"Sir, we have to get you out of here," one of Vito's guards said, not giving Vito the option to stay. Both remaining guards dragged Vito to his feet and ran him over to his car to get him out of danger, as Demir had commanded.
"Get Nathan," Vito ordered.
"We have to protect you first, sir," the other guard said as they continued to get Vito into the armored vehicle.
Nathan laughed to himself at the thought of being left behind to fend for himself. Vito would be their priority; he was their boss's little brother and their underboss. This wasn't the first dangerous situation Nathan had ever encountered; he knew he could handle his business. He noticed that Demir and Aoshi weren't evenly matched, as Aoshi seemed to have more skill. Both men were bloody from their intense fight. Each man held a knife in his hand, and deep slashes and stab wounds decorated their flesh. Nathan knew if Demir lost, he'd be next because, in his current condition, he was in no shape to fight an assassin of Aoshi's caliber. Already, he was starting to feel lightheaded from the blood loss.
Still, he had to do something. Demir blocked a blow from Aoshi, but the man countered with a grappling move that took Demir to the ground. "Fuck, he's going to give us hell," Nathan said, seeing the man gain the upper hand. He had to act now. He jumped up and ran over to the two men, kicking Aoshi in the head and sending the man rolling off Demir. Aoshi climbed to his knees after the roll and tossed his knife at Nathan, which he dodged, but then Aoshi was back on his feet and after him. Thewounds the man sustained didn't slow him down one bit; he was like a machine with the sole purpose of killing.
Nathan had to fight through the agony of his bullet wound to block and counter the feet and fists coming his way, as the man was fast with his movements. Aoshi pulled another knife out, and Nathan cut himself on the blade when he blocked it, but before Aoshi could counter, Demir came in, stabbing Aoshi in the gut. Aoshi grunted and jumped back, the blade still in his stomach. He looked at both men, and Nathan could tell that he was sizing them up. The screeching of car tires caught their attention, and that's when Aoshi took off toward the direction of the car. Demir chased after him, and the windows of the car rolled down as gunmen started firing at him, causing Demir to duck behind a car. Nathan fired back, shooting one of the gunmen in the head just as Aoshi climbed into the backseat. The body of the man Nathan killed slumped over before someone pulled his corpse back inside, and the tinted window rolled up. Aoshi fired back at them, and Nathan took cover just in time as two bullets struck the car he was using as a shield. He watched, pissed off, as the black car sped away.
The elevator doors opened, and seven guards came spilling out, all of them running after the car and shooting at the same time. The car's bulletproof glass and body protected the occupants inside until they made a clean getaway.
"Come here, save Nathan," Demir yelled at the guards, gaining their attention.
"Yes, sir," they said and ran to the aid of both men, who were injured.
"You two, get the van," Demir ordered.
"Yes, sir," the guards said and ran off in another direction.
"Be careful of his shoulder; he took a bullet," Demir said.
"How are you, sir?" one of the guards asked Demir.
"I'll live," Demir said with a wince.
"Is the boss okay?" asked another guard as he lifted Nathan up with the help of another guard.
"Vito is fine," Demir said.
Nathan groaned from the pain of his wounds. During the fight, his adrenaline was pumping; he had to disconnect himself from the agony to focus on his enemy. It was part of his training, learning how to fight through the pain as well as tolerate torture. It had been a very long time since he'd been shot, and he didn't like it one damn bit.
Demir added pressure to his deepest knife wound as he limped to the van with help from two guards, with Nathan limping behind him. The van door opened, and Nathan climbed in. He could feel his clothes clinging to him with his own blood, and his vision became blurry as he was carefully laid down on the backseat.
"Where... are we... going?" he managed to ask.
"One of our safehouses; a doctor will be waiting there," Demir said just as the car took off.
The motion of the moving vehicle was the last thing Nathan was aware of before he blacked out.
Chapter seventeen
Da Han
DaHanclimbedintothe back of one of the three SUVs parked outside his house. His wife, Mèng Yáo, slid in beside him on the expensive genuine leather seat. His security team climbed into the other two SUVs, while Jun De took his place behind the driver's seat of his, and Chen Yang sat in the passenger side. They took off in the direction of one of Da Han's safehouses to check on the men who had been attacked by the Lords and the Castiello family.
Da Han had heeded Jun De's warning about leaving the mansion, but he needed to talk to the men and get answers to questions that could help him better formulate his next move against his enemies. Jun De had relented but insisted on extra security, hence the two SUVs full of heavily armed bodyguards. They made it to the location, and Da Han, along with his team, entered and took stock of his men and women who were injured or dying.
Da Han walked over to the highest-ranking man there. "What happened at the factory?" he asked, mentioning the drug facility masquerading as a luxury brand purse factory where drugs were sewn into the lining of the purses, and then the packet tossed inside to "preserve" the leather and lining was specifically designed to throw off police dogs. For years, that location had been safe for conducting business. The police were none the wiser... until it was attacked by the fucking Castiellos. Now, he would have to relocate it, probably to Mexico.
"We don't know how they knew about it, boss. Everything was going as normal, and then all of a sudden the door was blasted open, and motherfuckers came running in, blasting away," Feng Luo said, who was one of the triad's Big Brothers.
"How did they move?"
The man frowned, not sure what Da Han wanted. "What?"
Da Han rolled his eyes. "How did they move? Was it organized? What did they look like? I want every detail."
