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She slid a communication device into her ear and then grabbed a rifle that was better suited for long-range. “I’m going high.”
Another wave of dread hit me. “Are you fucking insane?” I yelled, running after her when she took off again.
Laughing, she only kept running. “That’s always questionable. Most days, it’s iffy.”
“Goddamn it, Samara.” I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me, my heart racing. Even with my emotions unlocked, fear was new to me. I didn’t know how to process it. Too much was riding on keeping the people I cared about safe, and one of them was determined to put herself right in the middle of the fucking war that was knocking down the front gates. “You can barely see. How are you going to snipe?”
“When you see double, always aim for the middle.” She gave me a wink and jerked her arm out of my grip.
“Boss?” Walter stopped behind me.
“Fuck!” I bellowed. Stomach roiling, I turned and took the gun he was holding out for me and turned on my earpiece. “No matter what, we take out Daria.”
He popped his neck. “You got it, boss.”
“Abi. Samara. Cristiano.” I glanced back at where my sister had disappeared. “That’s the priority order. Abi first, always.”
“I’ll do whatever needs to be done, Vaughn.”
My fingers clenched around the cold metal of the gun. “Let’s get this shitshow over with.”
Shouts in English and Italian filled my ears as the two of us left the house. Groans greeted me, bullets flying by on either side as I moved through the rubble caused from some motherfucker with a grenade machine gun. Dead bodies were already littering the ground. The SUV I’d driven was still standing, but only because it was built for battle. Two of the tires were slowly leaking, though, making it slant on the driver’s side.
I used it as a shield as I took a quick look around, clocking where Vitucci men were and where Daria’s people were getting in. She hired mercenaries, and she never worked with the same group twice. If they didn’t die doing whatever she paid them to do, she ended up killing them after the job was done.
“It’s such a pretty day,” Samara said in a voice that was bone-chilling, yet oddly soothing. “I love it when the wind cooperates.”
“Are you talking to yourself?” I grumbled, taking out two guys in military gear before running to join a group of Vitucci men. They didn’t give me a second glance, much like the guards at the doors hadn’t when we first arrived. I wasn’t wearing the dark-framed glasses, and with everyone fighting for their lives, they didn’t take the time for a second look. Instead, they assumed I was Ryan, and I wasn’t going to try to dissuade them anytime soon.
“Doesn’t everyone?” she mused.
“No.”
“Huh. I guess I’m just more fun than you.”
She went silent for a few minutes, which I wasn’t sure if I was appreciative of or not. When she talked, I knew she was alive. A bullet screamed past my ear. Ducking lower, I aimed, already pulling the trigger. His head exploded, but not from my shot. Then another guy’s head flew back. A third.
“I told you all I had to do was aim for the middle,” Samara sighed.
Despite everything, I fought a smile and kept going, knowing she would have my back. After taking out five more men, pain exploded in my torso. I’d taken one to the chest, all the air leaving me as I blinked to stay focused.
A soft melody began to hum in my ear, and I focused on that instead of the mind-numbing pain. “You’re humming.”
“And you need to get in better shape,” she chastised. “If your old ass wants to keep up with Abi, then you need to add a little cardio to your routine.”
“Funny,” I growled, coughing as my lungs finally filled again.
“Where are you hit?” she grumbled.
“Chest. But I have a vest on.” I coughed again, the metallic taste of blood hitting my tongue. Fuck. The bullet might not have entered my body, but it had caused damage. I couldn’t slow down, though. If Daria’s men got to the house… No. I wouldn’t let them near Abi. “Just hurts like a motherfucker.”
“How many men do those bitches have?” Samara raged.
“Daria has an army of mercenaries at her disposal,” I informed her.
“And none of them followed you when you came over to the gray side?”
“Don’t you mean dark?” Two guys shouted something in Khmer. I didn’t understand it, but I recognized the language. I killed them both, moving forward slowly but surely.
