“I don’t want a drink.”
“Then take a drink and hold it so no one else gives you one.”
The trick came back to memory. “Yes. I can do that.”
Hannah slipped into her heels. “Good. Because I’m ready to go. You with me? Or are you going to keep complaining?”
She offered her arm to me and I slipped mine around hers.
“Ready when you are,” I said.
The two of us marched out of our room and headed for the elevator. And I mentally prepared myself for finding a new friend tonight.
Even if I had to die of embarrassment in order to do it.
14
Max
“Get him to the car. Now!” I roared.
I watched Rupert rip Mr. Dean off the floor as the shadows began to move. A bullet whizzed by my head and my vision started pulsing. Tunneling. Dripping with red as I aimed the sights of my pistols into the unseen corners. I popped off two shots while listening to my men scramble through the doors. Benji appeared, his gun drawn and his eyes wide. Panic settled in my veins.
He was m
uch too good for this kind of life.
“Get down! Now!” I roared.
My men hit the floor, and relief flooded my veins when I saw Benji was out of harm’s way.
“Fall back. Fall back now!”
I popped off a warning shot right beside the head of the club owner, letting him know exactly where my next bullet would go if he so much as got up from that fucking floor. I covered Rupert’s escape as he dragged our client out through the front door, heading straight for that damn limo. I tucked my guns away and ripped the door open. Rupert practically threw the man into the backseat with his bare hands. And after closing the door, I banged on the top of the car, signaling the limo to drive away.
“Two! Six! Seven! Go with the limo, now!”
My voice boomed over the chorus of chaos before I heard bikes striking up. All of my men had numbers. Numbers that we were assigned at the start of every job. I never felt comfortable enough yelling their names, so numbers were the next best thing. And as I watched Benji ride off down the road with two other guys to follow that damn limo wherever it was headed, I drew in steady breaths.
Because we still had a job here to clean up.
The sound of glass shattering and tires screeching turned my head. I saw the club owner on the curb by the dark alleyway, his gun leveled at the limo. Rupert took off, ready to disarm the man as I pulled my guns back out. And as the limo careened around the corner with three of my men following it, I watched Benji turn around and pop off two shots that embedded themselves into the concrete.
Directly at the feet of the club owner from a fucking moving bike.
Boy’s always been a damn good shot.
“One, look out!”
Rupert’s voice grabbed my attention and my senses went into overload. I felt the men behind me as I spun around, leveling my guns in front of me. The sound of gunshots rang out around us, filling the space with gunpowder, heat, and anger. I focused as I popped the men in their knees, refusing to kill anyone tonight. The guns lurched in my hands and explosive force emanated from my body as I focused my energy on getting my men the hell out of this shitstorm.
Then I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye.
A very broad man stood in the doorway of the club, but his gun was leveled in a different direction. I followed the barrel of his gun to find his target, and what I saw made my blood boil. I moved my guns toward him and fired without a second thought. He was staring right at Rupert. My best fucking friend.
The only sound that met my ears was a click.
I heard men chuckling around me. Gunfire sounded in the alleyway as Rupert pinned the club owner to the ground. And in a split-second decision, I dropped my guns, dug my feet into the concrete and took off at lightning speed, hunched over and ready to knock this asshole off his feet.