He presses the gun into my side. We run toward the rear exit.
“Start the fucking engine.”
I guess he’s talking to the pilot through an earpiece.
I look over my shoulder as we approach the door. My eyes widen at the sight of Ruthless.
He’s taking down bad guys like he doesn’t have a care in the world. All to get to me.
“Sophie, Ruthless roars.
“Ruthless,” I cry out.
Toby pushes the back door open and yanks me into the warm night air. He presses the barrel of the gun into my back.
“Walk,” he orders.
I march up the stairs and walk onto the jet. Toby aims his gun at Ruthless.
“No!” I shove him, and the butt of his gun smashes into my skull. The world tilts as my body slams into something hard. Pain rips through my stomach.
“Oh, no…”
Darkness takes me.
RUTHLESS
The asshole is trying to escape with my OL' Lady. He pulls the trigger, but Sophie shoves him, throwing off his aim. He retaliates by smashing the gun's butt against her head, and rage overtakes me.
I grasp the ascending stairs and leap onto the moving plane. Sophie is knocked out, with blood dripping from her head. Toby doesn't hesitate, firing his Glock, and the bullets hit my chest.
“You’ll pay for this,” I snarl, leveling my Glock. One shot—clean—tears through his arm.
He screams, the gun clattering from his hand as he falls to the floor. I kick it behind me.
My legs feel heavy, but I drop to Sophie, pulling her limp body into my arms. “I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here.”
EPILOGUE
RUTHLESS
TWO WEEKS LATER
My heavy hand cracks across his jaw. “Open your eyes, you piece of shit.”
Toby’s one good eye opens. “Just kill me,” he croaks out.
“No, you will pay for what you did to Sophie and the others,” I tell him.
I remembered when I came to that night, I was home in my bed. “Sophie,” I rasped.
Antoine stepped out of the shadows. “My sister is in the guest room sleeping.”
“What happened?” I asked as I sat up placing a hand on my chest.
“I climbed on the plane right after you,” he said. “Had to jam my knife in the door just to keep it from sealing shut. Wind was whipping so hard it felt like it was trying to throw me off the plane. I saw him shoot you. Then you shot him and managed to kick the gun away.”
His jaw tightened. “He went crawling for it. I caught him mid-reach. Used the wall to brace myself and drove my boot right into his jaw. Dropped him cold. Once we leveled out, I yanked my knife from the door and slammed it shut.”
