One collides with Leo's shoulder, and the other two miss him by a hair's breadth as one of his guards dives at him, knocking him out of the way.
My shot is like a spark igniting gas, and the entire warehouse erupts in an explosion of gunfire and yells.
As predicted, Leo has men hiding in the rafters, and they melt out of the darkness with rifles held high and fingers on the trigger.
But I brought my own men with me and they collide with rage.
"Konstantin!" Leo roars from somewhere in the crowd. "I'll fucking kill you! Argh! I'll kill you!"
I make it behind a wooden crate that absorbs several bullets, and Ethan skids down beside me a moment later. Our eyes meet.
"We killing him?" Ethan asks breathlessly, as if the answer isn't obvious.
I nod sharply. "Cunt is not leaving here alive."
Ethan vanishes into the crowd of screaming, dying men amid the deafening cracks of gunfire to work his magic.
I turn my attention to protecting the men who are dedicated to protecting me.
My cover is quickly blown to smithereens. I scramble for more protection behind a stone pillar.
One of my men goes down with a gurgling scream while another yells loudly and charges into the chaos, never to be seen again.
Then my phone buzzes.
I don't need to read the message to know Ethan has his target.
Ducking around the pillar, I break into a spring through the crowd that's quickly fallen into a full-on brawl.
Within ten steps, Ethan comes into view with Leo on his knees and several dead Italians around him.
"Enough!" I roar through the warehouse and the fight begins to die. Italians halt when they see their leader on the ground and my men follow my order instantly.
"You bastard," Leo snarls through bloody teeth. "You motherfucking, twisted, sick bast?—"
I place my gun to his forehead and shoot him dead without a flinch.
His dead body collapses backward onto the crowd and an eerie silence follows around the warehouse.
"You know what this means," Ethan says with a note of disgust. "You're going to have some very pissed off Ital?—"
A single gunshot echoes through the air and Ethan jolts as if he's been punched, then a fountain of blood shoots from the juncture of his shoulder.
"Ethan!" My heart seizes in my chest and I dive for him as he crumples backward. He's barely able to lift his hand to his neck before his eyes roll back in his head. "No!"
I land on him with my hand slamming down over the wound while another single gunshot rings out, ending the life of the bastard who shot him.
"Kill them all!" I roar. "And get me a fucking ambulance!"
I lose count of the gunshots that follow as every Italian in the warehouse is rapidly executed.
There's no time to think of anything else.
Ethan's blood pulses rapidly against my palm, seeping out between my fingers and staining the ground around me.
He quivers and jolts underneath me while his lips move but no words come out.
"You are okay," I tell him as my heart thunders in my ears. "You are okay. You are okay. You are okay."
