Page 109 of Ruthless Vengeance
At least, that’s what I’m choosing to tell myself.
I’m about to head back over to the women, my arms loaded with water and more snacks, when a gunshot rings in my ears, and my blood runs cold.
Everything happens so quickly.
Men yell outside, and footsteps pound on the porch.
“What’s goin?—”
Andre moves in front of me.
“Get down,now!” He wraps an arm around my waist, shoving me back toward the kitchen.
The bottles of water go crashing to the floor, and I cry out when the front door is blasted off its hinges.
The women are all screaming as more gunfire sounds, and Margot is desperately trying to talk to them in Spanish.
The second my eyes lock with the man standing in the doorway, the world around me goes quiet.
“No…” I stumble backward.
Ben is standing in the doorway, his gun raised, and his eyes wild.
Andre spins around, instinctively pulling his own gun from the waistband of his pants.
But he’s not quick enough.
I watch in slow motion as Ben pulls the trigger, his arm jolting with the shot.
A scream lodges itself in my throat as Andre stumbles backward into me, his hands clutching at his abdomen as blood starts to coat his fingers.
One second, he’s standing in front of me, a wall of muscle and strength, and the next he’s on the floor, struggling to catch his breath.
“No!” I lunge for Andre.
“Sit down, little sister.” Ben’s voice, cold and emotionless, has my body freezing.
My eyes slowly lift to meet his, and when I find him pointing his gun at me, I barely even flinch.
A part of me isn’t even surprised.
We might be of the same blood, but we haven’t been a family in a very long time.
I don’t want to leave Andre unattended, but if I don’t do as he says, I have no doubt that Ben would think nothing of putting a bullet in my chest too, and I can’t afford to let him take me down too. Not until I make sure Andre and the women here are safe, at least.
I look down at the floor.
Andre’s gun lies discarded a few feet away.
I’ve never fired a gun in my life, but I’ll do it. I’ll shoot my own brother to protect my family.
If I can just get to it?—
“Don’t even think about it,” Ben warns and I flinch. “Sit down,now.”
My whole body trembles as I slowly walk away from Andre, the sounds of his haggard breathing making my vision blur with tears.
He can’t die. He just can’t.
