AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Get down!” Ben jumped on my back, forcing me to the floor when new men shot at us from behind.
Acting fast, Ben hid behind the opulent furniture and fired back. I pushed one of the doors open with my shoulder and faced their shooting head-on.
I didn’t recognize their faces, so they weren’t anyone from the higher ranks. I figured they were indeed there for Matias’s security and dirty work. Despite the horrid scenario, it gave me a sense of relief. They could be numerous, but they were green. There was no way we couldn’t overpower them.
One by one, we brought them down. But our relief came a little too soon, keeping us from seeing theAlacránsneaking behind my back from theroom I was seeking shelter from. When we finally noticed him, he was already too close, and with a gun pointed at me.
The shot was loud, echoing in the big space. Yet the burning from the bullet wound never came. As the man fell in front of me, I looked up to see Mia on the other side, on the higher gallery, with her rifle pointed at him.
“You can thank me later,” she teased through the radio and went back to her assignment.
“Matias is running down,” Aaron alerted us. “Fuck! There’s another access to the main floor besides the stairs. He’s running away!”
Ben and I stared at each other and stormed down to stop Matias before he got out of the building. As Mia and Aaron had described, the ballroom was huge, with not many places to seek safety. The worst part, though, was the many doors siding the space under the galleries. Each of them seemed to lead to a whole new area of the mansion. The thing was built to be confusing.
Aaron and Mia ran our way while making sure there’d be no more surprises. When they reached the main level, we parted ways. Ideally, we’d still be paired up. But the space was too big, and we were too low numbered to cover it all in pairs while Matias made his run. And we’d yet to find Lisa.
I walked into the room closest to me and cursed at the many shelves. Under any other circumstance, I’d admire the impressive library. But at that moment, it was just another reminder of what we’d lost—and who else we could’ve lost—the year before.
Unwanted memories assaulted me. Mia running between the shelves of the company, trying to beat the cartel—Matias and Ben’s father among them. Her deciding to stay behind to save Izzie’s life. Us bursting into the building to stop that madness, only to have Matias escape us. The huge explosion that led to Zach and Mia being rolled outside, each of them on a gurney. Us never seeing Zach again. Not even to say goodbye.
Exactly one year before.
The definition of a bad omen.
I hated that my people were alone, scattered in that hellhole. I’d worked with the three of them and knew what they were capable of. I had no doubts they could handle whatever struggle they encountered. Yet I still hated that we were forced to prove our skills, risking our lives yet another time while trying our best to stop the devil’s spawn and get my woman back. The woman I had yet to find.
I inspected the area, having found a whole lot of nothing inside. More than frustrated and irritated, I was getting worried. Matias was playing with our heads, and his hide-and-seek game was lasting way longer than it should.
I was ready to get out of the library when I heard a loudthud, like metal hitting the ground, coming from the ballroom. My heartbeat sped up, and I embraced the adrenaline as I ran toward the sound.
I needed something. Anything. Any new sign of where he was and where he was keeping my woman. I drove to The Mansion, ready for war. Ready to fight. Ready to face whatever I had to if that meant getting my woman back.
Yet nothing could’ve prepared me for the sight of Ben hanging from the gallery railing, his legs dangling in the air, with a rope around his neck.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
I walked into his office and handed him a cup of coffee. I plopped down on the chair across from his desk and sipped my own shot of energy.
Zach leaned back in his seat. “Thank you, man.” He took a sip of his coffee, avoiding my eyes. “I thought you were still mad at me?”
“I am. And with good reason. You and Ben are really pissing me off with your chauvinistic attitude. But you’re still my friend.”
“So, you figured you could put some sense in my head while being a supportive friend?” He chuckled, albeit without humor.
I nodded. “Something like that.”
I took our coffee time to study him. His clothes were rumpled, his hair was disheveled, his shoulders were dropped, and his eyes were red with worry and exhaustion. He looked older and as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
His always neat space was filled with origami, and he was folding yet another one. I picked one of them. “Having fun?”
He smiled tiredly. “It helps me calm down.”
I peered again at the many figures he’d made. “How anxious are you?”
Zach stared down at his coffee, a defeated look on his face. “I’m afraid we can’t win this war.”
“Not if we’re divided, we can’t. How much longer are you going to keep this stuck-up attitude?”
