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“Alek Severinov killed my mother,” Maria scream-cries. “He deserves this. Not me.”
“You’ve destroyed how many lives for your own gain?” Val jabs the knife into the side of her throat as a warning. Dots of blood appear. They stream down her neck, hitting the fabric of her dress, blossoming into rose-colored stains. “You deserve way fucking worse. And so do Branko and Luis. Make your choice right now. Tell me where they are, or I kill you and go find them. I already know they’re here and that you have girls stocked up for an auction.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” the guy behind me bellows, shoving me forward until I’m standing only a few feet away from Val’s captive.
“Just save Marisol,” Maria weeps. “I don’t care if she kills me. Save her, Luis!”
Val’s eyes widen.
Luis’s hand tightens around my neck, cutting off my air supply. I try to wrench his hand away from my throat, but his thick fingers refuse to move. He clamps down so hard, I think he might just snap me in two. “That’s right, Valentina. You wanted me, now you’ve got me. But I’ve got your husband. Who’s it gonna be? Your life or his?”
Chapter40
Valentina
Ican’t let Marisol die. She’s innocent, just a kid caught in a vicious, brutal funnel cloud. Nobody asked her if she wanted this life; they just thrust her into it.
But I can’t sacrifice Quinn.
He still came here today, even after I let him leave. He’s here because he loves me. I know it in my heart every time he looks at me, even now.
Tears sting my eyes. I let him go. I risked everything by letting him walk out that door.
I can’t lose him again. I won’t.
Because I’m in love with him, too.
Except the odds… and guns… are stacked against me, and the one card I can play just said she’d rather exchange her life for Marisol’s.
“Did you really think you would get away with what you did to El Azul?” Luis grunts.
“You sabotaged my brother and sister-in-law, bitch,” Quinn snarls, twisting around so he can face Luis. “You tried to kill them.”
“I don’t try to kill people. I’m not a fucking amateur. If I want you dead, you’re dead. That was a message to you, Mulligan.”
“Well, here I am. What the fuck are you gonna do about it?” He nods toward Marisol. “And remember, she doesn’t have much time. You fuck around, and Val will shoot them both in the head before you can squeeze off a shot,ese.”
We stand, facing off with one another.
If I make a move, he’ll shoot Quinn.
My fingers cramp up from clutching the knife so tight.
“Choose, now!” Luis yells at me. “Or else—”
A sea of bullets drowns out his next words. Luis throws Quinn face-first into the floor. “You can never beat us,” he thunders.
With a gasp, I pull Maria around a column and duck low, the knife still at her throat.
“Marisol,” she weeps.
Another explosion erupts. Bullets crack, ricocheting off the cement walls of the room. Windows shatter, dishes crack, metal pots clang as they’re assaulted by a barrage of shots.
My pulse jumps, punching a hole in my throat. Sharp gasps tear at my lungs. I blink fast, my vision blurred by tears. Luis fires his gun at the ceiling. Cracked pieces of stucco crash down around us. Footsteps pound like we’re being surrounded by an army.
I stretch myself, leaning forward to grab the gun on the ground near Marisol. I slap the ground, willing my fingers to lengthen enough for me to grab it.
A mass of angry faces blur in front of me. A stray bullet from Luis’s gun cracks against the floor centimeters from my hand before I can grab the gun.
