Chapter 9: Torn Between Two Part 3
1820 Words
Chapter 9: Torn Between Two (Part 3)
The wind outside the warehouse howled. The storm had returned, sweeping through the docks with cold rain that hit the metal walls like stones. Inside, the air was heavy filled with tension and the smell of salt and rust.
Liyanah sat against a stack of crates, her knees pulled to her chest. Her heart hadn’t slowed since the gunfight. Every sound ,every drop of rain, every creak made her flinch.
Ricardo was only a few feet away, checking the bullets in his gun. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, showing a deep graze from a bullet. The blood had dried, but the sight of it made her chest tighten.She couldn't see him hurt.
“You’re hurt,” she said softly.
He looked up, giving her a faint smile. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” She stood up and knelt beside him. “Let me clean it.”
He didn’t argue. He never did when she spoke like that gentle but firm. She found her medical kit in her bag and carefully cleaned the wound. Her hands shook a little, but she tried to hide it.
When her fingers brushed his skin, Ricardo’s breath caught. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The world outside disappeared once again.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly. “Not in this life. You deserve better.”
Liyanah kept her eyes on the wound, keeping back tears. “And what if I don’t want better? What if I want this with you, with Dante, with all of it?”
He took a deep breath. “You don’t mean that. You think you do because it feels like you belong now. But this life it breaks people, Liyanah. It turns good hearts cold.”
She met his eyes. “Then maybe I’ll fight not to let it.”
Ricardo gave a small, sad smile. “You’re stronger than you think.”
Before she could answer, Dante’s voice came from the other side of the room. “They’re not done. I heard on the group that the Valentis are regrouping. They’ll be here soon.”
Ricardo stood immediately, the calm vanishing from his face. “How many?”
“Too many,” Dante said. “We can’t fight them all.”
Liyanah’s pulse quickened. “Then what do we do?”
Dante’s gaze flicked to her. “We get you out of here.”
Ricardo shook his head. “No. We all go. Together.”
Dante frowned. “You’ll slow us down if you try to protect her and fight.”
“I’ll never leave her behind,” Ricardo said sharply.
The brothers locked eyes. The tension between them was like a war of its own deep, old, and full of things left unsaid.
Liyanah stepped between them. “Stop. We don’t have time for this. If we want to survive, we have to work together.”
Her voice broke through the silence. Dante gave a short nod. “Fine. Follow me.”
They slipped through the side door of the warehouse and into the maze of alleys behind the docks. The rain was still falling hard, soaking their clothes and blurring their vision.
Dante led the way, moving fast but silent. Ricardo stayed close behind Liyanah, his hand on her back, guiding her. Every few seconds, he looked over his shoulder, eyes sharp and watchful.
They turned a corner and froze.
A black car sat idling at the end of the alley. Headlights off.Windows tinted.
Dante cursed under his breath. “Too late.”
The doors opened, and men poured out, guns in hand.
“Run!” Ricardo shouted.
Liyanah didn’t think she just ran. The sound of bullets cracked through the night. She felt one whiz past her ear.
Ricardo grabbed her arm, pulling her behind a metal dumpster. “Stay down!” he yelled.
Dante fired back, his movements fast and precise. Two men dropped, but more kept coming.
Ricardo returned fire, reloading quickly, his face set in grim focus. A bullet hit the metal beside Liyanah’s head, and she screamed.
Ricardo turned instantly, his voice fierce. “Look at me!”
She did.
“You’re okay,” he said. “I’ve got you. You hear me? I’ve got you.”
And she believed him.And she trusted him.
Minutes felt like hours. The rain mixed with gunpowder and smoke. When the last shot echoed away, the alley was quiet again — except for the pounding of their hearts.
Three men layed still on the ground. The rest had fled.
Dante leaned against a wall, breathing hard. “They’ll be back with more.”
Ricardo checked his ammo. “Then we move again.”
Liyanah’s body trembled. Her ears rang from the shots. She could hardly speak.
Ricardo noticed and took her face in his hands. “Breathe, Liyanah. Just breathe.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I thought we were going to die.”
He smiled faintly, brushing a wet strand of hair from her face. “Not tonight.”
The look in his eyes made her heart twist. There was so much love there so much she couldn’t put into words.
Dante looked away, his jaw tight. “We need to find shelter.”
“There’s an old motel two blocks from here,” Ricardo said. “Abandoned. We can rest there.”
Dante nodded. “Lead the way brother.”
