Page 106 of Tattered Obsession

"To hell with that," Sienna snaps, all her attention returning to Tristan. "You lured me here under false pretenses. I've lost enough time with you to this little bitch; I'm not going to lose any more!”

Slowly, I put my hand on Tristan's shoulder. His muscles are as tense as iron, and I can practically see the anger radiating off him in waves. I can also see that Sienna's men are preparing to draw their weapons; my eyes dart over to Liam, and who'sinches from pulling his own.

"Sienna, you need to listen to me," Tristan says, finally picking up on the imminent danger.

"No,youneed to listen tome," Sienna rages, undeterred. "You and me, Tristan. Everything I've done, I did it for you and me.”

"I never asked for that!" Tristan fires back. "I never asked for any of this! I never wanted any of this! I just wanted a normal fucking life, Sienna!”

A strange, desperate look comes over her face. "But you can't have that anymore, can you?" she says. "None of us can." Her expression growing distant, she draws her gun from a thigh holster just above the slit of her cocktail dress. "Just tell me one thing, Tristan," she commands in a voice that's eerily calm. "Do you love her?”

Tristan stares her down for a long moment, placing a protective hand on my waist, seemingly without even realizing he's doing it. "Yes," he replies without hesitation. "We all do.”

"I see," Sienna replies, and that's when she opens fire.

ChapterForty-Five

In hindsight, itreallywould have been better if I'd stayed home.

That's the last thought I have a chance to think before the entire alcove lights up in an explosion of gunfire. Tristan and I hit the deck, and Liam and Sienna charge for each other, guns blazing. I scramble to my feet, vaguely aware of the sounds of shouting in the dining room. Tristan shields me with his body as he begins to return fire, all of our bodyguards—as well as some of the guards employed by the club—descending on the alcove en masse.

Bodies begin to drop with sickening thuds; I feel something smack into my shoulder, and the taste of copper fills my mouth as I bite my tongue.

Tristan, his face drawn and pale with concern, shouts something at me that I don't quite catch. I struggle to focus, fighting my way to a seated position behind the table, which someone—Theo, maybe—overturned to act as a barrier. Liam is skirting around the back edge of the alcove as bodyguards volley shots back and forth, but in the low light, I can't even tell who's shooting at whom.

"Hey," Theo shouts, reaching for me. "Hey, kid, are you okay? Did she get you?”

"I'm fine," I shout back, just as someone from Sienna's side crashes through the table in front of us, blood gushing from a wound in his shoulder.

"Theo, watch out!” I cry.

Theo pushes me back behind him as the wounded bodyguard collapses to the floor. To my left, another bodyguard goes down in a hail of bullets. I scramble back to my feet and duck down behind one of the couches, smacking my head on the way as several of Sienna's guards continue to close in on us.

"The exit's that way," Tristan shouts, and I realize that everyone's converging on the back of the alcove, toward Liam. We're in the very middle; if we try to push through toward the front, we'll get caught in the crossfire.

Liam, who is already crouched low, rounds the side of the alcove and disappears from my sight, and I strain to hear any signs of him above the shots, shouts, and screams around me. I don't know where Sienna is, but if we can just make it to the main room…

Tristan gets to his feet and shoves me behind him, shielding me, just as she comes barreling toward us, her face contorted in a snarl. Her eyes are wild, her face turning red with rage, and I think for a moment that she’s finally going to shoot me. But instead of pulling the trigger, Sienna lunges, knocking Tristan and me to the floor. A grunt of pain escapes him as he hits his injured ribs, and that makes me see red.

My training kicking in, I push up onto my knees and slam my elbow down into Sienna's head. She tumbles backward, and I hear her gun clatter to the floor, even as I pivot and slam my foot into her ribs. I sense her thinking the same thing I am, and we both lunge for it, gunfire erupting dangerously close to our heads as the guys yell in the background.

Sienna grabs my ankle, dragging me back to the floor, and I buck against her, trying to shake her hand off. But, like Tristan, my injuries aren't healed yet, and I'm flagging; I kick at her again, but she's just too strong.

"I'm going to kill you," Sienna hisses, her hand closing around the grip of her pistol, and for a moment I'm back in Lucas's apartment, watching my death happen in slow motion right before my eyes.

I flinch back, ready for the darkness to consume me, but that's when a deafening crack pierces the air. I watch, my eyes wide and my breath stolen, as Sienna slumps onto her side, blood blooming across her shoulder and chest in an obscene blossom. One of her men shouts something, and another makes a beeline for his employer, but the fight comes to a sudden stop when a swarm of club security guards—along with several other "unofficial" employees—comes pouring into the alcove.

I drop to my hands and knees at the realization that I'm covered in Sienna's blood, and one look at her lying motionless on the floor tells me what I already know: she's dead.

My stomach drops.

A dark figure comes into view above me, and I try to sit up, blinking, desperate not to pass out from the shock. "All right, Vivi?" Liam asks, holstering his gun.

"You..." I manage, swallowing. "You shot her.”

"She was going to kill you," Theo says, approaching from the side of the nook. "Didn't you hear us shouting?”

I nod, and Liam crouches down in front of me. "I'm glad you're okay, Vivi.”

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