fervor

ＸＸＸＩＸ － ＭＯＲＥ ＳＥＣＲＥＴＳ． ＰＴ． ２．

ＸＸＸＩＸ － ＭＯＲＥ ＳＥＣＲＥＴＳ．

    ＰＴ． ２．

I took Romelo out of the basement, and up to my room. Closing the door behind us, I locked it.

"You sure that Ramiro will be okay?" He asked, looking around the room.

I nodded. "He has a bunch of toys to play with."

He sat on my bed, and was sitting on one of my nightgowns. He pulled it from under him, holding it up.

"He makes you sleep in this?"

"Not really..the first night I had to thought.."

Romelo let loose a grumble, and tossed the gown somewhere else. He pulled me in between his legs, his large hands on my hips. "Back to what I was saying earlier.." He began, "I have something to tell you. I don't know if it'll change the way you see me, but since you're my wife, and the mother of my child, you deserve a right to know."

I nodded, trying to prepare myself as best as I could. I had a feeling that I wasn't ready at all, because I never knew which way it could go with Romelo. He took a deep breath, and I rubbed his hand.

"What Lorenzo was telling you, was half the truth."

He let that sink in, staring deep into my eyes.

"I don't know if you could believe this, but..Lorenzo's actually the "good" twin in all of this. I've been lying to you about what I actually do. I'm a monster; a murderer."

My stomach churned.

"Baby..I..I was really going to kill you at first."

I tried to step out of his hold, but he wouldn't let me go. I could feel the tears building up in my eyes, and I felt numb. It was just another shot to the heart.

"Look at me," Romelo shakily ordered.

"Let me go, Romelo!"

He squeezed my hips, and I looked at him.

"I can explain, honestly-"

"No! No you can't! Why in the hell would you ask me to marry you, knowing that you were going to kill me?! Why by me all those clothes and shoes and even have the nerve to get me pregnant if I was going to die?!"

"Because I fell in love with you."

I looked down, my tears falling down my cheeks.

Romelo lifted my head, kissing my lips gently, over and over. "I know that I betrayed your trust, but please understand, I fell in love with you that I wanted you to have everything of me. It was the first time someone had made me feel that way, and I tried to deny it at first..but.." He sighed, "I wanted you and only you."

I could see it in his eyes that he meant what he said.

"That's why I need you to trust me, and it's most important right now. I want us to make it out of here, alive."

I nodded.

"I'm only going to ask you this once."

I looked dead into his eyes.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

And so we made a plan.

Romelo and I made sure that it was fool proof. We didn't need any open holes that Lorenzo could exploit. I was going to try my best to stick to the plan, but my nerves often deceived me.

"The most important thing is to remember, I'm here," he said.

Romelo kissed me softly before hiding in the closet. He told me to leave the basement door open, so Lorenzo would know that I was in there.

"Aaliyah, where the fuck are you?!"

Lorenzo's voice sent chills down my spine.

He slammed my bedroom door open, and slammed it shut behind him.

"What the fuck did I say about seeing him?!" He screamed.

I was sitting on the bed, my legs crossed. I couldn't find my voice, and I could feel myself start to panic.

"Oh, so you don't want to answer, huh?"

Lorenzo stepped towards me, and I tried to move back on the bed. He grabbed ahold of my ankle, pulling me roughly to him.

"You gone fucking learn about listening to me."

I screamed, and he pinned my arms down with one hand. I tried to struggle, and watched in horror as he undid his belt, ripping my shorts.

"R-Romelo! Romelo please!" I screamed loudly.

"I don't know why you screaming for him, he's not coming-"

"Get the fuck off of her!"

Romelo pulled Lorenzo off of me, and I scrambled to the headboard. Romelo started to pound in on Lorenzo, and I got off the bed, standing behind Romelo.

"Romelo..stop.."

It seemed as if Romelo had blacked out, and I tried to pull him off of Lorenzo. His fists pummeled Lorenzo's face in, and I heard Lorenzo's nose break.

"Romelo, stop!"

He finally stopped, breathing heavy, his shirt stained with Lorenzo's blood. I rubbed his back.

"Come on..we need to get out of here."

Suddenly, the windows crashed in, two men landing inside. I screamed, and Romelo scooped me up, going to Ramiro's room. Ramiro was in his crib, screaming his heart out. I was put down, and I picked up Ramiro. Romelo locked the door, and I turned to him.

"Who are they?" I asked, trying my best to calm Ramiro down. He was absolutely terrified.

Romelo's chest heaved.

"Lorenzo's goons..he must've called them before he came up to get you.."

I bounced Ramiro on my hip, kissing his temple. "Shh..shh.."

Romelo looked at me, then Ramiro. "My car should still be in Lorenzo's garage. We need to get out of here.."

"How?" I questioned.

This was all going by super fast.

Now our plan..we don't even have a plan anymore.

