"Now that's more like it."

I slammed on the gas and we flew down the streets, not a care in the world. The laws no longer seemed to apply to us.

Well, not like they ever really did.

'Then let's ride...' that was I all I needed to hear. Knowing that she was here for me gave me strength, but it also placed even more responsibility on my shoulders. Part of me was secretly wishing she would've just left me right then and there, found somewhere safe. The only reason But it wasn't like there was anywhere else she'd be able to go...no one would be able to keep her safer than I could.

Except maybe...nahh I couldn't.

I had finally reached that one point in my life where...I was desperate. I was truly desperate. Usually I was the man who had everything under control, even when the initial plan was completely thrown out the window I still managed to keep it together and get it done. I was always on my toes, but this time I had been pushed too hard, too fast and I was falling...hard. All I had to go off of now was pure action, no time for pre-meditation, keep it moving and whatever happens, happens. That was the type of shit that gets people killed; especially in this "field". And since it wasn't just me anymore I couldn't afford any fuck ups there was too much at stake now. I couldn't lose the only woman I had ever loved since-

"Riley…you do realize we're heading back in the direction of home, right?" Shantel interrupted rubbing small circles in the back of my hand as if she was afraid I would lose it at any moment.

"Yea, just trust me ok." I knew I was asking a lot of her, to just sit back and put her life in the hands of the man who was supposed to have taken her life, but I just needed time; though there wasn't much of that left. Little did she know this would be all over soon...for her. My main plan was to go home, get her a few things and drop her off at the one place I knew she'd be safe. However, I knew if she knew that she'd never let me out of her sight for a second...come to think of it I doubted she'd ever do that. Nice to know that she'll ride or die, but at the same time it's a problem when I needed her to just stand down and let me do what I gotta do.

"Alright, fine." The tone in her voice was conflicted and a little critical, but there was also hidden optimism. I decided to turn on the radio and just give both of us time alone with our thoughts.

Who wants that perfect love story anyway, anyway?
Cliché, cliché, cliché, cliché
Who wants that hero love that saves the day, anyway?
Cliché, cliché, cliché, cliché
What about the bad guy goes good, yeah?
And the missing love that's misunderstood, yeah?
Black hour glass, our glass
Toast to clichés in a dark past
Toast to clichés in a dark past

Boy meets girl, girl perfect woman
Girl get the bustin' before the cops come running
Chucking deuces, chugging D'USSE
Fuck what you say, boys in blue say

I don't care if we on the run
Baby as long I'm next to you
And if loving you is a crime
Tell me why do I bring out the best in you

I hear sirens while we make love
Loud as hell, but they don't know
They're nowhere near us
I will hold your heart and your gun
I don't care if they come, noooo
I know it's crazy but
They can take me
Now that I found the places that you take me
Without you I got nothing to lose

I couldn't help, but chuckle at how ironic that song is yet spot on. Bey and Jay might have had their whole 'Bonnie & Clyde' persona going on, but were they ever really in it? No. Had they ever really lived it? No. And they probably never will. T.I. and Tiny were closer than they ever were, but still even they couldn't match with Shantel and I. I doubted there was anyone out there who'd be able to come even close to what we had been through, in less than a week, in a year of their lives. They'll never know what it's like to literally run for their lives or have to choose between death and the one you love or being on your own when everyone else seems to have turned against you. This life wasn't one anyone in their right mind would choose and it wasn't something you joke about or make light of. They probably wouldn't last a day out here in our shoes; in the real world. It was sad to think that our kids would be born into this as well...if we should decide to have any. No doubt I wanted children, but if this was what they'd have to go through then maybe it was better if we just didn't have any at all.

If only I had never ran away...never got caught up in Ed and Rummy's shit then maybe things would've turned out different...better.

But then you never would've met Shantel and she'd probably still be stuck with that bastard and treated like a prize and you'd still be miserable and hate the world.

Guess nothing in life came easy.

"Everything has a price." I sighed to myself as we pulled up to the house; which now didn't seem like a good idea.

"Riley..." There were no words to be said. Clearly someone knew we were returning and left us a message. The world immediately slowed as I took in the sight before me and drew my weapon.

"Stay here." I ordered praying, just this once, that she;d listen and leave me on my own. The front door was broken clean off the hinges and windows were shattered. Decorating the floor was broken glass and splinted wood.

