“I wish I was able to get some action,” I groaned and flopped back against my pillows, ignoring the laughter that came from every-fucking-body in the room. “Assholes.”
I grabbed Giana’s hand and threaded my fingers through hers. We relaxed into a comfortable silence as Kellan put something on the TV. This was all I needed: my friends, my family, and the only woman I would ever love by my side.
Chapter Nine
Giana
Myeyesflutteredopen,the night now shrouding the room in darkness. Merrick was curled against me, his arms cradling me protectively. I shifted onto my back, my head rolling on the soft pillow beneath me. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I must have passed out during the last movie, and the guys left me to sleep with Merrick for the night.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, wiping the sleep from my eyes. The only thing odd was that I wasn’t usually one to wake up in the middle of the night. I strained my ears for any sounds that might’ve woken me up, expecting to hear Sophia or Zane stomping around the house, but there was nothing.
I rolled out of bed and searched the nightstand, but there wasn’t a glass of water there. Yawning, I pulled out the fewweapons I kept in the drawer, not wanting to be too careful. It was probably nothing, but if the last couple of months taught me anything, it was that I could never be too prepared. There was no way someone was going to sneak up on me while I was getting some water.
I strapped the knife holster to my thigh, shrugged on the gun holster, and placed the weapons into them before padding to the bedroom door.
When I reached for the door, the doorknob was already turning. My heart jolted as I reached for my knife, pulling it out just as the door swung open. My foot was already slamming into him as a man dressed all in black stood in the doorway, night-vision goggles obscuring most of his face.
Nope, not one of ours.
He staggered back a step, and I followed, not letting him recover. I pulled off the goggles and hit him with a roundhouse kick before following it up with the knife to his neck. He doubled over and sputtered, blood spurting from his lips. I barely had a second to steady myself before the next one was charging at me. I threw the goggles at his face, catching him off guard as I took stock of the situation. There were three other armed men in the hallway, but thankfully the corridor was narrow and they weren’t able to all converge on me at once, especially with their dying friend in the way.
“Code Red!” I shouted down the hallway, grateful we’d made plans for this exact situation. “Code Red!”
“Fuck,” the man in front of me said, pulling out a zip tie from his back pocket as he surged for me.
I swiped out with the knife, and he barely dodged the blow, but I was already swinging with the other fist, following it up with a sidekick to his gut. One of the other guys tried to rush me as the second recovered, but I was already thrusting out the knife.
He hissed in pain and staggered back. I only managed to slice across his arm since he was wearing a vest. Fuck. Okay, go for the neck next time. Noted.
Kellan burst into the corridor, followed by Spade. The two of them took on the remaining two who lingered in the hallway, trying to get to me. Good, that left two for me.
Movement in the room behind me nearly distracted me as operatives two and three rushed me at once.
Fuck this.
I swung out with the knife again, keeping them at bay until I could get the gun out of its holster. I aimed at the closest one, shooting him right between his eyes, blood splattering my face and the wall behind him. I took aim at the last one, but before I could pull the trigger, someone yanked me back into the bedroom, and a shot went off, followed by a second one.
The frantic thump of my heart was the only sound I could register for a moment as I blinked; my brain still kicked into fight mode, so it took me a second to catch up.
I hadn’t seen the gun the last operative had pulled out, but Merrick had, judging by the bullet hole in the wall and not through my chest.
“Giana,” Merrick said, pulling me roughly into his waiting arms.
Shivers wracked my body, my eyes still blinking, still attempting to piece the images together, but they wouldn’t meld into a coherent thought.
“Giana.” Merrick drew back to rake his gaze over me, an edge of panic pinching his features. “Were you hurt?”
“I—I don’t think so.” I inhaled a shaky breath, taking stock of myself.
“Giana.” Kellan enveloped me in his warm embrace. Spade crowded in too, pushing the others aside so he could touch me.
“We’ll do a sweep of the house,” Zane said, pulling a startled Sebastian behind him, each of them with their own guns out.
“Sophia?”
“Don’t worry, I locked her in.” Zane took the stairs two at a time while Sebastian shook himself out of his shock and bounded after him.
“I didn’t see…” I trailed off, searching the bodies littered along the hallway. There. The third operative, who I was about to take aim at, was slumped forward, the back of his head—well, I would rather not look at that for too long. There was a gun in his hand.
