Page 79 of Ours to Keep

“Everyone just needs to calm down,” Mason says, his voice low.

His words, however, do nothing to calm the situation as it becomes abundantly clear. It’s only getting more and more out of hand as seconds pass.

“They’re the ones I work for. I’m just the middleman.” Richard’s voice comes through the comms, which means he must be close to one of my guys.

“You lying cunt,” River grits out.

I pace outside the cabin, keeping my gun raised. Briefly, I even consider trying to get Mia off the yacht without detection, but not knowing if we’re surrounded, I can’t risk it. I’m hoping that whatever drug she’s been given is some kind of sedative meant to just keep her compliant. But seeing the bruising, it’s clear that any pretence and patience Richard had for his daughter has long since passed.

“River, Elliot, can you talk? Tell me what’s going on?” I ask, desperation seeping into my voice.

But it’s Louis’s voice that comes back through the comms.

“I made contact with Gabe. He counted five assailants entering the marina, all carrying weapons.”

Fuck!

“Do you have a visual?”

If he replies, I don’t hear it over the sudden echo of shots being fired amidst shouts and returned gunfire, shattering of glass and the breaking sounds of what I’d imagine being furniture.And then there’s a low hiss followed by buzzing.

“River? Elliot?”

Nothing.

“Mason?”

Just static.

I pull out the earpiece and throw it at the wall.

A large body rounds the corner, and I raise my gun, already cocked and ready to go.

My heart rushes in my ears, and I immediately fall into fight mode.

But before I even have a chance to pull the trigger, the guy before me freezes. His lips part, a gurgled sound escaping his mouth as he stutters for breath and then drops to his knees and looks down at his chest now pooling with blood. And then his body tilts to the side and he drops down face first.

Standing behind him is Louis, silencer raised. He kneels beside the body and retrieves the man’s gun, then checks for a pulse. Satisfied, he stands to his full height, and only then do I breathe.

I look past him as if I can see what’s happening above deck and clench my fist. My gaze returns to the cabin door. All hell is breaking out up there, and I’m down here.

If it were any of the others here, I know they’d stay to protect Mia, for Lily. As much as it goes against every fibre of my being not being up there, standing beside the men I consider my brothers, I can’t leave Mia here and vulnerable.

“Now I’ve evened the odds, I’m going up before someone else comes down here looking again,” Louis says, disappearing around the corner as quickly as he arrived.

There seems to be a pause from the commotion above, thenoise dissipating, but then it comes back full force with a thunderous roar—the unmistakable sound of a machine gun.

A deathly silence follows right before I hear shouting and then Mason’s voice ringing out above me.

“Fuck, we have a man down. Elliot’s been shot!”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

LILY

After theamazingkiss we shared, I felt Tommy pulling away almost instantly. He became even more withdrawn as we sat silently and ate our pancakes.

I offered to clean the kitchen, but he told me to go and sit and enjoy the rest of my wine. I got the impression, from his body language, he needed a moment. Grabbing the iPad and glass of wine, I went upstairs to my room.

---