“Oh, baby,” he whispers. “What did they do to you?” His voice cracks and I can hear the anger in it.
His forehead is drawn to mine and I forget about every single ache and pain in my body for a moment. All I can feel are his hands cradling my face. All I can taste is his breath against my mouth.
“Alek,” I mumble weakly. “You came.”
“Of course I came,” he says, his fingers curling against my skin. “I’m going to fucking kill them.”
Aleksandr’s mouth presses to mine, and despite the cracks in my lips and the blood dripping down my chin, I kiss him back.
“Get him out of here,” Carmine orders.
Alek moves back from the kiss and pulls a knife out of his side holster, cutting me free from my bindings. “Can you walk?” he asks me.
“I don’t know,” I mumble. “I’ll try.”
His hands slide under my arms and he helps me up from the chair. I stumble forward slightly, my legs feeling weak and heavy. I manage to stand up and steady myself enough to not fall back into the chair, but I’m not so sure I take a step forward.
“I got you,” Alek insists, putting one arm around my waist and the other in front of me.
As he’s leading me toward the stairs one shaky step at a time, Dante lunges for me. Trish sends a bullet into his leg and Jake into his head as he’s falling to the ground.
Getting up the stairs is the hardest part. I can hear the gunfire going on up there as Alek guides me up one step at a time. I wince in pain as I step down on my wounded leg.
Someone starts down the stairs from the top, one of the Bianchi crew, and Alek lifts his gun for them before they can draw theirs on us. They’re falling down the stairs toward us with blood splattered all over their chest before I can blink. Alek pulls me to the side as their body tumbles past us and then pulls me forward.
“Get him to a safe house,” Carmine’s voice comes from behind us. Everyone in the basement is dead.
“I’m going as fast as I can, besides, we still have to find Stephan,” Alek insists.
“I’ll find him, don’t worry about it,” Carmine says.
“No,” Alek growls. “He’s mine.”
I know exactly why Alek wants to be the one to find Stephan, and I don’t blame him, but I’m not exactly in the best shape to fight along side him.
We get to the stop of the stairs and into the hallway. It’s much easier from here. Down the hallway into the entry way. Carmine and the other two rush past us to go help the others. Cassian is coming down from upstairs, covered in blood and panting.
“Stop him!” he yells.
My gaze shifts over to the front door where Stephan Bianchi has a hand on the knob and the other with a suitcase in it. He’s splattered with blood but otherwise looks uninjured.
“Stop right there,” Carmine demands, and everyone in the room has their gun on him.
Two shots ring out from upstairs, and I hear Damian’s voice call out “All clear upstairs!”
The floor is absolutely covered in blood, and seven bodies lay all around us, I realize quickly that two of them are from the Rose and my stomach sinks.
“You’re making the wrong move,” Stephan tells us. His voice is calm, but the look in his eyes is anxious.
“I don’t think so,” Alek spits at him.
“Why shouldn’t we kill you right here and now, end all this?” Carmine asks him.
Alek looks annoyed that Carmine is even asking. I look over to see his finger twitch on the trigger. I can see how badly he wants to pull it. To send a bullet right through Stephan Bianchi’s head and be done with it.
Frankly, I don’t know why he hasn’t yet.
I feel his body tense against mine as I lean on him for support.