Whoever did this, not like I don't know who, sure was thorough.

Everything had been torn apart. In the kitchen chairs had been thrown through the patio door, table had been flipped over, all the plates and glasses they could find had been destroyed, stove eyes had singe marks on them as if they had left them on for hours and were cloaked in what used to be some of my best Polo, Gucci and Armani shirts. In the living room my $10,000 couches had been ripped apart, TV was nothing more than an empty box of wires, game consoles and DVD players had been smashed to bits. Gritting my teeth I took a deep breath and reluctantly made my way upstairs. I was surprised they didn't go all out and cover the walls in blood or leave dead bodies in my house or leave a message in bullet holes. Stepping into my room an awful sour stench of piss filled my nose and caused my eyes to water.

Think I would've preferred the blood stained walls and dead people.

"RILEY!" Shantel's frantic voice rang throughout the house bouncing from wall to wall and sent a cold chill down my spine. It reminded me of that night she woke me up with that blood churning scream...only this was worse. It wasn't just a dream, this was real life.

Once...just this once she couldn't listen to me.

Thankfully she was in no danger, but whatever she did catch sight of had her mortified.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing before my eyes.

"Shantel...Shantel, you okay?" Riley asked coming up beside me, though I could hardly tell. His voice seemed to linger, but it was also very distant as if he was miles away. I couldn't manage to focus on anything else besides the two lifeless bodies lying before me.

"Jack...Daniels." I whimpered as tears started to spill from my eyes while the image of the bullet hole between Daniel's eyes and one lodged in Jack's chest. Now, normally people wouldn't care so much about a pet that wasn't even theirs, but what got me the most was that this could've been me...or Riley. Plus, I had come to love those dogs in these last few days as if they were my own. They weren't just pets, they were my friends.

That's really sad that two dogs were the only friends I had.

Riley sighed wrapping both arms around my waist and hugged me tight to him. I could only imagine how this was affecting him, but of course he'd keep the tough guy facade up for me.

"Riley...I'm sorry." His chest heaved as he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He released me immediately and headed back towards the stairs. Before he got too far my arms were locked around his neck and I spun him back around to face me, he froze. A single tear fell from his eye and I couldn't tell if it was out of sadness or anger, but I had a feeling this was the most emotion he had shown...well ever. He refused to meet my eyes, but thankfully he didn't push me away. We just stood there, for I don't know how long, while he allowed me to comfort him. A few seconds later he came to and wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him and burying his face in my neck. No words were needed in our moment of silence. He squeezed me tighter as if he was afraid I'd disappear any second and leave him alone. I pulled back just a lil, but he wasn't having it. His grip tightened, restricting me.

"I'm not going anywhere." I reassured kissing him in the only place I could manage to reach. He released me slightly and pulled back just enough for me to see the small, truly genuine, smile playing on his lips.

"I love you." Finally, the three words I had been waiting for since that night we "slept together". Sad to think this would be the last time I'd hear them. With that he gave me a quick peck and sprinted back up the stairs.

"Get a bag and as many clothes as you can carry. Wait for me in the car." He ordered. I did as I was told and ran to my room which was, surprisingly, still in-tact. Luckily, while we were out on my shopping spree I bought a few pretty big duffle bags from Victoria Secret. In my scramble I hadn't even noticed the message left for me on my mirror.

"Uhh...Shantel." Riley called from behind me, perched in my door frame. Swinging the bags over my shoulder I turned and followed his finger's angle to the words, classically, written in what appeared to be my Chanel #65.

'Time for the Jewel to be returned to it's rightful pedestal'

Found it pretty insulting that I was being referred to as an "it", but there was no time to throw a tantrum about it.

"Time to go."

We'd been on the road for...I couldn't even remember how long. Shantel was long gone in the backseat stretched out and cuddled up with the bear I had bought her. I gotta admit she looked kind of adorable; took a few pictures for reminiscence. So, the plan was to drop her off with Huey while I went and took care of this bastard by myself while she was safe from harm, but then it dawned on me that now...neither of them had time for games anymore. That stage was long passed and I was almost 100% sure that they'd kill anyone to get to her and I couldn't do that to them...they were just about the only family I had left. Then, I thought about taking her back home so she'd be able to at least get some type of closure with her mother, but D-Mac most likely knew everything there was to know about her and who's to say how many people he had positioned out there already. There was really no "safe" place to go. I had no choice, but to head out to the next best destination; Chicago. Now, some people in my field of work might call that running, like a bitch, but I thought of it more as stalling time to come up with strategy. Sure, it was about a 12 hour drive, but that was just another sacrifice I was willing to make. It would give us just enough time and just enough distance so we could breath...so I was hoping.

