Read Surviving Brooklyn (Brooklyn Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Elizabeth York
Surviving Brooklyn (Brooklyn Series Book 1) (15 page)
“My dad was Nikolas Markovich, and what this city considered to be a Russian mobster. I won’t lie and say I didn’t question it when he went to prison, but he was always going to go to prison. The way the FBI stalked us, it was only a matter of time. I never saw the mobster in him. I saw a man who loved his family and chose to help those who couldn’t help themselves. I loved my dad and respected him. I was his only daughter and it was an honor to have been the only daughter of Nikolas Markovich.”
I walked forward and placed the rose on his casket. I looked up and saw Mark wearing his full dress policeman’s uniform. I held my hand to the casket as if I couldn’t walk away from him. I couldn’t let them bury my dad just yet.
In a rushed reaction, I pushed the flowers off the casket. I went to open it when Mark scooped me up in his arms. I struggled with him as I needed to say I was sorry. But Mark started to carry me off when a voice shouted out above the crowd.
I looked up, and the green-eyed Cut-Me-Not killer, R.J., was standing at the foot of the casket.
“Let her say her peace with him.” R.J.’s voice was firm. Mark set me down, but the radios went crazy and all the officers were called to another body. From the sounds on the radio, it was a lot more than just one body.
“I thought we needed some privacy for this,” R.J. whispered, but I stood tall. I let him see defeat before, but not now.
“Why me?” I asked.
“Because you made the world love you. Then when someone loves you, you throw it away and disappear. You push us away the second you have our hearts. Then you ignore us and act as though we were never there.”
Mark stood by my side. He was slowly moving to put himself between R.J. and me.
“I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I am sorry if I hurt you,” I said. I saw Taylor texting someone, and Kate recording from the front row of chairs. My family was crying and unaware of who exactly RJ was.
“You do mean to hurt people. What did you do to Mark just this morning? You waited until he left, and put your lips on this guy over here.” He waved his hand, and everyone looked at Taylor. “Then, as soon as Mark storms out, you do it again.”
I felt Mark’s heart break, but he stood stoic. He moved to cover part of me, but I merely stepped farther away. If I survived, at least I would get to see him behind bars.
“I know. I don’t deserve him. I waited a very long time to be with him, and I wanted him to share me with Taylor
again!
” I replied.
R.J. looked like someone had punched him when I emphasized the word again. He pulled a gun from his jeans, and aimed it at me. Everyone murmured sounds of shock and fear. I put my hands up in a defensive manner and continued talking.
“I don’t deserve Mark, but he will forgive me. That is what you do when you love someone. You forgive them for what they do. I could have slept with ten men this morning, and Mark would forgive me because we love each other enough to look past our mistakes.”
Mark shot me a dirty look out of the corner of his eyes, and Taylor looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. Kate understood. She nodded, knowing I was moving in the right direction.
“I think you loved me once, and I did something to hurt you. I also think you never forgave me for it. I think the reason you are killing all these women is because you are actually angry with me, and not the ones who look like me.”
R.J.’s hands shook as he aimed the gun at me. He was having the internal conflict that I could see most men having when they had conversations with me.
“I can’t forgive you. You left me alone with her while she drank herself to death and kept me locked away. The only time I existed was when we went to church and she threw water on me telling me my murdering father left the devil in me. When I needed you the most, you were in bed with Mark. We were seven years old, and you had already dismissed me for this guy.” R.J. waved the gun at Mark.
“It’s me you want to hurt, not him. If anyone has to die today, let it be me. Mark deserves better than me. He deserves a wife and babies. He deserves a happy life that ends in old age.” I shouted above the gasping audience.
Sirens sounded in the background and the winds picked up as Mark began talking.
“I took her from you,” Mark said. “I am the one you want. You already tried to kill me once, and had I not tripped, she would be yours again. If I were dead, what would stop her from going back to you?”
R.J. turned his head to Taylor and pointed the gun at him. Taylor stood with his hands up.
“It was a fantasy,” he said. “That was all it was. She revealed a secret fantasy one night, and I stepped in so she didn’t have to ask for it. It was one time. She has to choose who she wants to be with, and if she wants to be with Mark, she will. If she wants to be with me, she will. Have you asked her why she is not with you? Have you thought maybe the stack of dead bodies is part of the reason she wouldn’t want to be with you? How could she ever trust you not to hurt her?”
I was standing behind the casket, which shielded my waist. R.J. pointed the gun at Mark, who was beside me. Then he pointed it at Taylor, who was moving in on the other side of me. Then the gun returned to me. The sirens grew louder and he was losing patience.
“Let me get you help, R.J.,” I implored. “Let Mark take you in, and we can get you what you need.” I spoke softly, but the words were all wrong.
“I’m not crazy!” he screamed, just before a shot rang out.
I hope you enjoyed Surviving Brooklyn. Watch for upcoming releases such as
Wishing on the Water
, anticipated Summer of 2015.
Brooklyn’s Survival,
Book Two, is anticipated to be released Winter of 2015.
