Page 133 of Guarded

When I see his hand on her throat, red covers my vision. I shoot him in the shoulder, forcing him to release her/

“What the fuck?” he yelps, falling to the floor.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I ask.

Liza stands trembling before me. She shakes her head.

“You two fucking know each other?” I shout.

“She came in here trying to fuck me.” Preston objects.

“That’s not true!” Liza cries.

I look between him and Liza.

Liza had been rescued from a human trafficking stint. I remember the way she was found and the way she was brought to us seeking sanctuary. Kostya Pashokov sought an alliance with us for her safekeeping.

“Did this mother fucker hurt you?” I ask her, but I don’t need a response.

I haunch down to where the son of a bitch is lying. Laughing as I imagine the slow death I’m going to give this mother fucker.

Hitting him with the muzzle of my gun, blood flies out from his nose. I punch him again, this time as a pained howl falls from his lips. It’s not enough. I want to cut him open piece by piece. Drain his blood and disintegrate his organs in acid.

I don’t get the chance, though.

“Houston Police, drop your weapons!” I hear and lift my hands. I turn to face the gang of intruders.

“Come to arrest me on my sister’s wedding day, assholes?” I sneer.

I’ve had my run-in with HPD before. I thought they knew better than to come for me again. Money usually bought my freedom.

“Axel Reyes, my name is Benji Ferraro. I’m with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We have a warrant out for the arrest of Preston Cuevas.”

He shows me his badge while the other two officers pick Preston up and place him in handcuffs.

Liza watches her eyes widen from the corner.

“Preston Cuevas, you're under arrest for human trafficking, sexual assault, and child pornography. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”

What the fuck?

This mother fucker.

I lung forward and strike him several times in the face before I’m pulled back by one of the officers.

“Better the lot of you carry him out alive than me having to find a place to hide his body.” I spit on Preston one last time as he moves past us.

This was not the plan. There’s nothing I hate more than being blindsided. By a fucking pedophile.

I’ll have my people in the prison waiting for him.

Adan gives me a disappointed look as he watches the cops take Preston out of the church. The fucker warned me something was off, and I refused to listen.

Adan has a bad habit of babying our little sister. It’s no wonder she favors him.

Making my way into the bathroom, I splash my face with water to get rid of the blood that splattered on me. Blood was a fucking mess. I look up in the mirror and find Liza standing in the doorway.

“Axel. I’m sorry,” she says, her thick Russian accent barely above a whisper.

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