"We're being followed."

I was half asleep as William drove back to the casino. He offered to drive, saying I could use the rest and I had no complaints. It seemed that life had taken this moment with my guard down to remind me I didn't have that privilege.

I sat up with a heavy sigh. "Tinted windows?" I asked to which William nodded. "Car or van?" 

"Van."

Immediately I had wondered if it was the mayor but setting up spies at the casino seemed more his route, the vans all but confirmed it as I risked a glance in the mirror. Those didn't seem like the type of vans that populated the area, something about them just seemed foreign.

"We can't lead them back to the casino and we can't stop. The moment we stop judging by their consistent distance, they've been trained to trap us onto the sidewalk and then probably open fire."

"So we're gonna have to directly confront them, huh?" I asked rhetorically, digging in the backseat and producing two machine guns. I sat one on William's lap and cocked mine. "We don't know how much they are in the van so we shouldn't face them head-on." I said, dialing a number on my phone quickly. 

"Send backup at the Theatre Drive Bridge." I said into the phone before quickly pressing it out. It was unlikely but I couldn't take the chance our assailants were tapping our phones and would find out where our backup would come from if I stayed on it long.

William made a calm right in order to change his route to the bridge, keeping track of our tails with his eyes. "How do you want to play this?"

"Stop suddenly in the middle of the bridge and reverse, if they reverse back in response force them right off the bridge then swing the car sideways and we use it as cover in a shootout while we tell our backup to come from behind them." It was the best plan I could think of at the moment and would have to do.

William's eyes never left the mirror. "And if they don't reverse and take the hit?"

I stared at him with what I hoped came across as more confidence than I was feeling. "We improvise."

William nodded and I imagined he was forcing the calm much like me.

The calm before the storm.

Eventually we reached the bridge and William seemed as calm as ever as he turned on to it. If I doubted the man's experiences before it all went away behind the seasoned poise he now exhibited. 

With a sudden thrust he slammed on the brakes and in one fluid motion started back reversing. The car behind us was keeping a measurable distance so they had time to make a choice. I stared in shock as they actually sped up to meet our reverse, the two cars rushing towards each other like a magnet and metal.

"Brace yourself!" William shouted as he too sped up. 

I ducked and covered my head as impact was made. I felt the car get crushed as their bumper collided with our rear. Had the seatbelt not been reinforced I would've gone flying, even with a normal seatbelt. Instead, I felt choked as the seatbelt pushed back against my forward force, fixing me in place as chaos ensued around me. 

For a moment it was as if my hearing had been turned off and I was in my own warped bubble, glass flying around me noiselessly. Suddenly there was a pop and my hearing came back with a rush all at once. The sound of glass shattering, men yelling and the car groaning attacked my ear drums causing my heart to pound with adrenaline.

My shoulder felt especially irritated where the seatbelt had been most tight. I didn't dare attempt to move except to unbuckle the seatbelt as the sound of men yelling came closer. I gripped the machine gun, silently praying I would be able to lift it in my current state.

Finally the first man reached my door and started to pull it open. 

"There's no movement!" The man shouted, turning his head back in the direction of the van for a split second.

I glanced in the rearview mirror quickly counting three by the van. They all wore some type of mask you would see cliche bank robbers wearing in movies. 

Without a second to spare I raised the gun and let loose a spray of bullets with a primal roar, ducking back down under my seat as the man's body hit the pavement. There was a pause with complete silence as the other men's brains worked to figure out what just happened.

William suddenly shot up as if he had been out cold, letting out a exaggerated breath. "What's hap-"

Bullets slamming into the car and breaking the minimum glass left in the back interrupted him, sending us both scrambling further behind our seats.

 I was gonna need to start investing in bullet proof windows.

"Situation?" William breathed out as we weathered the storm the bullets. He located his own machine gun and looked to me with an expression that didn't fit someone caged in a car. He was amazingly calm. 

I took a deep breath, trying to match his composure. "I saw three near the van, one is dead outside my door and I'm not sure if that's actually all --could have been more on the other side."

William nodded, peeking out my door at the bullet- riddled man. "Okay. We can't stay here, they're gonna start advancing any time now and they won't be as careless this time around." He positioned his machine gun near the space between my seat and his. "We need a plan before they overwhelm us."

I clutched my gun as my mind raced while William managed to dish out some return fire in one of their pauses. He didn't risk looking over or around his cover, instead just poking his gun through the space and hoping for the best. Ineffective for actually hitting them but perhaps good enough to keep them at bay for just a little while longer. 

I wouldn't recommend attempting to think up a plan where you were at terrible odds under the pressure of constant gunfire from both your ally and the enemy. It was --to put it lightly, nerve wracking. 

"Ok." I said suddenly, a lightbulb going off in my head.

"What you got?" William asked, sitting back down next to me. 

"We can't aim from in the car and we're sitting ducks here. We need to get outside and use the car as cover as we planned before, then sticking to the plan make this a drawn out battle. No matter which direction they come from, the backup will change the tide of the battle since there's only around three people out there."

William digested the information. "But how do we get out there without ending up like your friend over there?"

I dug into my suit pockets producing a small mirror. "You're going to cover me. Their aim hasn't been that consistent and they keep stopping, almost as if they're unsure of what to do and hesitant to advance." I passed him the mirror which he took with a confused expression. "So, since you can't risk peeping anyway --you use this. It's a small chance they manage to hit this when they see it over the seat and even if they do, you should have gotten a look at where they are and be able to accurately force them back while I run out to the front of the car."

William grimaced and after a few moments he nodded. "Seems like our best option at the moment."

