Entwined, page 15
“Did we get him?” Cole asks Jasper. He’s the only one who knows what the Tulip Broker looks like. I doubt we did, though. Both of these guys are dressed the same, black slacks and a black button down shirt. Off to the side there’s two suit jackets hanging on a coat rack which seems so out of place in a kitchen. It gives the impression they were guards, not the man we came to kill.
“No,” Jasper grunts, kicking the arm of the guy he killed.
Sure, we have the rest of the house to go through, but this first skirmish, if you will, was hella basic. I hope this isn’t an indication of how the rest of the day will go. I sigh, moving farther into the kitchen.
“Did you break another glass, Cooper?” a voice shouts through the door behind me. My eyes go wide, not having expected anyone to be in what I thought would be a pantry. Assuming definitely only made an ass out of me.
I twist around, raising my gun, but the man is already screaming, “Escapee,” at the top of his lungs. He got it wrong, thinking I was some kind of trafficked woman who got out, but the damage is already done. Anyone within hearing range will be alerted to our presence. His surmise of who I am did confirm a theory I was working with, though—there are captives being held here. Hopefully, Becca is one of them.
My bullet gets him between the eyes before he can do anything else, his body falling backward on a set of stairs. Moments later, there’s a scuffling of quickly moving feet and discreetly hidden lights start flashing in the room. Must be some kind of silent alarm they have. It’s slightly disorienting too, which must’ve been an added benefit.
“Get over here,” Jasper orders, his voice sounding stressed. I don’t hesitate to move across the room, where we crouch behind the island. It’s not the most protected position, but the best we have at the moment while we regroup.
“Wherever he came from isn’t on camera,” Grayson says in my ear.
“Guards are swarming out of a garden shed back here,” Vander adds. “I’ll take out as many as possible, but it’s too many to get them all. Get prepared to be surrounded.”
“What’s the plan?” Cole grunts, leaning on Jasper’s battle experience.
Jasper stares at the opening to the hallway we came in through. It’s easy to see he’s rapidly formulating and discarding idea after idea. “It would be best if we could get to a spot where there aren’t any cameras.”
“Actually,” Cole cuts in. “I’ve got them looped. They won’t know we’re here.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” Jasper says. He grunts, then continues. “The hallway will bottleneck us in, same with the stairway leading down. We could stay here, but it’s not very defensible, or we can move through the rooms clearing our way as we go.”
He stares at me, emotions crossing his gaze too quickly for me to track. “Let’s move. Follow me, same as before.”
I get the impression that he’s worried about me, but he shouldn’t be. I’ll be able to handle my own. I’ve got precision shooting down to an art, and on top of that, Vander was a good teacher on the hand to hand. I might not be an expert, but there’s time to work on that.
We crouch as we rush for an unknown doorway. If the blueprints are correct, it would be the dining room, but with the pantry having a stairwell to Hell, I’m not sure where it leads. Before we get there, a figure fills the doorway. Jasper rushes him before he can bring his gun into position. I watch the sure movements of my sexy as fuck man, defending the blows of the guard who is putting up a decent defense.
Jasper reaches for his knife on his thigh when I jump from the sound in my ear. “Remi, behind you!” Grayson shouts.
I’m unable to react in time. A vicious roar sounds somewhere behind me as an arm wraps around my chest, dragging me to the wall where he shifts his body and slams my back against it. The force drives the breath from my lungs, and before I can take a breath to replace it, a hand fists itself around my throat, squeezing like he’s trying to kill me. Which I guess he is.
The drills Vander beat into me instinctively kick in. I’m not able to complete them before Cole’s arm wraps around his throat in a chokehold. Serves the motherfucker right. I smirk at him as his eyes go round and I’m able to suck in a breath as he drops me to defend himself.
Cole’s gaze narrows in where I’m sure I have red handprints from the man choking me. His lips get dangerously close to touching the man’s ear and he says, “You touch my woman and you die. Ravenmaster’s rule.”
“Actually,” I wheeze. “It never became an official rule.”
“Impossible,” Cole objects, shoving his knife between the man’s ribs. The force of it lifts his body several inches. The blade must’ve nicked the heart—of course it did. It’s Cole—and his face drains of any signs of life.
“What was the number, Jasper?” Cole shouts as he turns to fend off another attacker.
“What?” Jasper sounds a little exasperated as he blocks a knife swipe from one attacker and kicks another. Close to the original guy who blocked our way, already dead on the ground. Vander wasn’t kidding when he said to be prepared.
