Page 48 of Royally Embraced: RBMC

“I’ve got the one out back in three, two, one,” Traeger said.

The sound of two pops resounded in the quiet night. Jeter moved fast, held his gun up, and prepared to shoot again. A man came out before he’d taken ten steps, raining bullets in a flurry.

Jeter dove and returned a few well-placed shots, dropping the fool.

He and a couple of others entered the building from the front as more shots rang out from all around. Inside the warehouse, the smell of gunpowder filled his senses. His night vision goggles were on, allowing him to see the vast interior.

Doing a quick sweep, he looked for the small stairs leading to the office they assumed Rizzo would hide in. A movement to his left had him spinning. A man jumped from a stack of crates, knocking him onto his back. The gun flew from his hands.

“Oof,” Jeter grunted, trying to block the meaty fist aiming for his face.

“Did you really think you could get the drop on me, boy?”

Jeter couldn’t make out the man’s face, but his heavy New York accent let him know it was Rizzo. He caught the man’s fist in his palm and raised his head up hard and fast. The contactmade a thudding sound, stunning Rizzo long enough for Jeter to flip their positions.

“Hello, Rizzo. So nice for you to...drop in,” Jeter spat.

He glared down at the asshole and wondered why Grigori hadn’t run or shot Jeter instead of trying to take him down. Rizzo bucked up and down, trying to get Jeter off him. With no mercy, Jeter punched the asshole in the face with his fists, one after the other. The man laughed.

Jeter got to his feet, blood coating his fists. Rizzo laughed as if he had lost his mind. The warehouse had gone quiet. Kendrick strolled up to them, shaking his head.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” King asked.

“If you kill me, you’ll never find the girl.” Rizzo coughed and spat blood from his mouth.

His words made Jeter see red. He reached down and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him from the ground. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

TORI WALKED THE LENGTHof the living area to the kitchen and back several times. She was sure poor Andre was getting sick of watching her and following on her heels.

“You don’t have to trail me, Andre.”

He grunted but didn’t stop keeping to her heels.

After about an hour, she’d exhausted herself, or so she’d told Andre. In truth, she needed a moment to herself. “I’m going to go to our room and nap.”

He looked at her with a slight tilt of his head but gave her a nod. “I’ll be right down here if you need anything. Here, give me your phone number, and I’ll program my number for you in case you need something while you’re up there.”

She wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but he needed to be needed. She got that. So she let him program her number into his phone and then did the same to her phone. She laughed as she saw he’d given himself the nickname of Giant since she’d called him that after the wrestler Andre the Giant.

“I’ll see you soon.” Tori snagged a bottle of water from the massive fridge before heading up the back stairs toward Jeter’s bedroom. She returned to the closet, wishing she had some of her things to wear.

“I like leggings, but goodness gracious, what I wouldn’t do for a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that smells and feels freshly washed,” she muttered as she ran her hand over a pair of Jeter’s.

After a few minutes of dawdling inside, she moved back into his large room, sat on the small seat at the end of the bed, and flipped on the flatscreen television mounted on the wall. She kept the volume on mute while she scrolled through the channels, searching for something to watch.

The feel of the cell phone buzzing in the pocket of the leggings made her freeze. Pulling it out, she hit answered immediately. “Hey, Andre, what’s up?”

“Get up to the third floor. Kendrick’s primary suite is the only room up there. In his closet is a safe room at the back. Punch in zero six nine. That will open the door once. Close it and hit the red button on the inside. It will lock and won’t open from the outside again unless you have the code, which two people have. Kendrick and Jeter.” His voice sounded even yet strained.

“What’s going on?” she asked, moving toward the stairs. Tori looked down the stairway to see if she could see anyone but found it empty and quiet.

“The perimeter alarm on two sides went off, and then the cameras went black. I’ve locked the gates down, but the shutters aren’t working. The safe room is the last defense. I need you toget in there so I can focus on my job, principessa.” He cursed in Italian as his boots thudded against the wood floor.

“Did you have time to see how many there were?” she asked?” In Kendrick’s bedroom, her breath caught at the magnificence of her surroundings. The entire floor appeared to be one vast living space. She twisted her head back and forth, looking for what would be his closet, then began moving toward closed doors. Finally, she found the huge room that made Jeter’s closet look like a coat closet. She punched in the code, then stopped.

Andre didn’t respond. Fear for his life made her go back into Kendrick’s room. She thought of her stepfather and how he always kept a loaded gun inside his bedside table. Her feet moved of their own accord, hurrying into the room where the biggest bed on the planet sat and found a treasure trove of weapons. After checking there were bullets inside, she shoved one in the back of her leggings and then took another one.

Her heart threatened to race right out of her chest, but she knew she would never forgive herself if she sat in the safe room while Andre died trying to protect her.

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