"We're gonna have to wing it on the getting you out part, I can't predict how they will react because they don't consistently act like pros." I admitted. "It's almost like they're holding back." I whispered, more to myself than anyone.

"We don't have any time to waste." William commented. "On 10 you run to the front of the car."

William started to countdown and I fought to clear my nerves. This was do or die. 

"...7." William raised the mirror above the seat and adjusted it as he attempted to find where they were. "..8."

"...9." 

Silence.

"WAIT!" William shouted but I was already halfway out the door.

As my feet hit the ground and I started to turn toward the front of the car, something slammed into my back that felt like an entire vehicle in itself. The force of the hit sent me sliding sideways across the pavement and I felt a body jump on top of me before I could collect my bearings. Whoever this guy was, he could be making good and safer money in the goddamn NFL.

I heard a click and pried open my eyes to see a mountain of a man brandishing a switch blade that looked tiny and almost comical in his hands. The moment of disbelief quickly turned to panic however as he started a downward thrust with the weapon. I struggled to stop his hand and barely managed to change the momentum to a snail pace, both our hands shaking as the switchblade moved down slowly. 

"VITO!" William shouted before gunfire erupted again from our enemies I assumed. 

If I could muster the energy I would've shouted to focus on the others but I couldn't risk even a moment's distraction. The man wore a Jason mask that left only his eyes exposed, eyes which looked all too menacing the closer the blade came to my body.

Somehow I would've preferred to have been shot than be in this predicament.

The switchblade neared my stomach and my last threads of hope started to go up in embers. It was a wonder I had even held on this long with this mammoth of a man and it was taxing to keep up. One last desperate idea popped into my head.

Instantaneously I stopped fighting and instead slid to the side from out under the blade, barely getting out of its way. It was simply a ploy to delay the inevitable, buying me more time to pull something out of my ass, or rather my suit. 

I knew before I even started looking I would find no gun, having placed all of them in the car before I went into the meeting but I rummaged through my pockets quickly as the man refocused on me, with pure desperation. 

Suddenly my hand hit an unfamiliar canister in one of my pockets and I pulled it out just as the man drove the blade into my shoulder. Excruciating pain followed as my already sore body was pushed back under his weight as he pulled out the blade, ready for more. The pain attacked my body like a swarm of bees but still I remained focus and raised the canister toward the man's face.

Had it been a gun or an actual weapon, I would have failed without a doubt --the man's defensive mechanism causing him to likely pummel me to death. But a spray can? The man briefly paused, perhaps amused or confused and started to move back his head and used his hand to protect his eyes.

As I read the label I realized it wouldn't matter. For him. 

I sprayed the man for what felt like a full two minutes, aiming for the hand that protected his face. At first, there was no effect but then all of a sudden he started to rub his hand. Slowly at first but then more hurriedly, exposing his eyes to show them watering. 

Maybe pepper spray wasn't so bad after all. I certainly hadn't put pepper spray in my pocket which meant, for some reason, Selena had. Whatever her reasoning, she had more than likely just saved my life. 

I rolled over, silently whimpering at the agonizing pain in my shoulder as I picked up my machine gun and stood with difficulty. 

I walked past the now writhing man and ran to the car. I peeked over the hood to assess the situation. William was crouched at the side with a man bleeding out infront of him. He had his attention focused on the car still which told me there was still someone there.

"William!" I hissed, motioning for him to retreat back to where I was behind the hood.

He saw me and clear relief flashed across his face. He awkwardly wobbled to me, favoring his left side. 

"You got shot?" I asked as he settled down beside me with a deep sigh.

"No. I think I hurt it in the crash." He said, motioning to his foot. "Nothing to worry about." He added after a pause.

"Good. Backup should be here any second." I responded.

"You're bleeding." William whispered. "What happened?"

"Just a little stab wound. Nothing to worry about either."

William grunted, holding his head in his hands. "I failed you."

"Stop the nonsense talk." I said, preparing to say before before a loud bang interrupted me. 

I peeked over the hood and saw a car had just crashed into the sidewalk. Out poured five people I recognized as casino "workers" holding guns. The last man with the mask stepped out of the vehicle his hands up indicating his surrender.

"Seems like it's over, William." I said, standing and offering him my hand. He took it firmly, still favoring his left side as he righted himself in my grip. "Let's see what Bane has to say." I said, referring to the man who had surrendered wearing a Bane mask.

He stared at me eerily as we walked up, never seeming to blink. 

"Congratulations, mate." The man said in a heavy accent, his eyes never leaving mine.

I had been expecting a Jersey accent but this one sounded way more foreign, throwing me off guard. I didn't like this one bit. 

"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, maintaining my composure.

The man cocked his head to the side. "He awaits you at your... Smoky Poker." He said, spitting out the last words.

Huh.

We arrived at the Casino without further incident and I ushered William through the back elevators. "Go to Reyna and tell her about your leg. You need it checked out as soon as possible."

William's head snapped toward me and I was surprised to see a worried expression. "You're going to face that mystery man alone?"

"He won't try to pull something here. More than likely he's here to talk some kind of business."

William took on a more thoughtful expression. "Your mother was always wary of working with foreigners. Be careful and don't get roped into something you can't handle."

I scoffed and started to turn away. "You should know me better."

I had called ahead and told my men to send the individual who wanted a meeting up to my office so it was no surprise I found it occupied. 

I walked in to see a figure wrapped up in a scarf that hid their face from view. They wore a coat and jeans, a winter outfit even though it was anything but.

Slowly he turned, pulling down the scarf as he did. That's when It became apparent. 

The he was infact a she.

"Did you enjoy my greeting?"