Salvation (Angels Halo MC Next Gen 1)

“Carlo Santino, I pres

ume,” Ben greeted, and I clutched at his shirt so tightly, my fingers started to go numb.

“I’m here for the girl,” he replied. “I know she’s behind you. Just move out of the way, and I won’t kill you, copper. Stand in my way, and your beloved grandmother won’t recognize you when I’m done.”

“Fuck off,” Ben snarled. “You’re not touching her.”

“I don’t want to touch her, boy. She’s a present to my adopted son. Maybe little Lexa remembers his father—Enzo.”

Oh God.

I squeezed my eyes closed. Hearing that name out loud always did something to me. Flipped a switch and took me back to the day I’d nearly died. Ben must have sensed the change in me, because his arm came around, pressing me tighter to him, pulling me back from the memories of that sick sonofabitch beating me until I was unconscious.

“I promised Gian I would gift him the child of the woman who killed his father for his twenty-first birthday. He probably would have taken any of the female children running around this godforsaken place. He’s particularly taken with the lovely little twins I’ve shown him surveillance of.”

Oh God.

No. Not Mila and Monroe. He couldn’t touch them. Not him, and especially not the monster I just knew Gian must be. If he was even half as evil as his father, he would take the greatest joy in hurting the girls and get off on their pain.

“But I told him Lexa was the one he wanted. And you’re standing in my way.”

I shifted, needing to know what was going on in front of me, and I peeked at Santino from around Ben’s arm. His hand on my back jerked me out of sight once again, but not before I’d seen the rifle pointed right at Ben’s chest.

Tears burned my eyes. I couldn’t let Santino kill Ben. And I sure as hell couldn’t take the chance of him snatching the twins if he couldn’t get me.

“If… If I come with you willingly, will you promise not to kill anyone else?” I called out to him.

“Shut up, woman,” Ben growled at me. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I won’t let him hurt anyone else,” I whispered. “Especially not you.”

“Lexa, I swear on all that is holy, I’m going to tan your beautiful ass as soon as this is over.”

“Yes,” Santino finally answered, amusement thick in his voice. “You have my word that no one else will be harmed.”

“How can I trust you?” I demanded, ignoring Ben’s death grip on my hip now. “I don’t even know how many you’ve already killed.”

“Think of it this way, cara,” he reasoned. “How many more people will I kill if you don’t come peacefully?”

“She’s not going anywhere, motherfucker.”

I jerked at the sound of my brother’s voice, then one more gunshot was fired off, making me scream.

“Max!”

To my surprise, Ben let me go when I took off running, but I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. Santino was lying facedown between my brother and me, blood and what looked like brain matter on the floor. There was a gun in Max’s hands that hung at his side, his breathing labored as he glared down at the dead body at his feet.

I grabbed him, running my hands over his arms, his chest, making sure he was unharmed, tears streaming down my face. “What were you thinking?” I scolded. “You could have been killed.”

“Mom followed Dad back to the house, saying some shit about being pissed at him but loving him too much, and she told me to take care of you. She would have killed me if I’d let that bastard get his hands on you.” His free arm wrapped around me, holding on tight. “And your crazy ass was just going to let him take you? What the fuck were you thinking, Lexa?”

Ben eased the gun out of Max’s hold. “Let me take care of this, yeah?” he said in a calm voice. “Great job taking that piece of shit out, little brother.”

“You going to arrest me now, Sheriff?” Max asked with a smirk. That alone told me he was going to be okay, and I sagged against him in relief.

“Not today, kid,” Ben said with a wink at me. Tucking the gun into the back of his jeans, he wrapped his arms around both me and my brother, and surprisingly, Max let him. It was then I realized just how hard it was hitting my kid brother. He’d taken a life to save both mine and Ben’s, and he didn’t know how to feel about it. “I don’t know how your parents have survived this long if they have to deal with this shit from you two on a daily basis.”

I felt Ben’s lips touch the back of my head, and I leaned into him.