I subdue the man with a hard punch-kick combo, sending him flying into the solid frame of a low banister. His body contorts unnaturally, the hard crack of bones echoing loudly in my ear. There’s only two left, but I’m sore, bruised, and running low on steam.
The last two mercs are smart enough to come at me at the same time, using my exhaustion to their advantage. Their range is too close to fire their guns without harming each other, so they come at me with a flurry of well-placed hits. They strike me across the face, get me in the gut, kick the back of my knees until my legs finally buckle.
I’m winded, seeing spots across my vision.
Things are going downhillfast.
One of them rears back, rushing at me to try and drive his knee into my face. My body might be tired of fighting, but my brain isn’t. Instincts take over. I dodge out of the way just in time to grab my attacker by the leg, twisting so hard and with so much momentum that he falls flat on his back, head smacking against the floor with a hardthwack. I keep twisting—harder, harder,harder—until I hear, as well as feel, his hip pop out of its socket. He screams in agony.
There’s only one left.
He’s as good as dead.
I clamber to my feet, my knuckles aching and bruised.
“And I thought all those years stuck behind a desk would’ve made you slow,” he says, his voice frighteningly familiar. Even with his face obscured, I’d know my right-hand man anywhere.
“Elio?” I croak.
He yanks off his mask and goggles, smirking with all the cockiness I’ve come to know him for. “Hey, Dom. You’re looking a bit rough.”
“What the fuck?” I hiss breathlessly. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“I’ve been in hiding,” he says casually, drawing a blade from one of his vest’s utility pockets. “Biding my time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t expect you to.”
Anger boils inside me, bubbling up past the surface. “You traitor. How could you do this? You were like a brother to me.”
“Save me the speech, Dom. You never saw me as a brother, you saw me as a lackey. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t pretend like you cared.”
“Butwhy?”
“Simple. I want to move up in the world, but you and Lorenzo were in the way. Even if I somehow managed to oust Lorenzo, the natural next step would be for you to take his place. It was too much work trying to figure out how to remove you both, so I let the two of you do all the heavy lifting.”
I frown, confusion washing over me in waves. “All the heavy lifting?”
“Why stick my neck out trying to get rid of Lorenzo when you could do it for me? All I had to do was instill distrust in both of you. A whisper here, a whisper there, and the rest took care of itself. When I convinced Lorenzo to order those hits on you, I thought for sure that’d set things in motion.”
My jaw would drop to the floor if it weren’t so sore and swollen. “The shootings… You were the one…”
“Now you’re getting it.”
“Tomasso died because ofyou!” I seethe.
“Collateral damage,” Elio says with a shrug. “If it helps, it was nothing personal. Tomasso was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You son of a bitch!” I shout, lunging at him with all the speed I can muster.
He attempts to stab me with his knife, but not before I connect my fist to his jaw. He stumbles back, wincing in pain. It’s just the distraction I need to nab his knife, swiping at him with such speed that the blade splits the air. The tip of his knife streaks past his temple and ear, cutting off the top. Blood trickles down his face, coating his cheeks in red.
“Fuck!” he hisses, his hand flying to the wounded ear.
“That was for Tomasso, you fucking rat!” I wind back, fully prepared to bring the blade down to finish the job. “And this is for betraying me!”
BAM!