“Go up the stairs,” Kit said from behind me. “They’re on your left.”
“I’ll go first. If it’s clear, then you follow me.”
“Be careful, Sully. I want to help them, but not at the expense of losing you.”
I cupped his chin and slanted my lips over his, kissing him hard. “Ditto.”
The upper level was clear. I whispered for Kit to come on up. I looked around. In the corner was a door standing open. Were we wasting our time? Were they even still alive?
“When you shoot,” I said to Kit as he stood next to me. “You shoot to—”
“Kill.”
I nodded and preceded him through the door, gun poised at the ready to kill whoever stood in my way. I ended up in an enclosed space that, judging from all the clothes, was a walk-in closet. Voices came through the open door on the other side.
Kit stuck to my heel. Slowly, I stepped closer to the door and peeked around it to assess the situation. Not bad. Three men were in the room, at least as far as I could see. Javier was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Really bad. Scott was on his knees next to Javier, pressing a towel to his abdomen, trying to stem the flow of blood. Blood also seeped out of a wound on his thigh.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, Guillermo,” Scott snarled at the man who sat at the edge of the bed, a gun in his hand. “You’ve crossed the motherfucking line this time.”
“You don’t get to speak, puto!” Guillermo spat. “You’re my cousin’s bitch, but you’re not a part of mi familia. Never will be. Spreading your ass for him doesn’t make you a Grimaldo, and don’t you forget that.”
“Listen to me, Guillo,” Javier gritted out. “You can have it all. Kill me if you want, but let him go. He has nothing to do with this.”
“On the contrary, primo, he has everything to do with this. You were a better man before he made you weak. You got soft. Do you think I’m so stupid I couldn’t figure out why you wouldn’t kill the boy, even though you knew we were hungry para la justicia? Ellos mataron a tu hermano. But you’ve put this pinche cabron over your family.” Guillermo stood and kicked at the wound in Javier’s thigh. The man grunted in pain, but when Scott tried to lunge at him, Guillermo pointed the gun at him. “Make any sudden moves, and the next bullet goes here.” He turned the gun directly toward Javier’s crotch, grinning maniacally. “Will you still love him without his vergato satisfy you, puto?”
“I’ll always love him no matter what,” Scott said. “You can never change that, you fucking bastard.”
Javier grabbed Scott’s hand. “I love you too. I should have said it long before now.”
“I always knew.” Scott kissed Javier’s knuckles, then turned his attention to Guillermo. “Please, let him go. You can have it all. Just let him go.”
Javier grabbed the front of Scott’s shirt. “You will not beg him for my life, do you hear me? We won’t give this mierda that satisfaction.”
Fuck.
In my business, there was very little to admire. Strength of character and being a man of his word were two rare qualities to find. Hell must have frozen over because I damn well felt a surge of admiration for those two.
I signaled to Kit we were going in and the man he should focus on. I would handle the other two. He gave me a thumbs-up. After my nod, we burst into the room. I put a bullet into Guillermo, then swung the weapon toward the other man in the room and got him good twice. Beside me, Kit emptied the pistol, but his man was down too.
“Nice job,” I said to him, but I spun around at a scuffling sound. Scott had launched himself at Guillermo, delivering blow after blow to the man’s head.
“What are you doing here?” Javier moaned, pinning me with a scowl.
“What does it look like we’re doing?” I scowled right back at him. “Are there any more men we should be worried about?”
“I’m not sure how many he has here.”
“Then I’d suggest you get the hell out of here before the others come.”
Fists and shirt splattered with blood, Scott returned to Javier’s side. “We’ve got it from here,” he said.
“Where are you going to go?” Kit asked.
“We’ll think of something.” He placed his arms around Javier and helped the man up. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
“No hospital,” Javier said.
“You need medical attention, Jav, and we can’t go to our doctor. You know he’s Guillermo’s closest friend.”
“Let’s get out of here first, then worry about a doctor later.”
“You’re fucking bleeding out.” Scott glared at his lover. “Don’t be stubborn.”
Don’t get involved. Don’t get involved.
“We have a doctor,” Kit said. “You can come back with us, and he’ll patch you up. Can’t he, Sully?”
“No, Kit. They’re our enemies. No way in hell am I letting them anywhere inside my house.”