“So that’s the guy? The Valentine Killer?” Marcus asked, snapping a photo of the man on the screen.
Gavin nodded.
Marcus texted the photo to Ace, asking him to scrub the net to see if he could locate anything about the man they were hunting.
Thirty minutes later, Marcus’s phone lit up with Ace suddenly calling.
“Did you find him?” Marcus asked, ignoring the sentiment and pleasantries.
“Marcus? Hey, bro. We got a problem,” Ace huffed into the phone. It sounded like he’d been running and was struggling to catch his breath.
“What? What is it?” Marcus quickly asked, his stomach suddenly dropping.
“You got about twelve ghosts coming in from the south. They all look armed and are coming in fast. Blade and I are about ten minutes out. The rest of the guys will be there shortly.”
The lights to the cottage suddenly cut out.
Gavin screeched, lunging toward Marcus.
“Is it him?”
“No. It’s twelve hostiles coming in hot,” Marcus growled, grabbing Gavin by the hand and pulling him up the stairs. “Puppy, come!” he shouted. Not that he had to.
As if sensing the danger around them, Puppy was already hot on their heels, chasing after them up the stairs and down the hallway.
Throwing open the bedroom door, Marcus ran to the closet and pulled open the loose board in the back of it. He lifted out a metal box and tossed open the lid.
He pulled out a handgun and shoved a magazine into place with a sharp snap. The sound was ten times louder in the quiet room. Marcus chambered a round, then shoved the gun at Gavin.
“Here, take this,” Marcus barked.
Gavin took the gun and stared down at it. The metal was cold in his hands. It was sleek and heavy and reeked of all kinds of danger.
Was this weapon still a virgin? Or had it been used in some sort of crime or murder? Perhaps it was used for protection—scaring off would-be robbers before they even had a chance to enter the home.
Oh, who was he kidding?Any weapon found on Shadow Viper property had a 99.9 percent chance of having been used in some sort of crime.
Next, Marcus lifted a second loose board right next to the first and pulled out an assault rifle.
Gavin’s eyes went wide when he spotted the deadly weapon.
“Marcus, what’s going on?” His voice cracked as he tried to hide just how terrified he really was.
“I need you to stay in here. Barricade the door and wait for me to return. If anyone gets through that door,” Marcus said with a stern, no-bullshit look in his eyes, “shoot whoever it is in the head and then the chest. Then the head again.”
“Marcus, I—” Gavin began before being cut off. He’d never held a gun before, let alone shot one.
“I’m going downstairs to protect you and stop whoever is coming after us. The rest of our guys should be here in about ten minutes, so I just need to hold them off until then.”
Marus turned his once-soft chestnut eyes toward Gavin. As if sensing Gavin’s fear, Marcus reached out and cupped his face.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You trust me, right?”
Gavin nodded. He trusted Marcus with his life, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified of Marcus getting hurt.
“Watch Puppy for us and keep him safe, okay?” Marcus gave him a half smile. He leaned forward and gently kissed his lips. “I’ll be back soon. I promise, babe.”
Somehow, hearing those words comforted him. Gavinreached down and scooped up Puppy from the floor. The poor guy was whining, not knowing what the heck was going on.
