Step by frantic step, she dodged several more shots before another one hit its mark. Fire erupted in Natalia’s right thigh, and she went tumbling to the ground with a cry.
She flopped over onto her back and looked up at the stars. For a fleeting moment, she found herself thinking?—
What a beautiful night to die.
This was it. Natalia had fought the good fight, but despite her valiant efforts, she’d lost. The pain and blood loss from her wounded limbs was simply too much to overcome.
“My, my, my, Tally Cat. You’re still as feisty and stubborn as ever, I see.”
“Enough, Julian!” Natalia spoke between a set of clenched teeth. “Stop with the fucking games! No more nicknames or old pictures…or your fake as hell obituary. Just…fucking…stop!”
“Like those did ya?” Julian grinned, presumably referring to the little gifts he’d left for her to find. “You should see what I left on poor Keith. The asshole always was envious of my friendship with you, you know? I did you and the world a favor by wiping that bullying prick from the face of the earth.”
“Now you’re going to do the same to me, right?” A tear escaped. “Do you honestly think killing me is really going to make you feel better about what happened?”
“Maybe.” He lifted pistol in his hand. “Only one way to find out.”
“Please, Julian,” she begged. “I loved you like a brother. And I know you loved me. I knowit! That still has to be in there, somewhere. You have to remember…” Her chin quivered. “I-I was your friend.”
“I did love you, Natalia,” he uttered the shocking admission. “You were like the sister I never had. But that was a lifetime ago.”
He moved the barrel of the gun so that it was pointing directly at her head. Natalia refused to flinch or look away. If Julian was going to kill her, he was going to have to do it while looking her square in the eyes.
I’m sorry, Jagger. Please, know I never wanted to leave you.
Julian’s finger slid down to the curve of the trigger. The sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears as a single gunshot echoed out into the night.
20
Natalia waitedfor pain and a brilliant light to come. They never did. Shockwaves of surprise and relief reverberated through her soul as the barrel she’d been staring down seconds before began to lower.
Her muscles tensed with an adrenaline-spiked start as the weapon landed inches from where she lay. Julian coughed and groaned, and the disturbing sound pulled her gaze back up to his.
For a very brief, fleeting moment in time, the old Julian was there. He looked confused as blood poured out in spurts from a hole in his chest. The jagged exit wound marked the very spot where his caring heart used to be.
When Julian brought his faded gaze back up to hers, Natalia knew…
He’s all but gone.
She lay helpless, watching as he dropped to his knees. His features grew slack as the last signs of life vanished. Her would-be murderer fell forward, landing flat on his face in the dirt.
Julian was dead. And this time, there would be no coming back.
But how?
Reeling to make sense of what happened, Natalia looked past where Julian had been standing, expecting to see Jagger and his men. But there was no team of operators who’d come to her rescue in the eleventh hour.
Only one man was there. He walked toward her beneath the moonlit stars. And when she saw his face, any hope she had left of staying alive was lost.
“Sanchez,” Natalia breathed out the gun smuggler’s name before letting her head fall back onto the soft, grassy field.
Arlo Sanches was the man who’d saved her life? But…why?
“Why did you…shoot him?” she asked, her voice strained from the pain. “Julian worked for…you.” She swallowed. “Hek-killedfor you!”
As he grew closer, the man’s imposing form looked even deadlier than before. With his broad shoulders, square jaw, and thick head of dark hair with a touch of gray at the temples, Sanchez had a wealthy, distinguished, powerful look.
He was a tall man. Some might even say handsome. But Natalia knew better than most that evil came in many packages.
