Page 88 of Bullet

Tears started streaming down her face, and my gut twisted with guilt and fear.

“You're not in any place to making demands,puto.This bitch is mine, and I can do whatever I want with her,” Matteo snapped.

Apache rounded on Matteo, shouting in anger, “My daughter ain't nobody's bitch!” He cocked his gun, aiming it at Matteo as he came next to me. “I'd listen to Bullet if I were you. You're outnumbered, and we ain't leaving without her.”

Matteo chuckled, keeping Dixyn strategically in front of him like a shield. “If you want her, you're going to have to pry her from my cold, dead hands. And if I'm going down, I'm taking her with me. If I can't have her, nobody will.” He locked his eyes on mine. “Including you.”

Rage was boiling in my veins, and I was doing my best to keep myself under control even though I wanted to empty my clip into the motherfucker's skull.

I glanced at Apache. We'd talked about what would happen in a situation like the one we were in. Dixyn wouldn't like it, but we were backed into a corner. He gave me a silent nod.

Taking a deep breath, I readied myself. Apache started talking shit and took a step toward Matteo, who instinctively aimed at him. “Don't,” he warned.

As soon as he moved the gun from her head, Apache and I both rushed him. Matteo shot at Apache first, then at me. “Dixyn, move!” I shouted as I approached.

In all the commotion, she was able to wrench herself from Matteo's grasp right before I collided with him. I tackled him to the ground, one hand on his gun and the other around his throat.

Matteo was a dangerous man, but I was bigger and had more motivation. I had at least fifty pounds on him. Plus, he usually had others do his dirty work for him, so I was pretty sure I had more experience fighting and inflicting damage than he did.

Anger and adrenaline raced through me as I pried the gun from his hand and hit him in the face with the butt of it, just as he had to Dixyn. Tossing the gun, I tightened my grip on his throat as I rained down punches with my free fist. He struggled beneath me, pounding at my arms to let him go.

Killing him would have consequences with the cartel, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to give him the opportunity to hurt Dixyn ever again.

Once his face was a bloody pulp and his struggle weakened, I took my knife out. “See you in hell,puto.”

Then I slit his throat. His blood poured out as he reached for his wound. After cleaning his blood off my knife with his shirt, I stood, and Dixyn immediately ran over to me. “You came for me,” she sobbed.

“Of course I did.” Taking her in my arms, I buried my face in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent. She clung to me for dear life, crying into my chest. “It's okay, baby. It's all over now. He'll never hurt you again.”

Then she surprised me by taking my knife, screaming as she plunged it over and over into Matteo’s chest. He was already almost dead from my wound, but she obviously didn’t care.

I stopped counting after fifteen stabs, letting Dixyn get all her anger and pain out. I knew what it was like to seek retribution and finally get revenge, having done it several times with my mom’s exes once I’d become a man.

She was sobbing again by the time she finished, slumping to her knees and letting my knife fall to the ground. She was covered in Matteo’s blood, but I still picked her up and held her tight.

Dixyn didn't calm down for several minutes. My heart rate finally started to slow down as I held her, and I released a sigh of relief that she was back in my arms where she belonged.

Then, the pain came. The adrenaline flowing through me was wearing off, and I was starting to feel my injuries. I knew I'd taken a couple of bullets but didn't know where or how many.

I grunted as Dixyn pulled away, wiping her face. We both looked down and saw the bullet holes. Dixyn gasped. “Oh shit. You got hit.”

There were bullet wounds in my shoulder, forearm, and beneath my ribs. Since I was still standing, I didn't think anything vital had been hit.

Some of my men ran over to us. “You okay, Pres?” Dead Man asked. “Y’all look like hell.”

“Just a couple of bullets. I’ll live.”

Dixyn looked up at me with fear. “We need to call an ambulance.”

Dead Man, AK, and Cowboy laughed. “Can we keep her, boss?” AK joked.

I chuckled. “We're in Mexico, kitten. I'm not getting anything done here. And I don't do hospitals.”

She frowned. “Don't be stubborn, Ford. You've been shot.”

I winced as I draped my arm around her. “Ain't the first time and probably won't be the last time.”

“Is that your blood?” Dead Man asked Dixyn, looking her up and down. Her light-colored dress was almost completely red, and her face and arms were splattered with the bodily fluid, also.

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