“We were paid to distract them, not kill them,” a second man says and grabs me by my hair. “But you killed my brother, so it’s only fair to kill you.” He gets in my face. “But first, I want to have a little fun. Edi, go find the girl that was with him. What fun is it without a woman? I’ll let you watch me fill all of her holes.”
My blood spikes, and I move without thinking. I hit my forehead against his with all the force I have in me.
“You son of a bitch.” I ignore his swearing and the pain. “Shoot him.”
I wait for the bullet to hit me, but it never does. Instead, a knife passes me and hits Edi in the throat, spilling his blood. I turn to my left side to see Valentina approaching with a gun in her hand. She raises a gun to the guy’s head, but then lowers it and shoots him in the knees. His cries fill the space, and I rush to his side to disarm him of any weapon he has.
“I told you to run!” I turn toward Valentina.
“I’m not good at following orders. I thought by now you would know that.”
I laugh. “I can’t believe I’m glad you didn’t run.”
She shrugs. “You could just thank me.”
I smirk and wrap my hand around her waist, pulling her to me. I lean down and crush my lips to hers, deepening the kiss and exploring her mouth with my tongue. She wraps her arms around my neck, pressing herself into me even more.
“As much as I would like to keep this going and thank you properly, we should probably help the others and secure him,” I speak into the kiss.
Valentina pulls back and raises her gun between us. “Sure thing. Let’s go.” I chuckle and go for the dead man to take his gun. I search him and find zip ties in his pockets.
“You should interrogate him. He should have some information.” Valentina nudges the man with her shoe.
“I will interrogate him later. First, I need to make sure that my men got the others,” I say as I turn him on his stomach. He cries out, fighting against my grip.
“We should place him in the dumpster so no one can find him. I have something for his mouth.” Valentina raises a scarf between us.
I raise my eyes to the scarf she's holding. “Where did you get that?”
“It’s his.” She nods toward the Albanian.
“Even better.”
I ignore his wails and cries as I bind his hands and wrap the scarf around his mouth. With that done, I hook my hands under him and drag him toward the dumpster. The man is big; I would say around three hundred pounds, yet I manage to move him. Valentina opens the cover, and the rotten smell fills my nostrils. I chuckle darkly. “You're going to enjoy this stay.” I look at Valentina. “Grab his legs, and on a count of three, we’re going to lift him and dump him inside.”
She leans down and grabs his legs. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
“One. Two. Three.” We lift him, and together, we dump him inside. We ignore his protests and close the cover of the dumpster on him.
By now, the shooting has mostly subsided, but we can still hear a bullet or two being fired. I narrow my eyes at Valentina. “Stay by my side and be sure you always have your back covered.”
“I will.”
With my back to the wall and Valentina on her feet behind me, I hurry toward the back door. I turn the knob, and relief washes over me when it opens. I follow the path to where the sound of gunfire comes from, ignoring the dead bodies on the floor. I willdeal with that later. I round the corner and halt, reloading my gun. There’s a man I don’t know, and he’s holding one of my men at gunpoint. I raise my gun, point it at him, and pull the trigger. The bullet lands at the side of his head, causing him to fall. “You good?” I ask one of the soldiers.
“Yes. Thanks, boss.” He nods.
“How many are there?” I ask, inspecting the area.
“There were five men. One ran away; Matteo is after him. Three were killed in the crossfire.”
I turn my attention to him. “And from our side?”
“Two casualties, and I think Vince won’t make it. He is badly injured.”
“Dammit, this was a trap.” I run my hand through my hair, my shoulders falling. They wanted us to be here. The question is, were they expecting Salvatore to be here?