"We're going to have to run. You're going to keep a tight grip on my hand," he nodded, biting down on his lip. He stepped to Ramiro, kissing his forehead. "And you," he began, "no matter how scared you get, you hold on tightly to Mommy. You understand me?"

Ramiro nodded, "Yes Daddy."

Romelo turned, and took my hand. With his other hand on the doorknob, he sighed.

"On three." He stated.

"One.."

"Two."

"Three!"

Romelo opened the door, and we took off. Lorenzo's men filled the hall, and Romelo pushed through them, and headed down the stairs. They were everywhere, yelling at us to stop. Romelo took us down to the garage, and locked the door behind us. I watched him push a safe in front of the door, and bend over and unlock it.

"Shit! Nothing's in here.."

Lorenzo's garage was filled with all types of cars, from Range Rovers to Lamborginis. I recognized one car though, and that was Romelo's blue Audi A8.

He opened up the trunk, pulling out a sub-machine gun. "Put Ramiro in his car seat," he told me. I did as told, and buckled Ramiro in. His teddy bear was still in the back, and I handed it to him, kissing his forehead.

"Mommy..I scared.."

"I know baby..Mommy's scared too," I caressed his face, "but Daddy's going to get us out of here."

I could start to hear the door being banged in, and Romelo handed me the keys. "Imma need you to drive."

I stared at him.

"B-But.."

"I have to shoot. Just follow what I tell you."

The men burst through the door, the safe going off to the side. The used a battering ram, and started to shoot. They looked like they were in the military, and I could see some of their faces through the helmet.

RC was one of those faces.

"Get in!" Romelo yelled, firing shots at them as I got in the car. He got in the passenger side, and he told me to go through the actual garage door.

I did as told, pushing the gas pedal all the way down to the floor. Romelo must of had this car altered, I've never been in a sedan this fast, and I was pushing 200.

Swerving in between cars, I sped through red lights.

"These fuckers..shit! Followed us too."

In the rearview mirror, I could see them chasing after us. Romelo leaned out the window, firing shots from his gun. A car behind us exploded, and Ramiro screamed.

"It's okay baby," I cooed to him, drifting around a corner. Cars honked their horns, and someone got into an accident behind us. Two cars appeared in front of us, and Romelo growled.

"Swerve left!"

I swerved left, and the two cars collided into each other. Suddenly, a car came from behind them, and hit the back bumper.

"Bumper's gone," Romelo yelled as he shot at the car.

"You okay, baby?" I asked Ramiro, glancing back at him. He had shook his head, the grip on his teddy bear getting tired. "I pee-peed.."

Poor baby..

I knew he's terrified..I wish he didn't have to endure this.

"We'll be safe soon."

"Watch out!"

I tried to slam on the brakes, but instead slamming down on the gas again. We collided into the car, the glass crashing in. I screamed, and we burnt out. But that wasn't the least of my worries.

I couldn't find the words to form a sentence.

"R-Ro..c-ca.."

I tapped him, over and over, but it was too late.

The van slammed into us, sending us rolling over the embankment of the highway. I had buckled in Ramiro tightly, so he wouldn't slip out. We kept rolling, and then came to a stop, upside down. I opened my eyes, and heard Romelo's voice.

"Are y'all okay!"

My door suddenly opened, and Romelo pulled me out.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Ramiro wailed.

He pulled him out too, and took him into his arms. Ramiro was crying his heart out, and Romelo hugged him tightly. "I'm right here..I'm right here..don't worry.."

I looked around, biting my lip. My eyes fell onto the mangled car, the paint scratched, one of the headlight barely hanging on.

We were in some forest area, with no means of transportation, and I didn't know if we were still being chased by Lorenzo's men.

"What do we do?" I asked, desperate.

"I got us.."

Romelo wrapped me up in a hug, and I kissed Ramiro's forehead. I took him out of Romelo's arms, and looked around once more.

"Oh baby, you're bleeding!"

I wiped the blood from his forehead, rubbing his back.

Romelo handed him his teddy bear, and Ramiro accepted it. I watched Romelo check his pockets, and he pulled out his phone. It had a large crack in it, and I guess he dialed a number.

"Yeah, it's me. The flight for Atlanta is still on. Bring a car, and some undies..baby wipes too."

So we waited for the car. It came sooner than I expected, one of Romelo's Dodge Chargers pulling up.

Charles got out, and I was happy to see him.

"I brought a car seat and sippy cup for Little August."

I got into the car, my heart finally calm in my chest. I laid Ramiro down, and changed him. I also cleaned his forehead of the blood, and strapped him into the car seat. He instantly fell asleep, most likely feeling safe in the car.

"Aaliyah, now that you know everything, you still wanna be with me?"

I nodded.

"I love you, Romelo August, and a car crash and some bruises can't change that. You're my knight in shining armor."