Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 998 : The Right Time

*Leo*

Time seemed to slow as I looked at Andre unflinchingly. My whole body ached and as the building continued to shake and crumble around us, I felt completely at a loss for the first time.

Andre’s eyes were wild as he glared at me, his finger on the trigger of his rifle. Even with the chaos surrounding us, I could hear the tiny click as he pressed on the trigger slightly, threatening to shoot.

This was it. This was really it. After the past few days of literal torture and then my miraculous escape, I wasn’t going to be able to make it back to Bianca after all.

The thought put a huge lump in my throat.

“You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long,” Andre spat. “I’ve been wanting to do this for years. It’s been nice knowing you, Leo.”

Andre tightened his arms and aimed right at me. I could do nothing but close my eyes in defeat as I leaned heavily against the wall, my legs close to giving out completely anyway.

“Get down!”

The deep voice was strangled but powerful as it carried down the hallway. It was at that moment that my years of defensive training kicked in and I was able to drop myself to the dirty, rubble-covered floor right as a deafening shot rang out. I kept my head down but looked up when Andre roared with pain.

I watched, transfixed as blood dripping from the new bullet wound on the side of his chest. He sank down to his knees and tried to hold himself up but dropped his gun to put his hand over the wound.

I pushed myself up and turned to see Darion standing just yards away, his dark eyes wide as he realized what he just did. He looked like hell even without the terrified expression. His clothes were torn in several places, scratches all over his face. He was also sporting a nasty bullet wound on his shoulder but by the looks of it, it was fairly minor.

He still had blood running down his arm and despite our current predicament, I found that I actually felt a touch of pride in my chest as I watched the young man hurry forward. He kept one hand on his gun, still pointing it at Andre while he used his other arm to help me to my feet.

I grunted as pain radiated through my body but I managed to smirk at Darion. “About time you showed up,” I said. “Don’t you think you were cutting it a bit close though?”

Darion was still shaking from what happened but he managed to smirk right back at me. “Figured it wouldn’t be any fun if I got to you too early.”

I looked the kid over. He was bleeding heavily, the bullet clearly just nicked him but it had to hurt like the devil. I knew all too well what that kind of shot felt like. And still, he had pressed on, even going so far as to find me in this falling building.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

Darion looked at me in surprise and I saw his lips tightened before he just nodded. “A life for a life,” he muttered.

I studied his face, surprised by his words. It was clearly more than that. He was grateful for when I surrendered myself so that he and Franky could escape.

I wanted to ask about Franky but there was no time. If we wanted to get out of here, we had to move.

We both looked down at where Andre was writhing around on the floor, clearly in a lot of pain but still too stubborn to give up. He was yelling at us, saying what useless bastards we both were and how he hated us.

I just looked down at him callously, amazed that he was still willing to spout crap when his life was now in our hands. To show the power I now had over him, I bent to pick up his gun where it lay abandoned on the floor.

Darion’s voice was filled with disgust as he glared down at Andre, still pointing his gun at him. “What should we do with this bastard, Boss?”

Under slightly more casual circumstances, I would have been more shocked since this was the first time Darion was calling me his boss unironically. Suddenly, I had his respect.

This probably wasn’t the most appropriate time to do it but I found myself thinking about the past few weeks with the kid anyway. He had been a pain in the ass since the moment he started training under me. He put the whole operation through hell with his irresponsible antics and even caused trouble for my fiancee.

And yet, here he now stood, badly injured and still willing to carry out this mission.

In the short amount of time he worked for me, Darion has come a long way.

I put a hand on his shoulder and smirked. “I’m going to leave the decision up to you,” I told him. “You have the power to choose his fate. You’ve more than earned it.”

Darion looked at me and I noticed his eyes widen in surprise. There was a definite wore raging in his eyes. I could tell that he was pleased and touched to be given this so-called honor but he was also unsure if he wanted it.

I understood completely. This would likely be his first time killing a man if he did choose to go that route. It wasn’t an easy call to make and most of the time, we didn’t have the luxury to take time to make the decision.

