AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fucking shoot him,” she mutters. “Go ahead. I don’t even care what happens to me. So long as that sonofabitch loses another one of his men.”
“Shut up, bitch,” the guy growls.
I have to do something. I can’t let this happen. But all he has to do is squeeze that trigger and she’s gone. My Olivia, my world, my whole reason for living. Gone in the blink of an eye. I can’t let that happen. I might as well die with her if it did.
“Hey,” I murmur, glancing toward her before my gaze darts back to the gunman. “Remember the time that trucker came up behind you at the diner? It was a few months ago.”
“You were there that whole time?”
“Watching from outside. I felt bad. There were other reasons, but that was a big one. But do you remember what I’m talking about?”
“Yes.”
“Remind me how you got rid of the guy?”
“What the fuck are you two talking about?” the gunman demands, yanking her toward the open door. “I’m leaving with her. Now. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stand there and wait until we’re gone.”
I look at Olivia. She looks at me.
Then she stomps on his foot with all her might, the way she did to the truck driver at the diner who groped her from behind. I was so damn proud of her that day.
And I’m proud of her now. Surprise makes him loosen his grip, if not pain, and she throws herself at the bed while I grab for my Glock and fire off one quick shot.
His head snaps back, blood and brains splashing across the curtains in front of the window in the instant before he falls. Olivia screams, curled up in a tight ball on the bed, her hands over her ears.
“You’re alright now.” I go to the door and look out in both directions. It seems he was alone—his SUV is otherwise empty when I check it. I go back to the room to comfort Olivia and figure out how to get rid of the body.
Before slumping in the doorway when exhaustion slams into me out of nowhere.
And that’s when she screams again, rushing to me and bringing me to the bed before closing the door. “You got hit! He shot you!”
That he did, in the left shoulder. Blood’s pouring down my arm. “Okay. It’s going to be okay.” I fumble with my belt. “Tourniquet. Hurry.”
“Oh, my God. My God, please, don’t die. Don’t die on me.”
“I’m not going to. But this will make it easier not to.” I watch every move she makes, committing her to memory. “I’m proud of you. You knew exactly what to do.”
“I’m a little freaked out you were watching me all that time, but I’m glad you were.”
She cinches the belt high up on my shoulder, then pulls with all her might. It hurts like hell but it slows the bleeding considerably. “Well done.”
We both look up at the sound of a car pulling to a stop outside. “Get in the bathroom. Go,” I insist when she freezes in place.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Don’t be stupid. Get in there. Hurry.”
“No.” Instead, she goes to the body on the floor and picks up the gun beside him. When she turns toward the door, giving it a cold stare while raising the gun as I raise mine, she’s every inch her father’s daughter.
And I love her. I love her so goddamn much.
“Olivia? Beckett? It’s Luca Bruno.”
Olivia lets out a cross between a sigh and a sob as she flings the door open. “Luca. Help, he got shot. He—”
Luca assesses the situation with a practiced eye, his gaze bouncing from the body on the floor to my blood-coated arm. “It’s a good thing I brought a friend with me. After speaking with your father and hearing about your close calls, I thought a doctor might come in handy—though I hoped he wouldn’t.”
A second man enters the room, carrying a leather satchel. “Looks like my services are needed, after all. What do we have here?” He ignores the dead body in favor of pulling up the chair from the desk and placing it in front of me.
