Another sharp turn had the soldier down on Vince’s legs.

“Fuck!”

Stumbling to get back up, Vince tried to help the guy. Then there were two shots out of nowhere. One hit the guy, throwing him back down onto Vince, and the next one must’ve hit the propeller’s engine because the whole thing started shaking.

“Mayday! Mayday! This is Warrant Officer Heely in blade two, two, one, seven. We’ve been hit and we’re attempting to land!” the pilot yelled into his radio.

Vince sat up immediately as the pilot frantically yelled out their location and their approximate landing area. Who was he kidding? They wouldn’t be landing. That’s when he realized the guy lying on him was dead. They’d hit him directly in the neck. Sharp shooters—being one himself, he knew only a sharp shooter could make such a direct hit.

“We’re gonna crash!” someone else yelled.

This was really happening, and it was happening fast. One look out the open door of the helicopter and Vince could see his life flashing before him. This was it. Everything he’d lived through, all the good and bad he’d experienced in life came down to this one moment. The helicopter would crash and explode with all of them in it.

“We all need to jump, and we have to do this now!” The direct order from the pilot to everyone didn’t register immediately.

Vince was still staring out the open door, holding on to the one of the seats, barely able to breathe.

Jump!

The voice in his head was adamant. He’d have to do this: jump and take the only possibility of living left or die. He stood there on his knees frozen. Every second that passed was another heartbeat, another breath that shortened his life. The chaos of men yelling—screaming their last breaths, the helicopter spinning out of control, buzzed in his ear so loudly then, suddenly, it all went silent. He could hear or see nothing but the only thing that mattered now, Rose. He had to get back to Rose.

In an instant the noise was back, screeching from every direction. He turned to see one of the soldiers crouched in the corner doing the sign of the cross and praying as if it were the only thing left to do.

“No.” Struggling he stood up onto his feet and looked out the door as the helicopter continued to plummet fast. “No!”

He saw what waited on the ground: sand, carnage, and the rubble of a once active city. If he jumped, he risked being captured—becoming a POW—tortured. The word stuck to his tongue. This entire last year had been the worst kind of torture he could think of.

Knowing he only had seconds to decide, he turned to the others in the doomed helicopter. “You heard the orders! Jump!”

They all stared at him as frozen as he’d been just moments ago. “Let’s go! Jump or die!”

Nobody moved, and Vince took one last look out the door of the helicopter. It was now or never. “Rose!”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Rose

Days after the party Rose waited tables at the restaurant, her mind still on what Lorenzo had said. Even through all the anger and pain, she’d never once doubted Vincent’s love for her. She felt his love right down to the very core of her being.

As the time passed and especially now after hearing Lorenzo’s declaration at the party, Rose came to the realization that she could easily forgive Vincent for his weak moment. She was miserable without him, but there was one thing she couldn’t justify not even as much as she loved Vincent: that being with him might ultimately put her or her family in danger.

Vince had said so himself. They could break into his place for the drugs and hurt his family. What if she or Grace and the baby were around like Lorenzo had been the day Vince was jumped? Rose would never forgive herself if that ever happened.

She wanted to. God, did she ever want to just forgive him and believe that he really had changed this time. But that was just it. Rose had no idea if that had been one moment or just the one time he’d been caught. He may’ve been doing it all along. She didn’t know what to think anymore. If it hadn’t been for Lorenzo bringing him up at the party, she wouldn’t even be thinking about him now. She was so done with this torture—so ready to move on.

Doing a double take, she watched in disbelief as Lorenzo strolled into the restaurant with another busboy she recognized from the marina restaurant. They were both wearing the restaurant’s polo shirts. Rose finished jotting down the order from the table she was at, slipped the pen behind her ear, and rushed off toward the back. As soon as she saw Sal, she asked the burning question. “Why is Lorenzo here? You said he’d be working at the marina restaurant this summer, not here.”

“Relax, Rose,” Sal smirked. “We’re short this week. It’ll only be for a few days. Besides the only reason I asked for him specifically is because I need some work done around here. He’s really good at fixing stuff and putting things together.”

Rose hated how even this tiny tidbit about Lorenzo brought back memories of Vincent telling her about Lorenzo being the family handyman. He’d sounded so proud of how good his little brother was with his hands.

Shaking thoughts of Vincent away, she focused on the only thing that mattered right now. “Which days?” Rose was scheduled all week, but she’d rearrange her shifts or take off a few days if she had to. Then she remembered that’s why he was here to begin with. They were already short-staffed. She couldn’t take days off.

“Today and the next three.”

Of course.