𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 threw her fists off the door for another time. She had to get out. She had to get to her baby. There was no time to sit and dwell on the horrors that lay behind her. She needed to get to Kaz.

A sudden hand on her elbow made her flinch, and Mikel Flores took a step back to assure her safety. "Kaci, please let me explain," he begged, voice tired, eyes purple, hands red.

Sighing in defeat, the desperate mother turned around to face her father — a man she did not know, nor did she trust. Once again, the sight of Marie Floresʼs fresh corpse made her fall ill.

Kaci thought, after everything, a dead body wouldn't so much as make her blink. But it did. The smell of it, the aura it let out, the human features still in her face — seeing her mom there, on the floor, completely dead, made Kaci sick.

"Please don't hurt me," she said, hands shaking. There was no anger in her voice, her usual snarkiness having ran away and been replaced by fear. She shook her head. "Please. My baby — he needs me."

Mikelʼs face nearly enough crumbled at his daughter ʼs words. He thought that by raising Kaci the way he did, she'd be strong. She always was strong, growing up. A lot stronger than both her siblings. She was sometimes terrifying. Fearless.

But, here she was, tears glued to her cheeks, as she begged him not to hurt her. His own daughter. Scared of him.

"I would never hurt you, Kaci," he assured her softly, stepping further away to make the girl comfortable.

"What?!" Kaci shook her head incredulously, too focused on getting to Kaz for these games. The key wasn't working. The door wasn't opening. She was trapped. "You've already hurt me — all of us! The Bahamas, this fucking storage unit! You're the reason Jordanʼs dead!"

"Jordanʼs dead?" Mikel felt lightheaded, and he needed to take a seat.

Kaci watched him, brows furrowed. His features softened when he looked back up at her. "I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you earlier, Mija. Trust me, I wish I did. But I was too busy trying to save Luis from him, and now..." His eyes fell over the corpse of his wife, the knife wound in her stomach.

"Luis?"

𖧷

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 burst open.

Kaciʼs head snapped towards it, and Mikel slowly rose up again to stand. He stood in front of his daughter, finally prepared to protect her after all this time. He glanced back at her with a nod, his eyes saying all the sorries she ever needed.

If this were a year ago, Kaci would've glared at him. Kaci didn't care about much back then, and often, she was unnecessarily rude. She was stubborn, mean and honestly quite petty.

But then she met JJ, and they had Kaz. And, although she could still snap, although she could still hate, Kaci Flores was nothing like the girl she was before. Her boys changed her life for the better. And when it came to protecting her boys, Kaci would cross every line.

So would JJ.

A gun clicked, and the blonde boy held it up at Mikel Flores with no hesitation. Behind him were his friends, who all shared the same look. Not fear, not worry, but anger. They were here to get back Kaci and Kaz, and they were not going to let Mikel get away with it again.

The man raised his hands in surrender, no fight in him.

However, the first thing JJ saw when Mikel moved was his hands. Covered in a thick pain of crimson.

And, like all fathers, he jumped to the worst conclusions when it came to the safety of his baby.

"JJ, don't!" Kaci swiftly jumped in front of Mikel.

A small sigh of relief left the boyʼs lips when he finally saw her, and he dropped his fearful face without any moment to think, throwing his arms around his girl. JJ made sure to hold her close this time, to capture her scent, to make sure she knew that he loved her. He pressed a kiss to her head, still glaring at the man that stood behind them.

When she pulled away, Kaci could see everyone else there. Pope, whose eyes had found the body on the floor. Kie, who scanned the room for her nephew. Sarah, who was almost in tears seeing that her best friend was alive. And John B, who was a free man once again. She smiled lightly at each of them, grateful for the love and found family she now had. All thanks to JJ.

She had a way out. Now she needed her baby.

"Give me the gun," said Kaci, staring at JJ with urgent eyes. He glanced back at the man behind her with such fury it could start a fire, then met her eyes again, and obeyed the order.

"This thing filled?" she asked as she inspected it, to which the boy nodded, growing more confused by the second. "Alright, good. Let's go."

"Where?"

"To find Luis."

"Why?"

"He's got Kaz."

And that was all the Maybank boy needed to be persuaded.

Authorʼs Note
oh fuck.
love, tay </3