The motel was falling apart broken windows, a flickering neon sign, doors hanging off their hinges. But it was shelter.
Inside, they found a room that still had a bed and a working lock. Dante stood by the door, keeping watch, while Ricardo helped Liyanah sit down.
She was shaking. Her clothes were soaked, her knees scraped.
Ricardo took her hands, rubbing them gently. “You’re freezing.”
“I’m fine,” she said, though her voice said otherwise.
He didn’t argue with her. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “You need to keep warm.”
She looked up at him, eyes glistening. “You always protect me.”
He smiled softly. “Someone has to.”
Dante turned from the door. His voice was rough. “You both should rest. I’ll take the first watch.”
Ricardo stood, his expression unreadable. “We can switch in an hour.”
Liyanah looked between them, the weight of their unspoken words pressing down on her chest. She wanted to say something but all she could manage was a whisper. “Please don’t fight.”
Dante met her eyes. “We’re not fighting,” he said quietly. “Not right now.”
But Liyanah could feel the tension in the room. It was in the way Dante’s eyes lingered on her, in the way Ricardo’s hand stayed close to his weapon.
They were brothers bound by blood, divided by love.
And she was the reason why.
Hours passed. The rain slowed to a quiet drizzle. Liyanah rested on the bed, her body exhausted but her mind wide awake. She could hear Dante pacing outside and Ricardo cleaning his gun near the window.
“Can’t sleep?” Ricardo asked softly.
She shook her head. “Every time I close my eyes, I see them , the men, the gunfire…”
He put his gun down and came closer. “Come here.”
She hesitated, then let him pull her close. His arms wrapped around her, strong and steady. “You’re safe now,” he whispered.
For a moment, she believed it. She let herself rest against his chest, feeling his heartbeat under her cheek.
But when she finally started to drift off, a shadow moved outside the cracked window fast, silent.
Ricardo’s eyes snapped open. “Down!” he shouted, pushing Liyanah to the floor just as the glass shattered.
Gunfire exploded through the room. Dante burst through the door, firing back.
Ricardo covered Liyanah with his body, shielding her from the bullets. One grazed his side, another hit the wall inches from her head.
When the shooting stopped, Dante shouted, “They’re gone!”
Ricardo didn’t move at first. His body was heavy on top of hers.
“Ricardo?” she whispered.
He looked down at her and smiled weakly. “Told you… I’d protect you.”
Her heart froze. “You’re bleeding.”
He winced but tried to sit up. “It’s not bad.”
Dante rushed over. “It’s bad enough. We need to move before they regroup and come after us again.”
Liyanah grabbed Ricardo’s face, tears streaming down her cheeks. “No. Not until I stop the bleeding.”
“Liyanah—”
“Don’t you dare tell me to leave you!” she snapped. “You saved my life. Now let me save yours.”
Dante’s eyes softened. “She’s right. We can spare five minutes.”
Ricardo didn’t argue. He just looked at her with quiet pride and something else, something that made her chest ache.
Love.
Pure and real.
She worked fast, wrapping his wound with a strip of fabric torn from her shirt. Her hands were steady now not from being calm, but from determination.
When she finished, he caught her wrist and whispered, “Thank you.”
She met his eyes. “You’d do the same for me.”
He smiled faintly. “Always.”
As dawn began to break, they finally found shelter again a safe house Dante knew on the edge of the city.
When Liyanah helped Ricardo lie down on the couch, she could barely keep her hands from shaking.
She had seen death that night. She had felt it brush past her. And through it all, Ricardo had stood between her and danger again and again.
When Dante went to secure the doors, Liyanah sat beside Ricardo, her heart heavy.
He opened his eyes, his voice soft. “You did good tonight.”
“I was terrified.”
“Being brave doesn’t mean not being scared,” he said. “It means acting anyway.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You could have died.”
He smiled tiredly. “If that’s the price to keep you alive, I’d pay it a thousand times.”
She shook her head, her voice breaking. “Don’t say that.”
He reached for her hand. “It’s the truth.”
Their fingers intertwined, and in that quiet moment surrounded by shadows, blood, and rain Liyanah realized what she had known deep down all along.
Ricardo wasn’t just someone she cared about.
He was the one who made her feel safe in the chaos.
The one who always came back.
Her heart beat faster. Because even though she still cared for Dante, the truth was beginning to take shape inside her.
And when the time came, she knew her choice would break someone’s heart.
- Writer
