Page 21 of Traitor
And I watched them go down like a sack of potatoes while their brain matter leaked onto the street.
Before the third man could take out his gun, I lined my shots up with his knees. I pulled the trigger and took out one kneecap, causing the man to fall to the ground before I put a bullet in his shoulder. He dropped his gun before a fourth and fifth man emerged, and I simply panned around as I needed to in order to pluck them off.
Then, when the only man left alive was the one without a kneecap, I pulled my rifle into the car.
“Let’s go pick him up. I’ve got some questions that need answering,” I said.
My driver turned around to look at me. “You don’t want to see the state of the warehouse?”
I waved my hand at him. “In the morning, when I’m not at risk of being rushed. That’s probably the exact reaction they’re waiting for, so we’ll come back around eight.”
He turned back around. “Very well, Mr. Emiliano, let’s go get him.”
And as I listened to the man beg for his life as I pulled up to his side, part of me wished Char were here with me.
If anything, so I could tell her that I got the smallest bit of justice in her name.
10
Charlotte
I wasn’tsure how many days had passed. I was done attempting to count them. I was done with trying to wiggle away from Lorenzo and fight for my life every time I turned around. But, that little voice in the back of my head kept convincing me not to give up. It kept convincing me to keep fighting until I got back to Mateo.
Until I got back home.
So, I tried thinking like him. I mean, I was shackled up in the enemy’s basement, and all he wanted me to do was play nice. What happened if I played nice, then? Would he start trusting me? Would he think he had already broken me?
Would he start slipping up more like he did with that conversation behind the door?
Worth a shot, anyway.
The basement door creaked open and his familiar canter came bustling down the steps. A light got switched on and I didn’t flinch, I simply closed my eyes and bore the brunt of the pain. My head didn’t hurt as much, but my neck was definitely still stiff.
At least I’m not dead yet.
“Up. Now,” Lorenzo commanded.
I did as he asked before I felt my shackles fall away from my wrists and my ankles.
“Is something wrong?” I asked softly.
He gripped my arm. “Come with me.”
I stumbled behind him and up the steps, all the way to the kitchen. And when he dropped me into a seat at a table with food in front of me, I paused.
“Sir?” I asked.
Lorenzo blinked. “What did you just call me?”
I slowly looked up at him. “Sir. Isn’t that what you wish to be called?”
His cheeks ticked with a grin. “Finally, some progress.”
I smiled softly. “So, you like that?”
He bent down and gripped my chin. “I love it. About damn time you started using it.”
He patted my cheek a bit too harshly, but I tried my best not to flinch. The smell of food was too much to bear, but I waited until he motioned for me to start eating. Then, I controlled my movements as best as I could so that I didn’t ‘look like an animal’.
