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But I can’t forget that I’m not alone. I have Dream, and she’s the most loving woman I’ve ever met. I’m certain she’ll make a fantastic mother. I only hope I can come close to caring for people the way she does.
Empathy. It’s something that was foreign to me before I met her. It’s not like I never had it, but it’s the kind of thing you learn to cover up and forget about when you’re in the Bratva. I’m only just now accepting that I can have a heart and be a boss at the same time.
But as the plane door opens and the wind rushes in, it freezes my heart. Any empathy I could’ve had for my opponents is swept away, and as I find myself falling through the sky toward the dry, cracked ground of Dimalona, I only have one thing on my mind.
Killing.
* * *
Gabriel and Jashaland together about ten yards to my left as I tear the straps from my parachute off my chest. I sling my rifle around to the front, gripping it tightly as I tread the tall grass toward Jasha.
“Nothing like a good freefall,” Jasha says with a wild grin.
“You should’ve opened up sooner. I thought your parachute was malfunctioning.”
He shrugs. “Just living for the thrill, I guess.”
It annoys me how careless he can be, but I was his age once, and I understand that feeling of immortality. It’s like nothing can touch you, and because you don’t have anyone to come home to, you don’t really care much about coming home. Life is just one big adventure, a game of power and money, and nothing else matters.
For me, things have changed, but I suspect it’s going to be a while before Jasha finds a woman who could convince him to be more prudent. He doesn’t trust people as a rule, and I can’t blame him, but not everyone is bad.
Dream isn’t, but then again, it took me half my life to find her.
“Just don’t get sloppy when we’re at the compound. I don’t want to take you home in a body bag.”
“Too heavy for you? You know, muscle weighs more than fat.”
“On second thought, I might toss you onto the bus with those explosives.”
We split up, each going in a different direction to our assigned post around the compound. The sun is only just starting to rise, and our positions will be given away if we don’t act quickly.
I take my position at the front of the compound, ten yards from the main entrance. There are a few guards visible out front, but they’re not going to be able to stop the remote-controlled bus once it comes barreling through the front gate. I’m hoping it’ll even squash a few on the way in.
After a few minutes sitting in silence with Gabriel’s soldiers, I hear the rumble of an engine. It increases in volume and intensity as it approaches, and once it’s close enough to the front gate to be noticed, it screams through the entrance, using retrofitted bars on the front grill to smash through gate.
I already hear shouting, but it’s nothing compared to the sound of the bright yellow school bus as it speeds off toward the headquarters building at the center of the settlement.
A loud boom reverberates through the air, shaking the ground beneath my feet as the bus explodes inside the compound. Fire and smoke billow high, pieces of shrapnel scattering in all directions. The explosion serves its purpose—creating a blinding, disorienting cover for us to use as people spill out of the compound.
I rush forward, my boots barely making a sound on the ground as I close in on the compound with the rest of the soldiers. The guards are in complete disarray, shouting and scrambling for their weapons.
Perfect.
I shoot two down before anyone else has the chance to fire, and then the air is filled with the sound of gunfire. It’s a mixture of the relatively quiet pop of rifles and the deep, grating churn of bullets from the armored vehicles behind us.
In the chaos, I find peace.
Jasha’s voice crackles through my earpiece after only two minutes. “West side clear. Moving to the rendezvous point.”
That’s my signal to wrap this up and leave. I gun down a straggler as he attempts to crawl through the sea of bodies at the entrance, and then I turn and head back toward the armored vehicles.
My job here is done. Most of the Cartel members are dead, and the ones who aren’t will be cleared out of the compound by Gabriel’s soldiers. Later, they will find the P50, assuming it hasn’t all been sold, and Gabriel will be satisfied.
All that’s left is to return home to Dream.
My sweet Dream. My one and only.
The trip home is longer than I’d like it to be, but spirits are high. Jasha is laughing with Gabriel, but all I can think about is Dream. I don’t care about the Cartel, nor the major victory we’ve had. All I care about is getting home and holding Dream in my arms again.
