Page 54 of Forbidden Romeo

The men look to the first man—clearly the leader, judging by his posture and the way the other two seem to be waiting on his cues.

Finally, the leader answers for the three of them. “I’m okay with that.”

Fuck. I’ll defend myself, but I’ve only ever shot another person once, and it was non-lethal. If I’m going to escape this alley with my life, I’m going to have to kill all three of them.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady the trembling in my hands. The weight of the situation presses down on me, and the reality of what I may have to do in order to survive fills my mind.

How many bullet wounds have I cleaned? How many people will I have to save to make up for the three lives here? I’ve witnessed the pain and suffering caused by violence, and I’ve dedicated myself to undoing that damage. As a doctor, my purpose has always been to heal, to save lives, and to bring hope to those in need. Yet, here I am, faced with the brutal reality of doing the exact opposite.

The weight of their lives hangs heavily on my conscience. But amidst the turmoil, a flicker of determination ignites within me. I must find strength in the knowledge that my actions, however difficult and harrowing they may be, are driven by the primal instinct to survive. And I need to survive. For Roisin.

With every ounce of resolve, I push aside my doubts and embrace the survival instinct coursing through my veins. These men have cornered me, threatening my life, my family, and I will not become a helpless victim.

As I think this, another figure enters the alleyway. A hoodie covers his face from view, but the way the other men acknowledge him tells me everything I need to know. It’s four against one, and my odds are looking worse by the second.

“Kate told you not to engage,” the new man says gruffly.

The leader lets out a grunt. “So?”

“Stand down,” he barks. The order seems to echo in the alleyway, bouncing off the walls. There’s something familiar about the sound that I can’t quite place.

“You know what?” the leader says, turning on me with a dark look in his eye. “I don’t think I will.”

I turn to aim my gun at him as he begins to stalk toward me. With every step, his mouth spreads into a crude smile. The kind that promises that whatever terrible things he has planned for me, he’s going toenjoyit.

I take off the safety and breathe. Slowly. In and out. A clean shot through the heart at this distance will kill him instantly. It would take me only a few seconds more to hit the others in the same spot. There’s a possibility that one of them might have a faster draw, so I mentally size them up and determine which order I need to fire. The calculations sharpen my mind and help me detach as I begin to pull the trigger—

Thump.

The leader approaching me suddenly falls to the floor.

Behind him, the man in the hoodie quickly withdraws his hand before kicking the guy next to him in the chest. The second guy goes flying to the floor.

“The fuck!” the third man yells in surprise, withdrawing a knife from his jacket and turning away from me to face his new opponent.

My savior stalks closer to him, effortlessly dodging the haphazard swings of theDead Eyes’knife. In a flash, the knife is knocked to the floor, and theDead Eyetakes a fist straight to the face with a sickening crunch. He buckles at the impact, and I watch his eyes roll back as he hits the ground, out like a light.

Under different circumstances, I might even be impressed. But just as I think it, the otherDead Eyerecovers from the kick to the stomach and approaches the other man from behind, locking his arms around his neck.

The two scramble for a moment, theDead Eyepulling down the other man’s hood so I can finally see who it is.

At first, it’s just a crop of dark hair, but then I see the hard lines of his forehead, his jaw. His hazel eyes, gleaming in anger.

My world starts spinning.

Relief hits me first.

If he’s here, that means I’m okay, right? He’s here to rescue me and make sure these men can’t hurt me anymore.

But they knew him. TheDead Eyesknew him.

He knows who I am.

I watch in horror as he flattens theDead Eyeto the floor and begins kicking him mercilessly. Each blow has the man on the floor jolting into angles that shouldn’t be possible for the human body to attain.

It’s relentless. Every hit has my mind spiraling further and further into madness.

I hear myself gasp, the name tumbling out of my mouth a moment later.

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