Page 80 of Drawn Blue Lines

I couldn’t leave them.

I struggled, beating my fists against his back, but the harder I hit, the tighter his grip became. “Let me go!”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

He laughed. “Yeah, right.”

I sighed. “Have it your way.”

I had long legs. They came in handy during strenuous physical activities like running, rock climbing or kicking a man in the balls while hanging upside down.

Plus, they looked great in heels.

Bracing my hands on his back and my knee against his stomach, I swung my foot as hard as I could and prayed. His muffled grunt was my only warning before we both hit the floor. Luckily, my hands took the brunt of my fall, and I quickly got to my feet, leaving him groaning on his knees.

Brody and Cristiano stood back to back, guns firing when I ran toward them. Cristiano saw me a fraction of a moment too late. I pulled my fist back and swung, his head snapping back with the force of my momentum.

Damn, that hurt.

He grabbed his chin, his eyes a little unfocused. “What the fuck?”

“Give me my gun.” I half expected him to argue, but to my surprise he dug inside his jacket and dropped it my waiting hand. “If you ever pull that shit again, I’ll shoot your dick off and shove it up your ass.”

He glanced at Brody. “Is she like this all the time?”

“Yep.” Brody shrugged, and his face contorted in pain. That was when I noticed the sheen of sweat coating his forehead and the rip in the arm of his shirt.

“What’s wrong with you?” I didn’t wait for an answer. My hands were on him despite multiple attempts to push me away. I prodded at the hole, my fingers coating in warm, sticky wetness. “Dios mío, you’re bleeding!”

He’d been shot, and I wasn’t here to prevent it.

Brody gently held my wrist. “Adriana, stop. A bullet grazed my arm. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing!” I yelled, a foreign panic tearing through me. “You could’ve been killed! Do you think about anybody but yourself?” Gasping for air, I braced my hands on my thighs and looked up to see both men staring at me like they’d encountered an untamed animal in the wild.

Shit.

Avoiding their eyes, I stood and cleared my throat. “Status.”

Cristiano nodded. “They were definitely Muñoz. Five of them. Two at the entrance, one at the bar, and two at the east and west side of the dance floor. Three confirmed dead, one ran like a little bitch. I’ve got men on him now.”

“And the fifth?”

The two men exchanged glances. “That’s why we’re still shooting.”

“But you’re an associate. Why would they turn on you like this?”

He steadied his eyes on the entrance, then, drawing in a deep breath, he exhaled hard and leveled a hard stare at me. “I told you, Mari. Information comes with a price.”

Deep down, I already knew it, but it still cut deep to hear the words. “They came for me and sacrificed you.” For the first time, I really saw what I caused by coming here. The blood, the death, the bodies. The dozens of lives lost because of a last name that was never even mine to start with. “All these people…” I swallowed, glancing up at Brody, guilt washing over me in a sickening red wave. “We have to go.”

“Adriana,” he said, his tone cautious. “If they found us here, they can find us anywhere. We can’t go back to the stash house. That’ll be the first place they look.”

“I have a place you can go to.” We both turned toward Cristiano, still rubbing his now swollen jaw. “No one knows about it, not even my own men.” He shot me a pointed look. “You know the code.”

Brody stiffened beside me, and I blew out a breath. I knew the place Cristiano referred to, and he was right. I did know the code. I knew it because I chose it, and the thought of being there with Brody sent my heart free falling into my stomach.

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