I haven't made a list in a while. Let's make another list!

1) I was lost.

2) Romeo was going to kill me.

3) Numbers 1 & 2 aren't such a big deal. I could totally find a way out of this.

4) Number 3 is a lie.

Geez. I escaped one close death call and now I was about to throw myself into another. Great going, November. Not only is Cage mad at you, you're lost in Chicago while attempting to avenge your parents' murder. Also, a police car may or may not have begun following you a mile back, so you may or may not be getting arrested tonight.

Ah, yes. The sweet smell of becoming a full teenage convict.

I glanced up at the enormous hospital building growing larger as I neared. I had no idea if Romeo was still on the roof or if he'd already left in pursuit of Cage, but I had to try. I could leave no stone unturned when it came to Romeo. After all, he hadn't. Why should I?

I had no doubt that Cage was coming after me. He cared too much to let me do this myself. I guess, after all, maybe I did win his heart over. And maybe I did come out of all of this as the one who gained the most power. Isn't that what I wanted? To break Cage Vickers? To give him a taste of his own medicine? If he was going to risk his life to save mine, I suppose there was something good that came out of this.

Parking the car into the lot, I stepped out. It was nearing midnight now. The hospital building positively glowed against the dark night sky with all of the bright lights emanating from inside.

Anger burned a hole through my chest. I was tormented between going back and letting Cage deal with this or doing the dirty deed myself. Was this worth becoming a murderer? The life I'd be taking wasn't so innocent to begin with, but that's what it was. A life. A man with a daughter and maybe even a family. Was killing Romeo really worth it? And if that didn't work out, was putting my life at risk for the slim chance of avenging two wrongful deaths and the loss of innocence worth it?

Suddenly, there was a screech of tires from down the street.

A car was driving at breakneck speed towards the hospital, to where I stood. The windows were tinted black so I couldn't see who was inside, but I didn't need to. I knew exactly who it was.

Before Cage could reach me, I ran into the hospital building, barely noticing how everyone inside suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at me. A nurse was making her way to the elevator with a medical cart. Beside that was the emergency exit door. I paused for a second, taking in the bright lights and doctors and patients.

"Excuse me, miss." A man wearing a blue scrubs stepped forward, his kindly old face expressing concern. I could only imagine the sight I looked, with a missing eyebrow, substituted arm cast, several bandages, and sweat clinging to my neck. "Are you okay? Do you need help with anything-"

As guilty as I felt, I couldn't waste time conversing with anyone. Cage was already out of the car by now. In about twenty seconds, he would storm in here and cause one of the greatest scenes in the entirety of Chicago. And I couldn't be there to witness it because most of his anger was going to be directed at me. So I'd better make myself scarce. Besides, I didn't come all this way for nothing.

Running to the exit, I accidentally stumbled into the nurse going into the elevator. She nearly fell on top of the cart. Mumbling a quick apology, I continued on without looking back. Just as I slipped through the door, I heard the front entrance slam shut and several gasps coming from the lobby. I guess that meant the arrival of Cage Vickers. Sooner or later, someone was going to realize who he was. I just hoped I wasn't there to see it.

The stairs went on flight after flight, and I climbed flight after flight. The elevator would take too long. After the twentieth floor passed, I lost count. The roof was close by. I could hear the dull roar of the helicopter blades whirring. Did that mean Romeo was still up there?

Or did I do all of this for nothing?

I finally made it to the roof door. My chest constricted with the need to breathe and my legs felt like they were on fire. However, I could care less about that. I could hear voices speaking from the other side of the door. One of them sounded like Romeo's.

With nothing but reckless abandon, I pushed open the door and stepped out.

Two pairs of eyes turned to me.

One of them was a thick burly man. He had on a black leather jacket lined with fur and smoked a heavy perfumed cigar that I could smell from all the way to where he was and where I stood. In his left hand was a manilla folder. In his right, was a gun.

The other pair of eyes belonged to Romeo.

They stood besides the open helicopter, the blades taking a long time to stop whirring. I assumed the other man was the pilot. And I assumed that the fluttering anger knotting my stomach was enough to make me invincible. Everything seemed to slow down. Time, the atmosphere, the whirring of the blades...none of that mattered. The only thing that did was the fact that I was once again standing in the presence of the man who killed my parents.

And that was an opportunity I was not going to let slip through my fingers.

Before I could do anything, before I could even take one step towards Romeo, something caught my arm and pulled sharply, eliciting a gasp of pain as my wrist snapped again. Stunned, I turned around to see a pair of police handcuffs around them. Holding onto the other half was none other than Cage.

"I was wondering when you'd all show up." A thick, accented voice spoke from behind us. A curl of hate when through my chest as Romeo bared his teeth in a grin. His dark eyes were trained on me. The other man's gun was trained on the back of Cage.

