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I shook off the anger I felt at all these stupid people as I reached the back door of the shop. I took a moment to catch my breath, then slipped around the side. I could see the vendor through the window. He stood with Lexi, who looked to be pacing in front of him. I slipped away quietly and eased in the back door. I was a few feet from her when she spotted me and tensed.
“What? No!” she cried to the vendor and looked at me as I quickly stepped toward her.
“Come on,” I waved my hand, “you can’t be here.”
“No!” She suddenly pulled a gun from the pocket of her sweatpants. “Stop!”
“Enough,” I warned, not wanting to draw attention to us. “Put it down before you shoot yourself.” I really wished the vendor wasn’t witnessing this whole thing.
“Fuck you!” She squeezed the trigger and shot right next to my foot. She took off running, and to my surprise, she was pretty fast. I raced after her. She crossed the road and disappeared into one of the side streets. As I reached the street, she shot at me again.
“Shit!” I whirled back around and saw she had spotted a few local cops who had a barricade up ahead. “Come on!” I hissed. I knew she’d be safer with Castillo than the fucking local police. As I took the side street, I had a strange feeling and looked up to see someone holding a machete on the rooftop. I didn’t even want to think why he was there, but thankfully, he seemed too preoccupied to pay any attention to me. Nothing could surprise me anymore in this crazy, lawless country.
I squeezed through a small area and popped out right behind Lexi. I snagged her around the waist and slapped a hand over her mouth then whirled her behind the wall and out of view of the officers not far ahead of us. I used my knee to knock the gun out of her hand and kicked it out of sight.
* * *
“You wanna live another day?” I hissed into her ear. “Because if those officers get their hands on you, they’ll sell you to Siberia so fast you’ll never have a chance at freedom.”
She kicked and bucked, but I outweighed her by a lot.
“Go check it out,” one of the officers called. Shit, he must have heard us. I hauled her back into an alleyway out of sight.
“Let me help you, Lexi.” I internally cursed as Filippo came up behind us. I shook my head, and he backed off a bit and raised his phone to his ear. I heard him tell Alejandro where we were, then he disappeared around the corner as he talked. “Don’t fight me and listen.” I loosened my grip and slowly eased her out of my hold. It was a risk, but I needed her to see I didn’t want to hurt her. “See, that’s—”
Whack! She smoked me in the jaw with her elbow then kneed me hard in the balls and took off at a full run past the alley where Filippo had gone.
“Fuck!” I once again raced after her. It took me a moment, but I figured out where she was headed, where most thought they’d find safety. The church. Little did she know that the Christ of the City was an empty shell of a church that had burned down quite a while back. It offered no help to the fallen. Once again, I took a different way around, cut her off, and pointed my gun in her face. I needed to get her out of here before—
“Help!” she screamed, and in desperation, I lunged forward and knocked her out cold. I caught her mid-fall, hiked her over my shoulder, and slipped into the shadows with her. Alejandro raced toward us. I tossed her in back and jumped in the front seat.
“Drive, Ale,” I yelled. I’d had enough and wanted to get the hell back home before we had any more company. We eased through the side streets, not drawing attention to ourselves. I glanced at the Christ of the City Church and saw movement inside. Friggin’ night junkies probably looking for a spot to squat.
“I hope you enjoyed your evening,” I muttered and thought how badly this night could have ended for all of us.
“I did, thanks. Too bad you can’t say the same for your balls.” Her voice was strong, but I heard defeat in her tone.
“She’s back.” I smirked and turned to look at her. I made a show of shifting my weight to the side as if to give my balls some relief, and she gave a snort.
We made it back home without any further incidents, and I hopped out and opened the door to help Lexi out myself. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and I looked away. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be affected by her.
“Wait outside,” I ordered my men as I drew her inside the house. “Are you hurt at all?”
“Fuck you,” she spat.
I rolled my eyes and inspected her body. The way she held her arm told me she was hurt. Respectfully, I lifted her shirt slightly and saw some bruising along her side.
“Anywhere else?”
“No.” She lowered her defenses with a sniff. “My lower back.” Again, I was careful how high I lifted her shirt and saw the bruises that had begun to surface there too.
“Is it from the car accident or from Castillo’s men?”
“Car accident.” She looked away.
“Did his men do anything to you?” Her eyes went to the floor.
“Other than get some good gropes in, no.” I ran my tongue along my teeth at the thought of that and pulled her shirt back down.
