I start to turn the corner when I hear a blast of gunfire, rapid and echoing. I slam against the wall, ducking away from the debris as bullets tear past me and into the wall in front of me. Connor pauses on the other side of the doorway from me, checking his clip.
We don’t have to speak. Jamie takes something from his belt and throws it through the door. I hear it detonate a second later, light flashing and debris skidding across the floor. We round the corner quickly, ducking low as we look for cover.
I can hear footsteps behind me, and I glance back to see Lachlan and Finn guarding our flanks. The other side of the house must’ve been empty, so they’ve joined us after finishing their sweep.
Connor vaults a couch in the living room, and I cover him, taking quick shots at several guards who burst into the room. Someone lunges at me over the coffee table, managing to tackle me around the waist. We go down, but I twist as I fall, taking him to the floor beneath me. I swing wildly at his temple, and he grunts, each of us grappling to get a shot in.
He tries to headbutt me, but when he misses, I grip the front of his shirt and roll us, shoving him away from me as I call out, “Finn!”
Finn fires two shots, and the guard drops like a bag of cement.
I scramble up and raise my weapon, exchanging fire with the Raven Syndicate guards, but then a voice echoes out from beyond the large door at the far end of the now destroyed living room.
“Stop!”
I freeze. A moment later, Rose steps into view. Dmitri stands behind her, a gun resting against her head.
The Raven Syndicate men freeze—those that are left standing—and turn to look at Dmitri. There are only four guards left in the room, all injured or out of breath. He’s bought them time.
But I won’t let him get away with this.
The sight of Rose, a gun to her head, makes bile rise in my throat. Anger floods my veins, red tinting my vision.
I’m going to destroy him.
“I’ll kill her if you come any closer,” Dmitri adds, his voice hard and low.
My heart thunders, but I stay frozen where I am. We’re locked in a standoff with Dmitri and his men, their weapons pointed at my brothers, Jamie, and me, and ours pointed at them. A single errant shot could set off a bloodbath.
A bloodbath that could get Rose killed.
“Good,” Dmitri says, smiling savagely. “I’m leaving now. Don’t make a fucking move, or I’ll blow her brains out. All right?”
I hold my breath. I don’t trust him to keep his word. I half expect him to execute her now, then laugh as he runs.
Dmitri starts backing away, moving toward a hallway beside him. I know it leads to the side of the house, to the garage where he has an escape plan. Something roars in my chest. I can’t let him get out with her. I can’t let her disappear again.
Rose looks up. For the first time, she meets my eyes. I can see fear, and it spears my heart. I know how terrified she must be.
She never wanted this. Any of this. Her father only ever tried to shield her from this, and I dragged her into it. And for what? For a lie I believed, told by the one man who I never wanted to bow to?
If I could go back, I’d never let things get this fucked. I’d never hate her the way I did, never take her away from her life like I did. Maybe we never would’ve healed the rift between us, but at least she would have been alive.
She’d be fine now, safe, away from Dmitri instead of being held at gunpoint. She’d be happy.
And that’s all I care about.
I look at Rose, and her eyes are so green, so bright. She stares back at me, and I can see the fear in her eyes change, shifting to hope.
As Dmitri pulls her along, the hope in Rose’s eyes solidifies into determination. I can see it happen, and I know what it means. I’ve seen it before. I saw it every time she defied the powerful men in her life, every time she stood up and refused to let others dictate her fate.
My heart lurches. My finger twitches.
Rose twists. I watch her elbow shoot backward, right into Dmitri’s stomach. It’s awkward and imperfect, but it’s enough to make him flinch. His aim wavers for a second, the barrel of the gun leaving Rose’s head.
It’s enough of an opening for me to take a shot.
I line it up, my finger squeezing the trigger just as my brothers fire at the guards holding us at bay. It feels like everything is moving slow, time crawling like the sweat beaded on my neck. I aim my shot above Rose’s shoulder, right at Dmitri.
