“Do you know why we call people rats?” she asked him as Antonio walked in with a cage full of the beady-eyed creatures.
Mel, with no reservation, grabbed one of them.
Note to self—ask doctor about shots for her and the baby.
“Because they are self-preservation creatures. They have no honor, no loyalty. It’s all about doing what they can to save themselves. In fact”—she smirked throwing the rat into a small jar—“they will eat anything if it means their survival.”
“She wouldn’t,” Neal whispered.
“I’m done doubting Melody. It’s unhealthy to be proven wrong so many times,” Declan whispered back.
Cross struggled as Antonio fit the jar and the rat on the end of his decapitated wrist. But she wasn’t done. Despite her calm appearance, she was seething. Pulling out a lighter, she held it to the jar, and the rat ran toward his wrist to get away from the flame. Cross screamed against the sock.
“So many limbs, so many rats. You called me a bitch . . . twice, insulted not only my intelligence, but also my abilities, and then killed my doctor. How ticked do you think I am?” she asked him.
“First question and I’ll make it easy. What is the Valero’s next move?” He only screamed in pain.
“Take your time. I can wait for you to stop screaming,” she added, drinking her damn smoothie.
MELODY
“He’s unconscious,” Fedel informed me, putting his hand to Cross’s neck. I was surprised he was still alive, he lasted two hours.
Sighing, I stood up and rolled my neck. “Make sure he doesn’t die.”
Cross had only given bits and pieces of information, most of which didn’t make any sense. It had to be the blood loss. However, I would get an answer, and I would put an end to them all.
“It’s you who should be worried about dying.” Cross spoke out in a daze. His eyes were barely open, and he was so pale he could have been mistaken for a corpse.
“I still have my hands and foot.” Who the fuck did this idiot think he was?
He smiled and laughed like a mad man. Fedel punched the side of his face, but Cross only laughed harder. Then the house shook so violently I had to hold on to Antonio for a moment. It took me only a second later to realize what caused it.
Liam busted in. “The east wing was just bombed, we need to move.”
“See you all in hell motherfuckers. Tell the Boss I said hello.” Cross laughed and passed out.
There was another explosion and the look in Liam’s eyes as he pulled out not only one but two guns was the deadliest I had ever seen.
We were under attack.
TWENTY-EIGHT
“Any of you fuckin’ pricks move,
and I’ll execute every mother fuckin’ last one of ya.”
~ Honey Bunny, Pulp Fiction
MELODY
“Monte,” I hissed through my teeth, and a second later, he placed a machine pistol and two extra mags in my hands.
“Your orders are to shoot to kill everyone but Amory or Saige,” Liam snapped at him. Fedel and Monte didn’t even waste a second before they were out the door. Placing the magazines in the back of my pants, I could feel the bloodlust kicking in.
“Where is the family?”
“The safe room . . . where you should be,” he said to me, grabbing hold of my arm before I could leave.
“Liam, I don’t want to waste bullets, but so help me God if you think for a second that I’m going to sit behind walls and wait for the storm to settle, I will end you myself,” I snapped at him holding my gun to his nose.
His green eyes narrowed. “You’re pregnant. Get the fuck behind the wall, Melody.”
“Fuck you.” I glared back before walking out. The moment I did, all I saw was destruction. It was like . . . it was like we were bombed. Lights flickered, wires dangled from the ceiling, and all I could hear was gunfire.
Leaning against the wall, I held my gun to my chest as Liam came up right next to me.
“Done treating me like a bitch and not your wife?” I asked, trying to see where the gunfire was coming from.
“You better not get hurt or I will kill you myself, love.” Liam smirked, kissing my cheek before stepping forward, shooting blindly into the hall and yet somehow, hitting the motherfuckers.
Stepping out from behind the wall, I glared at him as he smirked. “I hate you.”
“You love me . . .” He was cut off as I shot into the hall at one asshole hiding behind a broken door.
“You forgot one.” I smirked before running down the hall and I could feel him right behind me.
The moment we reached the east wing, it looked like an all-out war between our men, who used every part of themselves, including teeth and fists, and broken glass to kill if they were without a weapon. From the corner of my eye, I saw Neal almost rip the arm off a Russian. The air was clogged with the scent of blood, and I was going deaf from all the noise around me. Out of nowhere, a blade sliced up my leg, and the second I looked down, I met the eyes of the fool who thought it was a good idea to cut me with glass.
Stomping my heel into his face, I screamed as his blood went everywhere. Wiping my face with my arms, I turned to see Liam slit a man’s throat. When he looked over again, he wasn’t looking at me. I followed his gaze, in time to see Amory put a bullet in Eric’s forehead.
Liam roared so loudly I would have thought it was him who made the house shake. “Amory!”
Amory appeared shocked at first, as if he had forgotten whose house he had attacked. But the shock soon gave way to fear as Liam stalked toward him like the devil himself. The moment anyone blocked his path, they were struck down so quickly I didn’t even have time to blink. I wanted to watch him rain fire and brimstone on the fool, but I wasn’t sure what they knew our how much they were after. There were only a few of them left. I needed to make sure that all our files and information weren’t being stolen right from under us.
“Neal!” I yelled for him but he was too far gone in his thirst for blood, and was busy shooting down the motherfuckers in his way. He looked almost giddy, like he was in some video game and invincible.
Glancing back at Liam one last time, I watched as his fist collided with Amory’s face before running down the hall. The further I went, jumping over rubble and exposed wires, the louder the screams. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was. Between the sparks, smoke, and the flames, I could barely see a few feet in front of me. As I peered around the corner, I heard someone scream.
“Let go of me!”
It was Olivia, yelling as three large men surrounded her like wolves around a sheep.
“You’re pretty,” one of the men said, “but you would be prettier on my cock.”
They all laughed as he grabbed at her, and in that second I put a bullet in his head, causing the blood to spatter all over her face. She stood there, shaken, while the other two men spun around, releasing a hail of bullets.
Jumping behind what was left of a broken wall, I yelled out, “You have two seconds to run before I place a bullet in your brains.”
“Fuck you, bitch, you’re outnumbered,” one said in a heavy accent.
“Come out like a good bitch and we’ll be gentle with ya,” the other said, laughing, and all I could hear was Olivia’s scream. She was annoying as fuck. Why couldn’t she have just gone to the safe room like a good little damsel in distress?