters in some numbers on his phone. “I have the wire codes. Let’s get this over with.”
I hold up my tablet with what he needs on it. “Send her over and it’s all yours.”
He makes a tsking sound as he shakes his head. “I think we’ll make sure this goes through first.”
I take a step toward him as he walks to me and we end up meeting halfway. “There’s no need to threaten her. I told you I’d give you whatever you wanted in exchange for her.”
“I hope she’s worth it.” His smile is greasy and I want to rip it off his face.
I keep my eyes on Berkley while he takes the tablet and enters in the information he needs. I don’t bother to see how many zeros he adds because it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is my heart on the other side of this bridge and keeping her safe.
“There, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?” He hands me my tablet as he tucks his phone away and turns around. “Let’s go.”
When I see Amos tug Berkley away from the bridge, my adrenaline spikes. “Wait, we had a deal!”
“Just a little insurance,” Guzik calls over his shoulder as he keeps on walking.
“Vaughn!” she shouts, and Amos releases her long enough to backhand her across the face.
Rage boils inside of me and I rush forward just as a loud boom goes off.
Guzik and Amos are startled and begin to take cover as the fireworks go off overhead. It’s just the distraction I need as I knock Guzik down and trample over him to get to my woman.
“Get down!” I shout, and blessedly Berkley does as I say and hits the deck.
Amos reaches back and grabs his gun and it feels like my legs are made of lead. But instead of going for him, I move straight to Berkley and blanket her with my body as more fireworks go off. Only this time it comes with gunfire from the people surrounding us.
As I cover Berkley’s body with my own, I look over in time to see the couple on the picnic have drawn their weapons and are firing on Guzik’s men in the nearby bushes. They were a plant from the FBI, along with the guys playing soccer on the field across from us. They’ve managed to take down spies around us that were waiting on me to react. I gave Guzik’s men what they wanted but we had a few tricks up our sleeves. As soon as I called the FBI and told them my plan, they were on it. They’ve had people here all day waiting for the moment to light the fireworks as a decoy and then take down the remaining members of Guzik’s gang.
My ears ring in the silence that follows the gunfire and I look over to see Amos on the ground next to us with his eyes open and blood coming out of his mouth. When I glance back at the bridge, I see Guzik on his knees with his hands behind his head as the Feds read him his rights.
“Berkley, answer me,” I say and roll her over so I can look into her eyes.
“I’m okay,” she says softly. The second our eyes meet she bursts into tears.
“Shhh, I’ve got you. It’s all over.” I pull her against my body and kiss her head as the medical team comes over to where we are.
The dispatcher comes over and asks a ton of questions, but I just ignore him as I rock Berkley against me. “Mr. Warsaw, we’re going to need you to let her go.”
“Never,” I mumble, closing my eyes and holding her tighter against me. “Never.”
Chapter Fourteen
Berkley
“I’m fine,” I tell Vaughn for the millionth time.
I fight a small smile because I know he doesn't find any of this funny. I’m not smiling because I do, but because of how much he’s taking care of me. He hasn't told me he loves me but I can see it in his actions. His whole face changed on that bridge when he saw me and there was no sign of laidback Vaughn. The man who’s quick to make everyone laugh walked through hell to get to me.
He didn't care that he could’ve lost his own life and it’s clear I’m the only thing that matters. He was willing to hand over everything he had for me, including his life, to make sure I was okay.
“I just want the test results back to be sure. Head injuries are serious.” He walks over and cups my face, then inspects the small cut on my forehead. I’m not sure when I got it because I was tossed around so much. I’m not feeling anything after whatever the doctors put in my IV. I’m on cloud nine and not just because of the meds but because Vaughn is here. I was so scared I’d never see him again.
“I love you,” I say, resting my hand on his.
I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me on the phone or if it even went through. But with all that’s happened, I want him to know that I do love him. I don’t want to take the chance of something happening again and him not knowing. I put up a hard front when we first met but I’m not playing that game anymore. Life’s too short and precious for that. Before today I didn't know how serious Vaughn was about us. I didn’t know if we’d go back to the island and play house for a while then both move on. Or if I’d leave the island once we knew everything was safe to start whatever the next phase of my life would be. I know now by Vaughn’s actions that wasn’t the case. He might not have said I love you but his actions say it all.
“I love you, too, sweet thing.” He leans down and kisses the sore spot on my forehead. His mouth lingers there and I know he’s thinking about how wrong today could have gone.
“I’m okay,” I say again. “I’m okay and we’re going home.”
“Home.” He repeats the word with a contented hum. “You know I never thought of the island as home until you got there. Then I could really see the vision Kade had so clearly.” I tilt my head back to look at him.
“I never thought home was a place,” I admit. “To me it was always just Collins. She was home for so long, but now I get it too. It’s not one person, it’s a whole family and that island is where we’re all going to be together.” I smile thinking about it. All of this has been so crazy and Collins and I came so close to dying. This could have gone so differently, but we’re lucky we have these Warsaw men to look after us.