Page 30 of The Players

“What’s left of her anyway,” his partner said with a smirk.

“There’s only one problem with that,” Sy pointed out.

Just one? Carmen could think of several. If her heart hadn’t almost been beating out of her chest, tying up her tongue, she might have shouted them off in accordance of horror.

“What’s that?” Stan asked.

In a sudden move, Sy grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. His cold eyes looked her over as if she was just a piece of meat. Her stomach dropped. But, but… surely this was a ruse? Hadn’t he pledged to keep her safe, just hours before?

“I didn’t have time to sample the goods myself yet.”

A ball of nausea formed in her belly, slowly crawling up to her throat. She froze, completely turning into a statue. There was no fight-or-flight mode anymore. All she could do was endure whatever pain he was going to inflict upon her. Her eyes closed for a sec. It had happened before, in worse circumstances, and she had survived. She would once again.

“You bastard.” She spat in his face, earning a slap from him that knocked her off her feet.

“On your knees, bitch,” Sy snarled.

Carmen had never believed she was capable of hating anyone as much as she had Franco. She’d been wrong.

As she sat on the cold ground, on her hands and knees, looking down on his biker boots, she swore she would kill him. As long as she had a breath left in her body, she’d make sure he would rue the day he’d met her.

His fingers dug into her hair, pulling her face up to him. The sound of him unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants was like a cannon shot to her ears, deafening her.

Keegan’s men chuckled and came closer. Clearly, they wanted a front row seat to witness her humiliation. Porky even replicated Sy’s move, unzipping his pants, going as far as taking out his junk.

Carmen couldn’t help herself, and gagged.

“I bet she sucks like a damn vacuum,” Porky said as he started stroking himself. “Caruso must’ve trained the bitch well.”

The more the two men closed in on her, the more she trembled. Sy didn’t take his eyes off of her for a second. How could she have found those blue orbs full of a shared pain earlier? Why hadn’t she seen them for what they really were, a dead abyss.

“Let me go first,” Porky said eagerly. He put away his gun and reached for her.

She wasn’t sure which of them screamed first. Porky, whose face exploded when Sy shot him, or Stan, who got smacked in the face with Sy’s belt, right before he aimed his gun at her.

Sy did a crazy twist with his body, took a hit to his temple, and then a second shot rang out. Carmen screamed. When she re-opened her eyes, Sy stood right before her. He’d jumped in between and taken a bullet to his shoulder.

Then Sy went into action once more. He grabbed Stan’s gun and turned it on him. Without further ado, he blew his brains out.

Carmen heaved but nothing came out. Thank God for small mercies.

Sy staggered back a bit. Blood was dripping from his shoulder, covering his sleeve in crimson. If only her legs hadn’t turned into jelly so she could go help him. She should have known he was only putting on a show, that he’d never truly degrade her like that. Not when he had given his word that he'd keep her safe.

He tucked away the gun. “Gotta fix that camera,” he grumbled. At her look, he said, “You didn’t really think I was gonna shoot a man while on a live feed, did ya? You never know where something on a computer might end up.”

His hand went to her bruised cheek, and she flinched. He didn’t say the words, but his eyes apologized, and that was enough.

CHAPTER 11

CARMEN

Hours later, Carmen was back in the penthouse, standing in front of the bathroom door, fuming from the inside.

It wasn’t because she got hurt during the club shooting, which she had. Or because she had been afraid to get raped and killed, because she had been. No, it was because of a stubborn man who had taken a bullet for her, and was refusing to let her tend to his wound. Sy had effectively shut himself inside the bathroom.

Earlier in the evening, Vince had caught up to them in the parking lot. He had basically pushed her in the car, drove them home, and left as soon as he’d placed more men before their door. She wasn’t sure if it was to protect her or to prevent her from running away. Truth be told, it had crossed her mind to leave. After all, she’d been under their protection for less than a day and had ended up in a shooting.

Not that it mattered. All she could think about was the way Sy had jumped before her when Keegan’s man had tried to kill her. Sy’s action had surprised her and she wasn’t sure how to take it. She couldn’t help but wonder what his angle was. She’d already handed over the casinos, so that couldn’t be it. Why would he risk his life for a woman he barely knew? It just didn’t make any sense.

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