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“Get her fucking out of here, Keller!” registers in my ears, and I look up.
Blood is splattered over white walls, lifeless bodies lay in heaps. Fuck, there must have been at least 10 Falcone men in here. Scanning the area, I set my sights on Jamie. That little fuck is mine. Then a barely audible cough from beneath me grabs my attention.
“Keller?”
Her voice is faint as she struggles to breathe. Kissing her forehead, relief washes over me. “It’s me, Baby. You are safe now. I need you to grab onto my neck. Do you think you can manage that for me?” I need to get her out of here. She isn’t ever leaving my side again. That is one thing I am fucking sure of.
She gives me a slow nod and I help her maneuver her arms around my neck as I bundle the rest of her body up, holding her tight against my upper body.
“Just hold on for five more minutes, okay Baby?” Sobs rack through her body, vibrating against me.
“Shhh Baby, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay, I promise you. No one will ever hurt you again,” I stroke her head, buried in my neck, with the outside of my hand so the gun in my grip doesn’t touch her. I’m doing my best to offer her comfort when on the inside, all I want to do is kill every fucker still standing in this room. Nothing would give me greater joy than watching life fade away from each and every one of them. I have the one thing in my arms that stops my desire to do that, the one thing that gives my life purpose.
The gunshot makes her jump in my arms, reminding me she doesn’t belong in this world and I squeeze her even tighter into me.
“It’s okay Baby. It’s Luca’s men,” I whisper as I look over and see Grayson, void of expression, point-blank shoot one of Falcone’s men between the eyes. He doesn’t flinch as his body slams to the floor in front of his feet. The tell of a true psychopath: taking someone’s life doesn’t faze us. He steps over the body as if it’s a piece of trash on the sidewalk, immediately setting his sights on the next. Over in the kitchen, Luca has another man bent over the counter as he swipes a long kitchen knife across his throat in one swift movement. The whole apartment is a bloody war zone. Swiftly making my way out of the apartment, I head for the stairwell exit. Luca’s car is parked right outside with a driver waiting.
“Just a couple more minutes Baby, and we’ll get you to a hospital. Just stay with me until then.” As I reach the last set of stairs, a figure catches my attention. I instinctively turn my body sideways to keep Sienna out of the line of fire. As I get closer, Jamie’s psychotic grin stops me in my tracks.
“Move the fuck out of my way before you end up with a bullet wedged in your brain.”
“You’d really give up everything for her. You really are the pussy they think you are,” he snarls with disgust, pointing at Sienna.
He has no idea who I am or just how far I’d go to protect the woman I love. They say a man with nothing to lose is dangerous. They should try a man with everything to lose.
The blood visibly drains from his face as I raise my gun, the suppressor pointing right at him.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong Jamie,” I say, edging closer and closer to him. “I’m not giving anything up for her. Sheismy everything, and I will stop at nothing to protect her.” My gun is now pressing into his forehead. “Do you think I’m afraid of you? I kill men far bigger and scarier than you most nights. Without batting an eye, I can take a man's life. I reap pleasure from watching men quiver in fear as I slowly torture them. So do you honestly think I won’t unleash carnage on this entire city for what you’ve done?Do you?” I shout, pure evil dripping from my tone. Sienna stiffens at my words. Fuck.
Jamie backs into the wall, the barrel of my gun still pressed firmly between his eyes. Every ounce of my being is screaming at me to end this, to pull the trigger. I hesitate as Sienna fidgets in my grip, knowing if I pull the trigger for her to witness, she’d never stay. She doesn’t want to love a monster. Who would?
My grip on the gun tightens so much, the veins of my hand could pop through the skin at any moment. Jamie stares me dead in the eyes, not flinching an inch. I underestimated this prick completely. One of the fundamental rules of boxing is to know your opponent inside and out. How the fuck did I get him so wrong? I let my guard slip and nearly lost Sienna in the process.
Maybe I am meant to be just the monster.
“Do it, please make this all stop,” Sienna whispers in my ear. I know she’s serious. Jamie’s eyes bulge, darting to her back enclosed in my arms.
“Don’t fucking listen to that thick bitch. You really want to go to prison for that piece of ass? Trust me, I’ve been there, seen it and had it. It ain’t all that.”
I see red. The deep-rooted anger that has been bubbling within me erupts. I couldn’t stop it if I tried. A bullet through the temple is an easy way out. Too quick. I let my gun clatter to the floor and relief washes over Jamie’s features, color creeps back up into his cheeks. Without a second of hesitation, I grab his neck and squeeze hard enough to stop his breath. He’s flapping against the wall, limbs flailing as he attempts to gasp for air, which only fuels me to tighten my grip around his throat. I can feel his pulse hammering in his neck. He’s hitting my arms in a feeble attempt to get me off him.
“I fucking told you before, if you so much as touched her, I would end you. I don’t make empty threats. You stupid fucking junkie.” His arms now limply hit at me as his eyes bulge almost out of their sockets. Not a single ounce of regret displays on him, which fucks me off even more. With a last squeeze of the windpipe, he finally goes limp in my grip, all the air completely cut off and his life now ended, by the hands of a monster.
I release my hold, and he collapses to the ground like a sack of shit. Any other time I’d carry on like nothing happened, yet the realization hits me. She’s witnessed what I am first hand. She just watched me take another man’s life. There is no escaping that, certainly no denying it. But she’s now safe. That’s all that matters. She can hate me for the rest of eternity. At least I know she’s safe.
“Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I wanted to be better. Better for you. For us.” Wrapping my free arm around her tiny frail frame, I collapse my head into her neck, her sweet peachy scent wafting up my nostrils. I know this will probably be the last time I get to hold her like this. Monsters like me don’t get to keep the girl. I can take a man’s life without hesitation. But the thought of losing her literally brings me to my knees.
“It’s-it’s okay Keller,” she stammers, her eyelids fluttering. She lets out a chesty cough and tiny red specks splatter across my white shirt.
“Sienna Baby, stay with me okay? I’m getting you help. I promise.”
Beating open the door, darkness surrounds me. The street is eerily quiet. You wouldn’t know a massacre is happening a few flights up.
An engine starts and bright lights illuminate the road. I dart towards the car and yank open the back door as the middle-aged Italian man jumps out of the driver’s seat and helps me place Sienna across the back seats. I give him a nod. “Hospital. Now.”
He simply nods in response. Edging to the other side of the Mercedes, I slip in and gently lift her head onto my lap. She doesn’t even flinch when I move her. As we drive off, I spot Luca and Grayson in my peripheral, exiting the building, holstering their weapons, and stalking toward the Audi behind us. Both of their faces dripping with crimson. Grayson swipes the back of his hand across his face, only smearing it more. Two predators fresh from a hunt.
Fear consumes me as the driver hurtles toward the hospital. I sit deadly still stroking Sienna’s blood-soaked hair.
