Page 257 of Lethal King

“Love you,” I say.

“Love you.”

With that, we get to work.

Spinning around my chair, I fire three quick shots. Two bodies quickly hit the ground, dead on impact. A fourth bullet catches Adriano in the leg. He joins the corpses on the floor as his goons fire a return volley my way.

I’m too quick for them. Bullets flash over my head and upend the expensive carpet at my feet as I zigzag towards them.

Lifting my smaller pistol, I start to pick off the stragglers, one by one. They don’t stand a chance. Whoever Adriano has brought with him, they aren’t used to fighting against killers like Rian and me.

By the time I reach the squirming don, the battle is won. Rian fires one last bullet for good measure, then joins me.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” he says, pointing his barrel into the back of Adriano’s skull.

“You fuckers!” he screeches, rolling on the ground like a pig in the mud.

Blood pours from his shin. I find the bullet wound and step down on it, pinning him in place.

He howls up to the chandeliers.

“You idiot,” I hiss. “What the hell did you think you’d get out of this?”

Adriano starts to cry from the pain. But when he doesn’t answer my question, I dig my heel deeper into his gash.

“Stop!” he pleads.

“Then fucking answer me,” I tell him. “What the hell did you think you’d get out of trying to kill us?”

“Answer the lady,” Rian echoes, tracing his muzzle over Adriano’s tear-stained cheeks. “Were you looking for revenge?”

“No,” Adriano grits. He tries to reach for his leg, but Rian grabs his wrist and stops him.

“Then what? What was your master plan here, moron? What did you think you were going to gain from killing us?”

“… An ally.”

Sneering, I kick away Adriano’s injured leg and crouch down so I can stare into his terrified eyes.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I ask, grabbing his collar.

To my disappointment, there’s hardly any fear in his beady little brown eyes. Instead, I spot something far more disturbing.

“It means you will never find peace,” he wheezes.

Rian cracks the butt of his gun against the back of Adriano’s skull.

“Who’s your new ally?” he growls. “The Greeks? Krol?”

“You wish,” Adriano spits, the life in his eyes flickering as he looks over to me.

“Then who?” I demand to know, furious.

When Adriano doesn’t answer right away, I shove my barrel into his mouth. I can feel his teeth chattering against the cold steel.

This bastard just tried to slaughter us, and for what? To make a good impression?

It reminds me of the stunt he attempted at Rian’s coronation. But this time, instead of slaughtering an innocent cat to show his loyalty, Adriano tried to kill us.