Page 8 of Cupid's Alpha
A loud explosion echoes from the front of the house. It’s Nana Betty firing her shotgun.
The three men can’t help themselves. They look at the house, from the direction of the sound. It's human nature.
I dive to the ground behind an ugly stone fountain I’ve been trying to talk Nana into getting rid of. Right now I'm glad she didn't listen to me.
I squeeze the trigger. Three times.
Pop Pop Pop!
Each bullet finds its target. The lifeless bodies of my enemies flop to the ground. They didn’t even see it coming. One straight between the eyes. Painless. Better than they deserved.
Another huge bang reverberates from the house and I jump to my feet.
When I reach the hall, Nana Betty's still got her gun raised and she's shouting threats at two dead men. One of them’s missing a face.
"I don't think they can hear you, Nana," I say.
“Goddamn scumbags,” she says, “they've messed up my hall.”
I take the shotgun from her fierce grip and hug her tight. A wave of relief washes over me. She may be old, but I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her. Up until yesterday, she's been my whole life.
“Is everything okay now?” Emilia says. She's standing in the doorway that leads down into the basement. From where she is, she can't see the bodies on the ground. I want to keep it that way, too.
I block her view and kiss her. Nothing in the world has ever tasted so damn good.
“You ain’t got nothing to worry about, now,” I say.
Abbie steps up behind her on the stairs. She’s been pretty quiet ever since I met her. “You really did it?” she says, a nervous smile on her face. “You killed them. For me?”
“For both of you,” Nanna Betty says, “to keep you safe.”
Tears run down her face. I hold Emilia tight and kiss the top of her head.
“How about that coffee?” I say.
“And bacon?” she says.
I kiss her softly on the lips. “And pancakes.”
