Except, before I can make sure she's safe, Aiden appears behind me, shots firing my way, one grazing my calf.
"For fuck's sake!" I keep running, though it hurts a lot more now.
I dart down the pier, hoping to lead him far enough away that I can loop behind some of the crates stacked along it and double back.
Aiden keeps coming after me, but fog is rolling in, and it's making it harder to see. It's working in my favor, so at least I might not fucking die today.
With a quick glance over my shoulder, I can see Aiden is starting to get lost, his gun not quite lowering, but he's not firing either. It's got to be the small wins that count today.
And fog keeping him blind to where I am is a small win.
Sooner or later, he's going to hunt me down. I don't have to worry about the cops getting here first. Aiden will put a bullet in my head, and then he'll drag Summer back to the life she hates.
My hand tightens around my gun, and for a moment, I entertain the thought of killing him right here and now.
I could end it.
Summer would never forgive me, though. Even if she's willing to overlook everything else I've done, there'd be no way for us to move past it.
Still, as I raise my gun, I have him in my sights. It'd be easy.
The fog gets thicker, ship horns sounding, some of the light fading from the sky as dark gray clouds pass in front of the sun.
I lose sight of Aiden, and when I find him again, I don't have a good shot. Not one that's going to look like a stray bullet clipped him.
Fuck. Fuck this. Summer. Get to Summer.
I wait until Aiden passes by the row of crates I'm hiding behind before sprinting back to the warehouse. As I creep around the side, dodging the dead bodies and the blood staining the ground, all I can do is hope that Robert hasn't gotten to her yet.
And that she hasn't fucked us all over and gotten out of the car.
To my surprise, Summer is still in the car, but that might have to do with the men I recognize surrounding it. They have to be working for Robert since nobody loyal to me would be surrounding her. The orders went around weeks ago to leave her alone and stay far away from her.
I take aim, firing off a shot at the man closest to her.
It sinks into his shoulder, and he whips around while the others run for cover.
Several of the men still aim at her, bullets pinging off the windshield.
Aiden appears beside me, pressing his gun to the side of my head. "This is done. Now."
"Fuck off." I whip my own gun at him, catching him in the side of the face and sending his head rocking back.
He straightens, stumbling a step as more people press in around us. "What the fuck."
"Men have Summer surrounded, so if you'd like your sister to live through this shit, you're either going to leave me alone or watch my fucking back because I can't trust my own people."
Aiden glances around me at the car, the color draining from his skin before he glances to the men behind him. "Anyone currently aiming a gun at Summer is to be killed. Got it?"
The men nod and take off, all of them disappearing into the fray.
Aiden turns his attention to me. "What's the plan?"
"You going to shoot me in the back?" I don't wait for an answer, already creeping forward, heading for the car and trying to use the cover the fog is providing to help me. It's a little thinner herethan it was on the pier, but it's enough to make everything a little hazy.
Trusting that Aiden isn't going to put a bullet in my back is a lot, but Summer is more important. My heart pounds with every step I take forward, my grip on my gun tight.
Summer shifts in the car, a gun in her hands. She sits tall, watching another bullet ping off the windshield.