Page 62 of The Fallen
I can feel Lewis’ grip tighten further, the shake in his body giving away the tension and maybe, his own fear.
“Nobody is going anywhere. And if you’ve all forgotten-” Lewis moves the gun from my head and points it at the ceiling. “I’m the one in charge.” He fires. The splitting of the glass roof follows the crack of the shot. It rains shards down on us, and I pull in a breath and squeeze my eyes shut as tiny cuts scratch my arms.
“Now, put the fucking guns down.”
Chapter Twenty Three
NOAH
Landon and I put the shotguns down as instructed, our hands moving slowly. Sensing the others behind us doing the same, I look the fucker over and try to make some kind of plan to get her out of this. Not gonna be easy considering the gun pointed at her head again, but no way is this going to end badly for the woman I care about.
She flinches as the barrel pushes into her skin, her hands clinging onto his arm.
“There must be something you want?” Landon says calmly. “Nothing will be achieved by hurting her, Lewis.” I’m not sure this arsehole gives a damn about anything anymore. He’s shaking as much as she is, let alone thinking clearly about fucking negotiations. “We can talk. Maybe we can find a resolution that suits everyone.”
The crunch of gravel gives away Blake’s movement behind me, and I glance sideways to see how close he is. He’s moved out to the side of me, getting between me and Landon.
“You fucking bastards. Look at you all,” Lewis snarls, hauling her backwards a few steps. “You think you deserve everything.”
Landon instantly steps forward, closing the distance down again. “No. If you deserve something from us, I’ll make sure you get it.” Isn’t that a fucking statement. “But I can’t do anything if you continue threatening her. Let her go and calm down.”
I move slowly, feet creeping me closer until I’m level with Landon again, but the movement causes Lewis to pull back further and flick the gun at me. Better, in all honesty. I can work with that. Annoyingly, she tries pulling away from him as he does, which makes him shove it back on her temple.
“Landon, please,” Neve says. "Leave and-"
“Stay still, Neve,” Landon grates, holding a hand out to me.
Fuck that. If he thinks he’s got command over me in this moment, he’s very fucking wrong.
I move again, sideways this time, so I’m pushing Blake into Landon. The second I do, the gun comes back at me and then flicks between all three of us. That’ll do. Any one of us getting hit is better than her as far as I’m concerned. It’s enough for me to make another move forward, and that’s enough for this dick to start panicking about what’s going to happen next.
Both Blake and Landon move as well, probably trying to back me up. Don’t fucking care. I don’t want help from them. All I need is panic and a clear route in while the gun is pointed anywhere other than her.
“BLAKE!” Ivy shouts.
He doesn’t budge, nor does he even look back at her. He stays right beside Landon, showing his clear fucking devotion to helping this family out of a crisis.
“Stay back, Ivy,” he growls. “I told you to leave.”
I don’t care one fuck for any of them other than Neve, and that fact is becoming more apparent by the second. I’m boiling with rage. Not something I’ve felt for fucking years. My body’s shaking, fists unable to stay loose. Even my fucking head is beginning to lose the ability of clear thought or evaluation. There’s nothing but her eyes looking between me and her brother and that gun pointed at her head.
The sound of tears, sobs and sniffs, comes from somewhere behind me. Don’t know which woman it is. Don’t care either. They’re barely relevant to me, other than the distraction making it harder to see a clear path to Neve.
“You can’t get away, Lewis. What are you going to do after you’ve hurt her?” Landon says.
Die is what he’s going to do if he does.
Landon steps into the space between us and Lewis, both his hands out in front of him to try creating some calm atmosphere. “If you want money, it’s here. A lot of it. You’ll need me to access it, though. And you won’t get anything if she gets hurt. Think about what you're doing.”
“Stay back!” the fucker spits. “I don't want money. I want revenge.” I glare as the gun jostles between all three of us, then comes back to her head. “I swear I’ll fucking finish her first if you don’t back off!”
Blake steps forward at the same time as I do, our hands equally as fucking submissive, but I’m about done with doing as I’m told. The guy is a crazy fuck that needs ending, and no amount of talking is changing that fact any time soon.
The gun presses harder to her head, and I watch her eyes squeeze shut, then open again and search for me. Yeah, I’m coming, princess. Just hang the fuck on.
Fear and dread shine back at me as she’s yanked sideways towards a corner. And then his feet soon catch up with the fact that that was a dumb ass move. It makes him try breaking for the outside, more panic on his features and still dragging her with him.
“Stay the hell back. All of you!” he shouts at us. The gun gets pointed every which fucking way in his scuffle to find clear ground again. At Landon, at Blake, and then at me again. I keep moving this time rather than standing still, giving him something to keep aiming at.
