Page 81 of Beautiful Vengeance
“And you—”
Jude whipped his gun out and shot him in the back.He rushed across the distance and yanked the Russian away from the window just in case he got some funny ideas about trying to shoot Callista even with a bullet in him.
It turned out to be for nothing.His shot had aimed true.The man hit the ground, his eyes vacant with death.Jude walked back and put a bullet in the still-struggling second guy.He needed all his focus for what came next, and having some piece-of-shit Russian shoot him was not on the agenda.
He walked back to the sniper setup and knelt in the same place the man had, hissing out a breath when his bullet wound protested so much movement in such a short time.The rifle was an M4, which was fucking pathetic, but they didn’t need the range of a true sniper rifle.Still, there were a dozen better choices for this job.He took out his phone and dialed Aiden, putting it on speaker as he used the scope to scan the buildings across from them.
“I’m busy.”
“I’ve removed one sniper.”Jude paused at the building next door, taking in the dark-dressed man with a rifle similar to his own.“There’s another one in the building to the south, second floor, three rooms from the street.He’s overlooking the alley where the restaurant’s back door leads.”
Aiden’s voice became muffled, but Jude still heard him order two of his men to deal with the threat.
He finished searching those windows and moved on.“Do you have my side of the street covered?”
“We’ve dealt with the threat we found two buildings down.”
Three men.Romanov hadn’t been taking any chances.He watched the man across the street get taken down by two O’Malley men.“I don’t see anyone else.”
More murmuring, though this time Jude couldn’t pick up on the words.Finally, Aiden came back on the line.“We’re moving them.”
“I’ll provide cover.”
“See that that’sallyou do.”
Jude hung up and watched as a group of people hurried out the back door into the alley that he’d just helped clear.He saw Callista, her blond head close to her husband’s, his arm around her shoulders.Behind her…
He went still.
Colm Sheridan looked the same as he had the last time Jude observed him, his hair gray, though it hadn’t thinned in the least, his face weathered andold.Even his shoulders were hunched as he walked in the middle of his men.
He had a clear shot.All he had to do was pull the trigger and he could avenge his family’s memory.Hismother’smemory.
Jude’s finger stroked the trigger, the feel of the metal a comfort and a torment.It wouldn’t take much, the slightest bit of pressure, and this would all end.
It wouldn’t be the only thing that ended.
Sloan might forgive him for killing Colm.She understood his need for vengeance, and there was no arguing that man more than deserved death at his hands.
But the O’Malley men wouldn’t see things his way.Callista Sheridan wouldn’t, either.If he killed Colm now, there would be no alliance with Aiden.There would just be him facing down O’Malley, Sheridan, Romanov, and possibly even Halloran.
Sloan didn’t deserve that.
Their child didn’t deserve that.
Jude hissed out a breath as a dark SUV pulled up to the curb and Colm disappeared from view.He waited for the guilt of a missed opportunity to pull him under, but there was nothing except a growing need to hold Sloan.To reassure himself that she was whole.
First, though, he had one last task to accomplish before he could go to her.
Chapter Thirty-One
It took Sloan thirty minutes to talk herself into action.Part of her just wanted to stay in this room until it was all over, keeping her baby safe, but her fear that something would happen to Jude rose with every lap she paced around the room.He was more than capable of taking out a few of Romanov’s men, but that didn’t mean her brothers wouldn’t double-cross him.She’d heard Aiden.He might say that he’d keep his word, but he wouldn’t lift a single finger to help Jude if he was injured again.
Her gaze landed on the lamp sitting on the side table.Hefty enough to do the job.She turned to face the man she barely knew, but who cared about Callie.“You have to let me go.I’m the only one who can stop this.”
Micah looked up from the chair he’d been sitting in since he hauled her into this room.He shook his head.“I have my orders.You don’t walk out of this room until I get the all clear.”
That was what she’d been afraid of, though she’d expected it.Sloan ducked her head, her hair falling forward to shield her face.She skittered back and let a droop into her shoulders that she hadn’t had in what felt like a lifetime.“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