Cage ignored him. He tightened the handcuffs around my wrist even more, taking no notice of how badly it hurt me. "Don't you fucking dare move, November." His voice was just a whisper of suppressed rage. He didn't turn around to look at Romeo. "There is a time and place for everything, and it's neither for your reckless actions."

"Okay, no." I fought hard against Cage's grip, but it was useless. Protesting loudly, I tried my best to pull out of the handcuffs but with Cage's strength against mine, my efforts were pathetic. "Oh, fuck you!" I shouted angrily as Cage dragged me over to one of the water pipes next to the door. I tried to yank the handcuffs out of his fingers but his grip on them was too tight. If it were even possible, Cage got angrier. He slammed me roughly against the wall, pinning my stomach with one hand and wrestling my submission with the other. Cage tugged the other half of the handcuffs up to the pipes and used his teeth to open them.

"Please." I whispered hopelessly as Cage forced the handcuff plates into one of the pipe rings. They were thin enough that it was easy to handcuff me to them. "Don't do this, Cage. Let me go! This isn't your problem, it's mine! He killed my parents-"

"My darling November." Romeo suddenly cut me off. He sounded amused. Over Cage's shoulder, I saw the pilot hand over another gun to Romeo. "I thought I heard that name before. Perhaps in the newspaper? Oh yes, what was the headline? If I remember correctly, it was something along the lines of, 'Sisters lose parents in fatal car fire.' What a lovely way to commemorate the loss of two not so innocent lives, my darling."

If I was angry before, I had no idea what I was now.

Cage's eyes darkened but he still did not turn around to face Romeo. His hand snaked to my throat, not enough for actual choking but enough to cause me some discomfort. With eyes burning and jaw locked, he bent down to whisper in my ear his hostile words. "If you interfere, Romeo won't have to kill you...I'll do that myself."

Handcuffed to the pipes, I couldn't do anything. Tears sprang into my eyes as Cage moved back and faced Romeo. He didn't even flinch at the sight of the man holding a gun to his head. I forced myself to swallow the pain and fixed Romeo with a hateful stare. I wished looks could actually kill. That would have solved so many problems.

A helicopter was appearing in the distance. I hoped that everything worked out as I planned. A minute too late, a second of hesitation, and we were all dead. My eyes searched desperately to the roofs of all the buildings. From up here, I had a good vantage point. I could see some dark figures on top of the building across from us. That was of some comfort. But that also meant I had to be extra careful.

I couldn't see Cage's face, only his back. He took one step closer to Romeo, who merely smiled. The pilot still had his gun poised at Cage. Cage spoke quietly, his voice light as if we weren't both about to die. "This is between you and me, Romeo."

"You're right." He replied, smiling. I didn't understand what was going on. Romeo raised his gun, but it was not pointed to who I thought it would be. I closed my eyes, willing myself not to cry as a shot rang out. A moment later, a body thudded to the ground. I opened my eyes, watching the blood stain the clothes of the pilot.

"That doesn't really do much, Romeo." Cage pulled out a gun from his coat pocket. "What's the use of killing one when there are many more hiding? Come on, I know your little underlings are out here hiding somewhere." Cage glanced around. I did too, but I didn't catch anything out of the ordinary. "You wouldn't come to Chicago alone with us around."

Romeo laughed. "Right again. You are figuring out all the clues, aren't you?"

"I have to if I want to live." Cage growled. "After all, it's, what- ten, twenty? Against just November and I."

"Do you think of me as a fool?" Romeo snapped.

"Yes." I muttered under my breath, but they both heard me.

The glare Cage gave me was unbelievably angry.

Romeo's eyes flickered to me. "Stay out of this, my darling. Your father didn't. Look what happened to him."

I yanked furiously at the handcuffs but they wouldn't budge. Tears filled my eyes again at his words and once again, I forced them back. Romeo turned his attention back to me, satisfied at how much his words got under my skin. "You are not alone, Cage. You and I, we have many things in common. One of them being that the men who work for you are nothing but pawns. Their only job is to protect the king, isn't that right? Men are...disposable. Where are your friends hiding?"

Cage twirled his gun around as if he didn't have a care in the world. "I told you, I came alone."

"Liar."

"On my honour."

"Your honour is as good as mine."

"Then we must both be dripping with honesty." Cage growled sarcastically. "What are you here for, Romeo? Because I don't have the decency left to show you my nice side tonight. Are you here to kill me? Kill her?" He jabbed his thumb to where I stood fuming silently. "If that's the reason why you left your godforsaken palace tonight, I'm afraid you made the trip for nothing. Go back to Italy while you still have the chance, Romeo."

"Or what?" Romeo raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Are you going to kill me? I didn't come here for you, Cage. I came here for the girl."