AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My arms crossed, and I stood my ground.
“Not leaving. Pull that sidearm if you think you got what it takes to make me, but you should know I’m a Marine, and I served multiple tours overseas. Dealt with plenty of power-hungry assholes with enough arrogance to try to order me around since I got out. None succeeded. I’m not leaving this hall, and I’ll be the one making sure Naomi is safe.”
Kyle opened his mouth to argue when I heard one of the nurses shouting at him to leave me alone. The staff understood I wasn’t gonna cause trouble as long as I was allowed to stay. Only tried to kick me out once that first night and learned fast that I was a stubborn asshole. Hadn’t been bothered since.
“Run along and protect the vending machines or some shit.”
Huffing a breath, Kyle spun on his heel and stomped away as I leaned against the nurse’s station, anxious as fuck, watching the doorway to Mimi’s room. The commotion and noise lowered to a tolerable volume as a blonde nurse poked her head out of the room and smiled.
“She’s stable. I’ll let you know when you can come back in.”
Nodding my thanks, I breathed out a sigh of relief as my shoulders relaxed. My fingers twitched as a craving for a cigarette damn near had my ass running outside for a smoke.
If Wraith and Ex would get their asses here, maybe I could take a leak and grab a bite to eat. Hospital food was fuckin’ gross. Needed a burger and a beer and my own goddamn bed.
A funny feeling tickled the back of my neck, and my head turned, searching for the source of my unease. Random guests with stickers plastered to their shirts, nurses in scrubs, doctors with their white jackets, and a few kids were mingling around the vicinity.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I caught the shadow lurking at the end of the hall, hovering close to a fake tree in the far-right corner.
Lighting wasn’t working right, which was odd, but I didn’t think anything of it until the stranger who lingered stepped out, ticking his head in my direction with a sinister, secret smile.
Something about him was off. My Reaper immediately tried to break free, rising to the surface of my skin with fero
city as the stranger spun on his heel and headed toward the stairs, rushing through the crowd exiting the closest elevator.
Shit!
Glancing toward Mimi’s room, I exhaled with a curse and ran toward the guy who was a clear threat. My imagination ran wild, and I came up with a dozen scenarios in my head, all of them ending up with this asshole sent here to finish what those Russian traffickers started. There was no doubt she was a target. Monsters like them never stopped. They didn’t give up. No. Men like that kept sending assassins until the job was done.
She would never be safe until I eliminated every single threat. Solonik. Voltoy. Resnikov. Didn’t matter because they were only small time. The lackeys who were given enough influence and leadership to think they were important, but the real power was the Russian prick who called all the shots. That was the man I needed to find.
Kyle rounded the corner, and I shouted in his direction, not giving two shits what he thought. “Go protect Naomi!”
Chest heaving with exertion, I flung open the door to the stairwell where I’d just seen that asshole enter who flashed me that ridiculous smile. Sweating, I pulled my weapon, aiming down as I kept running, listening to his footsteps echo only a floor below my own. Shots rang out as he fired at random, bullets ricocheting off the metal handrail. Luckily, none of them hit anything but the walls and one light as it shattered above my head and rained down shards of broken glass.
My Reaper laughed within, and I let him free, using his focus and rage to move faster, bursting outside into the brilliance of a Nevada summer sunset. I yanked my shades from my cut and placed the aviators over my eyes, blocking out the blinding rays of the sun and the distracting noises of traffic and sirens. Heavy thuds pounded the pavement, and I shot off again, following at my leisure.
I was going to enjoy this.
No need to rush. I would corner him soon enough.
My Reaper could track a drop of blood clear across the Great Basin like a fucking shark in the middle of the ocean. The stranger’s rapid breaths and thumping heart echoed in the stagnant air. He wasn’t scared, but he was certainly out of shape. Probably didn’t expect me to chase him down so fast.
When he stopped, I stalked my way forward and cornered him around the back of a strip mall. Only dumpsters lingered as he bent over, gasping for breath. There were only three options since his back faced nothing but rows of locked doors. To the left, a parking lot led to nearby crowds. To the right, I cut him off. Straight ahead, he would take his chances out in the desert. I liked that option best.
We lifted our guns at the same time, both of us ready to pull the trigger.
“Boss said to send a message.”
“Oh yeah? What message is that?”
“Trixie is marked.”
He didn’t need to elaborate. I understood.
“Ex-military like you should know when to cut your losses and retreat. This won’t end well for you or your club.”
“You should know that the Royal Bastards don’t respond well to threats.”
