A pants hits me in my face, making me slit my eyes at Xavier, the rude bastard.
“Lovebirds,” he mutters. “Get your head back in. Let’s finish this so we can follow and back him up.”
I’ll forgive him this time, since I agree.
“Let’s teach them what happens when they fuck with us,” Gabriel’s promise is dark as he loads one of his guns, and when he throws it to me, my bloodlust alights once more.
‘Don’t go anywhere, baby.’
I can hear it in Reuben’s voice almost as though he said it in my ears.
And suddenly, the notion of ending this is a whole lot sweeter.
Chapter 31
Reuben
The building is massive for a town like Snoqualmie. Most would consider it to be a strange place for a mall in such a timeless neighbourhood, whose only tourists are the ones who come to see the falls, but there are vast rooms—lounge and reception areas, as well as multiple other spaces for stalls and smaller shops.
The lighting is dim. Much like the lower floors, this area is still under construction, with scaffolding along the walls, concrete mixers and ladders scattered around, and yards of plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling.
But unlike the lower floors, this one is completely empty.
I know a trap when I see one, but either way, I don’t intend to stop until I’ve found Father, Aster and Baal.
Some of the men we left with Xavier come up to join the search for our Don, but the sounds of gunfire still bleed up from below, mixed with the sounds of a wild beast.
I knew when I picked you up, you were amazing, baby.
It still brings a fucking smile to my lips—a fuckingtiger.
That… That’s a different kind of sexy.
Now, there isn’t a single thing about you that’s hidden from me... and I almost can’t take my eyes off you because of it.
We retrace our steps towards the stairs to push through to the third floor, and the moment we step into the open, the enemy jumps out of their hiding places with their guns trained on us—men clad in back from within the smaller stalls.
I’m barely able to grabMamaand pull her behind the wall when they light the place up with the sound of gunfire.
We brace ourselves, waiting for our opening, and the moment there’s a pause in the air we step into the space with our own guns blazing. I can’t tell how many of theirs we’re able to take down, but we manage to duck behind the railingbefore they return fire.
“We’ll handle them!”Mamashouts over the sound with a ferocious expression, firing a barrage of deadly shots over the wall before taking cover again behind it with practiced agility.
“Go find my boys.” When she locks eyes with mine her expression is cold but her eyes burn brightly. Her tone leaves no room for disobedience.
I nod once. Our numbers are dwindling in comparison to the enemy, but it’ll have to do; I take only three men with me and leave her with the remaining five.
The moment there’s a pause in the air—the sign that the enemy is reloading their weapons—she steps out from behind the railing, firing with the other men and covering me as I dash past her and up the stairs to the last level. There are more open areas so it is easy this time to watch for enemies as we scout each room.
“Baal!” I shout for him the moment I see him, stepping through the last chamber to run to where he is. The space is empty save for a few dead men and Baal’s gaze cuts to me from his place on the floor, with a panic in his eyes.
I kneel to press his head to mine with one hand, slinging the gun behind me and he does the same, holding my shoulders tightly, “It’s a trap,Rubenito.” His voice wavers. “August locked us in. He’s going to trap you here and kill us all. He’s going after every member of the family.”
“Then we have to kick his ass for trying,” I say firmly but Baal only squeezes his eyes shut tightly and pulls away, face contorted in agony.
Only then do I see him.
Aster.
