“We’re going right now.” Kingsley grabbed my hand and started tugging me across the living room to the hallway. His expression had turned downright dark, an intensity rolling off him I’d never seen before.
“Stay put until I come get you,” Rome said. “We’re on our way.”
Crack!
Glass exploded behind us as one of the massive windows shattered. A woman screamed. Me. It was me. Kingsley shoved me in front of him, serving as a human shield between me and the men clad in black tactical gear and armed with rifles flooding through the broken window.
“Freeze!” a man bellowed.
Kingsley pushed me around the corner into the hallway leading to the garage.
The door flew open and more men barged inside.
We were surrounded.
Chapter 32
Kingsley
You have to protect them.Those same words ran through my mind over and over as I shoved Harley behind me, trying to shield her as much as possible from the intruders cutting off both our exits. Eight in total, all armed. The only weapon available was a large porcelain vase on a dresser next to us. I stood no chance.
Lord, whatever happens, keep Harley and the baby safe.A father. I was going to be a father.
“On your knees!” The guy who’d come first through the door kept training his rifle at us. The balaclava he wore didn’t allow me to see his face, but his eyes looked Caucasian.
Harley clawed her fingers into my T-shirt at my back. I wanted to tell her that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her but feared any wrong move would cause a hail of bullets flying our way. Then again, they would hardly take a shot as long as there was a risk of hitting one of their own. So maybe being cornered from both sides wasn’t all that bad.
“Don’t even think about touching her,” I said with a calmness I didn’t feel. Whoever those men were had no right to point a rifle at my woman and baby.
“I said on your knees!” the guy barked.
In my periphery on the left I registered something move toward us.
My body snapped into defense mode. I went for a side kick. Nailed the guy so hard in the chest that he stumbled back into his buddies. My bare foot throbbed from the impact with his body armor, but my attention was already back on the threat coming from the entrance. I had no chance to take on all of them, but maybe I could keep them occupied until Rome and his reinforcement showed up.
The guy who’d barked commands at us stabbed the muzzle of his rifle at my throat like a bayonet. I swerved around it and grabbed his extended arm, bringing myself to his side. Since his body armor protected his torso and kidneys, I stomped my foot into the side of his knee. A nasty crack and howl echoed in the marble hallway. In one swift move, I wrapped an arm around the guy’s neck while grabbing the knife from his belt and bringing it inches from his carotid artery.
“No one move, or I’ll make him a head shorter!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. What was taking Rome so long?
“Kingsley, please don’t hurt him.”
Harley’s whispered words barely made it past the red clouding my awareness. I wasn’t planning on killing anyone.
Not as long as they didn’t touch her. And the baby.
“Easy there, Monk Boy.” Fuller stepped from behind the hounds lingering in the hallway. He, too, wore black tactical gear. No balaclava, but a sneer. “The only reason you’re still kickin’ is because I told them to keep you alive. So don’t get too cocky.” He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.“Imagine all the fun I get to have with your girlfriend once you’re out of the way.”
I tightened my grip around the knife. “Let Harley go. Then you can do with me what you want.”
“No!”
The desperation in her cry cut into me. I wanted to wrap her into my arms, but then I’d lose my leverage.We need Your help here, Lord.
“I can’t let her go, and you know that, Monk Boy.” Fuller took another step closer. Raindrops glistened on his bald head. Or maybe it was sweat.
Movement to my right forced me to respond. I removed the knife from my hostage’s throat, grabbed his head, and slammed it down on the dresser next to me. He hadn’t even hit the floor yet when I snatched the big porcelain vase and tossed it at the next attacker charging me. It shattered on his skull, and he collapsed to the floor, out cold.
Electricity crackled somewhere behind me.
