Page 107 of Cruel Secrets

He reaches for the gun, knocking it from my hand. “You should’ve killed me then, but don’t worry. I’ve been taking good care of your family.”

Red floods across my vision as I get my hands around his neck.

A muffled scream comes from inside one of the rooms as Noah twists and shoves me back into the other wall, the plaster cracking and white dust falling around my shoulders at the impact.

Without hesitation, I shift and throw Noah down the stairs, his head cracking hard against two steps before he lands at the bottom with a groan. His leg is jerked to the side at an unnatural angle.

I grab my gun from the ground, aiming at him and taking a shot.

“He’s dead!” A man appears at the foot of the stairs beside Noah’s body, his fingers pressed against the side of Noah’s neck.

They come away red with blood as he lurches up the stairs with another man trailing behind him.

As they get closer, I kick the first man hard in the chest, sending him sailing down the stairs. He collides with the other one and they both land in a heap before struggling to get to their feet.

The second man climbs the stairs two at a time, grabbing my ankle when I go to kick him and sending me onto my back.

He’s on me in an instant, his fist connecting with my jaw.

I rear up and slam my head into his before whipping my gun against his temple. The man groans and falls to the side as the other appears in front of me.

Though I try to get to my feet, the men are on me again. Fists find flesh, pain shooting through my body until one of them is shoved to the side. The other hits the ground, Sean and Aiden on top of them.

“Go!” Skyla shouts, holding her hand to her side where blood is seeping through her fingers.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“I was shot again.” She jerks her head down the hall to the first bedroom. “Gia’s up here.”

“The three of you need to get out of here.” I wince as Aiden delivers a particularly nasty punch to the one man.

“I’m not leaving,” Ellie says as she rushes to the stairs. “Skyla is going to bleed out if I don’t help her and there was a gunshot up here. Gia might be hurt.”

Without a second thought, I shoot both of my attackers in their chests, leaving them to bleed out.

My stomach plummets to my feet as I look between them. “Noah is dead. Call the cleaning team.”

Aiden shakes his head and nods to Sean. “We’re going to clear the rest of the property.”

Ellie loops her arm around Skyla’s waist, tugging her back toward the stairs. “We need to go down to the kitchen. The first aid kit is there, and I need to sew you up.”

Skyla waves her off. “I’m fine. We need to get Gia and make sure that she’s okay. I told her that I would protect Bianca, and I couldn’t do that.”

For the first time in years, tears shine in her eyes as she looks at me. I can’t remember when I last saw Skyla anything other than angry or nonchalant about everything going on around her.

I clear my throat. “Ellie, take Skyla to the car and patch her up there. She needs to be taken care of. Get Sean and Aiden and get out of here.”

Skyla stands tall, moaning as something pulls on her wound, the blood between her fingers getting thicker. “Look, just make sure she’s okay.”

“I will. Get out of here.” I glance toward one of the rooms as another muffled noise comes from inside. My heart seizes.

Gia.

Spinning, I head into the first bedroom, holding my breath. I don’t know what I’m going to find in there. Gia could be dead. Bianca could already be gone.

It would be all my fault.

I should’ve been here with them. I never should’ve gone back to New York with Aiden.

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