Page 40 of Coveting Catherine

“You didn't have to rough up my wife. I think you owe me a million for each broken limb, and you got her trussed up under a pile of dead men. What's a couple mil to you? Listen, I know you're angry, but you need to have your man step away from the pile with the cigarette. He might drop it if the sun gets in his eyes, and we'll have nothing to bargain with. Let me place the call,” Ash tried to persuade Rahimi. “Yeah, I’d take two men to get her. She's a pistol.”

Leo marked off two men in the living room. Shadow prepared for the two men headed in his direction. “Saint, take out the man on the west.”

“I'm here, Boss,” Taco reported. “Took care of a couple wood elves.”

“Move in,” Leo ordered. The men advanced on the house. Shots echoed from upstairs as the team burst in from all directions. Saint shot the man to the west as Ash indicated.

Leo and Taco handled the other men. Everything came to a stop as Rahimi grabbed Ash by the throat and held a gun to his head. “You'll lower your weapons and call out for your man to come inside. Or say goodbye to this one.” Rahimi placed his body behind Ash's and moved further away from the window. Ash’s gaze darted around the room.

Making a show of using a different com than the one hidden in his ear, Leo made the command. “Saint, put down your weapon. Report inside.”

Rahimi’s man moved toward the door waiting for Saint to appear and patted him down for more weapons. Saint remained relaxed as he carefully scanned the room.

Leo focused on Catherine. Her pain-filled eyes held his as she struggled against the leather belt and rope used to tie her to the two dead men. He lowered his weapon and kicked it toward Rahimi. He packed another underneath his jacket and his knife remained within reach.

“Where’s the woman?” Rahimi questioned. It dawned on him the two men sent upstairs never returned. He called out for his men and yanked on Ash angrily as he waited. Rahimi realized he stood in the room with four Navy SEALS and only one of his men. “Hold your gun on the woman,” he ordered his man.

The idiot walked closer toward Catherine with a cigarette hanging between his lips. The room smelled of fumes from the gasoline spread everywhere.

Ash met the eyes of each team member until his gaze landed on Leo's.

“I’m a dead man either way. Save her.” Ash pushed back against Rahimi, knocking him off balance. His body launched in the air toward the man holding a gun on Catherine. A shot pierced the air. The suspect fell and the cigarette rolled to the edge of the fumes. The room ignited in flames.

Taco pulled his weapon and shot Rahimi in the arm, causing him to drop his gun. Saint tackled him. Leo rushed toward Catherine as Taco dragged Rahimi out of the room. Saint grabbed Ash and headed toward the door. Shadow took off for the kitchen and a minute later, he threw wet towels in Leo’s direction. Taco rushed to beat the fire off Leo as he tried to pull Catherine out of harm’s way.

Catherine screamed in agony at the belt wound tightly to her ankles. The bastards dragged her down the stairs holding the belt. Her head and shoulders hurt, and her ankle throbbed. Fear ran through her body and thrummed through her heart as Ash walked in.

She prayed Kassie and Melody made it out and the team stashed them someplace safe. Catherine made her peace with dying. The fumes of the gasoline made her eyes and nose burn. The dead men they attached her to seemed to pull her to the same fate they suffered. She didn't want to burn to death.. Her body reacted sluggishly as if it prepared itself to die. The strength Catherine tried to muster slipped from her body.

The window exploded. Glass flew, and she felt tiny shards sting her face and land in her hair as one of the men slumped to the floor. Leo and Taco fought the other men. She knew SEALS were deadly but never witnessed them in fighting mode. The focus and expressions on their faces instilled fear in her, even knowing they came to save her. When all the smoke cleared, Catherine heard the man who entered moments before, say something, to making everything in the room come to a stop.

Her eyes frantically searched the room. They briefly landed on the man smoking and holding a gun in her direction. She blinked again until they landed on the person she searched for. His gaze never left hers. She struggled to lift her heavy head fully as she mouthed, “I love you.”

She heard Ash talking before the men moved in a blur, all in one motion. The gun went off, and a blaze of fire blinded her as it rose up to her right. The heat burned, and she closed her eyes. The oxygen felt sucked from the room as she desperately tried to scream for Leo to leave her. The flames grew hotter and closer. Embers fell onto her clothing searing into her skin.

She heard the men. The smoky air choked her. Catherine forced her body to do as she bid. She was dying and she wanted to see the person she loved more than anything else.

As if answering her deepest desire, Leo appeared suddenly in front of her. He threw a wet rag over her head, and something tugged at her ankles. It felt like the dead men pulling her into hell. Her arms began to float, as the man she loved pulled and tugged at her body. “Let me go,” she croaked as the smoke swirled around them. I love you, Leo. Please watch over Melody and my mom.

“I love you, Kit Kat. Until the day I die, you're mine.”

The pain in her heart turned to a dull ache as she accepted she and Leo were never destined for each other. Life without him felt like an empty void. Please find happiness and don’t let my death fill you with guilt like Olaf’s. Her body floated and she let it take her away.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Leo splayed his hands through his hair as he watched Chase work on Catherine. He crouched at her feet. Chase continued CPR while Saint inserted IVs. Shadow and Taco placed Ash's body on the ground and covered it.

Kassie and Melody burst through the wooded area. He guessed the fire alerted her. She sat Melody facing the opposite direction as she said something to her, then Rollo. Kassie ran toward Catherine and took over CPR as Chase dug into his bag.

“Come back to me, Kit Kat. Don't you dare leave me now. We got a little girl to raise,” he pleaded and ordered. The fire singed the ends of her hair, and her clothing held spots where cinders burned through her clothes. Her creamy skin turned deathly pale. She reminded him of Sleeping Beauty. Saint pushed fluids as Chase took out a large needle. Kassie paused. Then, she started compressions again. They yelled out medical stuff, but Leo's ears pounded to the sound of his heart. Saint's hand rested on his shoulder in support as he held his breath, waiting for Catherine to take one.

Victoria's men unfolded a sheet and stood next to Catherine. They waited. Kassie sobbed as she counted out the chest compressions. Chase listened to Catherine's chest. He shook his head. Kassie continued shaking her head. Wait. What did Chase tell her? Chase gently took Kassie's wrist and told her to stop as he shook his head sadly. Kassie's nose scrunched, and she vehemently denied what he tried to say to her. Leo's eyes drifted to see Victoria lean over, grab Melody, and walk her further into the woods.

Kassie's cries pierced his ears and jolted him back into the moment.

“No, Chase, don’t stop working on her. She's in there. She can't be gone.” Kassie grew hysterical as Chase listened again and shook his head. “No, no, no.” Kassie's face crumbled. Chase's helpless face searched him out.

“I'm sorry. She's gone.” Chase's voice cracked as he gave the news to his friend.

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