Page 98 of Sinner's Secret

The happy disappeared when two more guys appeared in the doorway. She tried to shoot both of them in the head with a bullet each, but they were ready for it and moved. She hit one in the neck and the other in the chest, then she was out.

They halted and dropped to their knees, breathing heavy and growling. She might have gotten away, but they were between her and the doorway, and they were still moving, able to grab her if she tried to get through them.

She dropped the gun on the floor, grabbed the ceramic lid off the toilet tank and hefted it, ready to bash whoever came at her first.

“Stupid bitch,” one of the goons said.

The guy she’d shot in the chest recovered first. He came at her with his hands out.

She spun so he couldn’t snag her or the heavy lid, and she was able to bash him in the back, shoving him almost into the tub. She thought she heard something crunch. She lifted the lid, intending to hit him on the back of his head, but it was torn out of her hands.

The other guy tossed it away and grabbed her by the throat.

It hurt. A lot. So much that even if he let her go, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to breathe. Her vision darkened, and all she could hear was buzzing in her ears.

Something shook her, then the world blinked out.

***

Consciousness came back to her in slow, painful increments. She was horizontal, but not on the bathroom floor. She let her eyes slit open a tiny bit and had to work hard not to cough. Pain radiated out from her throat, spiking as she tried to take in a breath. For a moment nothing happened.

Had that second asshole killed her after all? But no, a trickle of air made it through—like trying to breathe through a straw.

She was back on the bed, and there was another guy who looked a lot like the dick she’d shot four times, pacing back and forth in front of the bathroom door, yelling at the other two goons she’d shot.

The dude was yelling in that language sort of sounding like Spanish, but wasn’t Spanish. Portuguese maybe?

The dick was still on the floor of the bathroom, blood pooled all around his head. Maybe she’d killed him?

Where was Baz?

The elevator chimed and a few seconds later, four more goons came in with Baz. He seemed uninjured, but when he caught sight of her on the bed, he lost his shit. The two guys who were holding his arms were tossed backwards. Unfortunately, the two goons who’d come in just in front of him, turned around and Tazed him. At the same time.

She expected them to stop Tazing him after the first couple of seconds, but they didn’t. As the seconds ticked by, it became clear they weren’t going to stop until their weapons had used up every last spark they had.

Her stomach dropped all fifty stories to the ground with the same impact as a bomb.

Could anyone survive that?

She gave up her pretext of unconsciousness and moved to get off the bed. It was harder to do than she expected. Her body did not want to cooperate, leaving her slow and shaking.

The pacing dude grabbed her by the arm and shoved her back on the mattress with enough force to make her bounce. She sucked in a breath because, damn it, that hurt, and the air got stuck in her esophagus, unable to go in or out in either direction.

She tried to force air through her swollen neck, but only ended up choking instead. Her brain kicked in and she realized that forcing it wasn’t going to work. She relaxed her muscles and very carefully drew in a little bit of air. When that worked, she repeated the process until her lungs weren’t starving anymore.

The dude was yelling at her, but still not in English, so she had no idea if he threatened her, propositioned her, or was trying to order pizza.

She looked over at Baz. He was lying face down on the floor, his muscles twitching.

One of the goons said something and, after a sneer, the dude switched to accented English. “You stupid bitch, I should kill you for what you have done.”

He seemed to wait for her to say something, but she was pretty sure speaking was not going to be on her list of things she could do with ease for a few days. But, all the goons seemed interested in the conversation. If she could keep their attention on her and not Baz, that would be good.

“Explain yourself,” the dude demanded.

She made an experimental noise. It didn’t make breathing impossible, so she tried a few words. They came out in a raspy whisper. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

“My brother offered you the world,” the dude said in an impassioned tone.

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