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ZAYNE (38 YEARS)
The plan had gone off perfectly. Using Salvatore as bait, I circled the building and took out the men with my sniper rifle. While I’d taken out the men inside the building, I wasn’t prepared for the number of vehicles that rocked up while Ria and Salvatore were still tied up.
Now as I fired off a couple of rounds, I hoped like hell we’d get out of this fucking place. “Jesus, Salvatore, did you buy your fucking license,” I yelled, pulling out another weapon and pumping led at the fuckers coming after us. “Fuck, I could’ve sworn we walked into Hitler’s German army with the number of foot soldiers these men have.” I reloaded another magazine as Ria unfolded herself from the car floor, her stunned gaze riveted on my face.
“What are you doing here?” she finally found her voice.
“Saving you.” I winked, earning a scowl instead of a smile. Okay, not good. “Stay low.”
“We need to lose them,” Salvatore growled, his driving skills superb but he was no McLaren or there were just too many of these fuckers following us.
I glanced out the back and shot off another couple of rounds. “They’re gaining on us. Pull into the first alley you can. We need to ditch the car.”
Another burst of gunfire sprayed us and the car fishtailed. “Automatics.” Salvatore cursed as he finally righted the car.
I kept firing until the clip was empty and reloaded.
“Give me a gun.” Ria held out a hand, sliding up carefully onto the back seat.
Smirking, I gave the Colt and it was a fucking turn on watching her handle the weapon. She’d changed and I wasn’t sure whether to call it a good thing or bad. The car jerked, bringing her body into mine. I inhaled her familiar scent, losing my concentration, and had to duck when a couple of bullets whizzed past me. With the extra gun, we managed to get more of the fuckers, buying us time.
“Hang on,” Salvatore called over his shoulder, swinging the car wide and bringing it to a stop in a dark alley. We ducked as a couple of cars drove by. “They’ll be on the lookout, we need to get out of here,” he said opening the car door and climbing out.
Ria and I followed. “We need to lay low for a couple of hours.” I glanced over my shoulder. We were about two streets over from the city. “There.” I pointed out and we began walking, each of us caught up in our thoughts, or we had nothing to say to each other. Several minutes later, we reached a busier street which made it less likely for the men to find us or shoot wildly. When neither of them said anything, I spoke up, “they’ll be watching the plane. So, we’ve got two choices. Sit in a coffee shop all night or find a hotel and get some sleep.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to get to the plane undetected at night?” Ria asked.
I got the feeling she wasn’t too keen to spend more time in our company. Sorry, baby girl. But I need this time with you. “Yes. But they have a better chance at taking us out under the cover of night than risk exposure during the day. Your call.”
“I agree with him,bella.” Salvatore’s endearment got my hackles up.
Fuck, this was going to be a long night.
“Fine.” Ria agreed, her reluctance evident in the drop of her shoulders.
“It’s no use all three of us getting caught. You wait here, I’ll go see what I can find us,” I offered and they both nodded.
As I crossed the road and headed for the nearest hotel in sight, I glanced over my shoulder. Salvatore was directing Ria to a coffeehouse. Something in the way they moved, tightened my chest. Anyone looking in would think they were a couple. I thought of my son and meeting him. It made me smile.
