Chapter 9

My mind feelslike I"m in a fog. They knocked Xander out and tied us up to chairs. "Hey boy, wake the fuck up!" One of the goons smacks Xander hard, and I cringe at the contact. Xander groans in pain and slowly begins to wake up. As he does the people around me start to tell me stories that I can"t believe are true.

They say Xander"s a killer. That his father is part of the mafia. They put him in my life when I was a young child to make sure my real family couldn"t find me. They say Xander is the enemy.

"None of that is true, you know it"s not, Rabbit," Xander says, but I can see the sweat pouring down from his face. He"s nervous. If this were all lies, why would he be nervous?

"Xander would never do anything like that. He"s my best friend. My boyfriend," I say, trying to take up for him.

"Yeah? So, how many boyfriends throw a mugger out of the window and leave them for dead? Do many put tracking devices in their girlfriend"s jewelry and phones? Why do you think he made you his girlfriend? So, he can track you, that"s why. Don"t be naive, Melisande, He"s been using you from the beginning. This is his father, not Mr. Gerard." The man in front of me, the one who says he"s my uncle, shows me a photo of Xander in a slick suit and a man that looks just like him. It"s not Mr. Gerard.

The man then pulls the cell phone out of Xander"s pocket and shows me the tracking device that"s linked to my phone and the chain my mother left for me.

"This can"t be true. It can"t be." I look between the evidence and Xander and as much as I don"t want to believe it, how can it not be real? I wonder why Xander has yet to say anything else in defense when I hear a sharp snap. He was sweating because he was sawing through his restraints on the uneven edge of the chair.

He uses his foot to kick me down, but I can see him raise the piece of wood still connected to the restraint and slam it down on the neck of one man. The remaining goon pulls out his guns, but the man who says he"s my uncle jumps in front of me.

"No! Not Melisande!" He yells out. Xander runs toward the old man, but he kicks Xander away.

"Get the fuck off her!" Xander grits and pulls the man off me. They tussle around for a second until Xander knocks him out.

"Xander, what are you doing?" I scream at him as he picks up the man"s gun and shoots the second man in the head. He undoes the ties on his other hand and rushes over to me.

"Mel, there"s so much that I have to explain, but right now, we have need to run." He undoes my binds and I stand.

My muscles are vibrating in fear. The man who claims to be my uncle is still alive, but the other two men aren"t.

Xander killed them. He doesn"t even look fazed by the fact that he just murdered two people.

"I need to call this in. My father is going to want to know that we have a member of the Di Cesaro family here. Shit!" He looks at the phone that belonged to one of the guards.

"They called for backup. We don"t have time. Go in the room and pack a bag for us. Essentials only. We have to leave the city. They"re going to be coming for us. We"ll go down the fire escape." He turns away from me and expects me to do what he says.

It"s what I always do.

I"ve followed Xander all my life because I knew he was the one to keep me safe. But right now, it seems like he"s the one who has been keeping me in danger.

I can"t stay with him. Not anymore.

I quickly pack up the bag like he tells me about. Instead of waiting for him, I open the window again, and I race down the fire escape before he realizes I"m gone. I need to get away from him. I run like my life depends on it. I dump everything, including my mother"s necklace, and race towards the trains. This is New York. If I want to get lost, I can. Hopefully, I can get far enough away that he won"t be able to find me. It"s my only chance.

Xander

I call my father right away to report what"s going on, but a silent hum settles over me when I realize I don"t hear any more commotion.

"You dumb cunt! Did you think you"d be able to keep her from me? She"s mine! She"ll always belong to me!" Luke Di Cesare snaps at me as he wakes up.

"Shut the fuck up!" I kick him hard in the mouth.

"Alexander! What the hell is going on?" My father asks me through the phone. I ignore both of the men yelling at me and walk over to the back room.

She"s not there. I quickly poke my head out the window to see if she"s in the car, and my heart drops when I realize she"s not.

Melisande is gone. She"s run from me.

I sigh in disappointment. Doesn"t she realize when I made her mine, it was forever? There"s nowhere on earth she"ll be able to hide that I won"t be able to find her. One way or another, I"m going to get my Rabbit back.

Follow Xander and his wild chase to find his rabbit… this dark, mafia story isn't one you're going to want to miss!