“Which rule was it that no man could touch our woman?” Cole reiterates. He rolls his eyes like he expected Jasper to keep up with the conversation while fighting men off. I shouldn’t be attracted to the fact that he’s as self centered as I am, but here we are.
“We never gave it a number,” Jasper answers, thrusting his knife into the neck of one attacker and leaving it there to avoid being punched in the face. “But we should do it now. What would it be? Fourteen?”
I lean over the counter where the lunch spread is laid out, working on catching my breath. What he did to my throat was nothing like my men choking me in bed. It feels bruised, and he only had a hold on me for a few seconds at best. Shows how much damage intent can do.
“No, it’s seventeen. Has to be.” Cole slaps the man in front of him with the flat of his hand, then splits his fingers apart and jabs them in his eyes. This certainly isn’t a time to play fair.
A hand grabs a fistful of my hair, tugging my head back painfully. Shit. I underestimated my skills for defending myself. I need a lot more lessons from Vander. I’ll only try to get him to fuck me every other time.
My hand scrambles to reach for something, why I didn’t go for any of the weapons strapped to my legs is beyond me, but I fist the bottleneck of the beer sitting on the counter. Maybe it was all the talk of Ravenmaster’s rules. He did say to spice things up from time to time.
I’m jerked backward, but I’m still able to shatter the bottle on the side of the counter. Beer and glass go everywhere, leaving behind the jagged sharp edges of the top behind. My scalp screams when he drags me by the hair into his body.
Without pausing for a second, and hoping my aim is true, I shove the broken glass over my shoulder where his face is. I’m not able to put as much force into it as I’d like, but honestly, my face is too pretty for the consequences if I was a little off in my aim. There’s no way to adequately describe the feeling of the glass penetrating an eyeball, but the scream almost bursts my eardrum.
The man releases me to grab at his face, and I don’t waste a second. I whip around and shove the glass right into the side of his neck as hard as I can.
Chapter 19
Jasper
The men keep coming. I knew my brother—shit, I really need to stop thinking of him that way—would have guards, but this is more than I’d expected. Even Vander told us to be ready. But there’s no reason for this magnitude of protection unless you’re…
Oh, fuck.
I can’t believe he was dumb enough to run his empire from his house. Everyone knows it’s best not to bring work home with you. That is, unless you run a guild of assassins and your girlfriend is a serial killer. Then you should absolutely bring them home, nay, bring them directly into bed.
The bright side of this, though, is that Cole’s sister should be here then. This very well might be the end of our mission.
If only we get through the never ending assault raining down on us. I slam my knife into the gut of the guard in front of me, twisting the blade as I pull it out, then I grab a gun from my holster and shoot him in the head, along with one rousing on the floor a few feet away.
A sharp scream has me twisting in place, my heart pounding a mile a minute. It’s right in time to find my beautiful goddess of death jamming a broken beer bottle into a man’s neck. Half of his face is covered in blood, but it has nothing on the amount of blood when she yanks the glass from his jugular.
“Fuck you, asshole,” she growls, swiping his feet out from under him. She’s instantly on top of him, stabbing him repeatedly with the glass right in his chest. “Don’t pull a woman’s hair unless you plan on deep dicking her. Guess this lesson is coming a little too late for you. Nevermore.” The last word comes out like a scathing curse.
Part of me wants to reprimand her for straddling some dude, but the other part is getting turned on by the sight of her using a weapon of convenience. Raven is absolutely stunning as she gives in to her darkness, embracing it and sinking deeper.
Cole slowly edges around her, having killed his attacker as well. It seems we’re either in a lull, or we’ve annihilated his horde of goons.
“Hey there, killer,” Cole coos. He reaches for her wrist on an upward swing and grips it tightly. “You got him. He can’t get any dead-er.” He chuckles at his joke.
She scowls at him, and I close the distance, wanting to get her on her feet as quickly as possible. She’s not in a good position for defense. “You really are gorgeous covered in blood when it doesn’t come as such a surprise.”
The psycho standing next to me turns a beaming smile directed at me. “Doesn’t she? Although, I rather prefer being the one to put it on her.”
Our praise seems to turn her mood, and she takes my offered hand. “What has you all fired up, Little Bird?”
“He pulled my hair,” she growls angrily.
I’m not sure why that set her off, she usually squeezes the life out of my cock when I do it to her. I thread my fingers in her hair and press my fingers into her scalp massaging it. “Better?”
“Much better.” She sighs and leans into the touch. Damn, she makes it hard for me to not give in to some wild fantasies right now.
Footsteps sound on the staircase, and I raise my gun, ready for whoever it is. At the same time, I don’t stop loving on my sweet girl. I’ll take any moment where she leans into my touch, not giving a single objection when I’m being soft with her.
