Page 121 of Deception

That’s when I hear the first gunshot above.

Screeching tires, an explosion.

Men scream far away, others shout, panicking up the stairs to my left. Lowering into a crouch, I creep up the stairs, one by one. Halfway up, I see the top of one guy’s head, standing guard. As I climb higher, I see that he’s dancing from foot to foot, nervous.

“Shit, shit. It’s them isn’t it?” he whines and I hear another rough growl bark for him to shut it.

Spotting the other guy, I aim and fire two quick pops, right through his chest. Headshots are too hard with my hands shaking.

The whining guard doesn’t have time to turn before I double tap him in the back. He goes down, dead before his head hits the ground.

Ears ringing, head spinning from rushing up the last few steps, I strafe to the right, ducking behind some machinery. Taking stock of my body first, I note the soiled mess of my gown, the filth on my skin. Blood spatters polka dot my arms and face.

But I’m intact. Just worn out. Scraped up.

The gunfire sounds closer, right outside the huge warehouse doors behind me. It sounds like an entire squad of soldiers are locked in battle out there.

I need to move, but before I can rise, a thug swerves around the corner, spotting the two bodies and then me. “What the?—”

His voice clips off to the sound of my gun.

I can’t stay here.

Snagging his knife and an extra clip I rush from cover, aiming for another massive generator, ducking behind it before the line of gangsters can spot me, a veritable barricade, a firing squad lined up just inside the warehouse behind heavy machinery and a wall of cars.

“Isabella!”

My heart stops at the sound of that ripping, raging voice.

Alessandro.

Adrenaline redoubles, fueling my anger and my need to reach him. It also sharpens my focus, realizing that I cannot let them come inside.

They’ll be slaughtered.

With no way to signal them in the chaos, I do the next best thing.

Resting my hands firmly against the tank hiding me, I steady my hands and take aim. One. Two. Three. Four.

I’m taking aim on my fifth when they finally notice someone flanking them. A few turn, pointing, raising their guns.

But most of them are locked on what they see through the bay doors.

Four silhouettes limned in hellfire cross the yard, unleashing death with an arsenal of shotguns and automatic weapons. Another explosion rocks the building, sending a car flying behind them.

He’s there, in the center, the tallest of them.

My warrior. Dark as Death himself.

“Give us the girl and you might live!” I hear his roar.

The shout gives me an opening, a chance to scramble around the barricade, trying to snatch another clip from one of the bodies. But I’m too slow.

I feel fingers lock onto the back of my neck, dragging me back. An arm circles my neck, the barrel of a gun pressed to my head as he shuffles me toward the doors.

“One step more and she dies. Surrender now and no harm comes to her!”

“Let her go, and maybe you get to die quick,” Alessandro bellows.

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