Page 109 of Blood in the Water
I lunged forward with the same move Wynn had drilled into me for two days. My fist caught Max off guard, and he stumbled, the gun flying from his grip.
I didn’t wait.
I ran.
“Leona!” he shouted, recovering quickly.
Once again, Max chased me through the house with a gun pointed at my back.
38
RYUJI
God fucking damn it.
Why the hell had I agreed to any of this?
My gun was in one hand, with a knife poised and ready to throw in the other, already coated in one man’s blood from cutting his throat. Wynn had shot three others as we tried to get back onto the mansion grounds. But finally, we forged our way inside through one of the first-floor windows.
Volpe had laid a trap specifically forher.
He had to have known she’d come for her bodyguard eventually. And he had to have known that she’d want to see inside those boxes. They’d been frequently shown on the cameras and conveniently carried through the house until everything was piled in the office and left there.
Like it was bait. Like he knew that we were watching.
Which all meant that the security at the Vero mansion was not as easy to crack as Ciel initially thought. It had already been flayed wide open for him to walk inside.
Ciel had to be furious.
Volpe had pulled the wool over his eyes and had baited us all into feeling confident we knew more than him.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t alittlebit impressed. It took a lot to sneak something past Ciel.
But now he’d regret it.
Ciel would be livid, and he’d fucking murder Volpe over the grudge alone if we didn’t get to him first.
“Leona!” Wynn shouted, voice echoing through the beautifully designed open space of the kitchen, living room, and foyer. A designer vase filled with wilted and rotting flowers exploded right next to my head as a bullet tore through the ceramic. We ducked behind a wall as two more men shot at us from near the base of the stairs.
“Where the fuck is she?” I growled. This little vixen was going to get us all killed. And then Obi would have to avenge us by himself, and Ihatedbeing left out.
“She has to still be upstairs.” He dropped an empty clip and slammed another into his gun. Our comms were still dead, so Ciel couldn’t even use his eyes from the metaphorical sky.
I peeked around the wall and fired one round at one of Volpe’s men. Blood sprayed behind his head, painting the marble stairs bright red, and he dropped.
“Do wehaveto rescue her?” I huffed as another soldier tried to flank us from behind. Within a breath, my knife had embedded itself in the man’s neck, and he fell to the ground, gargling on his blood. How fucking manywerethere?
We’d saved the bodyguard. We’d done the job. That was all we were obligated to do.
Wynn’s blazing eyes snapped to mine, anger etched into his angel-like features. “Don’t be a fucking asshole, Ryuji.”
I barked out a laugh. God, I loved seeing Wynn get riled up, too. He never cursed unless he was worked up. I just wished it wasn’t because ofher.
“Leona!” I shouted. “Let’s go!” My heart pounded in my chest, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. It wasnotbecause I was anxious or worried about her. It was because I missed the thrill of a fight.
A flash of red caught my attention on the second-floor landing.
Her.