Darion was young and it showed in the way his eyes shown with real fear and innocence in this matter. It made me extra certain that he had never taken someone’s life before. He was unsure as to what to do now.

Suddenly, a deep strangled laugh met our ears. We whirled to look down at Andre again, whose whole face was twisted in pain but he had a wide grin on his face. He looked up at Darion with an expression filled with mocking.

“I should have expected this much from a new boy from the Valentino operation,” he managed to say between gasping breaths. “You are too weak to kill someone like a true man. You are completely pathetic but that means you are right where you belong, kid.”

Darion clenched his jaw and glared heatedly at Andre. He lifted his arms, tightening them and preparing to shoot. Hesitation stole over his features just a second later and Andre laughed loudly again.

“Shoot, you little coward,” Andre spat, heaving even more heavily now. “You are clearly too much of a pussy to make a decision like this. I’ll make it for you. Do it now.”

I could have intervened but this was Darion’s choice. It was all in his hands now.

He was going to have to make a decision quickly however. Darion and I scrambled backwards when a large piece of the ceiling fell. It was a big enough piece to kill a man easily.

Andre used the distraction to haul himself up to his feet with difficulty. Darion scrambled with his gun and got it pointed at him once again. The Angel leader looked shockingly calm for someone with a fatal gunshot wound in his chest. I could tell standing was taking a toll on him though.

Andre was somehow able to pull a cigar from his pocket. He lit it calmly and held it up for us to see. “You’ve lost your chance, kid,” he said. “You aren’t going to escape this building regardless. I’m going to die here and I intend to take you two down with me. The Angels will rise from the ashes when I’m gone but without their precious leader and his protege, the Valentinos are done here in America!”

I looked at Darion. “As much as I appreciate the fact that you are feeling torn about this decision, might I suggest that you fucking make it already,” I hissed lowly at him. “You know, before we’re crushed beneath this crumbling building?”

As if the building itself heard me, it started to shake more violently, tiles falling from the ceiling in front of our feet. Darion jumped when one nearly beaned him in the head.

“Darion!” I snapped, the bark an order to hurry the hell up.

Darion glanced at me and his eyes were filled with panic as he clutched his gun. He looked at Andre and then back at me. I heard him curse and he shut his eyes, looking completely lost.

Andre smirked, shaking his head at Darion. Before I could blink, the Angel leader moved with surprising speed and lunged at Darion, taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted.

Darion’s eyes snapped open and he looked up right as Andre was descending on him. My eyes widened when he took aim and pulled the trigger, the shot a loud cracking sound that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and arms.

Andre was staring at Darion in shock. He had clearly been waiting for death to carry him off but was left paralyzed with surprise when he was still standing, the bullet having just whizzed right past his head.

Darion stared right back at him unflinchingly. “I’ve seen and experienced enough under Leo’s lead to know when it’s the right time to kill someone,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “And despite the fact that I would love to put a bullet through your pathetic skull, I know now is not that time.”

The trembling became more pronounced and as I was turning to give the orders to evacuate, Darion suddenly grabbed both me and Andre and started to shove us down the hallway. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The three of us moved as quickly as we could considering the extent of our various injuries. Andre could have fought us and stayed behind but he seemed suddenly eager to stay alive now that he had a taste of death and was spared.

We were moving quickly but we were far from out of the woods now. My ears rang from the sound of falling debris all around us. My eyes stung from the dust and other deadly particles that flew up my nose and in my eyes. Darion kept a firm hold on my shoulder as he led us through, clearly knowing where he was going.

That was lucky for us since I had no idea where we were in the maze-like building. We all kept our heads down and for a moment, I thought about shoving Andre, pushing him over so that he would be stuck here but that wasn’t my main objective. Once again, I pictured Bianca in my mind, knowing that she was the only thing holding me up right now.

I had to make it out for her.

Just as I had that thought, crashing sounds threatened to split our ears as the entire building came down at once and my vision went black.