Page 34 of Brian and Mina's Holiday Hits
He’s seen Brian, but he hasn’t yet noticed me. He draws his gun, and I fire. The man drops after four shots, two of which went into the column behind him. But one was a head shot so… probably beginner’s luck, but yay.
Brian was not wrong when he said adrenaline will fuck up your aim.
As the shots go off, fireworks erupt in the background, illuminating the room further in bursts of reflective red and gold lights. Brian shoots me a glare but goes back to the bomb. I hold my breath as he makes the cut and a beep sounds. We both let out a sigh together.
“I thought I told you to stay outside.” His voice is even and calm, and yet I have never felt this level of anger from him aimed in my direction. It sends a chill down my spine.
“How much time was left?”
He looks down at the disarmed bomb. “Twenty-one seconds.”
“If I’d stayed outside, you’d be dead right now. How on earth have you survived this long without me? What is that? Two times I’ve saved your life now? So we’re even.”
But the joke doesn’t land. Maybe it’s the delivery. It’s hard to be a comedy genius when I still have ringing in my ears from the gunfire.
He’s a professional, and I’m an amateur still in training. But I’m right. I don’t think the guard realized what Brian was doingand that shooting him would end us all. And if Brian had gotten up to fight him, the outcome would have been the same. For the barest flash of a second, I’d considered waiting for him like he’d asked, but we both know if I’d stayed outside that boy and Brian would both be dead right now. I try not to think too hard about this.
He gets up off the floor and stalks over to me, pushing me against the wall and spinning me so that I’m facing it, my cheek pressed against the drywall. If he were the good guy he’d be arresting me and reciting my rights.
Instead his hand skims down my back, stroking over my ass. He leans in close to my ear, his voice dark and deadly. “So what now, Mina? Tell me what we do now.”
I shrug. I hadn’t thought that far.
“The only reason I came back was because you never would have forgiven me.”
“If I hadn’t been here, you would have let the kid die.” This realization disgusts me.
“Yes.” His breath is harsh against my ear. “And you’d better learn collateral damage is part of this job if you want to be in this life. So… what now? After all that careful planning, what now?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“Exactly. You don’t know. You don’t know why I would let that boy die. You think it’s because I’m just some irredeemable monster, that only you have a soul, and only you know what’s best. You’re dark, but not quite like me, sweetheart. Not yet. Tell me, Alice, can you go down the rabbit hole and stand in a world where everything around you is upside down? Or do you want to stay safe in the shiny clean world where the good people live? Because I’m not that guy, and you’ve always known it.”
“Tell me why, then? If it’s not because you’re a monster… why?”
But he doesn’t answer. He pulls his gun in one swift movement, turns, and fires. I only realize two more guards have moved in on our space as the bodies hit the floor.
Brian turns back to me. “Mina,” my name comes out on a sigh. “Some things I guess you’re going to have to learn the hard way.”
“How many more are there?”
“We’re about to find out.”
But no one else comes. At least not for now. Brian checks his weapons. He’s more strapped than I thought he was. Three guns and seven extra magazines in the linings on his vest. A knife at his belt and one beside each boot. He’s also got throwing stars.
I have a couple of guns on thigh holsters besides the one in my hand. And eight extra magazines—all the same caliber so I don’t panic and forget what I have stashed where. I’ve also got throwing stars which I’ve gotten a lot better at using, and a knife in one boot, but with power and size differences I’m better off with the stars than a knife. I’m too outmatched in hand-to-hand combat to rely on weapons so intimate.
“We could just leave,” I say, hopefully.
Brian raises a brow but says nothing.
“We could pick another target.”
“No. They’re moving in on our business. I don’t like their style. They’re drawing too much heat. I want them out of our territory. And you know two are paid contracts. I never go back on a contract.”
Technically these guys are running a human trafficking ring, so it’s not exactly as if we’re running comparable businesses. And Idowant to kill these slime balls.
The women at our house want to be there, and we don’t just sell them to any random person with the money to buy. We’re playing kinky matchmaker with safeguards in place. Think sugar babies and trophy wives but with whips and chains. Still maybenot the most reputable or moral business and certainly not legal, but it’s not quite the same as kidnapping terrified women from lives already in progress.
