Chapter Twenty
That brought blood to his cheeks and the fire to his eyes. “I’ll show you good boy if we make it out of this fucking crazy idea of yours with our lives.”
“Good. Gives me something to look forward to.
“When Sevastyan hears of this you can take front and center on being the ones to get your ass chewed out. I’ll stay back and watch.”
“He’s not as scary as you think and I’m sure you will join in the fun like you did last time.”
She stepped past Lucian, who wore a devilish grin.
“And you can wipe that smirk off your face, Lucian.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
And those were his last words before his gun went off and he buried a bullet in a man’s skull.
But she didn’t get to dwell on the fact she just watched her lover down a man. The loud, solid thump of feet pounding into the floor thundered off the walls, amplified by the soundproof padding.
“Stay low,” Roman barked, and off went two more rounds. Her gaze swung to the darkest part of the corridor to see two men in black suits drop. She’d failed to even see them. How the hell had he?
Blood pooled at her feet and Roman and Lucian ushered her forward. Maddox brought up the rear, gun drawn.
It took a minute for all of it to register. “Thank you,” she rushed on to say and made sure the safety of her gun was off.
Maddox pushed her toward Roman when her feet wouldn’t move. Kicking off her spiked heels, she followed her men as they wound through the corridors that fed into secret tunnels beneath the prison. Because any sane person would see the elaborate mansion with the chandeliers and silk drapes and naked butlers as nothing more than elegant dressings to hide the ugly truth. These walls brought death and torture. Stole free will.
And that was why she couldn’t sit back, let these foul men do what they wanted to the innocent. Her father had a hand in trafficking them, instead of standing up and protecting those who needed him like he had when she found herself without a mother and a home. His weakness to stand up for what was right fueled her next moves.
“Where are we going exactly?”
“Exactly, I don’t know,” Roman answered. “I’m following the stench of blood and death. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Darkness consumed the space around them, and she squinted to make out the walls. Rough edges of cement tore into the tender flesh of her fingers as she felt along the craggy wall. Underfoot the smooth marble turned to cold, hard-packed dirt the deeper they advanced. The high walls closed in on them as the tunnels narrowed.
Roman threw out an arm and forced her back against the wall, bringing them all to a full stop. Lucian’s body heat wrapped around her a moment before his body did and she took comfort in knowing she didn’t walk into hell alone.
Ahead of them the labyrinth of tunnels broke off in three different directions. Two pitch black with the third one on the right having a small light pooling from the yawning mouth. “How many are down here you think?”
In a low timber Roman said, “Too many to count, sweetheart. Be ready. Sevastyan is going to fucking kill me for this.”
She slipped the clip out of her Glock and checked the rounds. Satisfied, she returned her gaze to Roman’s.
Lucian swore and jerked his head around just as a man lunged from an opening at their side.
Given the close quarters instead of opting to shoot the guy, her protector lunged forward, sank his fists into the attacker’s face and ribs before wrapping his arm around his neck. It all happened in a blur of shadows moving but she tracked Lucian’s agile movements. His body a lethal weapon.
An audible snap carried in the dank tunnel signaling the end of the struggle and she shuddered. Breathing heavily, Lucian dropped his eyes to the ground as he let the man slip from his deadly embrace to the floor at his feet.
She could feel him slipping away from her and like hell she would let that happen. She wrapped her hands around his upper arms. “Look at me,” she commanded and when she finally saw the grayness of his irises, she recognized protecting her life came with a cost to those around her.
“I never wanted you to see this side of us. The killers. You make us want to do better. You Make me want better.”
“You did it for me.”
“You misunderstand, sweetheart. Killing is easy. No regrets.” He thumbed a loose strand of her hair. “It’s living with the fact I’m not perfect for you when I want to be that leaves me wondering what the fuck we are doing, Rhia.”
He pulled away from her. One bullet.