Page 175 of Under Your Scars
“Okay, mommy.”
I shut the cabinet door and grab my mother’s hand as Gavin, with his gun out, puts himself between us and the door closest to the foyer. It goes quiet for a few long seconds, and then I hear one morepop.
Gavin slumps to the floor, clutching at his shoulder. It doesn’t look like it hit anything vital, but he could easily bleed out.
I’d bend down to help him, but I can’t.
Because across the room, pointing a gun at us, is the Silencer.
I don’t mean Christian, because whoever this is in front of me, it’snotChristian.
His body shape is wrong. His build is wrong. His height is wrong. I can tell from across the room that he’s too old. His mask is wrong. His eyes are the wrong shade of green.Wrong.Wrong.Wrong.
This is the man who shot my husband. I know it in my bones.
“What do you want?” I croak, my mother and I clutching onto each other like a lifeline.
“Come with me.Now. Or the Irishman dies.”
God,even his voice is wrong.
Christian’s mask has a slight voice changer too, but his is sexy and gravelly. This one sounds like a cheap knock-off of Darth Vader.
My heart crawls up my throat at the peculiar nature of that threat.The Irishman. He’s threatening to kill Edwin,notmy mother, who’s standing right next to me.
Whoever this person is, and whatever their motivations are, he’s trying to lure Christian into a trap.
And I’m the bait.
CHAPTER 54
THE SILENCER
I don’t mind blood. I never have.
But when there’s blood all over my home and I wasn’t the one to spill it? Yeah, it’s fucking infuriating.
I should have known shit would hit the fan. Last time I left Elena alone for more than two fucking minutes, she hit her panic alarm and I had to watch helplessly as two men got their revenge on me by raping her.
And once again, that fucking alarm is going off and I’m damn near ready to raze this city to the ground. If Elena has so much as a hair out of place, I can kiss my last bit of self-control goodbye.
When I get to my mansion, there are two security guards on the ground. They’re bleeding from gunshots in their stomachs. These are big guys, big targets. Whoever this is that’s trying to ruin my life, they have terrible fucking aim. First they can’t land a fatal hit with a damn military-grade sniper, and now they can’t even get a clean hit on my security guards. They’re alive, just unconscious from blood loss.
I check my tracking device. It shows Elena’s location in the kitchen. I slowly make my way through the house, listening carefully for any voices that shouldn’t be here. Any sounds of struggle or fear.
I don’t hear anything until I get to the kitchen. Bethany is crouched over Gavin, holding a dishrag against what I can only assume is a gunshot wound at the curve of his shoulder.
She turns her head and whimpers when she spots me. She looks terrified, they both do.
Then it hits me. I’ve made a big fucking mistake.
I forgot to change.
They’re looking dead in the eyes of the Silencer.
Shit.
It’s too late to try and fix it now. With my gun at my side, I kneel next to Gavin. “Where is she?”
