Page 42 of Contracted

I raced around the tables, avoiding big trolleys, crates and other paraphernalia as my heart pumped furiously, the adrenaline pouring through me ensuring I no longer felt the pain of where I’d been hit.

I thrust open the back door, then slammed it shut behind me even as I stood for a second or two to get my bearings. An empty, overgrown yard riddled with weeds and patches of shale stood between me and a sagging ten foot chain-link fence.

Outside of the fence was yet another overgrown yard cut in half by a drainage ditch, which appeared to gouge the ground for miles either side. Behind it an aged redbrick warehouse with patches of moss growing up its walls looked as though it had been a part of the landscape since time began.

Pushing away from the warehouse door, I sprinted in the direction I thought the helicopter had gone...until one of my heels dug into some soft shale, twisting my ankle sharply. I cursed under my breath, slowing to a hobbling trot at the explosion of pain.

I was almost to the fence when the warehouse door slammed open. I looked behind me, close to sobbing at seeing the two soldiers who’d already killed one of the women who worked for their don.

The nearest one raised his gun just as the Irish don stumbled outside with more soldiers behind him. “Don’t shoot you fecking imbecile,” he shouted. “I need her alive.”

I could see in his eyes he was going to make me pay for what I’d done. He’d keep me alive while killing me slowly.

I set off again, ignoring the stabbing pain in my ankle when I put weight on it. If I could just get over the fence before the soldiers caught up to me I might have a chance.

I’d reached the fence when movement outside of it caught my eyes. A sob finally broke free at the vision of Serafino, his brothers and Valentino as they climbed out of the ditch, staying on their bellies with their guns raised.

I clasped the chain links, just as Serafino fired off some shots. A soldier grunted behind me and dropped to the ground, followed by another.

A handful of seconds passed in ear-splitting silence, then...chaos.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Serafino

I’d never been so bloody terrified in all my life. The woman I adored was struggling to climb the chain-link fence in her heeled ankle boots, her injury making it ten times more difficult. That her face was bruised and swollen made my blood boil all over again.

But I had to stay cool, calm and collected as I picked off enemy soldiers one-by-one, my brothers and Valentino shooting beside me while bullets whizzed past our heads and kicked up clods of dirt and grass around us.

The ditch kept our bodies protected; it was quite literally a lifesaver.

That the Irish don, Connor, didn’t give a fuck about his soldiers was obvious. He’d surrounded himself with them, their taller mass protecting him as they fired random shots our way while they chased down Delilah. My hands shook. If I wasn’t careful I’d shoot her instead. But if the don got to her there would be no going back.

I’d lose her for good.

I couldn’t think about what might have happened if Delilah hadn’t voiced her fears about Jarrod and I hadn’t acted on them. Not only had I had him investigated, I’d had Sally keep an eye on both Jarrod and Delilah at the casino. She’d informed me the moment Delilah had stepped out of the elevator and into a waiting car with Jarrod.

I’d immediately rung Delilah again. She’d finally answered before her cell had dropped from her hands and silence had met my ear. I’d known then how much I truly cared about her.

A clump of grass splattered into pieces not even three inches from my face. I fired off three more shots before a soldier grabbed Delilah’s feet and dragged her off the fence.

“Don’t shoot!” I bellowed at my brothers and Valentino, though I continued to watch through my firearm’s sight as the Irish don jerked her to his front, his gun pointed at her head.

“If even one more shot gets fired, she’s dead,” he called out.

My fingers turned cold and numb, my stomach rolling as I shouted, “Let her go and there will be no more shooting.”

The Irish don laughed. “What a load of bollocks. Do I look stupid to you?”

My eyes narrowed. Did he really want me to answer that?

He dug the muzzle of his gun harder into the side of her temple, and my finger automatically tightened on the trigger. His laugh turned into a sneer. “Your enforcer killed my brother.”

“You hated Sean,” I called out. “Seems like Valentino did you a favor.”

“Sean was still my don.”

I held my aim steady, though my arm was beginning to burn. “And now you’re the don. Congratulations.”

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