Page 28 of Vengeance

I don’t take my eyes off Pray, but I am more than aware of Bella picking herself off the ground with blood trailing down the side of her face.

“Do it, Addy. Kill the motherfucker.”

I don’t hesitate.

Because Viper taught me when I was fourteen not to pull a gun on someone unless I intended to shoot it.

I pull the trigger.

Fuck Pray’s empire.

12

Dele

Ipull the trigger.

Eileen too pulls her trigger and the guard with a gun pointed at me falls to the ground before he can think to pull his on me.

Unfortunately, Pray is fucking quick for a man his age, and has reached up to jerk my hand over before I can finish, causing my bullet to go into the couch.

His grip is strong, and I get a firsthand demonstration of my suspicion that Pray is a lot more skilled than most egotistical mobs bosses who can’t hold a gun straight. But it’s not his grip on my wrist or twisting it that makes me drop my gun. It’s my stomach contracting again, and it takes everything in me not to wince and try to soothe the pain.

I’m not optimistic enough to hope that these are just very painful false contractions. My doctor and I have been preparing for the possibility of early labor since I was five months with the hopes that I’d at least get to eight months, if not nine. Two weeks ago, the date marking my eighth month came and went, and we’d hoped maybe I’d get all the way to nine but didn’t get our hopes up for it.

But of all the times to go into early labor. Now?

I can’t let Pray see that, though. Because I’m not sure he’d hesitate to do something vile like crush my stomach if he was going to go after Leon and Lady. Wherever Bella hid them.

In the meantime, one of the massive guards have managed to cross the room and disarms Eileen and holds her in his grip.

“Foolish girl,” Pray says, throwing me back onto the ground.

I mentally curse. If I weren’t pregnant, between me and Eileen, we could make quick work of Pray’s guards. I’ve been outnumbered worse than this. But I didn’t get this far into my pregnancy to let my baby be killed like this. Eileen knows that too, hence why she’s not fighting back. Not yet. We need to be in a better position.

“Since you want to be so stubborn, see firsthand the consequences of your failure.”

Two of the three guards who dragged her in pick Bella up off the ground while the other hands Pray a gun. I forget about my pregnancy and lunge for Bella.

I catch her in my arms when Pray’s guards drop her. After Pray has put a bullet between her eyes.

A loud wailing scream pierces the house, followed by shouts. It’s me. But it doesn’t feel like me. It feels like someone else screaming and shouting curses at Pray. Someone else holding Bella’s body. Someone else grabbing my gun that Pray set aside and aiming at him only to miss in anguish.

Pray turns toward the entrance, and I want to take another shot at him but my hands are shaking too badly. But Pray ignoring me makes me pay attention to what’s got his attention.

There’s a commotion outside. The unmistakable sound of muted gunshots like there’s a firefight going on. And for all I know, maybe there is. Maybe that’s why none of the rest of the security has come to our aid because they’re preoccupied outside. Whatever it is, Pray isn’t sure what it is either.

Eileen springs into action then. She takes down the guard holding her, grabs her gun to shoot Pray’s other two guards and then aims at Pray.

Unfortunately, he’s able to dodge her bullet by jumping behind the large entertainment center. Eileen makes her way over to me without stopping shooting at Pray to give him no opening to shoot at her.

“Come on,” Eileen commands.

“We can’t leave her,” I protest.

“She’s not here to take,” Eileen says grabbing onto me and physically dragging me from Bella’s body.

I could fight her. Iwouldfight her. If not for the contraction that wracks my body, not allowing me to resist her and deal with the pain.

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