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It was quiet.
I followed the maze of hallways until I was on the other side of the estate. There was a round door with a handle, like the kind of door that led to a sewer. I should probably leave it closed, but I was curious. Maybe it could lead to the countryside and an escape route. Grave would be too preoccupied to know where I’d gone for a while. Could run to a house, look up Cauldron’s diamond company, and get a hold of someone that way.
I released the pressure valve and undid the locks until the heavy door swung free.
It led to the outside at the bottom of the hill, the countryside in front of me. There were lights to homes in the far distance, over twenty miles away. But twenty miles was nothing when I was this determined.
I stepped onto the grass with my rifle in tow and headed out.
“What was that threat?” A man’s voice rang into the night, shouting like he wanted all of Tuscany to hear it. “You’re going to take his eyes, his kidneys, his liver, all the way he lies there paralyzed? Those were your words?”
I remembered Grave shouting about that just a few hours ago. Looked like the threat hit its mark.
Grave was silent.
I wondered who he was.
“Maybe I should do the same to you right now?” he continued. “Tie you down and pull out each organ one by one.”
Jesus.
Instead of just running, I moved up the hill until my head crested the top and looked at the sight before me.
Grave was on his knees, hands secured behind his back. There were dead men everywhere, blood pouring from their slit throats. Grave was the only survivor, but that wouldn’t be the case much longer.
Cauldron was supposed to kill Grave, but someone else was about to do the job.
Now I could be free. Live my life without looking over my shoulder. I could stay with Cauldron without fear of being stolen away. Or maybe Cauldron wouldn’t want me anymore…now that his brother was gone?
“I asked you a question, Grave.”
His words brought me back to the conversation.
“Want to play a little game of operation?” He withdrew a long knife and spun it around his fingertips. “I’ll start with your dick. Wonder how much I could get for that?”
It was hard to see the details of Grave’s face in the darkness. But he appeared still, emotionless. There was no way out of this, but he didn’t seem scared. Reminded me of Cauldron when his client pulled a gun on me and he stepped in the way.
I knew Cauldron would fight alongside Grave if he could.
Would protect his brother.
I would be the last person to see Grave alive, and I’d have to tell Cauldron the horrible way he died. He would probably hunt down this guy and whoever he was working for to get revenge. Cauldron would put himself at risk.
I counted the men who stood around him. There were nine.
I didn’t know how many bullets were in my rifle, but there had to be enough.
“Fuck, am I really going to do this?” I whispered to myself.
The guy circled Grave, like a butcher looking for the first cut.
Cauldron acted like his brother meant nothing to him, but the endless pardons said otherwise. The only reason Grave wouldn’t cross that line with me was because of Cauldron. The two men respected each other—absolutely.
So, I couldn’t let him die.
I righted the gun and aimed. I sucked in a deep breath and held it, my finger on the trigger, and then I squeezed.
It was loud.
The gun vibrated in my hands. It made the weapon veer to the right and spray the estate with unwanted bullets.
There were yells and cries as they tried to figure out my location.
I righted the gun again and fired, taking out the men on the left and the right. Grave was in the center with the other guy, but they were so close together, I was afraid I would shoot them both by mistake.
All the guys were done, and the one with the knife ran off.
I stayed there, silent, as I waited for something to happen.
Grave worked the rope around his wrists and tried to break free.
I scanned the darkness, waiting for the final guy to show himself.
“Look at you, sweetheart.” A quiet whistle sounded. The knife-wielding guy maneuvered in the darkness right past my sight, and now he was on me with a jack-o’-lantern grin. “A beautiful woman with a gun. Never seen anything sexier.”
I turned the gun and fired, but he grabbed the barrel and pushed it to the sky. Bullets hit the clouds. He pushed me down then ripped the hot gun right out of my hands. I kicked him hard in the shin then rolled out of the way.
Like hell I was gonna die this way.
