He sighed as though the ideas pleased him. My muscles tightened at every idea he laid out like a screw was pulling them more and more taut until they’d snap. But I needed to wait for the right moment and when that happened, I would crush him. This time I would win and he’d be left for dead.
“In the end, I just want you gone and I’m not cocky enough to keep you around and have a chance to escape. You seem to have gotten smarter over the years and I know you have a team you usually use, but the girl’s desperation had you moving too fast to prepare. But your arrogance has reared its ugly head and you came in alone this time, unable to be patient. You came in thinking you’d save the day for all these sluts, but in reality, you’ll just die. And this time I won’t leave it to chance.”
Apparently, he was done talking because, with a serene smile on his face, I realized my time was up. He lifted the gun and aimed for my chest. The time to move was now, whether MacCabe was ready or not, I needed to act.
Taking a deep breath, I slowed my heartbeat and channeled my training in tai chi. I saw Alexandra’s smiling face. I needed to get back to her. I needed to tell her how much I cared for her. I needed to tell her I loved her. I loved her.
All the tension that had been building in my muscles snapped into action. I lunged and shoved my hand out, knocking the gun off track just as it fired.
My escort groaned behind me and fell to the floor, but I didn’t have to focus on him. DeVries was coming at me, his aim realigning for another shot. I reached out and gripped the pistol and twisted, but he kicked out and I took us both down. My bones rattled when we crashed to the floor. I pinned his arm and reared back to land a punch, hoping to knock him out.
He turned his head back with a laugh, blood coating his teeth like a maniacal fucking clown. I went to punch him again, but he thrust up and threw me off balance. He pinned me before landing his own punch and bringing the gun back between us.
I gripped his hands between mine and fought to push the gun off to the side, shoving hard just as the gun went off. Adrenaline flooded my system making me numb to anything other than taking this crazy motherfucker down. The door crashed open and Shane, one of MacCabe’s men, landed a solid punch knocking DeVries off me. Another body came in to pin the arm holding the gun to the ground and finally freed the weapon from his fist.
“Holy shit, Erik.” Shane stared down at where I laid gasping for air on the floor. “We need to get you to the hospital.” I looked down to where he was staring and saw blood seeping out onto the floor under my body, my black shirt dark and wet.
“Oh, fuck. Look at that.” The world got a little fuzzy as I realized the bullet had hit me. Too many chemicals flooded my system from the adrenaline rush, allowing me to only feel a light burning pain radiating from my side.
The blond giant of a man leaned down and pulled me upright. I groaned out my pain, the movement causing a raging fire to throb through my body.
“Let’s get out of here. We need to get that checked.”
He grabbed a sheet and had me press it to my side before wrapping my arm around his shoulder and moving back to the hall where cops were flooding the scene.
People were in handcuffs against the wall and medics rushed to the rooms to help the girls. When we exited, I saw Oscar and Leah in the back of a cop car and despite being shot, the night was a win.
“Is he okay?” one of the medics asked. “He’s smiling like he isn’t shot.”
Shane shook his head. “Yeah, he’s fine. Get him taken care of and then bring him to the station.” He patted me on the back. “I’ll see you later. Good job tonight.”
Yeah, it had been a good job.
Now I just needed to get back to Alexandra.
29
Alexandra
Rattling at the front door had me jerking up from the couch. I looked around the apartment trying to figure out what time it was. The city lights sparkled in the dark sky so it was still night. The last time I remembered looking at the clock it had been a little after three in the morning.
Squinting my eyes, I focused on the stove. Four-seventeen.
The door opened and I jumped up and rounded the corner to the foyer. Erik had his back to me as he tried to close the door without making a sound. When he turned, I was already jogging toward him, surprising him when I jumped in his arms.