Stealing Promises by Brina Courtney Read Free Book Online

clicked on the pavement as she tried to stay vigilant. She hadn’t had too much to drink, but it was enough that her senses felt impaired. She didn’t realize she was being followed until she got closer to her vehicle.
    A man in a gray hoodie started walking towards her. She quickly tried to get her keys out of her bag but she wasn’t fast enough.
    “ Give me your purse,” he yelled at her, now only a few feet away.
    She denied him, moving back next to the car. He came close and she could feel the cold metal on back of her bare legs. “The purse, now!”
    “ Help!” She screamed praying someone would hear her. She looked around, but all the people who left the club at the same time as her had disappeared, she was completely alone.
    He made a grab for the bag but at the moment Levi strode over to the pair with such confidence that she was sure he would scare the other man away. Oddly, the man continued to verbally assault Victoria.
    “Just give me the purse you little bitch,” the man seethed.
    “ No, now get away,” Victoria moaned, one hand clutching on her Louis Vuitton bag.
    Levi stepped closer. “I don’t think she’ll be doing that. Now get away from my girlfriend.”
    Levi stepped between Victoria and the man just before Victoria saw the man reach in his pocket.
    “Get away from us!” Levi yelled at the man while he put his hands out, shielding Victoria from harm.
    The man pulled his hand from his pocket and said nothing, just pulled the trigger. The shot went off before Victoria had ever seen the gun. Victoria’s initial reaction was to drop to the ground, but instead she was holding Levi up. She then began lowering them both slowly, as her sensations came back to her. Her hearing was off. Everything sounded fuzzy and far away. She screamed knowing something was very wrong. The man in the gray sweatshirt was sprinting away in the other direction.  He hadn’t gotten away with her purse, but he had taken something so much more precious to her.
    Victoria held Levi in her arms as the blood seeped out of his body and covered the white pavement. He had a severe wound to the stomach. She kept screaming, “HELP! Somebody please help us!” After what felt like minutes had passed, a person stopped long enough to pull out their cell phone and call 911. An older woman with a small dog tried to ask her some questions about who she was and what did she know about Levi getting hurt, but Victoria couldn't answer her. A rusty scent filled her nostrils and she tried to hold down the vomit. She needed to stay strong, for Levi. She was all that he had to hold onto now.
    “ Levi,” she said, “you promise me something right now. You promise me that you won't leave me.”
    Levi smiled weakly and put his hand over his wound. He pulled his other hand up and brought her hand onto his chest.
    “I promise to love you,” he gurgled out. But it sounded like something was stuck in his throat. Victoria knew what it was; it was his blood. A single trickle of the dark substance fell from the side of his mouth onto Victoria’s arm. She didn’t know much about gunshot wounds, but she knew that blood coming from someone’s mouth was a terrible sign. A fatal sign.
    As she held him she cried, her salty tears covering Levi’s face and wound. Her hand was now covered in his own red fluid, and she knew he had lost a lot of blood.
    “I won’t let you go,” she said. “I can’t, you’re supposed to stay here with me. Levi, stay here with me.”
    He lifted his hand from hers to touch her face. She could see him wince as he reached up to touch her. “I can’t stay, you know I can’t. I was meant to protect you. I did my job. You have to do the rest on your own.” She could hear his whispers becoming raspier. She knew she was losing time.
    “ Where is the ambulance?” she yelled. Several people were now around her, including a few people she had seen inside the club. A woman who sounded far away said she had called and