LEVIN
Idove behind an overturned table as Hail shot at me, cursing everything that was a lord.
Mother fucking Vasiliev.
I returned fire. I’d only just arrived, and a fucking war was underway, which meant Vasiliev was here, creating a distraction. A damn good one based on the screams, blood, and the few bodies scattered around. Not to mention all the fucking smoke. Damn, the curtains were on fire.
How the fuck…
Hail had brought friends by the looks of it. It wasn’t just the lords. Some of his father’s crew were there too, which meant he’d probably grabbed the loyal to him groupies and promised them riches if they came to a gun fight.
I shot at one, hitting him in the chest. He toppled over as Hail darted away. I caught sight of my father shooting at one of the lords’ men, his face a mask of wickedness. I said a silent prayer he’d catch a bullet to the brain, then I ran to an open doorway. Any death for that evil bastard was already too late. My grandmother should’ve swallowed my grandfather’s load instead of letting it impregnate her. The world would’ve been a better place without the lot of us.
I peered around. The house was too fucking big. I’d never bothered to learn the layout. In retrospect, I wish I had because I had no clue how the hell to get anywhere in this damn mess. I coughed as I ran through a low hanging cloud of smoke.
Unable to take the main route to Matteo’s office, I had to go around. Not that it mattered at this point. The house was overrun with the lords’ cockroaches, their guns blazing.
I shot, taking down two more guys before I caught sight of Fallon. He fired at my father and missed before he dove behind the wall opposite of me.
“Hey, you Russian shitbrain,” I called out to him.
He did a doubletake as he reloaded. His dark hair was a wild mess, and he had blood on his shirt. “Hey, you German cocksucker.”
I snorted and shook my head before pointing my gun around the corner and pulling the trigger. A body thudded to the floor.
“Nice distraction. Maybe next time you should bring a fucking army.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t be at two places at once tonight, so I had to modify shit to make it work. I’m sorry if my distraction isn’t good enough for you.” He fired around the corner and took down one of Matteo’s men before sending a slew of Russian swear words out as wood splintered next to his head.
“You do realize you’re shooting the wrong people, right?”
Vasiliev cursed again and shot one of the lords’ men. “Eat shit, Seeley. Are there any right men here tonight?"
“Jesus, you’re a fucking mess. Do you even know what the hell you’re doing?”
“Nope.” He fired at someone else. “I’m improvising.”
I didn’t even know which side the guy was on since it was such a damn disaster around us. Matteo would be paying hella money to fix this mess. Looked like he’d be hiring a decorator too.
“We need to find Dom and Vincent. They’ll be wherever Bianca is, and I suspect that’ll be Matteo’s office,” I said, searching for an escape. I spotted one and motioned for Vasiliev to follow me.
He darted off behind me as I rushed forward, ducking and dodging as bullets flew around us. Glass shattered, and there were more screams.
We made it to a hallway which was relatively quiet.
Something was eating at me, so I glanced at him as I surveyed the area around us so we didn’t get blasted. “Why did you really bring the whole of the lords’ B team to fight tonight?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Clearly not.”
He rolled his eyes at me as we pressed against a wall where the hallway formed a T. “Hail wanted to shoot up De Luca and his men. We were ready to go. I couldn’t do that and do this. Decisions needed to be made. I put a bug in Hail’s ear about this and how his father would praise him. It worked. Ta-da. Here I fucking am.”
“You’d risk your life for Bianca?”
He spun toward me, his eyes widening. He lifted his gun and fired in my direction. I thought he was going to shoot me. I let out a shout and slid down the wall right as a body toppled behind me.
“I’d risk my life for her and anyone she loved,” he said, offering his hand to me to help me up.
My ears were ringing as I took his hand and let him tug me upright. I turned to see a dead guy from the lords’ side in the hall, blood pooling around him.
I looked back to Fallon. “You love her.”
“Just as much as you do, I suspect. Now stop trying to sweet talk me, Seeley. I have to find our girl.”
I grinned at him and shook my head. Maybe I wouldn’t kill him.
Today, anyway.