New Story | Rose's Angel
Chapter Author: @yvelda
Genre: Dark Romance, Single Parent, Second Chance, Biker Romance
Word Count: 2044
Chapter One: Breaking Through
Rose
The sound of my sneakers hitting wet asphalt echoes off the brick buildings that line the darkened alley. My sneaker lands in a too-deep puddle, soaking my jeans halfway to the knee, but I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now than wet denim.
“Mommy, where are we going?” Selena, my ten-year-old daughter, muffles as she buries her face into my shoulder, and I squeeze her a little tighter.
It’s hard enough running for your life, but to be carrying the only thing that makes your life worth living…
That’s a different hurdle to overcome.
“Shh. Baby, we need to be quiet. Once we find a safe place, I’ll explain everything.”
I can’t bring myself to tell her that her own father, the man that she cherishes, has sent his men after us to have us killed.
She’ll find out eventually, but…
Being dragged out of her bed at two in the morning is scary enough for her to go through.
I knew what I was getting into when I fell for Michael.
He was your run-of-the-mill bad boy type. Slick, black hair, dressed to impress… and he held the attention of everyone in the bar where I was working.
He caught my attention immediately, but looking back, the nervous excitement he made me feel should have been my instinct screaming at me to run far away from him.
I should’ve known better, just by his last name.
Vitale was one of the most notorious mob families, known for malicious killings and “deals gone wrong”.
But his baby blues put me in a trance. One that I couldn’t escape from until there was no option left.
There’s no love left between us, if it was ever truly there in the first place, but he’d rather have us both killed than risk letting what he sees as his go free.
If I can’t have you, then no one can…
It doesn’t matter that she’s his daughter. He’d kill her in cold blood just to hurt me.
Every threat he’s ever hurled at me scrapes against the inside of my skull as we find a dark and hidden crawl space.
If we’re lucky, it’ll keep us hidden until the sun comes up.
Luck hasn’t exactly been on our side lately, but it’s the best hope we’ve got.
“Now, can you tell me?” Selena whispers as she cuddles close to me.
All I want is to take her far away from all this bullshit, all this danger. But she carries the Vitale name, and that in itself is a lifelong curse.
“Do you remember what I always told you. If we were ever in danger…” I manage to spit out, holding back my tears, doing my best to remain strong for her even as everything in me is shattered.
Her eyes fall off me and land on the gravel beneath our feet. “Look for The Angels and run to them.”
The first time Michael threatened my life, I made it my goal to make sure that even if I didn’t make it out of this alive, my daughter would survive.
Away from that sonofabitch.
The last time I saw The Angels was ten years ago, when I was nineteen and the world was a different place.
I was young, I was stupid, and love wasn’t enough to make me stay with the best friend I ever had, my first love…
Luis.
When I lost him, my place amongst The Angels left with him.
But the sign of hope never left my heart.
Luis was everything I thought I wanted in life. We had been inseparable since grade school. Once we got older, the feelings grew deeper until he lit a fire inside of me that I thought died along with my parents.
He made me feel something other than dead inside, and I wanted so desperately to hold onto that feeling.
I was ready to throw everything away for him until he broke my heart.
After, I moved an hour away and never looked back. But I never gave up hope that if I needed them, they would be there for me.
Family is funny that way.
“Good job, baby. Don’t ever forget that.” Sighing, I wrap my arm around her and hold her tight. “I can’t say too much, but just know whatever I do, it’s to keep us safe.”
She’s seen the aftermath of her father’s handiwork. She isn’t a little kid anymore.
Selena is so bright, and she’s seen the bruises before I’ve had a chance to cover them.
She’s seen exactly what a monster her father can be.
But that’s still her father, and I can’t bring myself to tell her that it’s so much worse than she could ever know.
For the next few hours, we stay hidden, my arms wrapped around her to keep her warm as she falls in and out of sleep.
My eyes never leave the skyline, dry and red-rimmed from lack of sleep. The moment day breaks, we are on the run again.
If we can just make it back to Orange County, there’s at least a glimmer of hope that someone from The Angels can help us escape this hell.
Driving distance, it’s only an hour away, but on foot…
Who knows what could happen between here and there? Michael has boys posted all over this town and probably already has the order out to catch us if spotted.
I’m running out of options, and I’m terrified. For her, for me… For our lives.
If we do manage to escape, does that mean we’ll be on the run forever? Constantly having to look over our shoulders, worrying if he’s hunting us?
What kind of life is that?
A surge of bitterness twists my stomach into knots.
I’ve done nothing but bend my life for his and do everything asked of me, playing the role of the perfect wife, never complaining, always there for him...
And this is what I get in return.
