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4
Emilio
I hurried along behind X, trying my best to keep up with him. His large body mostly blocked my view of what was ahead. I was thankful for that but also nervous that I didn’t know what we were running into. I really didn’t want to die.
Maybe I would have been better off if I’d run instead of going to see X, but that had never really been an option. I couldn’t have left X and his team at Swain’s mercy. I’d taught myself not to get emotionally invested in the jobs I did. That was dangerous for anyone in my line of work, but with X, I couldn’t help it. From the moment I’d heard his voice, he’d intrigued me, and when I’d found out who he really was, I’d become obsessed.
We came around a corner, and I saw a man in front of us dressed in all black. His shoulders were even wider than X’s.
“Watch out!” X shouted a fraction of a second before I heard a shot.
I tensed. Was X hit?
No. Or if he was, he was still running. He was the type to run with a bullet in him.
We entered a nearly empty room. I saw a terrified man who didn’t look older than me holding a gun in shaking hands. Another man lay on the floor with a hole in his chest. Another—holy fuck, it was Swain—was on the floor with his head at an impossible angle. Giorgio was standing but didn’t look good, and Leo was on the ground.
The young man turned, holding his gun on Swain, but Giorgio shook his head. “He’s very dead.”
“Stay here,” X said before stepping forward and wrapping an arm around the young man who’d relinquished his gun to Niall. “Let’s check on Leo.”
That was when I realized the young man was Leo’s boyfriend, Ezra. I’d done a background check on him, but my brain seemed to be filled with cotton, and my stomach was churning. Since I’d seen the dead men, I’d been fighting the urge to vomit. I really hated the sight of blood.
“Oh God,” Ezra sobbed. “Leo… Is he…”
X knelt with him and examined Leo. “None of his wounds look serious. He’s lost a decent amount of blood but not enough to make me seriously worry.” He turned to Giorgio then. “What happened?”
Giorgio looked dazed, but he spoke anyway. I understood how hard it was to ignore a command from X. He always seemed to be able to control me as easily as if I were a puppet, even when we were on the phone. In person he was… intense.
“We were shot with tranquilizer darts before we reached the house,” Giorgio said. “After that… I don’t know. I’ve been out of it. I think they used the fucking dose for a bear.”
“Jesus. At least you’re all right now. I’ve got men on their way to clean this up.”
Leo regained consciousness for a moment and spoke to Ezra. He looked like hell, and I just kept reminding myself that he and Giorgio were alive and that was what mattered most. It could have been so much worse. Swain could have shot them on sight or taken them to another location. Without my equipment, I might not have been able to locate them. The room spun around me. I needed to sit down. The adrenaline rush wasn’t going to keep me on my feet much longer.
“Help me get Leo to the car,” X said to Niall. Then he indicated that Ezra and I should help Giorgio. We each took one of his arms. He was steady enough to stay on his feet, and I was glad because no way could we be of much help to him. Ezra was just as thin as I was and several inches shorter.
When Leo and Giorgio were in X’s SUV, he introduced me to Niall and Ezra before explaining that some of Lucien Marchesi’s best men were on their way along with Lucien’s brother, Angelo. A doctor the Marchesis trusted was headed to their house.
“Coordinate with the crew here,” he told Niall, “then bring Ezra and Emilio back. Until then, don’t let them out of your sight.”
I startled when X reached for my hand. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Um… I think so.”
“I will make sure no one hurts you.”
I glanced down at our joined hands and forced myself to swallow before looking back up at X. I was sure I had a moony expression on my face. I needed to stop making a fool of myself. X was just concerned. He blamed himself for what happened today. I’d learned what a perfectionist he was after working for him for the last year. I couldn’t let myself read anything into his concern. He was straight, no matter how much I wished otherwise.
Niall did as he’d been instructed. I longed to wait in the car. I’d seen more of the gruesome scene in the house than I wanted to, and having to hear about what they planned to do with Swain’s body only made me feel sicker, but I knew Niall wouldn’t go against X’s orders. Ezra didn’t look pleased to be there either, and I was sure he was worried about Leo. I was too. He’d obviously been badly beaten, but surely X would know if his wounds were serious.
