Page 25 of Collapsed

“Hold it tight and steady. Do not hesitate,” she cautions me. “Set the phone down. You’ll need both hands, but don’t hang up.”

I’m crouched next to the couch with my phone sitting on the arm of the couch, aiming the gun at the door. My breathing is rapid, and my heart is beating violently.Please say dragon. Please say dragon.The door handle starts to shake. Fuck, no knock first. This is Ivan’s men.

The click of the lock lets me know they’re coming in. The door starts to swing open, and…BANG! BANG!

“DRAGON! DRAGON!” Alexie’s voice yells out.

“Alexie! Did I shoot you?” I ask.Oh fuck! I shot at them.

“Not me,” he says.Shit, did I shoot someone?“Is it safe to come in?”

I drop the gun on the couch and run to the door. Alexie is standing in the doorway with his hands up. His smile goes wide when he sees me. “Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed,” he jokes.

“First of all, we all know you’re not unarmed,” I snark back.

“You got me, I’m fully loaded,” he can’t stop himself from making more jokes. “We are going to be doing some shooting lessons when we get back home.”

A groan sounds from behind Alexie, catching my attention. “Let’s just be thankful she isn’t a good shot.” Alexie moves to the side, and I see Stryker bent over at the opposite wall. Next to him is Nat.

My body floods with relief as I run over to her, wrapping her in my arms. Nat closes her arms around my waist and kisses me on the neck. I lean back slightly to take in her face.She’s here. She’s alive!I don’t know what she’s been through or what Ivan did to her. We can talk about that later, but right now, I need to hold her and know that this is real… she’s real. I press my lips to hers. Her lips are soft and plump. She parts her lips slightly, creating an entrance for my tongue. My tongue enters, and we’re lost in our own moment, completely oblivious to anything around us.

A fake series of coughs pulls us from our reunion. My attention moves to Stryker. He’s still hunched over but looking at us. “No, please, continue with the love fest. I’ll just continue to bleed all over the hallway floor.”

I look at where he is holding his leg. His hands are pressed to the outside of his upper thigh, blood dripping down his pants. “Oh my god, Stryker! Are you okay?”

“Like I said,” Alexie cuts in, “We’re just really glad you’re a piss-poor shot.”

“I shot you?!” I scream.

“Shhh,” King chimes in. I was so wrapped up in seeing Nat that I neglected to see Conrad, King, and Marcela leaning against the wall. “Let’s not announce it to the entire hotel. The cops are probably on their way now since someone fired off a couple of rounds at us,” he says accusingly.

“It is my fault, Prince-y,” Alexie cuts in again. “Do not blame sweet Katia. I told her we would use a code word. My cock was so excited to have my love back that my brain no longer worked properly.”

“Perfect,” King says. “It’s Volkov’s fault you got shot,” he says to Stryker.

I move to Stryker and lean down to inspect his leg. “I’m so sorry, Stryker. I thought you were Ivan’s men coming in. I’m sorry. I feel terrible.”

Stryker looks at me, but his face doesn’t look angry. In fact, he looks happy to see me. “Let’s get inside. A lot happened, and we need to go over some shit.”

King and Alexie move to Stryker’s side, lifting his arms up and putting them around their shoulders, and we usher them further into the room. Once we get in the room, Conrad speaks up, “I need to get in touch with BJ. Our comms went down, and she’s probably going nuts.”

“Fuck!” I shout out and drop Stryker’s arm to run across the room. I grab my phone off the couch and hit the speaker. “BJ, are you still there?”

“Thank goodness you’re okay. Did you kill those fuckers?” she asks. I look at the rest of the team, who are staring toward the phone.

“If by kill those fuckers, you mean shoot Stryker in the leg, then yes,” King answers for me.

“Oh, my gentle giant. I’m so glad to hear your somber tone,” BJ quips. “What happened? I heard gunshots, and then it went quiet.”

Nat steps forward to say, “That fucking psychotic asshole led to a trap just as we suspected. We had a little gunfight, Stryker snorted some cocaine, and then Ivan blew everyone up, including his own men.”

Stryker

Whatthefuck,shejust shot me!

Katia actually fucking shot me, and Alexie thinks it is so funny. I don't see the humor, but apparently, he does.

“Oh my god, Stryker, I am so sorry. Please forgive me.” Katia comes over to me where King and Alexie set me on the couch. “I was just following the orders…” I interrupt her before she can keep going on.

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