Page 10 of His Juliet

My knee bouncedas I waited in the back of a van. We’d parked as close to the Albanian club as possible while avoiding their surveillance cameras. The medic across from me was sorting through first aid supplies.

“You got everything you need?”

She looked up at me, eyes wide, and stammered out ayes. She looked young and nervous, but if Aria, the head of our private clinic, thought she was competent, I had to trust that she was.

Once we cleared and secured the club, two medic vans would be waiting for us to transport any girls we found.

Every minute that ticked by on the clock mocked me. It was smart to wait for the club to close, but every passing second was another opportunity for those girls to get hurt.

I reached inside myself, touching the monster I kept locked deep within. On nights like this, it eagerly laid in wait.

Angelo nudged me. “You okay?”

His voice was low so our soldiers didn’t hear. He’d risen through the ranks quickly these past few years until he’d become Sofiya’s bodyguard. He was a good man and I trusted him to have my back, but fuck him for being a little too perceptive, for seeing the parts of me I hid away.

“Fine.”

He grunted.

Franco came in on my earpiece. “The patrons and most of the staff have left. We don’t know if all the staff are Albanian Mob, so proceed with caution.”

“And bring the Albanians back here for questioning,” Matteo cut in. “Keep them alive.”

I looked at my men and they all nodded. “We’re ready.”

We drove the remaining blocks to the club through quiet streets. Our van parked at the front entrance and the other, carrying the rest of our men, parked in the back. I took a deep breath, allowing the darkness to fill me, before leading our group to the front door. I shot the locked handle and Angelo shouldered it open.

Franco hadn’t been able to hack into the cameras inside the club, which meant we were flying blind. It made me nervous—Franco was good, which meant the Albanian’s tech person was even better.

I moved in through the door, gun raised. My eyes immediately fell on a group of four men by the bar. They were wearing dark suits and looked to be in their sixties.

“Hands in the air!” I shouted, knowing Angelo had my back.

They reached for their weapons but were too slow. Screams filled the air as I landed bullets in their arms and hands.

“Tie them up,” I commanded. Irritation pulsed through my veins at having to keep them alive for questioning. They deserved to suffer.

I would be doing the questioning, though, and that soothed my bloodlust enough to keep going.

The rest of our men joined us, having entered from the back.

“We’ve got one tied up in the office, but we didn’t see anyone else,” Accardi, our new enforcer, said.

“Help secure these bastards.” I gestured at the four men writhing on the floor. “And make sure the alley and medics are covered. The rest of you spread out, and let me know if you find anything or anyone.”

I nodded at Angelo and he covered me as I searched the remaining rooms, throwing open all the doors. We didn’t find anything suspicious until my eye caught on something in the back of a storage room. A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, forcing me to squint.

“That look weird to you?” I muttered.

Angelo held up his gun, the mounted flashlight illuminating a back wall covered by a large, off-kilter sheet of plywood. We looked at each other and moved to shift the plywood. When we did, it revealed another door. Angelo pulled it open, exposing the creepiest-looking set of stairs I’d ever seen.

“We found stairs,” I updated Franco and Matteo through my earpiece.

“Be careful,” Matteo grunted.

“Aww, I knew you cared.”

I could practically feel his eye roll.

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