Cole fists his gun as well, but his other hand moves his rock hard dick in his pants. “Damn it, Raven. Look what you did.”
She smirks. “Oops. My bad.” The little brat doesn’t sound too upset by it. I feel for the guy since I’m in the same fucking boat.
“I should bend you over and fuck you while I shoot anyone else who comes into this room.” He cages her in against me, grips her chin, tilts her head back and kisses her. All the while, my hand is in her hair, cupping the back of her head. She’s completely dominated, loving every second as she squirms in place, rubbing her ass against my aching cock. So not the time for this.
Movement appears where I heard the sound. I don’t wait to see more of them. The head is enough to take care of what I need, which is where I would’ve shot anyway. They tumble with a snapping crack down the stairs.
By the time I focus back on the two in front of me, I find Cole trailing kisses along the curve of her neck making his way toward her collarbone.
“No sex,” I grunt as I take a step back, dragging my little bird with me.
“Why do you always have to toss cold water on my plans?” Cole asks, although I can’t tell if he’s serious or not. There’s no way he actually thought it was a good idea to fuck in the middle of a firefight, right?
“It’s sixteen,” Little Bird says before I can decide. She grinds her ass against my groin again. The little tempting vixen.
A thud sounds from the hallway we came in through, and all three of us point guns to the opening.
“What’s sixteen?” Vander asks seconds later, his voice floating around the corner of the wall. We drop our guns and Raven takes a deep breath. I can feel a slight amount of tension leave her frame at the sight of him unharmed. He, on the other hand, scowls. “Bloody again, Reginetta?”
Her hands instinctively move to her ass, making me smile. Too bad she’s not facing me because I know the dimples coming out would make her melt… right into her panties.
“You can’t be upset. If you didn’t expect me to have some fun here, then that’s on you,” she says boldly. I’ll keep her fear between the two of us. And honestly, I’d never let anyone other than me give a punishment to our delectable girl.
“Fair,” Vander huffs, not sounding happy at all. His fingers twitch like he’s aching to cut her, wanting her to only wear her own blood.
“We’re on rule number sixteen,” she says, trying to quickly change the topic.
“That’s right!” Cole exclaims. He turns to Vander and taps his earpiece to make sure Grayson hears, too. “We’re adding another rule to the list.”
“I’m listening.” Vander crosses his arms over his chest with his gun resting on his bicep.
“Rule number sixteen: If you touch our woman, you die.”
“I like this rule,” Grayson says in our ears.
“Approved,” Vander grunts. “How was this not already on the list?”
“That was my reaction too.” Cole gives a smug smile like Vander proved some point of his.
“Rule number seventeen: Ravenmaster is, in fact, capable of making mistakes,” my bratty little bird chimes in.
Cole gasps. “How dare you?”
“That’s not a rule,” Vander rumbles.
“Sorry, Little Bird. You got vetoed.” I run my hand over her head and she scowls at me. “Now, we have a mission to finish.”
I move to retrace our steps. Our position has been given away, meaning we’ve lost all sense of surprise. I’d guess TB would head to the top floor since Vander was outside the building clearing it of guards. No available exits means he’d go for a panic room. And knowing him, he’d have one to hide away in until more backup could arrive. That bastard always used other people to fight his battles. Forever a master manipulator. We learned from the best, after all.
The life I lived with the bastard and the woman who birthed me went downhill real fast once she took him in. The lies and exploiting of others reached a new level. He enjoyed it from the start—flourished really. And my mother fostered the twisted darkness, fed it bite by bite until it grew into the man who embraced modern day slavery. Stripping people of their autonomy for money without a care for what happens to them.
It’s my fault, really. I should’ve exterminated him a long time ago.
Chapter 20
Raven
Once again, Jasper leads the way, taking charge of the mission. I step into line behind him, but as we pass Vander, he grips my chin with one hand and the other wraps around my waist tugging me against his chest.
I can hear Cole laugh below his breath and as he moves past us, he smacks my ass. I don’t pay him any mind, though. I’m too lost in Vander’s dark gaze. The dark storm brewing there traces over my face before narrowing in on my neck. His fingertips graze what I can only imagine is the beginning traces of the bruise blooming there.
“What the fuck happened?” If I didn’t know him so well, his gruff voice would make me flinch.
“A little light choking before a forceful stabbing?” I can’t help but try to put a playful spin on it. Maybe he’ll buy it, or at least get distracted enough so I can skip the lecture.
