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“Where are you going?” God, the girl sounded as belligerent and demanding as Lemon. Just without the lethal bite Lemon had.
“To get your sister.”
My phone buzzed in my back pocket and I took it out, glancing at the screen. Ripper had sent details of where Lemon was being held. I knew the crappy little house. It was a place we’d had under surveillance but hadn’t pounced on yet. I guess now was the time. Only I’d be doing it myself.
Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I headed out the door and to my bike. It was less than a fifteen-minute ride back to Riviera Beach but I made it in ten. I had no doubt Lemon could take care of herself. The thing that got me was that she’d protect that girl with everything in her, even if it meant sacrificing herself. I knew it like I knew my own name. That was the problem. Which meant I had to be careful going in.
I parked my bike a few blocks away from my target. If I had the timeline anywhere close, the girls had been gone right at an hour. As I approached the house, I could hear the men arguing inside. And there were definitely more than two. Their words were indistinct, but the voices were different. I thought there might be at least four if not five men in the house.
There was a thud, then a sharp yelp from one of the men. “Fuckin’ bitch! I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you!”
“Bring it on, you son of a bitch!”
“Fuck.” I muttered the expletive. The guy meant business and so did Lemon. While I’d put her one-on-one against a man -- even a battle-seasoned one -- for a short while, there was no way she would survive four or five to one. Not waiting a moment longer, I kicked in the back door, charging the first man I saw.
Snapping his neck was easy, but I’d lost the element of surprise. Two more guys charged me, one pulling out a gun. He shot once before a third man snagged the gun from his hand.
“You want someone callin’ the fuckin’ cops? Kill the bastard, but do it quiet!”
“I’ll kill you!” Lemon shouted as she charged the third guy. Though her hands were tied together in front of her, she’d managed to score a thick wooden stick for a weapon. Looked like a chair leg or something. She swung, but I didn’t have time to see if she connected because the two other men took me down. Which was when I realized the shot the second guy had gotten off had hit my shoulder. Pain ripped through me, but I ignored it. Just like I’d been trained to do.
I fought two, then three men while Lemon swung her weapon at the fourth. With my attention divided, I took more hits than I should have. One to my wounded shoulder didn’t hurt as much as I’m sure it should have -- or would once the tissue shock wore off -- but the blow to my knee put me on the floor.
There was a shrill scream and Lemon gave a brutal yell. I could hear thuds in the background and I thought she was beating the shit out of her attacker, but that could have been wishful thinking.
“Get behind me, Euphemia!” Lemon took another vicious swing at the guy in front of her. I heard the bone in his forearm snap as he held it up defensively. I made as much noise as I could, hoping to keep these three men’s attention on me so Lemon could escape with her small charge, but Lemon was having none of that. The second she knew her guy was down for the count, she started in with one of the guys attacking me.
“Motherfuckers!” Her battle cry was hard to miss as she fought first one, then another of the three men attacking me. Though I fought, I wasn’t nearly as effective as I normally would have been. My knee was in a bad way. I’d be lucky if I hadn’t blown it out.
When I finally got to my feet, I threw myself in the general direction of the other two men Lemon had engaged. I noticed the small figure huddled behind Lemon, trying to do what Lemon asked her but afraid of getting hit. The girl still had her hands tied in front of her, but it looked like her feet were free.
“Goddamnit, Lemon! Get the kid and get the fuck outta here!”
“Shut up and fight, you asshole!” That demand in her voice really shouldn’t have been a turn-on, but there it was.
“Imma kill you, bitch!” One of the guys fighting Lemon lunged in an all-out attack, backing Lemon up and with her, the girl.
With one last-ditch effort, I gave an enraged roar as I launched myself at the guy, lowering my shoulder and running him over like a linebacker. Immediately, every man in the house was on me, giving Lemon the opening she needed. Even as I fought, I could see her indecision. She very much wanted in this fight, but she also knew she couldn’t protect the girl and engage these assholes at the same time. One thing about Lemon I’d noticed. She wasn’t afraid to wade in where angels feared to tread. But she knew her limits. I also knew that, if she hadn’t had the girl with her, trying her best to protect the child, she’d have said to hell with the consequences, doused herself in gasoline, and jumped into the fire with both feet.
“I’ll send help, Rocket!” she yelled as she hurried the girl toward the door. “We’ll rain hell down on this fuckin’ place!”
“Go, Lemon! Get her outta here!” The last thing I needed was her coming back. I’d get out of this myself. Just like I always did.
“If you get hurt, I’ll fuckin’ castrate you, you bastard!” That sounded like the Lemon we all knew and loved. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was worried about me. Knowing Lemon, she just wanted me to survive so she could kill me for whatever reason she thought I needed killing. Why the fuck that made me want to smile was beyond me. All that really mattered was that Lemon was out of this fucking place away from these fucking bastards. What happened to me was of no consequence.
My only regret was not being able to enjoy Lemon and her snarky disposition more before I claimed her. But I would.
I most definitely would.
Chapter Five
Lemon
I’m not sure what I expected, but an empty street wasn’t it. I wasn’t sure where we were or where to go, but I’d have thought Rocket’s men would have been right behind him. Instead, I gripped Euphemia’s hand. And yeah, that name was getting really fucking old really fucking fast. I wasn’t one to make fun of a person’s name, but what the fuck had her mother been thinking?
As we navigated between houses and buildings, I tried to hurry Effie without scaring her any more than she already was. Before my sister had taken up with Iron Tzars, I’d have taken us straight to the first policeman I could find. Now, my instinct was to stay as far away from the law as we could unless it was life or death. All that aside, my first order of business was to put as much distance between us and those assholes as possible. The next thing we needed to do was find out where the fuck we were and get these fucking zip ties off my hands. Thank God I’d managed to find a sharp rock to cut our feet and Effie’s hands free before the battle. Hadn’t managed to get my own hands free, but at least they were zipped in front of me instead of behind my back.
“I’m scared,” Effie whimpered. She clung to my arm and constantly looked around her as if expecting someone to swoop down and pluck out our eyeballs.
