Broken Bonds

Chapter 32

Reine Parker

The atmosphere in the restaurant was so tensed that even a blunt knife can cut through. As I noticed that the enemies were still infiltrating the place, I took a chance and did a hand sign to them, signalling that it was a good chance to get Bea out of here. 

Just as both Bea and Mateo stepped out of the place, continuous gunshots rang loudly through the air. The never ending exchange of bullets flew through the air, if anyone was unlucky enough, those bullets will pierce through any part of their body at any point of time. 

I heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that they had gotten out safely and immediately threw myself to a corner to take cover from the flying bullets. The ringing in my ears got louder as the enemies continued firing at us. Alexander and Lorenzo were mostly at the front, taking down most of their men. 

As the ringing in my ears got louder, so did the pounding in my head. Images of the past flashed through my mind like how lightning would flash before you could hear the thunder. A pair of foot appeared in front of me as I opened my eyes. Elijah crouched down in front me, and he looked at me worriedly. His mouth was moving, but I could not hear a single thing that he was saying. 

Seeing how I was staring intensely at his face but appeared to make no move, he attempted to stretch out his hands towards me. I slightly moved myself backwards as his hands stretched out towards me. 

"Don't touch me." I managed to say out these words. It means the panic attack will be subsiding. His hands hung awkwardly between us, as hurt and guilt appeared in his eyes and he did not bother masking it up. Neither did I show any signs of guilt for saying that to him. 

I picked up my gun and pushed my hands against the ground, trying to stand up and continue with the fight. Just then, more gunshots were heard from the entrance. Roman and Damian each have a gun in their hand, shooting down men after men. Soon enough, the restaurant was filled with piles of dead bodies, with only one of the men alive. He was shot in the abdomen, but probably not life threatening seeing how he could still muster his courage and tried to pick up a gun from the ground and took aim at Roman's back. 

Taking aim on the man's right arm, I pulled the last trigger and he immediately fell back onto the ground, clutching onto his new wound. He screamed in pain as he applied pressure to the wound. Roman looked back upon hearing his screams, and he immediately rushed towards me. 

"Ray, you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" He scanned through my body carefully, not wanting to see a single wound on me. He then noticed the plaster on my elbow and furrowed his eyebrows instantly. 

"I'll explain that one later." I answered him before he can go all ballistic and question me where I had gotten injured from. He narrowed his eyes at me before softening his eyes when he noticed the cold sweat that framed my forehead. Before he could do anything, Alexander appeared in front of me. 

Roman placed me behind him, as he stood in front of me and looked at Alexander with his murderous look. If looks could kill, probably all the Romano brothers would have withered and died on the spot. Damian had his signature 'fuck with me if you dare' look as usual, as he quietly observed the situation, not forgetting to glare at them in the mean time. 

Both of them seemed to have no intention of moving as they glared down at each other. They were standing at the same height, so it can be rather scary for passersby to witness this scene. 

Feeling as though my body was about to collapse at any moment, I tugged slowly at Roman's hand and said,"Roman, let's go home." He was not budging and I sighed,"Please." He finally broke away from the heated staring contest and looked at me with concerned eyes. 

He placed his hand on my back and was ready to guide us out of the restaurant when a voice stopped us in track,"Avy." I took in a sharp intake of breath at the mention of the name. I took another step forward when another voice spoke,"Avery, please." 

Digging into my palm hard, I spun around, only to be met with three desperate looking faces. The pounding in my head got stronger and I was struggling to even stand straight now. But the anger in me was somehow a form of adrenaline for me, I was livid as I heard the name coming from their mouths. 

"Look for your Avery somewhere else instead. I'm Reine Parker, get that name right in your heads." I spat out my name to them, as much as tears were threatening to spill out anytime soon. I don't know why every time at the mention of them or even the slightest sight of them makes me want to cry. But I can assure that it was not tears of joy, definitely. 

Without waiting for any reply, I walked out of the restaurant as fast as I could because I could most definitely feel the adrenaline wearing off as seconds passed. As I took in the fresh air outside, I could feel my body go lighter as the world ahead of me turned dark within seconds. 

Just let me rest already.

Lorenzo Romano

The three of us were still standing frozen at our spots. It was hard to digest the fact that we had just met Avery, when all of us thought she was dead in the explosion. As much as it was unbelievable, we were happy. Happy at the fact that our sister was still alive, and we were grateful for that. 

But the look she held in her eyes when she looked at us left a bitter taste in my mouth, as compared to the way she looked at the man whom she addressed as 'Roman'. Wait a minute, if her last name is Parker, and the guy is called Roman..... That means he's Felix Parker's son? The sudden realisation snapped in my head as I connected the dots. 

Before I could open my mouth, Theo ran into the place as he stumbled through the piles of dead bodies on the ground. He glared at the man who was shot, who was tied up by the man who came in with Roman Parker, then he continued looking around. 

"Where is Avery?" That was the first thing he asked, as he waited for a response impatiently. 

"She left." Alex mumbled, moving away from us. Theo frowned, and asked again,"She's alive, but now that she's left, how are we going to find her again?" 

"We know who she's with, but that's not the problem here. You didn't see the way she looked at us with anger and hatred burning in her eyes. We are the problem here." I stated, as much as reality hurts, it was the truth for all of us here. 

But now that we know she is alive, the ray of hope shone through our hearts, as though telling us to fight hard for her, to earn her forgiveness and trust again. 

The road ahead is tough, but we will not succumb this time. Not this time.

updated! just got back from work a few hours ago and started on this chapter right after submitting my last piece of work for the day!! <3

pray for me that I will be able to get up early to get the elective I want tomorrow *crosses fingers* 

Happy reading! -4/10/2022