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Javier went down, Mateo on top of hiun

It didn’t ht in the alley The look on his face when Full Circle was burned The guilt that swa it was his fault Knowing that Javier wouldn’t hesitate to hurt them both if Mateo didn’t take him out first

He elbowed Javier in the face as they rolled The gun was gone He could only hope Javier didn’t have it Mateo’s head jerked back as Javier’s gloved fist connected with his jaw so hard his brain rattled

Mateo swung, connecting with Javier’s face once, twice, then out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gun a few feet away

Mateo rolled off him, scrambled for it Seconds before his hand wrapped around it, pain pierced his shoulder, h the roo knew, that he was too late, and that Tristan and Josiah had found hi to have to see what he would do, because there was no way Javier was getting out of this room alive It didn’t matter if he took Teo with hied, wrapped his hand around the gun, and then rolled onto his back, pointing it at Javier, whose dark eyes ide

The pain in his arister Nothingthe, but Teo shook his head

His eyes darted toward the sleeves and gloves Dios, they were fuckin’ smart "Stay back You too, Jay"

Javier looked frozen, fear gripping him The man who had taken too many lives to count, the one who had hurt so many people, was about to breathe his last breath, and he knew it

"Back up," Mateo told him Javier did as he said, and Mateo pushed to his feet He held the gun in the hand of his injured arm Fuck, he didn’t even kno he kept it steady, but he did His other hand pressed against the knife, unsure if he should pull it out or keep it there

"You can have this, herhed "I never wanted the fucking streets! I didn’t want this life It was shoved down my throat since I spoke my first words, and all I wanted was to be better than this"

But he wasn’t, was he? Not coain He could do the right thing, but he kneouldn’t He would again have blood on his hands But Tristan and Josiah? They would never have to live with it on theirs They would never have to fear Mateo’s past coht he could be sos, if he could keep Josiah safe If he could protect him And now he had Tristan to protect, too, because no matter how much darkness was in hi as they were okay, that’s all that mattered

"I didn’t send people after you I wanted nothin’ to do with this life This isn’t a fuckin’ life I didn’t have one until them You tried to take that away from me" That was the difference, he realized Javier and his father, they took life and enjoyed it They took whatever they wanted Mateo didn’t He wanted to protect those he loved He wanted to be their guardian angel Maybe most people wouldn’t see a difference, and maybe it still made him ato be

"Jay, go outside, o with him," Mateo ordered

Javier’s face went pale

"Close your eyes, Ben," Tristan said

"We’re not going anywhere, Teo" This from Josiah "You don’t have to live with this alone This won’t just be your burden, it will be all of ours"

As much as he hated hier, those wordsto him He didn’t want them to see this, didn’t want them to see death, to knohat he looked like when he delivered itbut not living it alone, knowing that they knew this part of hiave him a calmness he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt

"Lo siento Lo siento que tengan que ver eso Pero esto es quien soy Los amo a los dos" He took a deep breath and then repeated hilish, "I’m sorry I’m sorry you have to see this I’m sorry this is who I aer

Lo siento