With a nod, I withdrew the guns from the holsters at my back. It was show time—and bullets and blood had always been some of my finest masterpieces.
I charged in and took aim at every living target. No one would have been expecting that. They would have been waiting for me to try to creep in. No fucking way. Everybody was going to die until I had Scar safely out of here.
A bullet grazed my arm, but I barely felt it—a flesh wound at best. Two men went down in front of the Challenger plane. Two more rushed out from behind it. They didn’t make it three steps, and the bullets they’d managed to fire ricocheted off the wall somewhere behind me. No, they definitely hadn’t been expecting me to come in with guns blazing.
I strode forward, cognizant of what was to the left and right of me, but I had my sights set on the destination in front of me. Beyond the empty space behind the plane, there was a car parked. I could see two pairs of shoes behind it, but they were just Lopez’s goons. Lopez was in the car, and Scar was in there with him. She had to be. There was nowhere else to hide her in here.
A staccato of loud bangs and suddenly my shoulder was on fire. It should have hurt. It should have been fucking excruciating, but all I felt was heat. No pain. The adrenaline would keep it at bay.
I found the source of the gunfire and took aim. The guy scrambled back, but it didn’t matter. My bullet burrowed into his forehead in the blink of an eye.
I kept going, shooting while bullets flew past my ear and the prickle of heat told me another shot had grazed through the flesh of my thigh. Stupid fuckers couldn’t kill a target if it walked up to them with a bull’s-eye on its chest.
I was five yards away. Michael and I had nearly cleared the room, aside from the guy cowering far off in the back corner. He was maybe eighteen years old. New at this. Probably had never fired a weapon in his life. Did I let him live to become a monster like me, or did I kill him now to make sure he never did?
He was young, like Scar, not just in age but in the terror and innocence in his eyes. Before Scar, I wouldn’t have hesitated. Now, I kept a watchful eye on him as I strode closer to the car.
Two more feet though, and the passenger door flew open. Scar stumbled out in front of Lopez. He was using her as a shield—the fucking coward—and he had a gun pressed against her temple.
But that wasn’t all I noticed. A puffy, purple bruise marred her skin just above where her cheek had all but healed, and blood trickled slowly from a cut on her soft lips. Her shirt was torn right down the center, and another angry bruise peeked out below her bra.
My stomach churned violently, but I met her gaze and my breath caught in my throat. Her eyes…like I’d never seen them before. Not terrified. Not hopeless. They were red and puffy from crying, but within their green depths, angry fire shined bright. It was as if she was burning with it from the inside out, and if Mateo stood close for too much longer, he was going to go up in flames.
I had no right to feel proud—whatever contribution I’d made to her life hadn’t ever been positive—but I was so fucking proud of her.
Still, I was going to tear Mateo apart forever laying a hand on her.
“Let her go, Mateo, and I’ll consider killing you quickly,” I told him, pleased that my voice was as calm and cold as ever.
He cocked the gun and my heart leapt into my throat. He wouldn’t do it. He couldn’t possibly be that stupid. If he shot her, there was nothing stopping me from tearing him apart one slow piece at a time.
“She killed three of my men, Derek. Obviously, I can’t let that slide.”
The evil glint in his eyes made me worry. Could he possibly be that crazy? I couldn’t risk it.
“Take me. I’m worth far more than three of your useless lackeys.” I looked around at the dead bodies that peppered the floor to emphasize my point.
“That is an interesting proposition,” he replied as his fucking hand grazed over Scar’s breasts and down her ribs. When his hand settled on top of the apex at the top of her thighs, I wanted to cut off every one of his fingers and shove them down his fucking throat.
“But you see, the men she killed were the ones I had lying in wait for you. You never would have seen it coming, but instead, they had to go chasing after your disobedient, little slave. It’s all right though; I do understand why you like her. She has so many…charms,” he said, using the hand between her thighs to press her back against him. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind sampling her right now. Here. While you watch. Try to stop me, and I’ll blow her brains out.”