Shots ping off metal and it’s all I can do to push my heart out of my throat to breathe so I don’t pass out.
I try for the door again but another heavy hand is there to keep me pinned low. “Behind us, and stay there!”
A rain of bullets zing our way and my kidnappers fall over me, using their bodies as shields.
They must see the fear in my eyes because both men reach out to stroke a finger down my cheeks.
Hugging the pavement, I try to find my breath but it’s locked tight inside my lungs.
“Breathe, Katriona.”
“You’re ours now. No one will harm you, that I promise. Stay behind us. Got it?”
I deftly nod, not really understanding anything. They attempt to usher me closer to the door but we’re pinned down with no other cover than the rusty dumpster. I’m trying hard not to take this as a life metaphor and start crying in the middle of all this. Real hard.
“I swear I knew from the start that slimy fucker would back out on our arrangement.” Drake’s expression darkens with rage.
“Just give her over and we’ll gladly leave.”
“A debt is a debt. We chose how we wanted payment. Now walk away. Tell your boss we’ve collected our end of the deal. We paid his debt. It’s paid in full. All you have to do is walk away,” Grey hurls back, punctuating his words with as many bullets.
“He says he changes his mind. You can't have the girl. Period.”
Payment? Girl? As in me? Are they wanting me as a payoff for some deal they have with my father? Fuck that!
Drake, Grey, and Sylan close around me to form a tighter human shield. One of them grips me around the waist and I’m back on my feet, against a wall having a gun thrust into my hands.
Sylan.
“You know how to use one of these?”
Eyes wide, my mouth works a couple of times before I get it to spit sounds. “Hell no! Do I look like I know how to use a gun for God’s sake? How to be a mobster is not passed down in DNA!”
Grey winks at me and takes a couple more steps back. This close I can’t breathe without either my nipples touching his back or the bricks behind me digging into mine.
How can these men not be petrified of dying?
A ping of metal hitting metal sends me ducking into their backs, gripping their suit jackets. “This is not my idea of a good time!” I scream to nobody in particular.
“Nor is getting fitted for a toe tag. Stay down!”
“Secure her. Don’t let her move.”
Sylan again.
I already told them I refuse to let anyone control me. And I meant it. They can figure out their shit without me.
Bullets stop flying long enough for me to move and I don’t waste a precious second. I slip around them and duck through the open door Grey just hauled me out of, throwing one last glance over my shoulder.
Big mistake.
Grey.
Everything slows to a crawl and the next few seconds will forever haunt my nightmares. Grey is hot on my ass, his massive arms spread wide between both sides of the frame.
“Get down,” he growls just as another hail of rounds pelt the side of the building.
And him.