Page 73 of Savage Rule

“Where are they now?” His tone is controlled, but something about it tells me he’s been given disastrous news. “Keep them there as long as you can.”

“Who was that?” Scarlet asks.

Instead of replying to her, he rams into me. Scarlet jumps off the couch, barely missing getting kicked in the head as Gideon and I struggle.

“The fuck!” I yell, punching him on the side. He manages to get a left hook in before I fling him off.

I’m instantly up, ready for him this time. When he lunges for me again, Scarlet gets between us. “Stop it! What the fuck is the matter with you?”

“They followed him!” He points at me.

“Who?”

“Luca’s men. They’re in the building. I don’t know how long my team can keep them from the penthouse.”

“Fuck!” I curse.

“How?” Scarlet asks. “No one was behind us.”

“A tracer.” Gideon narrows his stare on me.

“You patted me down. You made me take my fucking shoes off!” I remind him.

“I missed some—” Tugging the Glock he took from me out of his holster, he inspects it. There, beneath the barrel, black and almost imperceptible, is a tracer.

Scarlet snatches it from him and shows it to me. “Did you know about this?”

“What? No. Luca gave me the gun before he…” I trail off, remembering, feeling stupid as fuck for wanting to trust him even after what he did. “He was never going against Carina. It was their plan.”

“You fucking idiot!” Gideon screams. “You led him right to us.”

Shoving Scarlet aside, he throws himself on me again. We go down hard, fists pounding. If he’s doing damage, I don’t notice. I’m too focused on knocking him out.

Everything is tuned out, nothing but white noise in a tunnel with a single sight. Gideon’s face.

Somehow, we manage to stand as we fight. Small hands grab at me, but I don’t pay attention, easily pushing past anything in my way. Somewhere in the distance I can hear screams, but again, it’s too far away and unimportant. The only thing that matters is killing Gideon.

“Stop!” I hear the begging voice say. “Please.”

For a fleeting moment, I do pause. But before I can turn my ear toward the sound, I’m pummeled within an inch of conscienceless.

“Please.”

Blood spurts from Gideon’s mouth after I elbow him in the jaw. Without missing a beat, Gideon socks me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I bend over and am hit in the headrepeatedly before going down. But I don’t stay down for long, using the momentum of the fall to ram into Gideon.

We’re well matched, and this battle is going to last a long while. And I’m fucking ready for it. Ready to fight to the death.

“Stop. Stop. Stop!” It’s the desperation in the tone that makes me look, but it’s the horror of what I see that has me reacting.

Scarlet is standing several feet from us, one of her eyes and her lips swollen, her hair a mess as if she tried to come between us. Shedidtry and we were too far gone to realize it was her.

But that isn’t what has my blood running cold. It’s the slashes covering her arms, and the knife in her hand as she continues to slice as she screams, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”

“Scarlet!” Gideon snatches the knife from her hand.

I’m right there with him, wrapping my arms around her and lifting her to her feet to keep her from flailing. “I’m here. I’m here.”

Blood pours from her wounds, instantly soaking my clothes, making me want to scream with rage because we allowed this to happen.

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