“You’re going to come up with an excuse for needing to leave this room. I don’t care what it is, but you’re going to make it happen. Then, you’re going to pick up your rotten ass and follow me out of this room without a single peep. I don’t even want to hear you breathe wrong until we are out of that door. Am I crystal clear?”
He grunts under his breath, and I bring around my other hand to squeeze his throat under my blade. “I said, are. We. Clear?” He nods furiously. “I thought so,” I whisper, tapping his throat to get a move on.
“I—” he coughs, drawing my blade into his throat. I kick him under the table in warning. “I don’t know what’s taking so long with these lights. You know how they are. If the man in charge isn’t breathing down their necks, nothing gets done,” he chuckles, shoving his seat back into me. I move the blade from his throat to his side to let him know I’m still right here, waiting to pounce.
“Worthless pigs, the lot of them,” one of the men chuckles. “I hope you charge in blood.”
“Always. That’s the best currency after all,” Matteo retorts, shuffling towards the door with me at his back. I need this little charade to hurry the fuck up before the lights turn back on.
Matteo is stalling, shuffling towards the door at a snail's pace. He reaches around the dark for the door handle, but, if I’ve done my calculations right, we aren’t anywhere near the door yet.
Just as suspected, his hand connects with something, and then it’s flung in my direction. I instinctually step back to avoidgetting smashed as glass explodes on the floor and the smell of alcohol fills the room.
“Danger,” Matteo screams, running towards the door.
All chaos breaks loose.
This is officially worst case scenario. Fucking Matteo. I should have just sliced his throat when I had the chance and been done with it. But my ego had other plans. I wanted to draw out his death, make sure my face was the last thing he saw before I took his life.
I drop into a crouch and work my way towards Matteo, who is stumbling his way to the door, by the sounds of it.
“Who fucking touched me?” a man shouts, firing off his gun.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I stay low to the floor as someone grunts in pain and two more bullets fire off. These men are shooting each other in the dark like lunatics. I stay low, so I should be safe. I mean, who shoots at feet? I crawl around the alcohol cabinet, slicing my palms and knees on glass.
Matteo’s at the door now, the handle creaking. I tackle him to the ground. We fight for dominance, but I win out easily. He did create this monster, after all.
“He’s at the doo—” I throw my palm over his mouth.
Bullets fire off again, shooting from every direction. The idiots are going to get us all killed. I use Matteo like a human shield and fling the door open, dragging us both out. The others hear the door and they start blasting shots in our direction.
“Fuck,” Matteo hisses when he catches a bullet to the leg, narrowly missing me.Bummer. I slam the door shut and reach around for the stool a guard was sitting on, wedging it under the door handle. It probably won’t do any good, but at least it will give me more time to get out of here.
I would look around for the best exit route, but I can’t see a damn thing. The only place I do know I can go for cover is the bathroom where I stashed my last two victims.
I drag Matteo down the hall and to the right, keeping a knifeagainst his back and my hand over his mouth. I shoulder the door open and trip over something—not something, a body. This is a private bathroom, so I lock the door.
I pat Matteo down for weapons while he’s half out of it from the blood loss. I find two handguns and a knife strapped to him, and I slide them into my own waistband and then throw him to the floor.
“Well,” I chuckle, adrenaline surging through me. “Have you figured it out yet?” I ask, circling him like a wolf.
He chuckles something sinister, and it has the hairs on the back of my neck rising. “You think you have me beat, kid?” he hisses, coughing in pain. “You didn’t think I knew you would be coming for my blood one day?”
“Say it!” I yell, kicking him.
“The big.”Cough. “Bad.”Cough. “Mustang.Pathetic. All you’ll ever be is a hopeless boy who couldn’t take care of his family like arealman. What was her name again? Laine, was it?”
My foot strikes him again, harder. “Keep my sister’s name out of your fucking mouth,” I spit.
“Why would I when I own her? She’s alive because ofme,” he growls, pushing himself up to sit.
“I worked my debt off. You don’t own shit. You lied to me, pulled me into your disgusting schemes and prayed on a hopeless, desperate man. How many others have you done this to, huh? This ends now, and I’m going to have a smile on my face while I make you pay for your sins,” I declare, stepping closer. “It’s time to repay yourdebt, Matteo.”
Click. The lights shutter back on. Matteo sits sprawled in front of me with a sinister smile, holding a palm to his thigh wound.
“You think you’ve got me beat, kid? It’s over. My men have been alerted, and they’re on their way.” He points to his phone in his lap. “Any last words?”
