The Escort

38 - Who are you

Laura followed Slash out of the elevator but, to her surprise, he didn't head down the hall towards the rooms but in the opposite direction.

He halted midway and fetched a pack of smokes from his pocket. "Want one, hot stuff?" He offered, and Carangi frowned in confusion, not understanding what he was doing. "No, thanks."

He shrugged and lit up a cigarette that he kept between his lips, whilst pulling a red bandana from the back pocket of his ripped dark grey jeans.

He patted the front of his leather jacket, then slid a hand inside, drawing it back shortly after with a silver hip flask obviously filled with liquor. He removed the cap, blowing smoke from the fag he never once removed from his mouth and tossed it to the floor. Then, he proceeded to insert the bandana into it, like a wick.

Laura's eyes widened considerably the second she realized what he was intending to do. "Oh, no! Are you insane?!"

Slash smirked and pulled his golden snake lighter, torching the cloth and quickly placing his improvised version of a molotov in a tall vase filled with colorful dry plants under a large baroque tapestry that looked dangerously inflammable.

"I said guilty as charged, babe."

The dry decor arrangement ignited almost instantly, flames growing taller by the second, as a thick cloud of dark smoke invaded the corridor and Saul watched with a pyromaniac's enthusiasm.

He jogged past Laura and down the hall with a huge grin, as the fire started to slowly spread across the floor. "This way!" He chanted, finally removing his cigarette from his mouth to smoke it properly.

"Couldn't you just, flick the fire alarm switch or something!" She scolded him nervously and he laughed.

"And spoil the fun? Fuck no!"

***
Michael sucked his pinky and licked his teeth as he reached for the doorknob, alerted by the loud sound of the fire alarm going off. He squinted his eyes, feeling them getting irritated by what seemed to be smoke coming in from under the door.

As soon as he opened, his confused gaze landed on a big pair of bright green eyes he knew too well and loved too much. "Baby?" He gasped, but her expression was of distress, she quickly grasped his arms to move him and peeked behind him.

What she saw was horrible.

Adriana was grunting and shaking on the couch. Her body was limp, foam was coming out of her mouth, mixing with the blood that oozed from her nose, creating a pink liquid that ran down her neck and to her chest.
Her head was thrown back over the backrest of the sofa and it was obvious that she was not only having a seizure, but she was also choking on her own vomit.

Laura tried to push past Jackson but he grasped her waist and was too strong for her, she couldn't remove herself from his hold. "Michael! She's dying! I've gotta help her, please!"

His angry eyes shifted from his girl to the other person that was standing in the hallway. "Slash? The fuck u doin' here with her? What..."

The young woman punched his chest cutting him off, but he strengthened his grasp as much as he could, and even though he feared he was gonna bruise her ribs or damage her healing wound, he couldn't afford to let her go.

"Baby, she deserves it! She fuckin' deserves it!" He desperately yelled to no avail.

"Let me go!" Tears streamed down her cheeks and her arms desperately reached to the front, but Michael wouldn't release her. He tried to cup her face but she slapped his hand away, so he placed it back on her body to hold her back. "Laura, baby, she killed Alessandro. She killed your brother, it was her!"