"Shantel...c'mon, baby, wake up." Finally we had arrived and I had checked us in at the most common, plain hotel I could find...in the best suite of course. There was no way he'd be able to find us here. He may know everything about Shantel, but he didn't know me.

"Mmmmhmmmrghm," Shantel groaned turning over. She must've forgot where she was in her sleep because she fell straight to the floor, "What. The. Fuck." She groaned, clearly not that much of a morning person.

"Time for you to get up, Sleeping Beauty." Picking her up bridal style she immediately latched on to my neck and refused to release when I tried to set her down. A lot like something a child might do after being asleep in a car for quite a while and wants to be carried to there bed. Stubborn. People around were starting to stop and stare. Some lonely women were starting to stare with looks of jealousy and awe, women with their significant other's shared the same looks while their boyfriend's glared and hurried them on along. I couldn't just drop her, though the idea had definitely crossed my mind. Closing the car door with my foot seemed I had no other choice but to carry her up to the room, then return for the bags.

"Big baby." I mumbled chuckling at the smirk that adorned her tranquil face. Many eyed us warily and merrily as I walked her across the lobby and no one appeared dangerous or threatening, like I suspected. Fortunately, the elevator went fast and the room was the only one on the floor so not a lot of time was wasted. Laying her down in the king-sized bed I made my leave and locked the door behind me.

Thank god she packed lighter this time.

Only took me about 10 minutes to get all the bags upstairs and get everything settled. By the time I had returned to the bedroom Shantel was out cold. I decided to use this time to go out and take care of some business.

"Shantel…I ain't know which one you wanted so I got Portillo's and some Chipotle." I announced stepping into the Penthouse Suite. Portillo's happened to be her favorite so when I received no immediate answer my adrenaline was sent into frenzy. Doing a quick overlook of the room there were no signs of any type of struggle or break in, but, still, I couldn't allow myself to relax just yet. Just to be safe I checked behind every corner, under every table and in every closet. Nothing.

Maybe my gut was wrong this time…maybe.

Relaxing my shoulders slightly I placed my gun back, safely, in the comfort of my drawers concealed by my 'Trust No One' Biggie and Tupac crewneck.

Where the hell is that girl?

"Shantel, what—". As I made my way into the bedroom nothing could have prepared me for what—or should I say who was lying before my eyes.

"Riley!" Shantel exclaimed clearly shocked at the fact that I caught her in the arms of the Devil himself. And there he was. D-Mac sat there cigar in hand and arm carelessly draped around her shoulder. Shantel's eyes darted back and forth between the two of us as if quickly trying to decide which side to take while waiting for a full blown war to start.

"Say, young blood, bout time you showed up. Didn't want to miss you before we were on our way out…" He said, voice honeyed and low, as he took a quick puff from his Montecristo. I couldn't manage to take my eyes off Shantel's wide blue ones. Words couldn't explain the betrayal, hurt and rage I felt in that moment. She stared back at me deeply as if trying to convey some message, but I was too blinded by rage and the tight clenching in my chest to decipher it. Many memories flashed before me in just that second; the first moment we met, sleeping next to her, our first kiss, first date and last, but most definitely not least the love we made last night. All of it seemed no more than fantasies now and in this very moment I was being woken up by the alarm blaring in my ears and no "snooze" to be found. Tearing my eyes away from her tortuous gaze my killer instincts took over, mixed in with anger, and I ripped my pistol from the back of my pants aiming it right at the source of it all.

"You really think I'm afraid of a lil' pistol? You know how many guns I've had aimed at me, boy?" He snapped narrowing his black eyes at me as he sat up waiting for my next move; challenging me.

"Clearly those bitches weren't ready to pull the trigger." I growled finger ready.

I could do it…right here…right now. All of this could finally be over.

There was nothing standing between the two of us now. No guards, no snipers, no fear. With the last clear of my conscience I started to cock my finger back and finally put his life to an end when someone was thrown at me.

