Page 63 of Fatal Temptation

“Go,” Diesel snapped at him, reaching into his gun belt to switch out his spent magazine.

Akio stood on shaking legs and told himself he could do this. Diesel needed him to do this. To be strong. To survive.

He turned and ran. Away from Diesel. Away from the gunfire.

The part of him that wanted to label him a coward was surprisingly quiet as he ran, his legs pumping fast under him, carrying him further and further away from danger.

When he reached the end of the row, he skidded to a halt, trying to remember which way the door they’d entered through was.

He took two steps forward and then arms wrapped around him from behind. He trashed as he was brought against an unfamiliar chest and felt the cold splash of fear run through him.

“Not so fast,” Kuroki snarled, fingers locking over Akio’s throat and putting pressure on his windpipe. He gasped but air didn’t come.

“I’m gonna enjoy?”

He slammed his head back and heard a crunch as he broke Kuroki’s nose, the man crying out and pushing Akio down. He hit the ground with his knees and hands and felt a sharp jolt of pain in his joints.

He saw the white and yellow flash of a gun firing and whipped around to watch Kuroki stumble, his hand going to his left side, blood pooling under his hand and coloring his white dress shirt a red so deep it was nearly black.

His heart was beating so fast and hard that he had trouble breathing.

He watched as his brother stepped closer, his eyes a black void as he stared at Kuroki, gun still aimed at him.

“Fucker,” Kuroki gasped out.

“You should’ve stayed away from my brother.”

Diesel pulled a black wire out of his back pocket and Akio realized he’d been recording everything. Lucas. It had to be from Lucas.

“I’m gonna take my time carving him into pieces,” Kuroki spat and followed it with a chilling laugh.

Diesel met Akio’s gaze for a heartbreaking moment.

“We’re not doing witness protection,” Diesel said under his breath, his voice icy.

Akio didn’t look away as his brother pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing Kuroki’s left eye and sending brain matter splattering on the ground and wall behind him.

While his stomach rolled, he couldn’t claim to feel sorry for the bastard.

Bullets pinged off the metal shelves around them and Akio ducked down, hands covering his ears as he cried out.

“Go,” Diesel yelled at him, a darkness in his eyes Akio had only seen once before.

Lucas

Chris was the first one through the door. Lucas was right behind him and only because Chris’ longer legs carried him faster. Diesel had reported at least three men hiding outside the building as he’d made his way inside and when he’d used the word they’d agreed on for them to make entry, they had shot their way through those men. He didn’t know how many were with Diesel and Akio, but he suspected Kuroki had brought more men than seemed necessary what with the recent raids on his places.

Mo and Evan were breaching through the other side of the building while Tahir and Sanchez covered the front.

They stepped into a warehouse filled with row after row of ceiling-height shelving units. Chris took off down the row to their left, moving toward the sound of gunfire.

He went to follow when gunshots had him pulling back against a shelf. Chris was on the other side of the row, the gunshots preventing Lucas from following. He dropped to a knee and with a curse he motioned for Chris to continue. Chris didn’t bother with a nod before he moved further down the row.

He peeked around the corner of the shelf and got off a few shots, but it was to no avail. He didn’t have a good vantage point from there. He stood and went the other way, his senses on high alert, the noises loud and disorienting in the warehouse.

He reached the next row and as he stepped into the space between the two shelving units, he came face to face with a short Asian man.

They both raised their guns, but the man dropped before either of them could get a shot off. His gaze snapped onto movement from behind the man and he was relieved to see Gemma stalking toward him, a dark expression on her face. Good. She was alive. And pissed the fuck off.

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