Page 157 of Possession

“There they are!”

I barely look back when I hear the words bellowed from the cliffs above us. All I see are silhouettes in the sun, but I can’t make out whose they are.

But I do see guns.

And they’re pointed at us.

Landyn has one foot on the stern entrance where the boat has been backed in when the first shot is fired.

She screams and stumbles forward.

“Fuck!” I yell. “Up the stairs and keep your head down.”

The Vanquish is an almost sixty feet long yacht. Damian bought it right before I clawed my way into the family. It looks like it belongs on the Mediterranean more than the coast of California. It’s the top of the line when it comes to luxury.

But, more importantly, it’s fast, which is what we need right now.

He’s got a deep-sea fishing boat docked in the next slip, but it hasn’t been used since I got here.

More shots rain down from above, ricocheting at our heels.

I push Landyn into the seat at the helm. We’re like sitting ducks inside the tempered glass roof and walls that were meant for three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views.

Perfect when you’re cruising the ocean, but a fucking nightmare when you’re being shot at.

With one turn of the key and push of a button, the monstrosity rumbles to life below us. I turn and look up the cliffs to see five men, two of them are guards who have reported to me for a long fucking time. They make their way down the stairs with their guns drawn, but at least the gunfire has stopped.

I turn back to Landyn’s frightened expression and wrap her hand around the throttle. “When I get the lines off the boat, you hit it hard. Steer toward open sea. Do not hesitate.”

Her eyes widen, but she nods. I run from what little safety the helm offers and stay low. But I’m out in the open when I get to the bow to release a line from the cleat, and that’s when the gunfire starts all over again.

Shit.

It goes high and peppers the water over the bow.

“Brax!” Landyn screams.

I duck below the side rail along the port side where they can’t see me to release two more lines.

When I make my way to the other side to release the last ones, they’ve hit the bottom landing, and there’s nowhere for me to hide.

I pull my gun from the back of my shorts and cup the butt of my Glock in my other hand.

I fire three times.

One man drops heavy on the landing, but the rest duck out of my line of fire before I can get them.

I recognize one of the guards’ voices when he yells, “Fucking traitor!”

They have no clue. To be a traitor, one has to actually be on your side at some point, which I never fucking was. The fact that they’re not calling me a pig tells me they have no clue who or what they’re dealing with.

One guy pops up to start firing again, but I let loose.

I empty an entire magazine on them as I run to the last line.

I drop to the deck after I release it and yell, “Go!”

Landyn must be freaked out and scared, but she handles this the way she’s handled everything since the first day I laid eyes on her. She does exactly what I told her to do.

---