He Thinks I Betrayed Him

When I got back to my rundown apartment, an eviction notice from the landlord was taped to my door.

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.

From the depths of a drawer, I retrieved a small box. Inside lay the rusted bullet slug they’d dug out of Duke.

The memories engulfed me.

The industrial ruins five years ago. I was dragging an unconscious Duke, my ears bleeding, my throat raw from the smoke.

The deafening roar of the explosion and the searing blast waves threatened to knock me off my feet again and again.

But I didn't let go.

Because I held my entire world in my arms.

I dragged him for what felt like miles through the ruins until I finally found the South District's back-alley doctor, "Old Bones" Petrov, and his underground clinic.

But when I stumbled through the door, I saw a woman I'd thought was my friend, Victoria, hugging a newly awakened Duke, her face streaked with tears.

"Duke, you scared me to death! When I led my men in to save you, I thought we were going to die together in there..."

Duke stroked her hair, his voice weak but gentle.

"Victoria, thank you. When I'm better, I'll marry you."

I couldn't make out the rest of what was said.

Old Bones pushed a sedative into my vein, and my world dissolved.

When I woke up, I was in a filthy cubicle.

The doctor told me I'd inhaled too much smoke, permanently damaging my vocal cords. Speaking would be nearly impossible from now on.

He added that the blast had ruptured both my eardrums, causing profound and irreversible hearing loss.

Finally, he said the gash on my back from a steel bar needed immediate stitching, or it would get infected.

I asked him, where was Duke?

The doctor glanced at me. "The Costello boy? His fiancée picked him up."

Fiancée.

The word hit me like a bullet.

I ripped the IV from my arm and, dragging my still-bleeding leg, shuffled to the clinic's exit.

The door was ajar.

I saw Victoria gently helping Duke sip some water.

I read her lips. 'Thank God I got there in time... And Scarlett… I just can’t believe she’d conspire with a rival family. To just run off like that, without even a word…'

Duke was silent for a moment. Then I read his lips: 'Don't mention her.'

'Okay, okay, I won't.' Victoria dabbed at her eyes. 'I'll take care of you from now on. When you become the Capo, we'll get married, okay?'

Duke didn't speak.

But his hand closed over Victoria's.

I stood outside the door, the painkillers in my hand slipping from my grasp and scattering on the floor.

A nurse's aide approached me. "Who are you looking for?"

I opened my mouth, but only a strangled, hoarse gasp came out.

He frowned. "If you don't need anything, you're blocking the way."

I turned and walked away.

I stayed away for five years.

Back in the present, the glow of my phone illuminated my bloodless face. I tossed the rusted slug into the trash can outside my window.

It was pointless.

Some truths were meant to be buried with me.

Just as Duke would never know that the scar below his right shoulder blade wasn't from the shootout.

It was from me, shielding him with my own back as a steel bar came crashing down.