“I taught you better than that.” I open my mouth to object, but Vander keeps talking. “You weren’t paying attention. It’s unacceptable. Starting tomorrow, I’m starting your training again.” He bends and kisses my neck, coming back with a smear of blood on his lips. He licks it away and spins me around, wrapping one arm around my waist and frog marching me down the hall.
“Behind me,” Vander orders Cole, who does what he says without complaint. I have a not so sneaky suspicion that it’s only because it puts me in a better protected position, otherwise he’d want to be in the lead, killing whoever crosses our path first.
We quickly climb the stairs, bypassing the second floor and heading to the third. I’m surprised we don’t run into any more goons on the way, although I suppose they could’ve already attacked us and are dead on the kitchen floor.
“Stay safe, everyone,” Grayson says. “You’re entering another blank space. I can’t see anything up there, but I’ll let you know if I see anyone going up.” He sounds worried, like he’s sitting on the edge of his seat hating the fact that he can’t do much to help us. I wish I could take that away from him, but I can’t.
The closer we get to the top of the stairs, the slower we go. Cole made sure the cameras were looped on their end, so there’s a chance we can catch anyone up there off guard. Hence being quiet and not being seen before we have eyes on them.
According to the blueprints, the left side of the floor is an office, and a lounge which I took to mean a mancave. On the other side is the master bedroom. The Tulip Broker is so close I can taste his name brand, overly spicy cologne. My finger itches to pull the trigger and end his life. I can practically imagine the life draining from his eyes—even if I don’t know what he looks like. Huh, I wonder why I never thought to ask.
Jasper holds a fist into the air, signaling us to stop. He inches up the stairs, craning his head to get a peek of the upstairs level. He holds up five fingers, then points to the side with the bedroom. Five guards clustered together is a dead giveaway that they’re protecting something. He brings his fingers into the shape of a zero and signals in the other direction.
Without communicating anything else, Vander pushes me behind him and holds me flat against the wall, his large hand pressed against my chest with his fingers spread out. The touch alone has my heart speeding up, not to mention the disadvantage we’re in with the guards. One stray bullet is all it’ll take to kill one of the men I love.
“No,” Jasper grunts, kicking the arm of the guy he killed.
Sure, we have the rest of the house to go through, but this first skirmish, if you will, was hella basic. I hope this isn’t an indication of how the rest of the day will go. I sigh, moving farther into the kitchen.
“Did you break another glass, Cooper?” a voice shouts through the door behind me. My eyes go wide, not having expected anyone to be in what I thought would be a pantry. Assuming definitely only made an ass out of me.
I twist around, raising my gun, but the man is already screaming, “Escapee,” at the top of his lungs. He got it wrong, thinking I was some kind of trafficked woman who got out, but the damage is already done. Anyone within hearing range will be alerted to our presence. His surmise of who I am did confirm a theory I was working with, though—there are captives being held here. Hopefully, Becca is one of them.
My bullet gets him between the eyes before he can do anything else, his body falling backward on a set of stairs. Moments later, there’s a scuffling of quickly moving feet and discreetly hidden lights start flashing in the room. Must be some kind of silent alarm they have. It’s slightly disorienting too, which must’ve been an added benefit.
“Get over here,” Jasper orders, his voice sounding stressed. I don’t hesitate to move across the room, where we crouch behind the island. It’s not the most protected position, but the best we have at the moment while we regroup.
“Wherever he came from isn’t on camera,” Grayson says in my ear.
“Guards are swarming out of a garden shed back here,” Vander adds. “I’ll take out as many as possible, but it’s too many to get them all. Get prepared to be surrounded.”
“What’s the plan?” Cole grunts, leaning on Jasper’s battle experience.
Jasper stares at the opening to the hallway we came in through. It’s easy to see he’s rapidly formulating and discarding idea after idea. “It would be best if we could get to a spot where there aren’t any cameras.”
“Actually,” Cole cuts in. “I’ve got them looped. They won’t know we’re here.”
“That’s something, I suppose,” Jasper says. He grunts, then continues. “The hallway will bottleneck us in, same with the stairway leading down. We could stay here, but it’s not very defensible, or we can move through the rooms clearing our way as we go.”
He stares at me, emotions crossing his gaze too quickly for me to track. “Let’s move. Follow me, same as before.”
I get the impression that he’s worried about me, but he shouldn’t be. I’ll be able to handle my own. I’ve got precision shooting down to an art, and on top of that, Vander was a good teacher on the hand to hand. I might not be an expert, but there’s time to work on that.