Shantel.

"Riley, please. Don't. Just go, you're making things worse. Just go." Shantel begged forcing me to look into her eyes. Standing directly in my line of fire I couldn't possibly shoot her. Though, secretly, that killer part of me didn't mind. This was a worse betrayal than what my granddad and Cindy had put me through. In that one moment I understood why Huey had avoided emotion all those years. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to deal with all the stress, the ups, the downs, the pain...it was too much.

"So...this is what it is now huh..." I hissed averting my gaze to the floor.

"Riley, I-" She was cut short when D-Mac snaked his arm around her waist and snatched the only salvation I had left away from me. A single tear slipped from her eye as she just stood there and left me alone.

"Then lets ride, baby."

Those words...she didn't mean them. All this time I should have known...it was way too good to be true; like every other good thing that had happened in my life. We had gotten to far for it to be okay. My first instinct was to shoot them both and be on my way without a problem, but...I just couldn't do it. If he was what she truly wanted, I couldn't take that from her no matter how wrong or stupid it was. It was just me now, just like in the beginning. Seeing her in his arms...that was it. Those clouds I had been walking on had finally dispersed beneath me and I was falling down a dark abyss with no parachute, no oxygen, no survival. I locked everything away, like I had been taught, to the point I felt nothing. Nothing at all. If death was to come at least it would come quietly and empty. Since this was how it was meant to be then I never had her in the first place which meant there was nothing to mourn.

"I think it's bout time you take your leave...before things get ugly." I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug smirk off his face, but there was a time and place for everything and that wasn't the right time nor the place. Taking one last look at her, the only thing I had left to live for, I took a mental image. The way her deep blue eyes burned with so much emotion, how her hair no matter how she had it managed to stay perfectly styled and framed her beautiful face just right and cascaded down her seductive hips, her captivating face that was always portrait perfect whether it held that cheek splitting smile I'd come to love or was flooded with tears she was always beautiful and last, but not least, those lips...they always grabbed my attention; the way they puckered to the side when she spoke and washed any trouble I was having down the drain when she smiled and when we kissed...gravity was no longer the sole element holding me down to this rock we call a planet-no. It was her. But, no matter how much I wanted to just wipe every trace of her out of my mind I couldn't. We had so many good times and if I was going to finish this...I had to remember those. My memories were the only thing I had left to keep me going or else I should just put a bullet in my head and get it over with. But, I wasn't about to give either of them that satisfaction.

"See you both in hell." That being my last thought I left up out of there as quick as I could and lost no time. Soon as I got in the car I let go. Everything I had been holding in that whole time I let out. All the rage, the pain, the disloyalty, the angst and torment...it all came bursting out. There was nothing left to do...but go. I headed down the nearest street and got on the first road leading to nowhere. My vision was blurred, breathing was frantic and my heart was being strangled from the lack of oxygen. I had always been so controlled, so guarded, but I had never braced myself for anything like this. The road was pitch black, not a street light in sight and there wasn't a sound to be heard. As if on cue rain came plunging from the sky blinding me completely. I never saw the blaring lights barreling towards me from the side. Last thing to be heard was metal colliding with metal and then...nothing.

Wooooaaaahhhhhhh! What a turn that took huh...well before you guys kill me please, just hold on I promise it's all apart of the plan *psychotic laugh inserted here*. Sorry if it seems a little rushed, but you have no idea how excited I am for this sequel! And I tried to portray Riley's emotions best as I could, but as you all know I'm not very good with writing guys, but I did my best. Well, I'm completely wiped out from writing this soo I won't bore you with more unimportant words. But, please review so this is my comeback and I need AAAAALLLLL the feedback you guys can give me. Remember reviews are what keep me writing...wouldn't want this story to be cut short would you? (Take that how you want). Question time!

-Is this the end of our Riley 'Escobar' Freeman?

-Has Jewel been playing him the whole time?

-Who hit Riley?

-Where is Cindy in all this?

-Will there ever be a happy ending for these two?

-WHY DID PAUL WALKER HAVE TO DIE?! *sob* *sob*

Song Featured in this Chapter

-Part II (On The Run) by Jay-Z featuring QUEEN BEY 3

Until next time,

~xXBrokenThoughtsXx