Page 174 of Devil Mine

He groans loudly, more blood exploding from this new wound.

I crawl out from under him and back away on my hands, my palms scraping against and getting cut up by the rough, dirty floor.

Marco staggers up to one knee, then the other, refusing to give up. My hand shakes so hard when I lift my arm that I almost drop the gun, but I hold firm.

I won’t look away this time.

Enough is enough.

I stare into his hateful eyes as he stumbles towards me. All I see is the betrayal, the greed, the remorselessness of the coward who helped traffic Adriana, the murderer, the man who tried to assault and kill me.

I see who the real devil is and I fire again.

The bullet hits him in the gut and he falls backwards, clutching his stomach. His eyes widen in shock. He didn’t think I would do it.

A pained groan falls loudly from his lips.

The gun falls from my hand.

I don’t stick around to see more.

I stand and I throw one last look at the man responsible for so much heartache in my and the people I love’s lives.

Only then do I run for my life.

???

Chapter Sixty-Two

Thiago

Marco punches her and Tess falls lifelessly to the ground, her body crumpling under her. The helplessness I feel is matched only by my fury. It’s like a raging wildfire, the inferno spreading and eating up everything in its path.

I throw myself towards my wife but the two men behind me restrain me. They force me back down to the ground at their feet. “Let me go, you bastards! Let me fucking go.” I turn my attention back to Marco. “I’m going to kill you,” I vow between clenched teeth.

Julio crouches down and picks Tess up in his arms.

“What are you doing?” I question, my voice tipping over into mania. He ignores me and starts to walk away with her unconscious body in his arms. Every step he takes away from me is a fresh stab wound to my heart. “Stop! Where the fuck are you taking her? Come back! COME BACK!”

Her head lolls to the side, her hair covering her face entirely. Something rips inside me watching her be taken from me. I thrash, I kick, I fight like fucking hell. I go berserk. I manage to break free and make some progress towards her, but with my hands cuffed behind my back, I’m quickly caught and yanked away."

"Calm the fuck down," one of the traitors orders.

My powerlessness when she needs me most kills me.

Crazed, demented energy takes over until the rational part of me is no more. All that’s left is the animal need to protect my wife. An unhinged scream tears from my throat when Julio disappears out the door, taking her with him. Raw desperation tears at my insides like I’m being hacked apart by a meat cleaver.

Marco smirks down at me with a vindictive smile.

I need to keep him talking, to keep him with me.

To do anything I can to stop him from leaving this room and…

I can’t think about what will happen if I don’t stop him.

“How did you do this? Turn my men against me?”

“You made it so easy for me and for that, I have to thank youDiablo. Arturo warned you what the dangers would be if you left London, he just never imagined how close the threat might be. I amassed support while you were gone. It was painstaking work, turns out a lot of the cartel is loyal to you. Finding people willing to turn against you was harder than I thought it would be,” he churns out, the muscle in his cheek ticking angrily. “But I found them eventually.”

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