Page 135 of Devious Kingpin
Darius gave me a peculiar look but he said nothing. Thankfully, he scooted an inch away and the grip on my lungs eased slightly.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, embarrassed. He didn’t pay me any attention, his eyes on the stone ceiling.
“Over there,” Darius whispered, pointing to the ceiling. I followed his gaze and saw it. There was a camera in here.
“How in the fuck did we miss it?” River hissed.
Buzz. Buzz.The camera moved.
“Shoot it,” I said, keeping my voice low. “That sick bitch is probably watching us and laughing right now.”
A cackle came from the speakers we couldn’t see.
“Right you are, Juliette Ava Cullen.” It was the first time I had heard my birth name spoken out loud. It felt wrong because nobody ever referred to me like that. I was no longer a Cullen. “I’m going to end your whole bloodline.”
“Why?” I choked out, although I didn’t expect an answer.
“Because your family cost me mine,” she spat, bitterness clear even over the speakers.
“Man, she holds grudges,” I grumbled before continuing loud enough for her to hear. “Although I’m not sure how I could be guilty of my grandfather’s sins.” My birth parents got caught in her hatred and now she aimed it at Killian and me.
She cackled. Laughed and laughed, the sound reminding me of a witch’s cackle on Halloween.
“Your birth grandfather helped the Brennans take my baby from me. Now, my life goal is to wipe out your bloodline.”
I stilled, frozen as my eyes darted around. She was answering my questions. How could she hear us unless she had this whole place wired?
Putting my forehead on the dirty ground, I turned my face slightly to look at River. “She can hear us,” I mouthed.
He nodded. It wasn’t a surprise they came to the same conclusion. “We find the panel and blow it to pieces.”
A terse nod. “Blow her to kingdom come,” I stated in a hushed tone. “At least her men, because I don’t think she’s here.”
“Judgment day has come, Cullen scum,” she announced.
It was then that it hit me. It wasn’t that nobody had ever referred to me as a Cullen. It was that I’d already begun to think of myself as Juliette DiLustro.
“Come and get us.” I didn’t know which one of them said it, but he didn’t have to repeat it. All three of us were on our feet within the same second.
Suddenly, we were surrounded by more men.Where the fuck were they all coming from?All at once we were in the same trouble as Dante, Basilio, and Kian were. Fear wrapped around my throat and my eyes darted around. There were way too many of them.
“Use that AK-47,” River barked and I didn’t think, just acted on instinct.
Taking it off my shoulder, I raised and pointed the gun at the enemy and pulled the trigger. Bullets started flying in every direction. River and Darius fought in tandem, working as one. River wrenched the gun from one guy, tossing it aside. Darius had his hand wrapped around the throat of another guy while I kept shooting at the never-ending mass of targets.
My heart thundered, each beat cracking my ribs. I gasped for air, my lungs squeezing. My body shook, but I refused to stop. It was a matter of life and death. And the whole time, I kept my finger on the trigger.
River barked some orders, but I couldn’t hear them. My teeth chattered from the impact of the staccato motion of the semi-automatic rifle. Shots rang out but I could no longer hear them. My hearing must have been damaged from the incessant rapid-firingbang,bang,bang.
One of the men had his gun pointed at Dante, his finger on the trigger. I was afraid I’d hit Dante if I tried to shoot the guy, so I reached for my knife in the back of my jeans, unsheathed it, and threw it at my target. I held my breath as it sliced through the air.Swish. Swish.
It landed in his chest. One man down. Many more to go.
Dante’s gaze met mine and the promise I gave him a decade ago rushed to my mind.
“One day, I’ll save you too.” My lips moved, but I couldn’t hear my voice.
CHAPTER55
