Page 101 of Corrupted Empire

Gabriel murmurs weakly, “Harry.”

I pour a load of disinfectant on his chest, and he growls in pain.

“Yeah, we’re fine, just freaked out,” Clara replies. “They’ve shoved us in some sort of safe room and won’t tell us anything. I tried to call Angelo, but he’s not answering either.”

Thank God. As long as Harry is safe, I know that I can get through whatever else happens tonight.

“He’s probably on his way here,” I say, pressing dressing to the wound. “The Cartel attacked the dinner. Gabriel’s been stabbed and shot. I got kicked in the back. Didn’t enjoy that. Otherwise, I’m okay.”

“Jesus,” Clara hisses through her teeth.

“I’ve got to go,” I say. “I need to bandage Gabriel up, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Give Harry a hug for me and tell him that I love him.”

“I will. Stay safe.”

I chuckle darkly. “I’ll try.”

After I hang up the phone, I wrap Gabriel’s chest in bandages and move on to his arm. I have no idea what I’m doing—just another thing I need to learn when we get out of this.

If we get out of this.

I hate that I can’t hear anything through the thick wall. I have no idea if the fighting is still going on or if more Italians have shown up or if Felicity’s men are standing in the bedroom only a few feet away from me, trying to figure out the best way to force their way inside.

Then I hear the knock. Heavy, fast, and insistent.

“Alexis,” I hear. It’s a female voice, but I can’t place it.

“Who is it?” I call back.

“Antonella. Backup has arrived. It’s safe to come out now.”

The fact that Silvano hasn’t come to fetch us personally is worrying. Is he dead? Gabriel will be devastated if he loses another Gambaro. I really hope Silvano is just busy somewhere. In any case, Gabriel needs to get to a hospitalnow, so I don’t have time to dwell on who it is delivering the news, just that they’re here.

I punch the code into the door, and the lock clicks open. The door slams inward, nearly whacking me in the arm. I open my mouth to yell at Antonella when I see who is really on the other side of the door. The complaint dries up on my tongue.

Felicity Huffman is slumped into the side of one of her goons, breathing heavily. She is caked in blood, her face wan, eyes wild. Two other Cartel members are there with her, and one of them has a knife to Antonella’s throat. Blood drips down from where the knife has begun to slice into her skin. He tosses the poor woman to the floor, and all four of them barge into the safe room.

I run to Gabriel’s side and grab the gun, shielding Gabriel with my body while I aim.

The biggest of Felicity’s brutes lunges for me, but I have a millisecond window of opportunity, and I use it.

I don’t give Felicity a chance to hurt Gabriel again. I don’t even give the bitch a chance to speak. I put a bullet in her head and watch as she slumps forward, finally dead. Then the Colombian tackles me, and the gun goes sailing across the room.

She’s dead, I think. Felicity is dead, and Harry and Clara are safe.

So it doesn’t hurt as much when the man on top of me punches me in the face, even though the coppery taste of blood fills my mouth. It could be worse.

“Get off her!” I hear Gabriel slur. He launches himself from the sofa and manages to knock the Cartel thug off me, but the other two quickly descend into the fracas. It’s a small space, and I lose track of who is who and which way is up. I kick and claw and bite at anyone who tries to touch me, and even though I know we are vastly outnumbered and that Gabriel and I are going to die in—of all places—the safest room in the penthouse, I intend to go out fighting.

BANG.

The gunshot is deafening in the small space, and I cry out in surprise. My ears ring.

BANG.

Confusion is the name of the game, especially when the man on top of me stops strangling me and goes limp.

BANG.

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