These guys don’t look like they’re from around here, they look more like the kind of guys from back home, the kind that you’d never want to be alone with. In fact, they look a lot like my boys—deadly, cold, and vicious.
The gap between us gets smaller and I stop in the center, flicking my gaze between the two. They nod at one another as they bear down on me, making it clear that I’ve fallen right into their trap, but I’m not a fucking quitter. I’m not about to roll over and allow them to have their wicked way with me.
I'm better than that. I have to fight this.
I drop everything in my arms and run.
I dart across the road faster than I’ve ever moved in my life, running straight for the alleyway. I’ve never been down here before and I have absolutely no idea what’s at the other end but I have to hope that there’s salvation. I can’t have this happen again. I won’t survive it a second time.
My feet pound against the road and I hear the two guys instantly take off after me, their feet moving like lightning. Panic surges through me as I become extremely aware of every step I take, desperate not to fall or stumble knowing that one tiny little fuck up could end me.
I glance back over my shoulder to find one of the guys with a gun in his hand and an involuntary scream tears from deep within me.
I remember the words Nic always taught me—if you can’t fight back, run. Run as fast as you fucking can. A slow target is a dead target.
Repeating his mantra over and over again, I race up the pathway and slam my hand against the brick wall to fling myself around the corner faster. I dive into the alleyway but don't dare stop as their footsteps grow louder, closer.
Glancing up ahead and trying to figure out my next step, I come to a screeching halt, finding three men already there, waiting for me at the end of the alleyway.
“Fuck,” I breathe, glancing around in a panic, desperate for some kind of escape. I start backing up as they move toward me and for some reason, I find it impossible to tear my eyes off them, particularly the older man standing in the center. He has an air about him, something that screams danger.
He’s in a suit and the way he holds his shoulders and oozes importance tells me to keep my fucking mouth shut.
The two men behind me finally catch up and I feel the gun at my back, forcing me to walk forward and meet the men in the middle.
My eyes flick around, desperately searching to figure out who’s the weakest link, which one would I be able to take down, which one could I fool?
The suited man takes a step forward. “I wouldn’t, Oceania Munroe,” he warns, shocking me as he uses my full name, though I hardly hear him over the deafening pulsing in my ears as my blood pumps wildly through my body with fear.
“Who are you?” I demand, far too bravely for how I feel inside as I try to look over them in a new light. They clearly know me and I too easily just fell into their trap. These fuckers have been watching me, waiting for me.
He steps in closer and scans over my face, looking for something but I have no idea what. “I think the real question here is who the hell are you?”
I slam my hands against him, forcing him a step away from me, his closeness way too disturbing for my own liking.
The gun at my back moves to my skull. “Don’t fucking tempt me,” the guy murmurs at my back, his hot breath hitting the side of my face. “I’ve been waiting for my fucking chance to take out Dominic Garcia’s girl.”
Fuck. They’re Wolves.
I’m in more trouble than I could ever have known.
“Easy, Snake,” the suited guy demands, his sharp, deadly glare shooting up over my shoulder to the armed man at my back. “Hurt her and you’ll spend the next week in the cell.”
The gun instantly eases off the back of my head as a low, rumbly growl sounds behind me. “Yes, boss.”
“Boss?” I question, my eyes going wide as I stare at the man standing way too close. I suck in a sharp breath. No, this can’t be happening. “You’re Mikhail Russo.”
His eyes sparkle with danger and in the blink of an eye, he seems to grow a million feet taller. “Ahh, so you know who I am.”
I swallow back fear, doing everything in my power not to let on just how fucking terrified I am. “What do you want with me?”
He licks his lips and shivers travel right down my spine, turning my blood freezing cold. “I’ve been watching you, pup,” he says in a chilling tone. “You’ve been a very naughty girl spending so much time with those Widows. Anyone would think that you’re a traitor to your family.”