Page 51 of Koroleva

One night, when we were both too far gone and alone, he kissed me.

I was so surprised that, initially, I did nothing, until his

tongue tried to move beyond a mere peck on the lips.

I pulled away as if I had been doused with a bucket of ice water and confronted him about what he had just done. He laughed, finishing his drink, and said he was just pulling my leg, wanting to see how I'd react. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because I liked Yuri too much.

I had seen him sleep with women in front of me. We had a couple of hookers on all fours, making out while we took them from behind, our eyes on each other's pleasure.

Yet, I always had the feeling that if I had wanted more, he wouldn’t have minded turning our friendship into something else.

A bullet whistled past my ear, shattering my thoughts.

I could say it was unexpected, but that wouldn't be true; from the moment I stepped inside the drying shed, I knew something wasn't right.

The first bullet was followed by a deluge of lead that fell like a summer storm. So many bullets could only mean one thing. They were shooting at us with machine guns.

I pulled my friend to run under the cloud of impacts. I managed to reach one of the machines and get us underneath.

I felt the brush of ammunition against my skin. One of those bastards tore a bit of flesh from my arm. Luckily, nothing serious.

My men were not far away. They were stationed a couple of blocks away in case things went south. I pressed the button on the watch I wore for emergencies and waited for them to come running.

"Are you okay?" I asked, drawing my gun from its underarm holster. I barely glanced at Yuri, my pupils racing, trying to figure out where those bastards were.

"Co... Could be better," I turned my head and saw a red stain blossoming on his shirt.

"Shit! You've been hit!" He offered me a rueful smile.

"So have you," he remarked, glancing at my left arm. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, I..." He coughed.

"Don't talk, I'm going to get you out of this." I unbuttoned his shirt a bit to assess the wound. It didn't look good; it had hit his chest and was bleeding too much.

"Damn it! I'm going to shove the barrel up Cheng's ass and turn him into spring rolls that I'll then offer to his whores." Yuri smiled as I placed my hand on his wound to control the bleeding. I pressed the button on my watch again to signal that it was an emergency.

"I'm screwed, R," he whispered weakly.

"Don't say that," I protested.

The barrage of bullets continued to fly over our heads, and footsteps could be heard running up and down above us.

"If you stay here, you're dead," he said, grabbing my chest to make me face him. I noticed a movement above us that made me ignore him.

I raised the semi-automatic and fired. One of Cheng's men fell lifelessly to the ground. My shot had pierced his jugular.

"One less," I muttered.

"Chinese are like cockroaches; kill one and a hundred come out. We're not going to get rid of them that easily."

"Thanks for the encouragement."

"Listen, you have to go after that bastard Cheng, you have to go after him to make them stop."

"I'm not leaving you here." My friend pulled out his gun.

"I'm not alone, I can defend myself, and you know your men are about to arrive. You have to go after him; you can't waste time with me." I clenched my eyes.

"I've already told you I'm not leaving you," I repeated.

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