I take two steps back, and tilting my head, I open my arms wide. “I’ll even give you the first shot. You have ten seconds.”
“Let the fight begin,” Alexei laughs darkly.
Seven.
Eight.
Justin shakes his head. “I don’t want to hit you.”
Nine.
Ten.
My body shoots forward as I pull my arm back, and then my fist connects with his jaw. Satisfaction courses through my veins as I watch his head snap back.
Justin drops to the ground, and shaking his head, he spits out blood and a tooth.
“Tsk…” Alexei shakes his head. “Weak.”
“Get up,” I growl, running out of patience.
Justin climbs to his knees, and taking too long, I let out a growl as I kick him in the ribs, and then I snap, “Get the fuck up!”
Instead of listening, the fucker holds his side while he gasps for air.
I remember the distraught look on Ryker’s face.
The pain in Mila’s eyes.
Just like before, it rips the gorge in my soul wide open. The hellish mass rears up, craving blood, destruction, and pain.
My body surges forward, and straddling the piece of shit, I rest a knee on the concrete to keep myself raised above him. Grabbing hold of his shirt, I begin to deliver punches to his face.
Justin makes a gargling sound then slurs, “Stop.”
It’s only then I move on to his ribs. My breaths rush over my lips, and my heart follows the beat of my fists until he’s wheezing with pain.
Rising to my feet, I stagger a step back and look at the bloody mess. My top lip twitches, and when Justin turns onto his side, groaning and gasping for air, my body shudders, and I lose my mind.
I kick him in the groin as I roar, “You were going to rape her.”
Justin lets out a wheezing wail as he tries to cover his dick, but it doesn’t stop me from delivering another kick and then another.
Arms come around my chest, and I’m pulled away. “Enough, brother. He has to live.”
I yank against Alexei’s hold, letting out a snarl.
“Stop!” he shouts right by my ear.
My body shudders from the control it takes to back down.
Unsatisfied, I watch as Demitri drags my prey away.
Alexei moves around me, and placing his hands on either side of my neck, he locks eyes with me. “We have to let this one go. Come with me. I have a job. It will help satisfy the craving.”
My breaths begin to return to normal as I ask, “We get to kill?”
His mouth curves up. “We kill.” His eyes drop to my hands. “First, we clean you up. Come on.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders and walks me to the car.
I glance around the warehouse then ask, “Where did they go?”
“Demitri and the others will take him to the hospital. They’ll warn him not to say a word.”
My eyes snap to the door, and it has Alexei lightly slapping my cheek. “It’s done. Clean your hands so we can go.”
While I remove the knuckle rings and rinse the blood from my hands, I ask, “Who are we killing?”
“Two low-level drug dealers who stole from my client,” Alexei informs me.
I pick up my jacket and throw it onto the back seat before climbing into the SUV. Then taking out my phone, I text Ryker.
T: I repaid the favor to Green.
Seconds later, he responds.
R: Thank you. Still alive?
T: Unfortunately.
R: I owe you.
I push my phone back in my pocket then pull out my gun to check the clip.
“Put the Glock away. We’ll be using machine guns,” Alexei says.
My lips curve up. “Fun.”
“Always,” Alexei chuckles as he drives us away from the warehouse.
By the time we reach LA, it’s already dark.
I quickly send Hana a text.
T: Might be late.
H: Can I wait at the penthouse?
A smile forms on my face.
T: Please.
H: Be safe, my darkness.
I tilt my head as I read the words.
T: I will. Love you, my light.
H: Love you.
Alexei stops the car, and I watch as he takes a bag from the back. When he gets in again, he sets it down on my lap. “Take out the guns.”
I remove two from the bag as we drive through a shady-looking neighborhood and place the rest down by my feet. When it feels like we’re going in circles, I ask, “What are you looking for?”
“They do business here. A black Cadillac.”
“What if there’s a witness?” I ask.
“No one here will talk. Also, the police don’t fuck with me.”
True.
After another ten minutes, give or take, we finally spot the car. Alexei stops the SUV and takes one of the guns. “Just do what I do.”
My heart starts to beat faster as the excitement begins to build in my chest.
I get out, and falling in next to Alexei, we walk toward the parked vehicle.
“Take the passenger side. Shoot when you see a gun or when I shoot.”