Page 76 of Bloody Lace

And then, Evelyn screams as I hear boots coming towards us, and I whirl around to see four more men, two of them grabbing her and dragging her backwards as the other two come for me.

It’s happening too quickly. Caught up in the argument, I didn’t hear anyone coming, and there’s too many for even Vik and Gus to handle at once. Several of the men are coming in through the front door, towards me, and I don’t dare fire at the two blocking off Evelyn from my view. If a bullet goes wide, it could hit her.

“Dimitri!” She screams my name, and it feels like it tears something open in my chest. I fire at two of the men to my right, hitting one in the shoulder and another in the gut, and I can hear the volley of fire from outside as Vik and Gus get off another series of rounds. The air is filled with the cracking sound of shots, the acrid scent of it filling the air, and I fight off the men coming at me, throwing out an elbow as I shoot at one in front of me, as Evelyn is dragged away from my view.

I see one in my periphery and pivot, firing and hitting him in the head, ducking as I see Vik coming in and dropping one justto my right. “Come on!” he shouts, and I bolt forward, firing as I go, knocking two more men down with bullets to the gut and leg as I follow him out.

The car is at the curb, blood spilling over the pavement from the bodies there. “They’ve got her up there,” Vik snaps, flinging himself into the passenger’s seat as Gus and I scramble in. “We’ll catch them. Don’t worry, boss.”

I hear boots behind me just as I go to close the door and fire once more, dropping the man on his way towards us. He screams, hitting the pavement, just as the car peels away from the sidewalk in pursuit of the SUV ahead of us that Vik saw Evelyn being dragged into.

“Fucking go faster!” I snarl at the driver, leaning forward. “Don’t let them out of your sight. If you value your fucking life?—”

“We’ll get her.” Vik’s voice is calmer than I could imagine being right now, but that’s why he’s my right hand man. He knows that in this moment, someone has to be.

Our car swings around a curve, following the SUV down a side street, zig-zagging through traffic as my driver does his best to keep it in sight. It disappears for a moment, only for us to catch it again, following it out past the city and into the Bronx as my driver lays on the gas, jolting forward in an effort to keep from losing it.

“Slow down,” I tell him, as we see the SUV turn another corner. “Hang back just a little, so we can catch them off guard.” As much as I don’t want to lose sight of Evelyn for even a moment, I know the smartest thing to do is let them think they’ve lost us. I don’t want them to take it out on Evelyn, or try to use her as a hostage. If we can get even the smallest element of surprise, and get the drop on them, we’ll be in a better position.

Even if everything in me is screaming to throw caution to the wind, this is the moment where I need to remember who Iam. The heir, the futurepakhan, and if I lose my head in this moment, my father will have been right.

I can’t let love get us both killed. I need to save her, so I can tell her what I know I feel.

The driver pulls into an alleyway, and the three of us spill out, heading for the large, dingy-looking brick building just ahead. We saw the SUV heading around the back of it, and we go around through another alley, slipping in the back just in time to see four of the men hustling Evelyn in through a steel door at the back.

“It’ll be locked,” Gus says. “But I can manage that.” He slips a slim leather case free from his pocket. “Say the word, boss. We’ll get her back.”

I see the grim set to his jaw, and I know he’s come to care about Evelyn, too, in the time that he’s known her. He’s every bit as determined as I am, and I nod, letting him slip stealthily up to the door just ahead of Vik and I as we approach.

Gus is better with the lockpick than I knew. He pops it in less than a minute, nodding to us as he puts it away and draws his gun again. “You wanna go first, boss?” he murmurs. “It’s your woman. We’ve got your back.”

I nod, moving up in front of him. Carefully, I push the door open, sliding into the darkness just beyond, staying pressed to the back wall. Gus and Vik move in behind me, sticking to the shadows, and I can hear voices in the room just ahead.

I hear Evelyn’s whimper, hear the sound of a slap and her crying out, and I stiffen, my teeth grinding so hard that my jaw pops. I glance at Vik and Gus, nodding to them, and then I move forward.

I’m not letting them lay another hand on her. The burning need to get to her sears through my veins, my blood roaring in my ears, my knuckles white from how hard I’m gripping my gun.I edge towards the door, quiet, and then I see, through the crack of it, Barca Valenti holding Evelyn by the shoulder.

Something snaps inside of me. Some last shred of self-control frays completely, and I slam my shoulder into the door, flinging it wide as I open fire on the men in front of Barca.

He shouts, drawing his own gun as he shoves Evelyn to one side. She hits the floor, hard, and my gaze snaps to her, to the red mark on her cheek, the fear in her eyes.

“Get out of the line of fire!” I shout at her, pivoting as a bullet zips past my cheek, burying itself in the wall just beyond me. My ears are ringing with the sound of gunfire as Gus and Vik come in behind me, and I feel a splatter of blood across my cheek as I shoot two men in front of me, dropping them as I advance on Barca.

I can’t hear anything. I can’t hear what he’s saying over the ringing in my ears, the roar of my pulse, the anger that sizzles through my veins like a live wire. I shoot twice, popping him once in each kneecap before he can get a shot off, and then I take two quick strides forward, looming over at him as he looks up at me with all of the blood drained from his face.

“That’s for touching my fucking wife,” I snarl. “And this is for thinking you could come for her, and live another day on this fucking earth.”

I pull the trigger once more, and a hole opens up in his forehead, blood spilling out as he slumps back against the floor, his eyes going sightless.

Slowly, the room comes back into focus. I turn, going straight for Evelyn, seeing Vik and Gus finishing off the last men crumpled on the floor. I get to her in two quick strides, sinking down onto the concrete next to her—and then I see the blood, spreading out across her sweater just below her shoulder.

“Dimitri.” She chokes out my name, and I lunge forward, my arm sliding under her shoulder as I lift her into my arms. Dimly,I hear Gus shout for me not to move her, but I can’t listen. I can’t do anything other than pull her closer, as I feel my own heart bleeding out of my chest.

“You’re going to be fine.” I reach up, pushing a piece of her hair back, sticky with someone else’s blood. “We’re getting help. You’ll be fine. Evelyn?—”

She coughs, her face contorting with pain. “It’s not that bad,” she whispers, her voice cracking, before she starts to cough again. Behind me I can hear Vik on the phone, calling for a car. Calling for help. But it doesn’t feel fast enough. Nothing feels like enough—and in this moment, I know I should have told her how I felt long before it was almost too late.

“I love you.” I reach up, brushing my bloody fingers over her cheek. “Do you hear me? I love you, Evelyn. And I should have told you every single day since I caught you when you slipped on that ice. I should never have let you walk away from me that night…Evelyn!”

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