Thankfully, we were able to track her phone and find out where she was taken, right before we lost the connection. Raul and I are the only ones in the car as we come to a stop in front of a residential area, swarming with half a dozen men on the outside and we have no way of knowing how many are inside.
I share a look with my second in command. We’ve faced worse odds.
After sending out a text asking a couple more men to join us, I reach for the gun in my jacket. The smart thing to do would be to wait. But they have her in there and I’m not letting her stay there for a second longer.
“Let’s go.”
As soon as we step out of the door, I’m firing. They’re surprised by the assault and because they don’t see it coming, Raul and I are able to take down five of them who drop down dead. The last one goes running into the house.
Raul and I are right behind him. My pulse pounds in my ears. Every second feels like an eternity.
Then I hear it.
"Help!!!”
Liliana.
The sound tears through me. Raw and terrified. Desperate. Something inside me snaps and I’m running soon enough.
The scream came from the last room at the end of the hallway. I reach the door first. Then drive my boot straight through it. The wood explodes inward. For a moment everything freezes.
Amber eyes meet mine, wide and so full of terror, it robs me of breath.
Relief crashes into me in the next breath. She's alive.
And that’s all that matters.
"Liliana,” I say roughly.
Then I see the gun. Pressed against her head and everything inside me goes cold.
The man holding her is familiar. Fucking Carlos Villareal.
The memory of two of his severed fingers hitting concrete flashes through my mind. I remember his screams. Looks like I should've taken the whole fucking hand.
It doesn’t matter though. Today, he loses his life.
Carlos smiles. It's a nervous thing. The smile of a man who knows he's already dead.
"You shouldn’t be here, Rafaelle."
I barely hear him. All I can see is Liliana. Tears staining her cheeks. Fear etched across her face. The way she's clutching the arm holding her. Trying desperately not to shake.
"You never should have gone near her,” Carlos says, his voice enraged. “This is your fault.”
I truly don't care. The only thing that matters to me right now getting him away from her.
My hand moves. The knife is already there. One of my favorites. Balanced perfectly.
Carlos notices too late. His eyes widen and I throw.
The blade spins through the air. Liliana reacts instantly, dropping to the floor.
The knife buries itself in Carlos's forearm and the gun discharges. Thankfully, the shot slams harmlessly into the ceiling.
Carlos begins to scream, I hit him before the echo dies.
One second he's standing. The next he's on the floor beneath me. I don't remember crossing the room. I don't even remember tackling him.
