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"No," I reply quickly, daring to move closer to him, "but they'll listen to my father. He'll fight if he has to, but after that stunt you pulled at Victor's, he's desperate to avoid more bloodshed. As for what else you get out of it?" I make a show of looking down at the ground, as if I'm holding back tears. "I talk Theo into leaving the city, and taking his friends with him. They'll fight to the end if they have to, but if there's one person who can make them leave, it's me. They'll let me go if I ask them to. I don't want to, but I will if I have to." And then, for realism, I add, "If it means saving their lives.”
"That's it?" Lucas asks, raising an eyebrow. "That's your proposal?”
"That's it," I reply. "You get to bypass the rest of the resistance and get down to ruling the city like you’ve always wanted. And I get to keep my loved ones from dying. It's a win-win.”
Another sound comes from up above, this one a low scrabbling noise. "What the fuck is that?" Lucas asks, craning his neck.
"Almost there, kid," Theo's voice sounds over my earpiece. "Just keep him focused on you.”
"Your dad's building's shoddier than I thought," I say, crossing my arms. "Sounds like it's coming apart at the seams.”
"My dad was never the hot shit he thought he was," Lucas replies, his eyes drifting away from the ceiling, and I exhale in relief. "He was an old man who was past his prime, and my brother is a no-good interloper who doesn't know when to call it quits, either.”
Another thumping sound comes, sounding closer than the last. "Couldn't you say the same for yourself?" I ask quickly, trying to cover up the noise.
"Careful, wifey," Lucas warns me. "Don't forget who's calling the shots around here.”
"Sorry," I reply. "That's gonna be a tough habit to break.”
Lucas sniffs, unimpressed. "The back-talk? Damn right. You really think you have it in you?" He grabs his scotch, downs the rest of it, and closes the distance between us. Having him so close makes me want to shiver in revulsion, and with the way his eyes are raking over me, it's all I can do not to move away. "You really think you can make this little 'arrangement' worth my time?”
I'm just opening my mouth to say something else when a crash comes from the ceiling tiles just above our heads, and time slows down. Adrenaline rushes through me, my heart jumps to my throat, and I see Lucas's hand move towards his sidearm as he starts to look up again…
No, it's too soon!
The opening is life-threateningly slim, and there's no time to think. If he figures it out, we're all dead. The world around me moves in slow motion, all sensibility slipping from my mind as I do the only thing I can think of.
I grab Lucas and kiss him.
It's like kissing a monster, but there's no other choice. I can taste the scotch on his breath, feel his repulsive lips on mine as I buy us those few precious seconds, grimacing even as I press my mouth to his.
Lucas reels back for a second, stunned, and I take the opportunity to squeeze out of his grip and dart to the side just as the ceiling above us explodes in a shower of tiles and gunfire. Theo, Liam, and Tristan drop into the room, guns blazing, all wearing bulletproof vests, and Lucas dives for cover under his desk amidst the flying debris. The goons from outside burst into the office, returning fire, and it's all I can do to duck behind the coffee table before the office erupts into an all-out war zone. More security guards storm in from the hallway, and it takes me a moment to realize that I'm not sure whose side any of them are on. Soon shots are flying back and forth between the remaining Emmerico loyalists, Lucas's defectors, the guys, and Lucas himself... and I'm trapped in the middle of it all.
One of the men barrels towards Lucas, shouting something I can't quite make out over the din of the gunfire, only for a bullet to pierce his chest and send him sprawling to the floor. Liam, his combat expertise kicking in, kicks over a bookshelf to use as a makeshift cover, pulling me out from under the coffee table and behind his body just as one of Lucas's guards comes running toward me, his gun raised.
Theo and Tristan are firing just as I hear his shot, which ricochets off the ceiling as Tristan pulls me swiftly to the side. The man slams into the bookcase and then collapses to the ground, blood pooling around his body. As it sinks in that they just saved my life, a hail of gunfire tears into the bookcase, and Liam grunts in pain.
"Liam!" I cry, panicking, as I haul him behind the barrier.
He coughs, sucks in a breath, and shoots me a crooked grin, pointing to the bullet, which is now stuck in his vest. "I'm okay, Vivi.”
I drop my head in relief and peer out just in time to see Theo and Tristan standing back to back, picking off two guards who were trying to flank their position. When they see me, they trade a look and dive behind a desk to reload their guns.
I catch a glimpse of Lucas crawling towards a door near the back, which must be Victor's panic room. "He's getting away!" I shout, and Tristan pops up from behind cover to fire a string of bullets at the door.
Swearing, Lucas hesitates just as two more of the guards, these ones fighting each other, crash into him and send him sprawling to the floor, too busy trying to kill each other to notice him there. Theo charges out of cover, but I can see his confusion. He’s not sure which of them is his guy and which is his brother's... and they're both providing cover for Lucas. Tristan, meanwhile, closes the distance to the bookshelf, ducking down next to me as Theo stands there, trying to get a clean shot.
"Traitorousbitch,"Lucas growls, scrambling out from under the guards and shooting each of them without a second thought. He sees Theo and fires another bullet, forcing him to throw himself out of the way.
Out in the hallway, I can hear the thundering of more footsteps, and fear washes over me. Our window is closing, Lucas’s guys outnumber Victor's two to one…
And he's making a break for the panic room again.
My eyes go wide. He's about to lock himself in there and wait for us to slaughter each other, and then that will be it. No justice. No peace.
"No fucking way," I growl under my breath, crawling out from behind the bookshelf.
"Vivian, stop...!" Tristan shouts after me, but I'm not listening. My adrenaline is rushing, my heartbeat roaring in my ears, and there’s no stopping to think. I'm seeing this through, one way or another—for my family, for the guys... But most of all, for myself.
