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Me: What happened?
Lisa: He sent the security guards. Nathan tagged along.
“Jesus fuck. I knew she’d pull something.” I pushed the faux panel open to tell Donata to return to the suite, but she was gone. “Where did she go?”
Me: Make sure he comes up here too.
Lisa: Fuck.
“Is that a yes?” Rex raised his eyebrows at her message.
“They’re coming up.” Santino pressed his body against the wall. “Enzo will take care of Donata. We need to take care of these assholes.”
I nodded. My entire being screamed to leave now and find Donata. But Santino was right. The plan had already been set in motion. I gestured for all of us to get back in the corridor. As soon as we were inside, I pulled the panel door and left it ajar.
“Where the fuck is she?” Nathan slammed his fist on the wall.
“False alarm, then?” another guy asked.
In the next beat, all three guys went dead silent. They knew we were in here. I leaned against the wall. Across from me, Rex and Santino did the same. By the time Nathan crossed the threshold, my heart pumped so hard, all thoughts went out the window. I switched to auto mode and started throwing punches.
Nathan probably figured that if he had two bouncers with him, he would have a chance at beating me. But he had no way of knowing I had brought help this time. We had promised Donata no one would get killed tonight. Our aim was to knock them all unconscious, which was easier said than done. The hit needed to be in a precise spot and with the right amount of force.
I kneed Nathan in the stomach and then brought my fist down hard on his back. He fell over like a sack of potatoes. As soon as Santino saw him fall, he put his hands up in surrender. The guy fighting Santino took the bait and clocked him square in the face. In the time it took him to realize what was happening, I had already taken the bouncer’s gun.
“Both hands on the wall.” I jammed his own weapon into the nape of his neck.
When I looked over at Rex, he also had a gun pointed at the other man. “Today’s your lucky day.” He hit him hard on the back of the head.
“You have no idea.” Nathan growled from his fetal position, then fired.
My body didn’t have time to react. But it didn’t matter, the bouncer stood between me and Nathan’s bullet and took the brunt of it. Nathan pulled the trigger twice more before he got shot in the leg. The pain made him drop his gun and cradle his thigh.
“Fucking asshole.” Santino walked up to him and aimed the gun at his head. “Do you not see us holding a gun too?”
“I think all he could see was that he wanted to shoot me.” I let the dead bouncer drop to the floor, then looked back at Rex.
“This one is still out.” He dipped his head toward Nathan. “What do we do with him?”
“Go find the manager. I got him.” Santino loomed over Nathan. “Hurry. I don’t like his face.”
I darted down the corridor and pushed the panel open. Nathan’s three shots had been muffled by a silencer. But I was sure the gun Santino fired was not suppressed. Was the crowd downstairs sober enough to understand what happened?
When we reached the landing, a man in his forties was rushing up the stairs but stopped mid-stride when he saw me. I was ready with an excuse to lure him into the secret passageway. But he must’ve read the fury in my eyes because the minute I stepped forward, he spun around and darted away from me.
Enzo turned the corner and tackled him at the bottom of the stairs. “We need a favor.”
“We went to help Lisa when the manager didn’t take the bait.” Donata struggled to catch her breath. “This place is a maze.”
“Let’s get this over with, yeah?” Enzo shoved the manager up the stairs.
“I heard a shot,” Donata said when she reached the landing. “Are you okay?”
“I am. Thanks to Santino.” I touched her cheek. “You should probably wait out here.”
“I know you’re not serious.” She pushed past me and entered the corridor.
The second Santino spotted her, he cleared his throat. “We didn’t kill him.” He pointed at the man at his feet and the small pool of blood. “That other one is still breathing. We had to shoot this one in the leg. He’ll live.”
