Page 59 of Out of Control

But then Lucas grabbed at Lombardi’s shoulder, distracting him and giving me enough room to pull both of my legs up, planting my feet against his chest before kicking out, sending him off of me, flying back several feet.

“You okay?” Lucas asked, one hand going to my neck.

I nodded, but didn’t take my eyes off my opponent. Leo was groaning, having landed on the chairs, the wood now in broken chunks underneath him.Hewas the weak one. He wouldn’t be getting back up any time soon.

I stood with Lucas’s help and we leaned against each other for support. I hurried to grab hold of Leo’s gun on the floor between us and him, pointing it at him where he laid.

“You still don’t have real fucking evidence against me. You can’t just say that I told you I killed her.”

I shrugged. I had his own recorded confession, whether he knew that or not.

“Maybe you’ll get me locked up for a few years for handcuffing you two, but you can’t prove I fucked with your brakes or tried to kill you or anyone else,” he smirked. “For something small like kidnapping or false imprisonment I’ll get out eventually.”

Small? He really cared so little for other people’s freedom?

“I’ll get out, and then I’ll kill you. But I’ll make you beg first. Hurt you.” I could feel the malice in his eyes. He really wanted me to suffer. “You’re going to pay for this.”

“What, for humiliating you? Beating you?” I wouldn’t let him intimidate me, even as the goosebumps rose up on my arms.

“And I’ll kill him,” he nodded to Lucas, whose arm was wrapped around my back. “I’ll make him wish he was never born with how much pain he’s going to feel.”

Lucas could take care of himself. It was always a possibility that Lombardi might get out of prison during our lifetimes even if we got him convicted of first degree murder, but we could take care of ourselves. With Lucas at my side we could handle anything.

“I’d threaten to kill that sister of his as well, but I think I missed my chance to choose her as a victim.” Lucas growled next to me, his grip tightening. “I’ll settle for killing his mother. She—”

I pulled the trigger.

Nobody was going to cause that woman even one more ounce of pain.

twenty-five

Lucas

“Istill don’t see why I need to go to the hospital,” I groaned, rolling my neck while we waited on the steps leading into the front of the warehouse.

“You were in a fucking car accident. You lost consciousness. You almost drowned. You got into a wrestling-match-fist-fight with a literal villain. You’re going to the hospital,” Athena said, her tone inviting no argument.

“You had all the same stuff happen to you,” I argued nonetheless.

“And I’m going to the damn hospital,” she returned, her voice rising in frustration.

“Fine, fine!” I relented, lifting my arms up in surrender before wincing and lowering them back to my side. I wasn’t sure how badly my ribs were fucked, but they were definitely fucked. “Okay, maybe I should go get checked out. Did they say how long out?”

Athena glanced at the time on her phone. “Maybe another minute or two? Lombardi drove us way out here. You know, I bet we could link the owner of this warehouse to the Morelli holdings,” she added, that analytical lawyer mind of hers always working.

“Are you sure you’re a defense lawyer? You’re starting to sound like a prosecutor to me.”

She rolled her eyes at my wink. “Defense makes more money. And somebody has to make sure even the criminals know their rights and get a fair trial or at least a decent plea deal.”

“Not everyone deserves that much,” I said quietly. A trial where things could go wrong, a plea deal to let Leo Lombardi out in just a couple years so he could come back and murder Athena, my mother. Without a guarantee that he would be behind bars for the rest of his life, I couldn’t risk it. I was just grateful that Athena made the decision so I didn’t have to.

I knew Athena’s conscience was clear, but so was mine. And fucking hell if she wasn’t hot as shit standing over that asshole with the gun in her hands.

“There are the sirens,” she said, bringing me back to the present. I reached over and squeezed her hand.

“That’s a shame because I really wanted to have time to thank you properly for saving my life.”

“Oh? And what would you call a proper thank you?”

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