Page 7 of The Tower

He comes closer in quick strides, pointing at the girl, who lazily opens one eye at just that moment, suggesting she may wake up soon.

Good. Having her unconscious would make jumping a lot harder than it has to be.

"What do you mean he's not coming?" I probe. "What happened?"

Tom's gaze darkens. "One of the assholes down there had a gun and shot back. One of the associates. He's out, but he took Jered with him."

"Fuck."

"You know how it is," Tom snaps. "We knew this could happen and—"

"Guys, we really don't have time for this!" Brad shouts from the back, waving frantically.

He's already strapped in, waiting for Tom to join him so they can make the jump we've practiced so many times before.

"Let's go!"

Tom hesitates for a moment, his eyes moving back and forth between me and the girl in my arms.

"Don't be a fucking idiot," he says, jutting his chin forward to gesture at her. "You'll get yourself killed if—"

"Go!" I cut him off. "You guys need to get off the roof."

He nods, throwing me one last warning look before he turns away and joins Brad. After he attaches his harness with a few quick and skillful motions, they start running toward the edge. We're up high enough to rely on the good wind in any case, but tonight the weather is in our favor. Their wing opens right away, lifting Tom and Brad off the roof long before they reach the edge where they would have been forced to jump.

Seeing them leave with such ease gives me hope that we can do it, too, despite the horrible condition of this girl. She's moving in my arms now, mewling in pain as she slowly regains consciousness.

I get down on my knees to lower her to the rooftop, treating her injured body as carefully as possible as I place her on the cement ground.

She's an Abbott.

When my target made a run for it, he took her with him, using her to protect his sorry ass as he made his way out.

And she called him uncle.

I couldn't just leave her, especially now that I know who she is. We didn’t know Clyde Abbott had a niece who was still alive. It was our job to eradicate the Abbott family, thinking only two of them were left. Those two, as well as three associates were on our death list for tonight.

This girl wasn't.

She may be an Abbott, but no one declared open season on her.

I couldn't kill her.

But I couldn't leave her either.

Her eyelids flutter, and she grimaces in pain when I release her.

"Hey. Hey!" I urge her to fully wake up, gently slapping her pale cheek with one hand while I brush a few strands of hair out of her pretty face.

Fuck. This would be a lot easier if she was some old dude or a violent brute who attacked me. I'm sure I would have no problem emptying my gun in that case.

But with her, I just couldn't.

I've never shot a woman before, let alone a young woman like her. The same sensual beauty who stole my focus just a few minutes prior to our mission. An innocent bystander who was used as a human shield when my target got away.

That's another detail I haven't disclosed to my comrades yet.

Clyde Abbott is still alive. As far as I know, I'm the only one who failed to complete his mission tonight. And on top of that, I'm carrying trouble with me.

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