Page 55 of Craving Danger

When we reach the door to the sixth floor, I gesture with my finger in front of my lips for her to keep quiet.

Holding the submachine gun I took from one of the fuckers ready, I nudge the door open an inch and check the lobby. Not seeing anyone, I move forward.

On high alert, my eyes keep darting everywhere as I lead Samantha to another empty office.

My voice is low as I say, “Help is on the way.”

Her head bobs up and down, her eyes wide and filled with terror.

Silence falls around us, and I stand ready near the door. I hear the elevator ping, and the doors slide open.

My muscles tighten, and my finger brushes against the trigger.

The moment I hear footsteps nearing the office we’re hiding in, I move forward. I’m met by three men and manage to shoot one in the chest and another in his thigh. Grabbing the one with the chest wound, I use him as a shield while I finish off the other two.

Just then, Milo comes running down the hallway.

I exchange the submachine gun for one of the others lying on the floor and check the clip before I look at Milo and ask, “Where’s Lorenzo?”

He shakes his head, a flash of heartache tightening his features.

No.

As the loss of Lorenzo grips my heart, I shake my head.

“He took a bullet for me,” Milo mutters.

Christ.

I clench my jaw as relentless heartache pours into my chest. He was one of my best men and I considered him a close friend.

We hear the elevator doors open, and Milo pushes me back into the office where Samantha is hiding.

Suddenly, gunfire erupts from outside the building, and it makes the corner of my mouth lift. “They’re here.”

“Thank fuck,” Milo breathes.

I lock eyes with him. “Ready?”

When he nods, we dart out of the office and open fire on the fuckers.

The moment it’s safe, I shout, “Come, Samantha.”

Within seconds, she’s right behind me, and we rush to the stairwell so we can head down to where the other four heads of the Cosa Nostra are eliminating the enemy.

As we move from the fifth floor to the fourth, men come running up the stairs, and Milo and I open fire on them.

We step over the dead bodies and keep killing the fuckers as we make our way toward the ground floor.

Suddenly, Samantha lets out a shriek. I swing around, and seeing one of the fuckers has his hand around her ankle, I bury a bullet in his head to make sure he fucking dies.

Grabbing hold of her hand, I pull her closer and position her between Milo and me before we continue to move.

Slowly, the sound of gunfire fades away, and by the time we reach the ground floor, we’re met with a sea of bodies in the main lobby.

Samantha

Horrified out of my ever-loving mind, I gag at the sight of blood and death in the lobby.

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