Page 81 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

Rage filled my body, not just because Connor was disregarding me, but because he was threatening Cherri in the process. Something in me snapped and I whirled around and punched the guy holding Cherri in the face. He went down in a single hit, as did the two guys standing closest. I pushed Cherri behind me and put myself in front of her. If anyone else touched her, I’d see to it that they stopped breathing.

“I’m sick of this. Why don’t we get the ball rolling?” Connor stood up and held a gun out towards me. “Goodbye, son.”

A gunshot popped out from Connor’s gun and I braced myself for impact, but felt nothing. A fear bubbled in my stomach and I looked behind me, but Cherri was still standing there. I turned around and looked forward and halfway between me and Connor, was Nathan. He was still on his feet, but there was blood dripping from him.

“Nathan!” Nikita and Cherri both screeched.

My brother had put himself between me and a bullet. I glared past Nathan to Connor, and saw for the first time, that flash of regret on his face before he went cold again.

“Youwillregret that,” I growled. “Just like you will regret all the shots you took at me and missed.”

31

Cherri

Deon reached his hand behind himself and shoved me off to the side. He ducked down and snatched a gun out of one of the gunmen’s hands, and in the distraction, I retrieved my gun from the man who had taken it. Immediately, I lifted it to shoot and hit the guy holding Nikita straight in the shoulder. He released her and she finished the job, throwing her head back and headbutting him unconscious. The remaining guards broke out, firing their guns in our direction. I slipped behind some filing cabinets and fired back, giving Deon enough of an opening to grab Nathan and drag him back.

Nikita backed into the hallway for protection, and eventually she disappeared. I figured she must be running back around, but it only took a handful of seconds for them to get around the first time, and in that same amount of time, she didn’t appear.

Either way, I trusted Nikita to take care of herself, and Deon dragged Nathan back behind where I was. I knelt down next to him and was glad to see the bullet only grazed his stomach.

“Deon,” Nathan said. “You know what you have to do. Just get their attention.”

Deon was firing into the fray, keeping himself mostly blocked by the cabinets. “Yeah, they’re all fucking firing at me and Connor is making a break for it.”

Suddenly, the shooting stopped and I watched as the remaining three shooters crowded around Connor and filed him towards the door Nikita had gone through.

“Shit,” Deon hissed, then he stepped out again. “Who here has a daughter named Cynthia? A wife, Angelique?”

The men stopped. Two of their gazes shifted towards one man, who was seething. “Keep their names out of your mouth.”

“Connor used them, right? To get to you?” Deon took another couple of steps forward. “Threatened to release scandalous photos and videos?”

“Do not listen to him,” Connor demanded. “If you know what's good for you.”

Next to me, Nathan shifted and started trying to get to his feet. My one attempt to hold him down failed, so I braced an arm under him and got him to his feet instead.

“I have all those videos,” Nathan said. “Each one of you who has been blackmailed into working for my father, I hold the key to deleting any sensitive information for good.”

“He's lying,” Connor said. “I’ll prove it to you.”

He grabbed a remote from his desk and turned on the television hanging on the wall behind it. He pressed a few buttons, navigating to a folder on the smart TV, and pressed it, but the second he did, an alarm started to blare from the TV.

I smiled as Sicily's face appeared on the screen. “Oh, hey. If you’re seein’ this, you been Sis-hacked.” He started to snicker. “Sis-hacked. That’s good stuff.”

“No!” Connor yelped. He backed out and pressed the folder button again.

“Oh, hey. If you’re seein’ this—”

He tried over and over, each time getting Sicily’s dumb grin.

“My dad doesn’t have any power over you anymore,” Nathan said.

Deon glared at Connor. “Just like he doesn't have any power over us.”

“You see, Dad,” Nathan said, stepping away from my hold. “You taught me my most important lesson. You’re only as powerful as what you have to offer.” The three men stepped away from Connor and turned to face him instead. “And you have nothing.”

Nikita came running back into the room via the back door with Jaxon behind her, but stopped short when she saw that the tables had turned.

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