Page 51 of Revenge & Ruin

“I only wonder if the rest of the Guild know about this.”

I hesitate. There can’t be any loose ends here, and he already knows that.

With a groan, I rack the gun hidden beneath the floorboards and head out toward the gate itself, mentally chastising myself for getting myself into a situation like this. At least I had the foresight to grab the silencer.

I let out one long breath, focusing myself before I kick the gate open.

Zip, zip, zip.

Three bullets meet their targets. Three men go down.

The two that remain already have their guns trained on me.

The ringleader, the man who spoke to me before, grins back. His friend behind him is huge, almost towering over the both of us as his eyes dart between us.

“The name’s Luis,” the ringleader states, “and you just took out my crew.”

“Not all of them,” I retaliate as I quickly aim at the huge man’s shoulder.

Zip.The bullet hits him and he grunts.

Luis retaliates in kind.

His gun is annoyingly loud. Loud enough for the light to switch on next door, a detail I note instead of the searing pain that crashes through my own shoulder.

The brute of a man drops to his knees, but I grit my teeth and hold steady. I’m thankful that my own leather jacket covered the tactical vest beneath it. I’m already irritable about the bruise that will no doubt appear before morning.

But from the look on Luis’ face, he hasn’t realized that yet. So, I stagger forward, clutching my shoulder so that he doesn’t question the lack of blood.

“You’re on our turf,Luis,”I sneer back. “You think Rubio is going to let you live if you kill me here?”

Luis snorts. “Do you think Rubio gives two shits about you? You might be the don of the Guild, but they’re dropping like flies right now.”

I stagger forward again, letting myself drop low before.

Whack.

I kick him hard in the abdomen, forcing him to keel over. With another blow, I use his recovery time to disarm him completely.

A stray blow ricochets past my ear, but I dodge easily. I grab hold of his arm before he has a chance to retreat and bring it down on my knee, perhaps a little too hard.

Snap.

“Fuck!” Luis hisses as he cradles his broken arm back to his chest. “You’re insane.”

“What do you want with Isabella Natali?”

He blinks at me. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

I kick him again in the chest, sending him to his knees again, very aware of the red and blue flashing lights that have appeared in the distance.

“You will stay away from her. You will not touch her. You will not even look at her. Do you understand me?” I glare down at the man before me and consider just killing him now to make things easier.

Still, Luis barks a laugh. “Did hell freeze over? A Vitale protecting a Natali?”

I reach forward with my good arm and pull his hair back with a sharp tug. “Let me make myself very clear. You can’t have her because she ismineto kill. Do you understand?”

I throw him to the ground just as the sirens start up.

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