Page 67 of Spice and Revenge

“Well, your silly love story is about to end,” Pedro’s voice brings me back from my raging thoughts. “Since Laura betrayed me by refusing to kill you, my men are already tracking her, awaiting my command to end her life...”

The dagger in my pocket feels heavier, and I'm tempted to slit his throat this instant. But the timing isn't right yet. I have to wait, and wait, and…

Something clatters outside the door. Pedro's head whips toward the noise and he snaps his fingers, signaling one of the four men surrounding us to investigate.

That's when I make my move.

I grab Pedro's gun, plunging my dagger into his shoulder. I don’t have time to enjoy his howl of pain, though. I jump the man nearest to me, stabbing him in the throat before spinning around with his body in front of mine as a makeshift shield.A bullet lodges into his chest a second later. I retrieve the gun from the dead guy’s shoulder holster and shoot the other men in the room.

“I didn't see anyone, boss...”

The words die on the man's lips as I shoot him between the eyes.

Just then, I hear more gunshots outside, indicating the arrival of my reinforcements.

“Talking too much really does get one killed,” I chuckle deeply. “You made a mistake underestimating me, Pedro.”

I look at the man in question as he presses a hand frantically to his bleeding shoulder.

“Go ahead and kill me. You’ve won already,” he spits out, gaze furious.

I shake my head, chuckling, “I don’t take instructions from you, Pedro, I’m not one of your minions. I’m not going to kill you. Your death belongs to someone else.”

With that, I holster my gun and walk away, ignoring his raging tirade behind me. Pedro isn’t walking out of here alive, that much I know. And if by some miracle he does, he had best believe that I will haunt him to the ends of the earth.

The only thing left for me now, is to finish what Lorena started.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lorena

I make my way towards Uncle Pedro as soon as I’m sure Leo is gone. I walk towards him in a trance-like state. For the longest time, Uncle Pedro has been the big, malevolent, powerful shadow that I could never escape, but now, with him bleeding out on the ground with no soldiers behind him, I see him for the cowardly cockroach he actually is.

His head snaps up at the sound of my footsteps. “Laura, you’re here,” he says hopefully. “Help me up, child. We must leave now.”

“There is no we,” I say coldly, my fingers tightening around the gun in my hand.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We aren’t safe here. Do you think that monster will spare you when he comes back to finish me off?”

“He’s not going to finish you off. I won’t let him.”

He smiles at me gratefully, a smile I had once considered fatherly and kind.

“You’re loyal, and you’ll be rewa—”

I don’t let him finish sprouting off more of his lies. “I won’t let him finish you off, because I’ll do it myself.” I cock the gun.

His eyes go wide with terror. “What has that man filled your head with? They are all lies! You mustn’t believe anything he’s said.”

“And what about what you’ve said? Should I believe that?”

“Of course, child. I’d never lie to you.”

“I’m not yourchild,” I say, focusing the gun on the space between his eyes. “I heard everything. Every single thing you said to Leo.”

He makes to stand up, and I shoot him in the right knee, causing him to buckle down back to the ground with an agonized wail. I ignore his pleas.

“The next one will go in your other knee if you try to move again.”

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