Page 76 of Nova

"Velasco is mine," I say with venom.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Riggs confirms. "Ready?"

"Let's do this."

From there, everything moves so fast you hardly know it's even happening. We hear the signal to go the moment gunshots ring out. Charging toward the entrance, I notice Velasco's two men, on the ground, unmoving. The rain is still pelting at our backs, but I can make out their faces as the same men Kiwi and I ran into weeks ago. We enter the building guns raised. Riggs fires off a shot, and a man, sitting behind a desk with his weapon aimed at us, hits the wall behind him, then falls to the floor before he gets the chance to pull the trigger.

Following orders, Kiwi and Everest take to the stairs, as Riggs follows me to the only elevator. Pressing the penthouse button, the doors close, and we ascend three floors to the top. The moment the doors open, exposing the hallway leading into the suite, we're met with silence.

Advancing down the short corridor, we approach the door with caution. A suited man, with his gun raised, suddenly appears, and bullets whiz by my head, piercing the wall behind us. Falling back, Riggs and I take cover by jumping back into the elevator.

"Shit." I breathe heavily. "That was too close for comfort, brother."

Riggs tries peering around the opened door, and Velasco's goon fires off several rounds, luckily missing my brother, who wastes no time returning fire. The thud I hear lets me know the man is dead before we step out of the elevator.

Stepping over the man's lifeless body, we pause just outside Velasco's door. Grasping the handle, I give it a turn, finding it unlocked.Dumb fuck. Giving each other a look, my brother and I ready ourselves for what could be waiting for us on the other side. Bursting through the doors, we rush in, guns raised.

The fuck?

The place appears to be empty. Riggs goes one way, and I the other. We canvas the entire top floor suite, searching every room, only to find each baron. We meet back at the entrance. "No one's here," Riggs states, appearing to be just as frustrated as I am.

No. I'm certain Promise is here. I feel in my bones. "She's in the building. Don't ask me how I know, I just do." Riggs nods, not questioning how I feel.

His phone rings. Taking it from his pocket, he answers, while we take off for the elevator once more. All this running round, cat and mouse shit is wasting time. "Report," he barks. Putting it on speaker, I hear the desperation in Kiwi's voice.

"We found Promise, but we can't get to her." In the background, I listen to what I believe to be muffled screams for help. Every hair on my body stands on end. My eyes fix on Riggs, as the elevator descends, feeling more like a long ride to the gates of hell. "Shit!" Kiwi yells with frustration.

"Location," my brother demands.

"Basement. You can only access it using the stairs. A keypad is the only way into the room. I managed to pry the cover off to attempt an override of the system. I'm cross-connecting wires now."

"Keep at it. We're on our way." Riggs shoves his phone away.

We dart for the stairwell as soon as the elevator doors open. Exactly one flight down, we run into Everest, his gun aimed in our direction. His arm lowers immediately. Behind him, we find Kiwi fumbling with wires in a desperate attempt to disarm the system. On the other side of the metal door—silence. Nothing like the fearful screams heard over the phone just seconds ago. I place my ear to the surface of the door, straining for signs that my woman is okay.

Crying.

I hear Promise crying, followed by pleas—her asking the sorry son of a bitch to let her go.

"I think I've got it," Kiwi says, and my head jerks back, waiting for something to happen. The locking mechanism in the door clicks, and I hold my breath when I push the handle down. In the fraction of a second, the four of us enter the small, dank room, none of us prepared for what we see. Promise is strapped to a table. An older man in a lab coat is looming over her. He's caught off guard by our intrusion and spins around. The slug from my shotgun finds its mark, dropping the guy on the spot.

Promise cries out for me. "Cain," her voice hoarse from screaming.

Before we make another move, Velasco steps from the shadows. He presses the end of a 9mm against the side of Promise's head, and her body physically trembles with terror. My breathing stalls, and I push back the bile, threatening to rise up my throat. "Move one more inch, and I'll kill her."

"You have nowhere left to go, Velasco, and the four to one odd aren't in your favor." The shotgun in my hand feels like an extension of my arm as I keep it aimed at his chest.

"Cain," Promise whimpers, her eyes full of fear. "He was going to kill our baby."

"Shut up," Velasco yells. "Just. Shut. Up. I could have given you anything you ever wanted, and you chose this good for nothing biker trash over me."

A rage I've never felt before makes its way to the surface from the depth of my soul, and my body starts to vibrate. My woman being strapped down to a table with a gun trained on her will forever be ingrained in my memory.

What would have happened had I not made it to her in time?

Shaking those thoughts away, I focus on the here and now—on retribution. "Promise," I call to her, keeping my voice neutral, but firm. "Eyes on me." She listens, locking her eyes with mine. "You trust me, babe?" Without hesitating, she nods.

"Don't fucking talk to him, you cunt." Velasco's eyes become wild, darting from face to face in the room. To my right, something falls, and the already jumpy Velasco swings his weapon in the direction of the noise, shooting off a wild round. His carelessness gives me the opening we need. Riggs fires a shot of his own, right through Velasco's hand. The gun he was holding, slips through his fingers, falling to the floor.

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