Chapter 31: Fallout

Germaine had such a smug look on his face, Diego was dying to punch him in the face. His more present concern, though, was checking on Angela. She was still on the floor, tears in her eyes, as she tried to process what had happened.

He crouched down in front of her and grabbed her face in his hands. “You’re okay,” he whispered so only she could hear. “The gun wasn’t loaded, you’re okay.”

She looked up at him with hate in her eyes. Her heart was racing so wildly that she felt like she was having a heart attack. She also felt disoriented and confused, the way she did after fainting once in high school. It was the feeling that she’d been asleep for hours, yet it had only been seconds. She tried to mentally calculate how many seconds had gone by since Diego pulled the trigger.

“Don’t touch me,” she managed to say finally.

“Baby,” Diego tried desperately.