Sweet Collateral

But this…I take simple joy in knowing that Dominges is going to be considerably weaker without his older brother. Both strategically and emotionally. I inhale, focus, hold the breath… and then there’s a bang. Miguel drops out of sight, and I swear under my breath. Sam moved too fucking soon. When I take in the scene in the warehouse, it’s chaos. Miguel lays dead, but his men barely get a chance to do anything about it before several more bangs ring out and they start dropping like flies. Glancing through the doorway, I find Samuel storming towards me.

“What the fuck?” he asks.

“It’s not me. I didn’t get a single shot off.”

We crouch down, and my eyes scan over every inch of the warehouse, and it’s then that I catch the muzzle flash, high up on one of the gang walks. Narrowing my eyes, I can just about make out the figure lying down on the metal flooring, sniper rifle in front of them. The black hood covers their face, so I can’t see shit.

“Come on.” I jog down the stairs, re-tracing the steps we took to the exterior door. The warm night air greets me as soon as I step outside. Samuel follows as I jog around to the opposite side of the building. The shooting inside has stopped, but I want to know who the fuck is getting involved in our shit. Maybe they want the guns. That would make the most sense here. The metal of the rickety ladder groans under someone’s weight, before the soft thud of feet hitting the floor. I round the corner, gun raised and pointing at the tiny figure clothed all in black.

“Stop.” They freeze, tilting their face down, the hood hiding their face. Narrowing my eyes, I take a step closer. Dressed all in black…tiny; too small to be a guy really…a great shot. “Una?” No sooner has the word left my lips than I feel the nudge of cool metal against the back of my head. Glancing to my right, I see Sam standing with his hands up, his rifle at his feet.

“Did you miss me?” Una says from behind me in that distinctive Russian lilt. “Drop it.”

I drop the rifle, and the figure in front of me whirls to face me, sniper rifle clutched to their side. The hood falls away, and golden blonde hair tumbles over her shoulders.

“Anna,” I breathe.

Those sapphire blue eyes of hers meet mine, and I don’t know what I expect to see, but it isn’t the cool indifference I find. The black clothing clings to every curve, and I can see that she’s firmer, fitter, honed. Different. She’s so different.

“Rafael,” she says, shrugging the strap of her rifle higher on her shoulder.

Turning around, I glare at Una. She places the barrel of the gun against my chest.

“What did you do?”

“Rafe,” Sam warns.

Una only smirks. “To Anna?”

“Of course to Anna.”

“I made her strong, just like I said I would.”

“She was already strong.”

Anna strolls past us, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Even the way she walks has changed. “We need to go,” she says to Una.

Una lowers her gun and shoves it into her thigh holster, taking a step back.

“That’s it, you’re just leaving?” A hint of desperation creeps into my voice.

Anna turns and drops her gaze to the floor. Despite the front she’s putting on, I know this is almost as hard for her as it is for me.

“We didn’t come here to pay you a visit,” Una says.

“You show up in my city without any fucking prior warning. I’d say Nero owes me at least a heads up.”

“No. Nero doesn’t owe you a thing, and you know it.”

“Does he know you’re here?”

“That’s none of your concern.” So he doesn’t.

“Why are you here?”

“Enough.” Anna steps forward, taking her sisters arm. “Una is helping me. That’s all you need to know.” She goes to move, but I grab her. She pauses, her gaze dropping to my fingers wrapped around her slender wrist. Her eyes lift to mine, and for a second everything disappears the same way it always does when I’m with her. The world fades into the background until all I can see is the perfection of her face, my own personal angel. Her breaths hitch unevenly, and she closes her eyes, tilting her face away from me. “We won’t be here long.”

“You’re killing Dominges’ men…”

“You’re not the only one who deserves revenge, Rafael.”

My thumb skates over the inside of her wrist, and she softens towards me before pulling away. “Anna!”

The two of them disappear into the night like shadows, and I’m left standing with my fucking heart beating like a drum.

“What the hell?” Samuel comes to stand beside me, dragging a hand through his hair. “Anna just shot Miguel. Anna.”

“I’m aware, Sam.”

“This is going to cause problems.”