Page 114 of Koroleva

There was no one visible in the lobby. The elevator was operational, but we didn't trust it. Someone could shoot the cables and send us plummeting. It was time for some exercise.

Romeo nodded towards the stairs.

Still, we left two of ours posted in front of the elevator. Just in case they decided to use it.

We headed for the central stairs while the rest of our men took the service ones. My heart was racing. I couldn't lose Andrey, much as he had screwed up, I trusted him. I valued him. As soon as we reached the stairs, we were greeted by a gunshot that lodged in one of Romeo's men's leg at thigh level. He threw himself to the side and responded by blowing the brains out of his attacker, which scattered on the floor. My man took off his tie to make a tourniquet.

"We can't waste more time," I complained, eager to go up first. Romeo stopped me.

"Wait."

He called one of the boys who was at the elevator to help the

wounded and asked the other to go up with us.

The two men who were still in one piece would lead the group as a vanguard.

We began climbing the stairs, pointing in all directions. My blood flowed altered with a thirst for vengeance.

The bullets whistled. Those damn cowards were shooting at us from the upper floors hoping to hit their mark. The projectiles threatened us by embedding in the walls, bouncing off the wrought iron railing to end up forgotten on the floor.

"Stay behind me," Romeo muttered.

"Since when did I miss something and you became a fucking bulletproof vest?" I pushed on, climbing more steps.

"I don't want to carry your death on my conscience. Yuri's was enough. Think of it as if by protecting you, I'm doing myself a favor."

"I doubt that..." His face sought mine.

"You would have already killed me if you thought I was guilty. You know as well as I do that I'm not lying, even though it's hard for you to admit it."

I pursed my lips and we continued climbing. I had that damn sensation pushing in my chest again. Why? What had changed that now I saw my husband through a "maybe you were wrong," instead of a "it's definitely him"? My head was going to explode and I would have a heart attack because of him. I needed to calm down and focus my emotions. That Capulet couldn't disarm me. I fixed my gaze on his broad back and kept moving forward.

"How much further?" Romeo questioned.

"According to this, a couple of floors," I commented, glancing at the phone I safeguarded in my left hand.

Something rolled down the stairs, a sort of metallic cylinder that ended up at Romeo's feet.

"What the hell?" he inquired, not finishing the sentence as he lunged for the object. In a fraction of a second, he threw it with all his might down the stairwell, shouting, "get down!"

We all ducked, tasting the end in the pits of our stomachs, he threw himself thoughtlessly over my body and the detonation shook the building. I thought we wouldn't make it out. My ears rang sharply.

"Damn Chinese!"

"Govnó!" Under the weight of the male body, I touched my fingers to the tragus of my ears to press on them. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish.

"Are you okay?" I could hear amid that annoying sound. It was my husband again concerned for my well-being.

"Yes, and you?" I replied, noticing the loss of his weight on my muscles. One of the steps dug into me, but that mattered little.

"I'm whole, which is a lot." He stood up and offered me a hand to help me up. "Let's move before they shoot us or we blow up."

Romeo gave the order to our men.

We knew we were close when the rain of lead made parts of the wall jump. A projectile hit one of my men in the forearm. Romeo made a dangerous dodge over the railing that caught the Oriental holding a machine gun that had just jammed by surprise.

The response was as immediate as it was lethal. The Cheng man took a bullet to the chest that made him sway, bring his hand to the impact spot in a sad attempt to save his life, and fall through the same gap where he had thrown the explosive.

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