Vegas Virgin (Nevada Bad Boys 1)

“Do it!” Mr. King snapped and I jerked his body from left to right to silence him.

“Gill, you can do the right thing here.” I looked towards the men at the bar. “Don’t even think about drawing those guns. Gill, release Peoria and hand her your gun.”

“I can’t.” Gill shook his head back and forth, jamming the gun into Peoria’s ribs. “Fuck you, Vincent. I’ll kill her, I swear I will.”

“No you won’t.” I kept my voice steady. Mr. King tried to speak, but I jerked him in my arms again and kept his air restricted. “There’s what? Three of you here?”

“Yeah...” Gill narrowed his eyes at me.

“I’ll kill at least two of you before you can take me down.” I started shifting towards the men at the bar. I snapped my arm tighter around Mr. King’s neck and motioned to one of the men. “Give me your gun.”

“Don’t do it!” Gill’s voice echoed through the room.

“If you give me your gun, you will not be the one I kill.” I looked at the two of them.

“Fuck this, I got a family.” The one closest to me pulled out his gun and handed it to me.

“Your family will die for that betrayal!” Mr. King choked out his words, but I was already pulling him away as I pointed the gun at Gill.

“Shut up, old man.” I tightened my grip on his neck to the point I thought I was going to kill him if I held him in the vice-like grip much longer. “Now I’m going to make sure that you’re one of the ones that dies, Gill. I’m going to kill your boss, you, and the guy over there.” I motioned to the man who had not given up his gun.

“Fine, then you can do it after she dies.” Gill cocked the hammer on his gun and the look in his eyes suggested he was serious.

“Shoot him, Vincent. I trust you.” Peoria’s eyes locked on mine.

I’d never been the best shot. Marksmanship was not my forte. I aimed the gun at Vincent and felt fear swirl through my veins as I pulled the trigger. Peoria had put all of her faith in me and I only had one chance. I aimed for Gill’s head, but the bullet caught him in the shoulder. The man at the bar went for his weapon and I quickly turned it to him, letting another bullet fly towards him. It missed him completely and he drew, but I turned Mr. King towards him.

Peoria ducked down, grabbed Gill’s gun, and took a step back with it aimed at him. Her hands were trembling and I didn’t want her to actually have to use it, but we had an advantage. The man at the bar hesitated when he realized he was going to have to risk shooting his boss to hit me. I leveled my gun at him again and he started lowering the gun towards the floor. I looked over at Peoria and then to Gill, who was on the ground holding his shoulder.

“They have some rope around here somewhere. They used it to tie me up last night.” Peoria walked over and picked up the gun from the second guy who had relinquished it.

“Where’s the rope?” I shook my gun at the two at the bar.

“In his office.” One of them motioned with his head.

“Get the rope and then we’ll get Fiona.” I turned to Peoria and motioned towards the office.

Peoria returned with an assortment of rope and cloth. We tied all of them up, one by one, until they were secured. Mr. King was gasping for air when I released my grip on his throat, but I quelled any sort of remorse I felt for the older man. He had tried to end our lives and his words were too dangerous. Gill was bleeding, but his wound wasn’t bad. Peoria certainly wasn’t gentle with the rope she used to secure him. Once they were all tied up, I placed a call to Detective Rogers and told him where we were. We found Fiona in the back room and after a brief embrace with her best friend, Peoria came back over and hugged me. I escorted the two women back to the front of the club and waited for the police to arrive. When they showed up with their guns drawn, we put ours on the ground and let them come in to make the arrests. Detective Rogers was the last to enter and he looked at me with disbelief.

“You did all of this yourself?” He blinked at me and looked at the four men being hauled to their feet.

“I had a little help.” I wrapped my arm around Peoria’s shoulder.

“Are you two willing to testify that these guys held you against your will?” He put his hands on his hips and looked at Peoria and Fiona.

“I will.” Fiona nodded quickly.

“Does it mean we get to stay in Vegas longer?” Peoria looked at Detective Rogers and then back at me.

“If you want. We just need you here for the trial.” Detective Rogers shrugged. “We should get you to the station so we can get your statement—your parents are here as well. I know they’re anxious to see you.”

“You won’t be staying in Las Vegas.” Fiona shook her head back and forth. “They’re going to lock you in a cage and never let you out of their sight again.”

“Probably.” Peoria sighed.

“There’s one more piece of business, Detective Rogers. Can I talk with you over here?” I motioned for him to walk away from the group.

As happy as I was that we had made it out of the ordeal alive, I wasn’t free of guilt. I was part of the reason everything happened to begin with. Peoria and Fiona were put in danger because of my actions and it was time for me to face the consequences of my actions. Lawson King was a dangerous man and although he didn’t have the same presence the Mob once had in Las Vegas, the three guys he had in the club barely represented the extent of his empire. We could sugar coat it all we wanted, but none of us were actually safe. I couldn’t tell Peoria not to testify, but she was risking a lot to do it.