AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But before I can even hear my brain finish asking the question, Quinn has his gun out. Shots fire, ricocheting off the cement walls. I duck down, and in a hair of a second, I have my knife. I pop out the blade and lunge for the feet of the man who’d grabbed me. I drag the knife across his Achilles first, then stab him in the thigh. He collapses to the ground, his face smashing against the concrete.
Bullets pop and explode across the room. I pray it’s Quinn’s gun firing at them. I dive on top of the thug writhing on the ground, a pool of blood gathering around his lower body. Grabbing his hair, I yank his head backward and press my lips against his ear.
“Where is Branko?” I bring the knife to the side of his head. “And don’t fuck with me. I will stab you in the fucking ear if you do.”
“No, you won’t,” he rasps. “Because you want answers.”
I fist his hair harder, then slam his face into the floor. He cries out when his nose smashes against the concrete. “I’ll get them or you die, understand?”
I move the knife to his throat. “Now, I’ll ask one more time. Where is Branko?”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
I press the tip of the blade into his flesh. He yelps.
“Don’t cry like a little bitch. Tell me where he is.”
“I don’t know any Branko.” He groans when I smack him back against the floor, this time making sure his forehead takes the full impact. Skull against concrete makes such a pleasing sound.
“Think very hard right now, because if you don’t give me the information I’m looking for, I will split your fucking head in two.” My fingertips numb from gripping him so hard.
“I swear, I don’t know who that is.”
“Bullshit. Then who’s your boss?”
“Denis Stepanov,” the guy growls. Blood from his nose and mouth trickle over my fingers.
“No. It’s not him.” It can’t be. He absolutely cannot be the one who is running this fucking ring. Branko is here. He has to be!
I flip the guy onto his back and clench his shirt tight in my fist. My other hand holds the knife poised over his eye. “One last time or you lose the eyes.”
“There’s no Brank—”
With a loud yell, I drag the knife across his throat. I hover over him, the life draining from his eyes. More bullets crack against the wall behind me. I fall backward, rolling around on the ground before jumping to my feet. I crouch low next to a column just in time to see Quinn pop off one more shot that sends the last guy crashing into a wall, then the floor.
I run toward Quinn and slam my fist into his jaw. “You son of a bitch! She led us right to them. How the fuck could you bring her into this?”
He holds a hand against the spot where I decked him, then captures my wrist in his hand. “I did what I had to do to get to you, okay? I didn’t have a crew or a bunch of weapons. I didn’t even have a fucking car because of Alek the asshat. So if you wanna be pissed at me for bringing her here, fine. Fucking sue me. But I only did it to find you.”
“Great, so now you have me. There’s going to be a witch hunt to find us.”
He rubs his face. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
A faraway whimper makes my ears perk up. “Wait. Did you hear that?”
“Val, there isn’t time to—”
I hold up a hand. “I came here to find Branko and stop him from destroying any more lives. If there’s an auction happening, it can still lead us to him. We can still save lives.”
“We have a shot to get the fuck out of here before they find us, and you wanna go running right back to them? Someone sold us out, Val. And it wasn’t only Mandee. Maybe you need to focus on that, instead, yeah?”
“I want Branko. That is my focus,” I say, my voice shaking with rage.
“I heard what the guy said before you iced him. He doesn’t know a Branko. You’re chasing a fucking ghost.”
“No. I’m not. He’s real, dammit, and I’m going to find him—with or without you.” My heart clenches with each word that tumbles from my mouth.
Quinn releases my wrist, his blue eyes dark and narrowed to slits. “It’s not a shocker that you’d leave me here to redeem yourself for something you’ll never be able to change,” he snarls. “Shame on me for not seeing it coming this time and for believing that you gave a damn about me. But you’re on your own now. I’m fucking done.”
