Chapman crashed through the doors and into the kitchen, amid screams and shouts from the panicked staff.Any thought that one of them might be able to help was shattered when Upton fired into the ceiling, and everyone ran out.Katrina didn’t blame them.She would have run given the chance.
“There’s no way you’re getting out of here,” Darwin said from the doorway, only to duck as Upton and Chapman fired their guns in his direction.
“Damn right we’re getting out of here,” Chapman shouted, turning the weapon in his hand until it was pointing right at her head.“Because you’re going to let us out.If you don’t, your girlfriend is going to pay the price.”
Katrina’s stomach twisted into a knot at the blatant threat, not to mention the intimidating factor of the weapon pointing at her head.The urge to fight back was hard to resist, but she did.
“If you kill her, then you have no more shield, and I’ll have no problem shooting you,” Darwin said, his voice low and dangerous as he stepped through the doorway and moved quickly behind the cover of a walk-in freezer unit, the barrel of his weapon pointed just to the side of where Chapman was holding her.
“Who says I’m planning to kill her?”Chapman said with a menacing laugh that sent shivers down Katrina’s spine, even as he started pulling her backward through the kitchen, Upton at their side.“Maybe I’ll shoot her in the hip?Then I can still drag her around as a shield.If she never walks again, that’ll be all your fault.”
Katrina’s heart beat so hard she thought it might explode out of her chest.Chapman was going to shoot her.She was sure of it.
She had to do something!
Refusing to think about all the ways this could go wrong, Katrina reached out and grabbed the handle of the nearest pot on the stove, lifting it and throwing its contents over her shoulder at the man holding her.
She had no idea what had been in the pot, but Chapman cursed when he caught most of it in the face.Some of it splattered against her neck and shoulders, but she ignored the searing heat, focusing instead on getting free.
Regardless of that inspired move with the pot, she was still having a hard time breaking free from Chapman’s grip.It only got more difficult when Upton moved over to help get her back under control.
There was a blur of movement from the corner of her eye, and then Katrina was being knocked to the floor as Darwin took her and her two captors down in a big pile.
Katrina tried to push herself upright, fighting to climb out of the tangle of flailing punches and kicks.But just as she was getting out of the pile, a hand clamped down on one of her legs, getting a handful of dress along with it.
Looking over her shoulder, Katrina saw Upton lifting his gun in her direction.Crap.While she’d accepted he wasn’t the man she used to know, she’d never thought he would actually shoot her.
Then, out of nowhere, the same pot she’d grabbed off the stove a few moments earlier smacked into the side of Upton’s head.He went down in a heap, his gun flying.Katrina looked over in the direction the pot had come from to see Darwin turning his attention back to Chapman as they went at each other with an intensity more savage than anything she’d ever seen.
She wasn’t sure where Chapman’s gun was, but he snatched up a chef’s knife that had to be at least twelve inches long, obviously intent on stabbing Darwin with it.
Darwin calmly stepped forward and blocked the downward attack with one forearm, the move smoothly turning into a counterattack involving a punch.But at the last second, Chapman ducked, and Darwin missed.Then the two were going at each other again, one blow blurring into the next seamlessly, like some choreographed dance.
Not wanting to see who misstepped first, Katrina turned and looked around wildly for the gun Upton dropped.She had to end this before Darwin got hurt.
She couldn’t find it, though.
Where was it?!
Katrina started to panic all over again, but then she caught sight of it half sticking out from under one of the stoves.It took a few seconds to drag the gun out from under the stove, and by the time she got a firm grip on it and spun around, she was sure it was too late.But Darwin and Chapman were still fighting.
She aimed the handgun at Chapman, but immediately realized this one was bigger and heavier than the one she’d taken from Upton earlier in the Merlot Room.She could barely get her hand around the grip, and holding it straight and aimed at Chapman was next to impossible.It didn’t help that he was moving all over the place as he fought Darwin.But she had to try something.
Katrina aimed in Chapman’s general direction and started to squeeze the trigger when he glanced in her direction.His eyes widened in alarm, and he hesitated long enough to give Darwin the time he needed.He punched Chapman in the stomach, then grabbed the back of his head and rammed his knee into Chapman’s face as he fell.Chapman pitched forward, collapsing to the floor with a thud, and staying there.
It was over.
Katrina rushed toward Darwin, eager to throw her arms around him, only to stop when he gently grasped her shoulders, stopping her.She stared at him in confusion until he reached out and carefully plucked the gun from her hand.
Wow, she’d completely forgotten about that.
The moment Darwin had placed the weapon’s safety on and put it atop the nearest counter, Katrina leaped into his arms.It was possible she was a bit too exuberant, or maybe Darwin was more hurt than she’d thought.Either way, he went right down to the kitchen floor, her on top of him.
Darwin groaned a little, but didn’t complain.Instead, he pulled her up a little higher on his chest and kissed her.That kiss, along with the sudden release of all the tension she’d been holding in for the past hour or so, had tears running down her face.
“Are you okay?”Darwin asked softly after breaking the kiss, looking up at her with concern.“Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt,” she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks even as she ignored the way her whole body was aching from the night’s events.“I’m just so glad you’re safe.I love you so much, and I don’t ever want to lose you.”
