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My head starts to tell my body to run to him. But all of a sudden, an arm goes around me, and I feel something cold and sharp press to my neck.
“Don’t fucking move.” The accented voice rasps near my ear, and I freeze. I want to scream, but I can’t. I want to run, but even if I could get away from the man holding me, I don’t think my legs would work.
“Carter…” I whisper. His back is to me. He’s still holding the gun, scanning the roof for more attacks. I say his name again, louder this time. “Carter?”
“Get inside,” he growls with his back to me. “I’m calling...”. He turns, and his face turns white. His jaw sets, and I see a blaze of fury in his eyes.
“Hasaan,” he hisses coldly. He starts to raise the gun, but the man hisses and tightens his grip on me. I gasp, and Carter’s eyes dart to me. “Aurora…”
“Drop it, Mr. Holloway,” the man holding me hisses. “Drop it, or your woman bleeds.”
8
Carter
This is it.This is my moment. This is where I draw the line in the sand and send the last of the monsters that imprisoned me and threatened Aurora to hell. I hold Hasaan’s eyes as mine narrow. I clench my jaw, and my hands itch to raise that gun and blow his goddamn head off. But it’s not just a tricky shot. With his knife to her throat, it’s more than I’d ever risk.
“Drop it, Mr. Holloway,” he hisses again. The knife presses closer to her skin, and Aurora flinches. Every reflex in my body wants to react, and to rush him. But I know I can’t. Not when she’s in this much danger.
I’ve come too close to everything I’ve ever dreamed of to lose her now. I’ve gone through too much hell and waited too long. I stare at Hasaan, and the fury kindles to a blaze inside of me. He’s laying hands on my woman. He’s threatening the girl I love. And I know no matter what, I amneverlosing her again.
Slowly, I start to lower the gun. Hasaan smiles cruelly at me. “Ahh, you see reason, Mr. Holloway,” he needles me. “You wounded me, you know. I thought we were friends, Holloway.”
I sneer. We were never friends, and he fucking knows it. He just liked fucking with me. “You kept me in a cage,” I hiss. “You made me work for you, so that you could go on doing horrible things to the world.”
He smiles and shrugs. “And yet, I didn’t kill you.”
He didn’t. But he’s about to wish he had. I’ve gone through too much training, first with the Marine Corp, and then with Fortress Security. I know that you never just roll over for an enemy. You lure them into security. You let them think they’ve bested you. And then, you go for the kill.
“I taught you so many things, Holloway,” he says angrily. “And you betrayed me! You killed my men—”
“And I’d kill them again,” I spit. “Every fucking time. I’d kill you too, given the chance.”
He laughs. “Perhaps you should have. Because now I’m going to make you hurt, Holloway. I’m going to make you watch me take what you love from this world.”
He pushes the knife against Aurora’s throat, and my blood runs like liquid steel. He should have killed me. It’s the last mistake he’ll ever make. Imprisoning me was one thing. Making me work for a terrorist group was another thing. But now, he’s laying hands on Aurora. He’s threatening what’s mine. It’s him who’s going to bleed.
I put the gun on the ground and stand. My arm reaches behind me, and my fingers close around the grip of the combat knife in my belt. I didn’t just scoop the gun and a spare clip off that first guy I dropped up here. A good Marine knows his knife is his second-best friend after his M-16. It’s the last lesson Hasaan will ever learn.
“Now, I want you to tell her it’s all going to be okay,” he hisses.
I smile coldly. “It’s all going to be okay, angel.” It is, too. With one motion, I whip the knife out of my belt, bring my arm back, and then throw it hard. The blade sings through the air and embeds itself to the hilt in Hasaan’s throat. The asshole screams, but he can’t with the knife where it is. He chokes and falls backwards while Aurora screams. I rush for her and Hasaan drops to the ground, dead.
“I’ve got you, angel,” I growl. I hold her tight and close, and I stroke her hair. “I’ve got you, Aurora.”
She catches her breath and clings to me. She takes another deep breath, and she slowly turns to look at Hasaan.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I say gently. I hold her close, and she hugs me tightly.
“I’m not,” she whispers angrily. I pull away and realize she’s glaring at Hasaan lying there dead on the ground.
“He almost hurt you,” I growl. But she shakes her head and turns to look at me.
“I’m mad that hedidhurt you,” she hisses. “Furious, actually.” She clenches her jaw, and I’m blown away by how strong she is. She was always tough when we were young, but she’s so collected right now. Maybe it’s that we hold each other up.
“Is it over?” She squeezes my hand, and I nod grimly.
“Hasaan was their leader, and the last of them. My intel had him halfway around the world. He must have gotten wind of my surfacing here in New York. But he’s the last, angel. These other guys tonight were probably just hired guns. The Brotherhood is gone. I’ve destroyed every single one of them now.”