The air is chilled, but the sun is finally breaking over the horizon. This is our chance.
With a jerk of my arm, I gently shake Selena awake. Her eyes flutter open, and the innocence in them is enough to make my chest tight.
It’s devastating that she has to be put through this trauma, especially at such a young age. I used to pride myself on how well I shielded her from that life, and now…
Now I wish I’d been strong enough to leave before it got to this point.
“Mommy, is it time to go now? I’m cold.” Her soft tone puts another crack in my heart.
“Yeah, baby. It’s time to go,” I whisper as I help her out of the cubby hole we’ve found shelter in.
My head is on a swivel as we walk out into the main street. I can’t shake the eerie feeling of every passing eye as the sidewalk begins to fill with people going about their morning.
People who can’t help but cast sideways glances at the clearly run-down woman clinging desperately to a scared, confused child.
I can’t let my guard down for a single moment, or it’s over.
As we make it to the corner of Main Street, we turn the corner to another alleyway. Without warning, I feel a set of strong hands on my shoulders from behind.
Before I can scream, I’m thrown against the brick wall of a building. The crash makes my vision blurry.
My grip around Selena tightens as I pull her against me and look up at the attacker.
“Jonah, please…” I begin to beg the moment I recognize him.
Jonah is Michael’s right-hand man. If there’s any dirty work that needs to be handled, he’s the one to take care of it.
Up until this very moment, he was always kind to me… or at least, what passes for kind in this life. There was always pity in his eyes when he’d see the bruises on me.
I held onto the hope that maybe I had him on my side. But when it comes to business, it’ll always come first.
“I’m sorry, Rose,” he responds in a deep, serious tone. “I have orders…”
His eyes are screaming a different tale, though.
My eyes well up because I know this is the end of the road for me. I just don’t want my daughter to see this.
I can’t.
Closing my eyes tightly, a hot tear streams down my cheek as I await my dreadful fate.
But just as suddenly, his grip tears away from me.
“Fuck!” Jonah shouts, causing my eyes to shoot open and see him on his knees. “You little fucking bitch!”
He’s curled in on himself, eyes squeezed shut with pain, hands protecting his groin.
It looks like Selena has taken matters into her own hands… or well, shoes.
“Selena, run!” I scream and shove her away from me. She looks back, frozen with terror, but I wave my hands for her to run. “Remember what I told you!”
She hesitates just a second longer before she pounds pavement, and my heart tears in half as she runs out of view.
I can only pray that she finds someone who can help her… Someone who can keep her safer than I can.
This is my chance.
Jonah can’t chase us both, so I take off in the other direction to lead him away from my daughter. I don’t make it far before he grabs my ankles.
My body crashes against the cold, wet asphalt, and pain shoots through my arm.
“Help!” I scream into the morning air, but it’s muffled as his hand slaps over my mouth, and I’m dragged deeper into the alley behind a large, green dumpster.
I can’t let this be the last time I see my daughter alive. I can’t let Michael win…
Giving it my all, my fist balls, and I swing, making contact with his mouth. Jonah stumbles backwards.
“Fine,” he muffles, wiping blood from his lip. “I was going to go easy on you, but fuck you, bitch.”
I have no time to dodge before his fist connects with my cheek. The impact rings through my skull, and I can feel it beginning to swell.
It’s becoming very clear that I can’t fight this man off just with my strength. I’m going to have to get creative.
My hand begins to feel around for something on the ground. Anything I can use as a weapon.
I gasp silently as my fingertips touch something cold and hard—a half-rusted tire iron forgotten in the empty alley. Without breaking my eye contact with him, I grab it and swing.
A small, satisfied laugh escapes me as I stand and stare down at the unconscious Jonah.
It actually worked.
A smile breaks across my face, and I begin to head back toward the main street again.
If I’m quick, I can catch up with Selena before she gets too far.
But a cold voice stops me in my tracks.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” The voice is deep, raspy, and rocks me to my core.
Fuck.
“Michael…” I whisper as I turn to face him. His blue eyes pierce right through me, sending a shiver down my spine.
There’s no one else on this planet who can make me feel so intimidated, so fearful with just one look.
Like I’m already dead, and my body just hasn’t caught up.
“Please… Please just let me go,” I cry out and begin to back away from him, but my back hits against something solid.
Looking up, I see another man, one of his thugs.
I’m not getting away this time.
This is the last time I’ll ever see Selena.
Tears roll down my face as a cloth bag is yanked over my head, leaving me blind to the world around me.
Two firm hands pick me up, and I’m thrown over one of the men’s shoulders as I thrash and kick my legs, doing everything in my power to break free.
Before I have a chance to scream, something crashes against the side of my head, and everything goes black.
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