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“Is it because my friends are closing in on us or because you don’t like being in this room?” I challenge.
“Careful, Hadley,” he declares, raising his gun. “I’ve no reason to keep you alive.”
“But you do have a reason,” I retaliate, rising from the bed. “You need me,” I announce.
“I am the only way you’re leaving this room alive.”
Grunting, he suddenly turns and moves back toward the door.
“Hadley’s location is secured; move in.” Hawke’s voice echoes through my earpiece.
“They’re coming; you do realize that?”
Without acknowledging it, Antonio turns and faces the door. With his gun raised, he’ll believe he has the upper hand, but I’m about to prove him wrong. With his back to me, I lean forward and retrieve the knife I’ve had hidden inside my boot. If Antonio knew anything about me, he would’ve learned that I always have my favorite knife hidden on me somewhere.
My timing needs to be perfect; otherwise, someone of Antonio’s build could easily overpower me. Standing silently, I slowly approach him from behind. The sound of the handle being opened gives me the perfection distraction I’ve been waiting for, and while Antonio prepares for their entry, I edge my way even closer.
“I will teach them all a lesson,” I hear him mumble. “No one invades my home.”
As the door opens and he prepares to shoot, I raise my knife and stick it into the jugular vein in his neck, twisting it sideways for greater impact. Removing it, I take a step back and wait.
When he realizes what has happened, he tries to turn around, but the damage is already done. Before turning completely, he drops to the ground, blood spraying from the open vein. I blankly watch on as he desperately grabs at the wound on his neck to try and stop the bleeding. His efforts are fruitless, and by the time Hawke, Sean, and Jackson enter the room, Antonio is already dead.
As he rushes to my side, my husband checks to ensure I’m okay. “The blood isn’t mine, lin’,” I reassure him and everyone else in the room.
“We’ve located Andres,” we hear Mark call. “He’s heading for the second floor.”
Knowing I won’t allow that man to escape again, Sean gives me a look of resignation and tells me to lead the way.
“Damn, woman,” Jackson whispers as he catches up to me. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
Smiling, I take a moment to acknowledge what Jackson has insinuated but realize that although his words should disturb me, they don’t.
I’ve never been a normal girl, even as a child. My father taught me how to clean his guns when I should have been playing with dolls. Nothing about my childhood was filled with innocence, but how could it have been growing up in a criminal mafia family?
I am who I am, and nothing will ever change that.
While men like Antonio and Andres exist, no one is safe. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been married to a federal agent for the last seven years, but I can’t just sit aside and allow men like them to terrorize the innocent. I want my daughter to be safe, and I’ll do whatever I need to make the world she grows up in a safer place.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Hawke
“I pity any boy that tries to court Grace when she’s older.” I tease Sean as we follow Hadley and Jackson back toward the kitchen.
Groaning, he just shakes his head and proclaims, “It’s supposed to be the father and his shotgun, but in our version, it’ll be the mother and her knife.”
Trying not to laugh too loudly becomes almost impossible when Hadley reveals she can hear us.
“I’d worry less about what I’ll do to them, dear husband, and more about what that daughter of ours will do to them,” she jokingly states.
“See what I have to look forward to?” Sean mocks, rolling his eyes.
“We have eyes on Andres,” Mark declares. “Second floor, far room on the left.”
“Any other targets we need to worry about?” Jackson inquires.
“All clear,” he confirms.
