Page 32 of Filthy Liar

King doesn’t respond, but Guts has something to say. “Vixen is ours. Clink is right. Just because she showed up at their place doesn’t mean they have the right to keep her. She’s a fucking person.”

Atomic inhales a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then nods his head and lets it out slowly. His decision is made, although I have no clue what it could be. That is, until he speaks.

“We go in and shoot first. However,” he says, “we need to keep those men outside alive. They are probably the only ones aside from Blur who have any fucking information. We need to know why they took Vixen and kept her. We need to know where she is if she’s not in there.”

I grip the handle of my gun even tighter. I am fucking ready to end this shit and end it now. But Atomic isn’t ready for us to go in yet. He has more instructions. I am done and want this over with. Completely selfishly, I want to get back to my woman.

“King, Clink, and I are together, and we go to the front. The rest of you, I want you to go to the back and make your way inside. Kill swiftly.”

And that is that.

I know why Atomic is keeping me with him. He wants to make sure I don’t kill the wrong people. He wants to ensure I don’t go rogue. I don’t blame him. I’m on fucking edge with this and ready to blow the whole goddamn place to pieces.

“Let’s do this. In and out. Don’t make a big scene. Don’t draw a lot of attention to yourself. This may be in the middle of nowhere, but at the same time, we have zero clue who they have watching and what security they have in place. In and out.”

The men who have been told to go around the back begin to make their way as we move toward the front, where the three men are still speaking. I can hear their voices as we approach, but we’re too far away to make out what they’re saying.

I can tell the conversation is intense, though. Their body language doesn’t lie. As soon as they hear our footsteps, they stop talking. Their heads lift, their attention finds us, and their eyes widen.

One of them opens his mouth, but Atomic lifts his gun and shakes his head once. “No talking,” he grinds out.

“Where the fuck is Vixen?” I ask.

Their eyes shift between us, and the one standing in the middle takes a step forward. He clears his throat, dipping his chin slightly before he speaks. When he does, his voice comes out softer than I anticipate it, more of a whisper than anything else.

“It wasn’t us,” he murmurs. “But this was just a game. And you are in the wrong fucking place. You should go back home.”

I open my mouth to ask him what the fuck he means when the three of them charge forward, and pain slides through my side as hot heat slices through my body, my side. My knees buckle immediately, and my gun falls out of my hand and bounces on the ground.

Fuck me, I’ve been stabbed.

Sounds of gunshots ring out in the background, but they don’t matter. The only thing that matters right now is the three men who are now on the ground in front of us. I don’t know why we didn’t expect this.

We walked into this far too fucking cockily.

There’s no blame on anyone, either. Except for maybe myself. I blame my fucking self for this shit. I felt like we had the upper hand and didn’t anticipate this.

I should have.

If prison taught me something, it was to always be prepared. Especially for an attack. And I got fucking lazy. Complacent. But most importantly, I got fucking rushed and impatient. I wanted to go home to see my woman. Like a goddamn teenager, I was thinking with my dick, and now I’m going to pay for it with my life.

I close my eyes, and the world around me spins, then goes black.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

CLINK

Moaning,I move my head from side to side. I’m writhing in pain and know I should be tougher, but I can’t manage it. This shit fucking hurts. There are some other moans of pain in the background. Then I hear a woman’s voice.

“Shh, you’re going to be okay,” she coos.

I don’t recognize the voice, but it’s calming. So calming that my body relaxes, and I fall back asleep, or pass out, I’m not sure which. I’m not sure how long I stay asleep, comatose, whatever it is I am, but when my eyes flutter open, a bright laugh assaults me.

Then I hear the beeping, smell the scent of ammonia, and I know exactly where I am.

Fuck.

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