Page 82 of Lethal Attraction

The woman cocks her hip before throwing her thumb behind her. “Sugar, I think she can handle herself.”

I follow where she’s pointing, my chest constricting at the sight across the dance floor. Thalia and Brooks are facing off, but they’re in a stance that’s far too close for anything survivable. Both have the barrels of their guns pointed at each other’s faces as they glare at one another.

If anyone’s finger slips, the other dies due to a close-range wound. Zero chance of survival.

My feet are moving before I can stop myself.

“Hey! Stop!” the blonde woman shouts after me, but I don’t listen as I quicken my pace.

Thalia’s eyes shift upward to the top banister, and I spot Atlas along the edge as he levels a sniper rifle in their direction. Time slows to a halt, every sound ceasing to exist and every movement utterly still. My pulse screams in my ears as I break out in a dead sprint to get to them.

“Now, Atlas!” Thalia shouts.

Brooks moves fast, sidestepping her before he slides his arm around her neck and squeezes as he takes her back and holds the gun to her temple.

“NO!” I shout, forcing my legs to move faster as everything urges me onward.

Have to make it.

Have to get to her.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Thalia screams at her brother. “SHOOT HIM!”

Atlas snarls as he tries to aim for Brooks’ face, but I can tell he’s struggling. Especially with his sister being held so close and at gunpoint. One slip and Atlas could end her life rather than the man at her back.

“FUCKING SHOOT!” Thalia bellows.

“MOVE YOUR BIG FUCKING HEAD!” Atlas rages.

She groans a deep, guttural ughhhhh before tossing her head back with so much force I can hear the crack in Brooks’s nose. She spins out of his grip, her arms up in defense as he battles past the pain in an attempt to grab her wrist.

Luckily for me, he hasn’t seen me running at him at full speed this whole time. I rear my elbow back and deliver a punch straight to his jaw. His head whips back sharply, and I feel bone crunch beneath my knuckles.

He falls back, landing on his ass as he lifts a hand to the blood dripping from his shattered nostrils. He doesn’t even have time to think about his injuries before I’m covering him. I drop to my knees, bracketing them on either side of his waist before I deliver another punishing hit that causes his head to bounce off the marble.

“I told you I would lay you out on this fucking floor,” I grit over him before rising and spitting on him. “Fuck you, Brooks.”

His cheeks are swelling as his eyes roll, but he isn’t unconscious yet. I take a step back, straightening my tie as I observe my work.

“Holy shit,” Thalia whispers from beside me before a delighted laugh bubbles from her. “He looks like roadkill!”

I wrap an arm around her before pulling her to my side. “I told him I owed him a knockout. I don’t break my promises.”

The man we saw earlier in the crowd with a shaved head, who I’m more than certain is Rowan, jogs up to us. “Everyone okay?”

“We’re fine,” Thalia shrugs.

The blonde man from earlier runs down the main staircase with urgency, flying across the dance floor. “Brooks has backup, and they’ve surrounded us. We need to go. Now.”

Rowan points at the blonde. “Theo, can you and Dom get the rest of the civilians out while we figure out an escape route?”

“On it!”

Thalia places her hand on my chest, shoving me in the direction of the table that Taryn and Emma are hiding behind. “Hide! Alana and Connor are going to get you guys out of here.”

I turn back to her before slamming my lips to hers in a heated, quick kiss. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Be careful.”

She looks dazed as she nods. “Okay…”