Page 89 of In Every Lifetime
“My friends won’t stop either; they’ll come after me, especially if you hurt him,” I tried to argue.
Levi clicked his tongue. “I thought about that, too. Those friends of yours have made it really hard to get close to you… but you see, they don’t fully trust your dear, sweet ex-husband. Everyone is waiting for him to break again.” Levi shook the bottle in his hands. “To turn to his old vices. So, they won’t be shocked when they find out he relapsed.”
Bile climbed up my throat. I wanted to scream, to fight him, or do anything to keep him from hurting Fai, but I never got the chance. Right on time, a truck came barreling toward us from the distance.
That damned, stupid man pulled up in Goldie’s truck, the tires screeching to a stop. The smell of burning rubber wafted for just a moment before being completely washed away by the rain. Fai jumped out of the truck, leaving the door open and the engine running. The headlights spotlighted Levi and me as Fai lunged forward—only to be halted mid-stride. The barrel of Levi’s gun was suddenly leveled at his chest, freezing him in place.
“Stop!” Levi screeched, his frame vibrating with tension as he wrenched my arm to keep me pinned to his side.
Fai listened to the demand immediately, raising his hands slowly. Water fell down his cheeks, the drops resembling tears as they passed his jawline and ran down his neck. His hair was a sopping mess, but his brown eyes were the only warmth on the gloomy street. Those eyes were trained on mine; he didn’t spare Levi a single glance.
Fai took one steady breath, and then another, and nodded to me softly. He was telling me it would be okay, but I couldn’t see a way for us to all make it off this bridge—not alive, not together, and not with Levi’s plan.
Levi’s grip loosened on me slightly, his focus now trained on Fai. “Don’t come closer.”
“I’m not,” Fai reasoned. “I’ll stay right here, but you need to let her go.”
Levi sneered. “You think I’m stupid? The second I let her go—the second I take my focus from her—she’ll be gone.”
“I won’t,” I tried to insist, but we all knew I was full of shit.
“Sarah, be a dear and hand your ex-husband the bottle?” Levi thrust the bottle of whiskey into my hands and pushed me with the butt of the gun toward Fai.
I shook my head, wanting to do anything but that, but Fai shocked me. His hand was outstretched as he motioned me closer. “It’s okay, just listen to him.”
I stared at him in surprise but closed the distance, handing him the bottle. I wanted to stay by him, away from Levi, but I was yanked back by my arm, feeling the gun shoved into my side yet again.
Fai raised the bottle toward Levi. “What’s this for?”
Levi laughed—the kind that sent chills down your spine and worry through your heart. “How do you feel about one final drink before a swim?”
Fai shook his head immediately. “No.”
“It’s funny you think you have a choice,” Levi sneered. “Now, before you got here, Sarah and I were having quite the discussion. You see… she was right that you would never stop looking for her, and if I wanted her—and I do—that just wouldn’t work.”
“You’ll have to kill me, then,” Fai insisted. “Because you’re right. I’ll never give up on her.”
Levi’s smirk sharpened. “Exactly what I was thinking. But you see… her friends wouldn’t allow it. Yourformerfriends,” he added, his voice curling around the word with deliberate malice. “So, it got me wondering… what would it take to make them let her go? That’s when I realized… you both have to die.”
Fai’s eyes morphed into a murderous glare. “You touch her and I’ll fucking kill you,” he growled.
Levi laughed again. “Don’t you worry. She won’t die. They’ll just believe that. They only need your body. See… I have your truck. Got it back from the police station. I have the perfect note written. It’s very ‘woe is me,’ all about losing Sarah and how you’d rather be gone than not have her, but you’d rather her be gone, too. Blah, blah, blah.”
My stomach dropped, my heart felt as though it stopped. He was going to kill Fai and make it seem like a murder-suicide. The pieces slammed together all at once, the realization hitting with such force it left me reeling, my footing unsteady as I struggled to grasp how to stop what he’d already set in motion.
“No one would believe that I hurt her,” Fai argued.
“Maybe not this version of you… but do you think they feel the same way about ‘drunk you’? The man who hurt them? Lied to them? Hurt Sarah? Lied to Sarah?”
I could see Fai’s resolve waver. Levi had found his weak point, and we all knew it.
“Don’t listen to him!” I yelled, but Levi shut me up, clamping his hand over my mouth and pulling me to him so my back was against his chest, his other hand still holding the gun to my side.
“Bottoms up!” Levi called. “We need your body to prove the note. Sarah let me know you couldn’t swim, so it should be a quick end for you.”
I kicked myself for all I had shared with Levi. I had thought I was helping the supposed brothers bond, but instead gave the ammunition and fuel to end Fai.
Fai closed his eyes, and when they opened, I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry, and I tried. I fought against Levi—against his hold—but couldn’t get away. Fai’s gaze was defeated. He stared at the bottle and then at me, his eyes full of apology.
