Page 44 of Prodigal

Another thing teenage girls were good at, calling bullshit. He didn’t give her any credit though, didn’t tell her she might be right. Hehadfelt like a coward as he’d left Gideon’s place. But leaving had been the right thing to do. Despite how he might feel about Gideon, André didn’t belong in that world. He didn’t know that he wanted to be in it. Seeing his father unconscious in that hospital bed, hooked up to machines helping to keep him alive?That shit was scary, and it painted a picture of what life could be like. Gideon hated Ennis. He wanted him dead. And he’d made no secret of his intent to use André to achieve his agenda against Ennis.

Why should André choose to stay with him?

“It was the right thing,” he said out loud.

Jules sighed and put her fork down, rolling away from the table. “I’m going back to my room.”

“You haven’t finished eating.”

“I’m not hungry. You can?—”

A loud bang drowned out her words. André jumped to his feet just as two men raced into the room, both of them carrying guns.

Jules screamed.

André grabbed the knife he’d just been using to cut his steak and rushed to stand in front of Jules, hiding her with his body as he brandished the weapon. “Who are?—”

“We need to leave,” one of the men said sharply. “Mister Winters wants you back at the penthouse.”

André blinked. What the fuck? His heart was about to leap out of his fucking chest and this was all Gideon?

“What’s happening?” Jules grabbed his hand. “André?”

He squeezed her hand in reassurance as he addressed the strangers. “Listen, I don’t know?—”

“Sir, we don’t have time for this.” The second one glanced over his shoulder, then back to André. “There’s been a credible threat made on your life. We need to take you and your sister to safety.”

Was this Gideon trying to force them to return to him? “We’re not leaving.” He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Jules and I are safe here. I don’t know why Gideon thinks our lives are in danger, but I can assure you, they’re not.”

The second guy put his wrist up to his mouth and spoke into what was clearly a mic. “He’s refusing to come, sir.” He listened, then nodded. “Got it.” Then he turned to André. “You have five minutes to pack whatever you two might need. When that time is up, we’ll be carrying you two out. By force if necessary.”

“You can’t fucking?—”

Something wet splashed his face. Jules’s scream pierced his ears and André blinked in time to watch the second guy drop to the floor, half his head missing. The first guy spun, shooting at a target André couldn’t see. Then he dropped too.

André ducked, grabbing a screaming Jules just as two masked men appeared, both carrying what looked like AK-47s.

Oh god. Oh god. No.André froze. The scent of blood filled his nostrils and Jules’s never-ending screams blasted his ears. He could barely stand so he fell to his knees, wrapping both arms around Jules as the masked men casually stepped over the two dead bodies and approached.

“Please.”

“Shut the fuck up.” One of them pointed a gun at Jules, instantly silencing her screams, and André’s heart stopped.

“P-please. Don’t?—”

“This all depends on you,” the one with the gun on Jules said. His voice was low, with an accent André couldn’t place.

“What-what do you want?” He didn’t know how he managed to even speak coherently, but protecting Jules was the goal. Whatever they wanted he would give, even if it was his own life. His sister shook like a leaf in his arms, her helpless whimpers hitting him like daggers to the chest.

“You’re coming with us,” the second masked man said. He grabbed André by the arm and yanked him to his feet. “Someone wants a word with you.”

“Dré!” Jules reached for him.

The one holding her at gunpoint pressed the gun to her temple.

“No!” André held out both hands, shaking, stammering. “Please. I’ll go with you. Whatever you want, just don’t hurt her. Please.Please.” Tears streamed down Jules’s face, and he took a step toward her, to comfort her.

A sharp blow to the back of the head sent him to the floor.

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