Page 60 of Cold

“Where is he?” I asked.

“Following the phone.” Romare sucked in a deep breath. “And when he gets here if he’s not here already, he’s going to kill us both.” Fresh tears coursed down his cheeks. “They’re going to kill us because I couldn’t kill you. What will happen to the rest of them? What will they-”

I laid a hand on top of his mouth and shut him up. “Stop. Talking.” I looked around the room, and my anger reignited. Romare didn’t want to kill me. It was what he was made to do. “Get dressed. Now.” Romare moved his mouth underneath my palm, but I shook my head. “Don’t fight me. Just do it.”

My hand left his lips and Romare gazed up at me. He nodded. As soon as I let him go, he bounced off of the bed and moved swiftly. While he dressed, so did I. My heart thumped in my chest as the minutes ticked by and the feeling of dread in my belly grew. I always tensed right before a fight. My hands had a mind of their own, preparing my gun and making sure the silencer was in place.

The splintering of the door made my head jerk up. I snatched the gun I’d tucked underneath a pillow and whirled toward it. Instead of one man, three raced in. I squeezed off a single shot before they were on me. A kick landed in the middle of my stomach and I grunted as pain shout through my body. The hard weight of knuckles slammed into my nose. My vision went blurry and I blinked rapidly trying to dispel the tears that came automatically with that kind of hit. Blood ran down my lips and I tasted the bitter metallic tang.

I lifted my gun again and a bullet ripped through the man’s shoulder in front of me. Blood sprayed and he yelled out in pain. I squeezed off another shot and it hit him square in the chest. He dropped to the ground before another fist connected with my chin. My teeth rattled, but I gritted my jaw and ignored it.

My foot connected with a knee and I heard the deafening crunch echo in my ears as it broke. His scream pierced the air, but he didn’t go down. Instead, he bashed his head against mine and I stumbled back, stunned as another pair of hands grabbed hold of me.

“Get off of my Daddy!”

My vision was blurry, but I saw a shape move so quickly I was surprised. Romare came into view, a knife raised before he plunged it into a man’s chest. He rode him to the ground, stabbing and yelling until the man gurgled blood and his lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling.

Covered in sprays of blood, he turned on my captor. My bloody angel.

“What are you doing, Romare?” the man hissed. “Sergei is going to have your goddamn h-”

Hot blood sprayed in an arc. It hit my skin and Romare’s as my boy slit the guy’s throat like it was nothing. Panting, he held the knife up before his eyes moved up to meet mine. I reached out for him when heavy footfalls interrupted us.

I snatched up my gun and moved on instinct alone. Shoving Romare into the bathroom, I ducked around the corner behind him as bullets tore through the room. I wrapped my arms around my boy and held him tightly.

“It’s going to be okay,” I promised him. “Just close your eyes.”

Romare did just that and held onto me. We stayed glued together until the bullets stopped. I pushed Romare to the floor, tucking him out of harm’s way before I kicked open the bathroom door. Sergei aimed for the head, but I was faster than him. I took out his kneecap as a bullet ripped through my shoulder.

Ignoring the searing pain, I walked over and kicked him in the face. Sergei spat blood, Russian flowing from his lips before I kicked him again. I put my foot on his gun and sent it flying. The hot tip of my gun against his flesh made him cry out.

“Wait, don’t!” Romare ran out and grabbed my arm. “You can’t kill him! He knows where the others are. I don’t. Vito, I have to help them.”

I gazed at Romare and nodded. Raising my gun, I slammed the butt of it against Sergei’s head and he went down in a heap. I snatched up my phone.

“I need a clean-up,” I called down. “Room 342. And quiet this up. We need to move to the room next door.”

I hung up and turned to Romare. “I’ll get the truth out of him.”

Romare’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” he whispered. He glanced down at Sergei and I saw the pain on his face. “You’ve saved me more than once, Vito.”

“And I plan on continuing to do it.”

I pulled him into my arms and wouldn’t let him look at Sergei anymore. His mind was still fragile. Romare didn’t need any more burdens.

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