AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Ask your men to move away," I say in a casual tone.
He raises his hand, and his men comply. They step back and place themselves at the perimeter of the room with their backs to the walls.
"Ask them to lower their guns, as well."
He scowls. "Not happening."
"What are you afraid of? They’re your men. One command from you and they’ll train their guns on me and shoot. Unless, of course, you think I’m going to overpower you and all of them, at the same time?" I infuse a thread of smugness through my voice.
His scowl deepens, then he gestures to the men. "Lower your guns."
One of them glowers back. "But—" he begins to protest.
Alvaro points his finger at the man. "Do as you’re told," he snaps.
The man firms his lips, then lowers his gun.
Alvaro turns to me "Now, where were we?"
"I want Olivia to stand back at a safe distance, too."
"Why, are you afraid I might touch her again?" He moves in her direction, and that’s when I charge him.
"Get out of the way," I yell at Olivia. She jumps aside, and I lower my head and ram into his chest. The speed of my impact carries us past her, toward the wall. His men leap aside, and Alvaro crashes into the wall. The vibrations from the collision shudder through me. I rear back, then grab his head and smash my forehead into his. Pain explodes behind my eyes, and I shove it aside. He groans, and I fully expect him to slump, but he seems to recover almost instantly. He grabs my throat and begins to choke me. I dig my fingers into his upper arms, try to pull his hands off of me, but he tightens his grip on my neck and begins to squeeze. Spots of black flicker at the edges of my vision. The sounds around me begin to fade. Behind me, I’m aware of movement, of someone screaming my name.
"Massimo, fight back!" Her voice slices through the silence in my head. The room swings back into focus.
I raise my knee and bury it in his groin. He yells, and his hold loosens. I draw in a breath, and oxygen fills my lungs. I pull away, then smash my fist into his stomach, and again, then follow up with an upper cut to his chin. His head snaps back, and blood sprays from his mouth. I raise my fist again and land it at his temple. The back of his head connects with the wall. I pause, panting, my breaths coming in gasps, sweat pouring down my throat. The back of my shirt sticks to my sweat slicked skin. I weave on my feet. He straightens, and with a howl, plows into me.
He throws his arms around my waist and leans his full weight on me. I stumble back, the momentum carrying me backward until I hit the chair on which he sat earlier. The chair tumbles over. The gun hits the floor and skitters away. I crash into the floor with Alvaro on top of me. He pushes up, straddles me, and begins to pound my face. Left-right-left.
Each time he smashes his fist into my cheek, stars explode behind my eyes. I taste blood on my tongue, and my vision goes hazy. Pain sparks my nerve endings and fills my blood. My breath catches in my throat, and once again, dark spots dance across my line of sight.Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need to finish this off right now, before I lose consciousness.I reach up wrap my fingers around his throat, and squeeze and squeeze.
His next blow barely grazes my cheek. The one after that misses me completely. I grip his neck and increase the pressure until his eyes bulge, and then he overbalances and falls to the side. I follow, refusing to release him, until finally, his eyes close. I remove my fingers, before joining them together and pulling them over my head. And quickly swoop down, bringing my joined-up fists down on his forehead. His body jerks, then he slumps.
I hear the clatter of footsteps, and realize his men are approaching us. I reach over to grab the gun from where it fell earlier, cock it, and train it at them. "Back off," I growl.
They pause, then one of them begins to squeeze the trigger. I fire the gun. The bullet slams into his chest. The gun slips from his fingers, and he slumps to the floor.
In a flash, Olivia is on him. She snatches up the gun and aims it at the nearest man. "You heard Massimo, back the fuck off," she snaps.
I almost laugh with relief. That’s my woman. She’s badass that way. I push up to standing. My knees threaten to give way from under me, and I press the heels of my booted feet into the ground for purchase. The scene sways in front of my eyes, and I shake my head to clear it.
"Move back, right the fuck now," my voice rings out. The men hesitate, then another man takes a step forward. A gunshot rings out, and he collapses to the ground. I glance sideways to find Olivia has both her of hands on the gun and her white-knuckled finger around the trigger. The gun wavers a little as she lowers it.
I stagger forward until I’m shoulder-to-shoulder with her. "You okay, baby?" I murmur.
A shudder runs down her body and she nods. Her gaze is frozen on the man she shot.
"You did the right thing, Via. It was either him or me."
She tears her gaze from the fallen man and glances around the faces of the others. "I won’t hesitate to do it again."
I grip her shoulder, my gun still trained on the men, and urge her to follow me as I begin to inch toward the door. The men stay where they are, their guns trained on us, their gazes following our every step. We’re halfway to the door, when a movement catches my attention. I glance down to find Alvaro stirring. I shoot at him, but he rolls over, and I miss him.
He grabs a gun from the hip holster of one of his men and fires it at her. I step in front of her, and pain explodes at my side.Shit.I raise my gun and depress the trigger. A perfectly round hole appears between his eyes. Smoke wafts from it. His gaze widens and his arm wavers. Then, the gun slips from his fingers, and he collapses on the floor. For a second, there’s silence. Then I grab her hand and pull her toward the door. The wood on the frame explodes.Fuck, they’re shooting at us.I yank her through the doorway, slam the door shut behind us, and haul her to the side. Just in time, for the next second, the door explodes as bullets rain through.
Pain screeches up my side, and sparks flicker behind my eyes. I grit my teeth as I pull her up the corridor and toward the main exit.
