In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 30

CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE and LANGUAGE

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The couple was left standing alone in a chilly warehouse while Davy confronted his fellow followers. There was no doubt they were questioning his sudden desire to bring in hostages. Saying they were alone may have been a slight exaggeration, considering the gang wasn't even a half a football field away. They clearly hadn't been expecting their leader to bring back a personal problem. The randomness could be in their favor, or, perhaps, something had changed in the plans that were quickly crumbling apart. Maybe business had been slow and Davy was just bored.

It didn't really matter what the reason for Davy needing to reassure his men was. They needed to act fast if they were going to figure out a plan out of this mess. The disarray of order would be to their advantages. It had to be.

Joey turned to face Evelina finally. His eyes were determined, powerful, and scared all at the same time. It was a twisted combination that didn't match well. "If the opportunity comes up, you will leave. Do you hear me, Ev? You will leave." Joey whispered to Evelina, steady and confidently.

"I won't leave you." She was determined to remain by his side. She couldn't just let the man that she loved sacrifice himself to protect her. They were in this together. They would remain together. "They're not looking, we could go. Now. Together."

"Ev, this is all a game to my brother. That's why nobody is by us. That's why we're not tied up. He's counting on us to run." His gaze was steady. Confident. He wasn't above demanding her to do something at this point. He wasn't about to begin bargaining for a better solution. Making her run was the solution. This was it. "You will go, Ev."

"No. Don't make me leave you." Tears filled her eyes. "I can't..."

"Rose is at home all alone. She needs to have at least one parent alive to protect her. Pack her up and get as far away from here as possible. Don't turn back. Don't tell anyone where you're going." Joey interrupted her, his voice cracking with emotion. "She needs her mother."

"And what about her daddy? Huh, Joey, what about you?" Anger was growing strong in her voice. Her eyes stung from the refusal to let the tears fall. Her stubbornness radiated from her gaze, just as strong and determined as his.

"She needs her mom more." Joey reminded her.

"You grew up without a dad. How can you say that?" The disbelief was powerful in her voice, radiating strongly from within her eyes.

"And my mom was very important in my life because of that." Joey reminded her again, swallowing the lump in his throat. He could see he was hurting her, but seeing what they'd do to him would hurt her more. He needed her safe. He needed her out of there.

"She still needs her dad, Joey." She refused to back down. "You promised her that you'd be there! You promised me that you'd never leave me."

Joey grabbed her by the shoulders. "You know what, Evelina? I don't want you to see what they may do to me. I don't want them to hurt you. Ev, you go if the chance presents itself." He was nearly begging her. The desperation was strong as his voice cracked again. Thoughts of his family drifted to mind. Thoughts of the things that he'd seen his brother mercilessly do to people. Thoughts of him stopping Jimmy from killing Davy multiple times. He was kicking himself for not letting Jimmy take care of this problem when he the chance to. Things would be so much different right now.

"But, Joey, Davy's your brother. He won't hurt you. You're family." She couldn't stop the words from sliding from her mouth.

"Evelina, I told you before, he nearly beat our mother to death and nearly blew my brains out with a stolen revolver. He was only sixteen back then. He wouldn't hesitate to torture or kill either of us. And, by the way, he hates me. I don't know why, but he just does." Joey straightened her thoughts out quickly, glancing over at his brother before returning his focus back to his wife. "When I had left you, Davy had found me at a bar trying to forget about you. He followed me into a bathroom, beat me, and tried to water board me. If you don't know what that is, it's when you're basically drowned on solid ground. That was him taking it easy on me. He won't try to take it easy with me today."