We crouch as we rush for an unknown doorway. If the blueprints are correct, it would be the dining room, but with the pantry having a stairwell to Hell, I’m not sure where it leads. Before we get there, a figure fills the doorway. Jasper rushes him before he can bring his gun into position. I watch the sure movements of my sexy as fuck man, defending the blows of the guard who is putting up a decent defense.
Jasper reaches for his knife on his thigh when I jump from the sound in my ear. “Remi, behind you!” Grayson shouts.
I’m unable to react in time. A vicious roar sounds somewhere behind me as an arm wraps around my chest, dragging me to the wall where he shifts his body and slams my back against it. The force drives the breath from my lungs, and before I can take a breath to replace it, a hand fists itself around my throat, squeezing like he’s trying to kill me. Which I guess he is.
The drills Vander beat into me instinctively kick in. I’m not able to complete them before Cole’s arm wraps around his throat in a chokehold. Serves the motherfucker right. I smirk at him as his eyes go round and I’m able to suck in a breath as he drops me to defend himself.
Cole’s gaze narrows in where I’m sure I have red handprints from the man choking me. His lips get dangerously close to touching the man’s ear and he says, “You touch my woman and you die. Ravenmaster’s rule.”
“Actually,” I wheeze. “It never became an official rule.”
“Impossible,” Cole objects, shoving his knife between the man’s ribs. The force of it lifts his body several inches. The blade must’ve nicked the heart—of course it did. It’s Cole—and his face drains of any signs of life.
“What was the number, Jasper?” Cole shouts as he turns to fend off another attacker.
“What?” Jasper sounds a little exasperated as he blocks a knife swipe from one attacker and kicks another. Close to the original guy who blocked our way, already dead on the ground. Vander wasn’t kidding when he said to be prepared.
“Which rule was it that no man could touch our woman?” Cole reiterates. He rolls his eyes like he expected Jasper to keep up with the conversation while fighting men off. I shouldn’t be attracted to the fact that he’s as self centered as I am, but here we are.
“We never gave it a number,” Jasper answers, thrusting his knife into the neck of one attacker and leaving it there to avoid being punched in the face. “But we should do it now. What would it be? Fourteen?”
I lean over the counter where the lunch spread is laid out, working on catching my breath. What he did to my throat was nothing like my men choking me in bed. It feels bruised, and he only had a hold on me for a few seconds at best. Shows how much damage intent can do.
“No, it’s seventeen. Has to be.” Cole slaps the man in front of him with the flat of his hand, then splits his fingers apart and jabs them in his eyes. This certainly isn’t a time to play fair.
A hand grabs a fistful of my hair, tugging my head back painfully. Shit. I underestimated my skills for defending myself. I need a lot more lessons from Vander. I’ll only try to get him to fuck me every other time.
My hand scrambles to reach for something, why I didn’t go for any of the weapons strapped to my legs is beyond me, but I fist the bottleneck of the beer sitting on the counter. Maybe it was all the talk of Ravenmaster’s rules. He did say to spice things up from time to time.
I’m jerked backward, but I’m still able to shatter the bottle on the side of the counter. Beer and glass go everywhere, leaving behind the jagged sharp edges of the top behind. My scalp screams when he drags me by the hair into his body.
Without pausing for a second, and hoping my aim is true, I shove the broken glass over my shoulder where his face is. I’m not able to put as much force into it as I’d like, but honestly, my face is too pretty for the consequences if I was a little off in my aim. There’s no way to adequately describe the feeling of the glass penetrating an eyeball, but the scream almost bursts my eardrum.
The man releases me to grab at his face, and I don’t waste a second. I whip around and shove the glass right into the side of his neck as hard as I can.
Chapter 19
Jasper
The men keep coming. I knew my brother—shit, I really need to stop thinking of him that way—would have guards, but this is more than I’d expected. Even Vander told us to be ready. But there’s no reason for this magnitude of protection unless you’re…
Oh, fuck.
I can’t believe he was dumb enough to run his empire from his house. Everyone knows it’s best not to bring work home with you. That is, unless you run a guild of assassins and your girlfriend is a serial killer. Then you should absolutely bring them home, nay, bring them directly into bed.
The bright side of this, though, is that Cole’s sister should be here then. This very well might be the end of our mission.
If only we get through the never ending assault raining down on us. I slam my knife into the gut of the guard in front of me, twisting the blade as I pull it out, then I grab a gun from my holster and shoot him in the head, along with one rousing on the floor a few feet away.
A sharp scream has me twisting in place, my heart pounding a mile a minute. It’s right in time to find my beautiful goddess of death jamming a broken beer bottle into a man’s neck. Half of his face is covered in blood, but it has nothing on the amount of blood when she yanks the glass from his jugular.
“Fuck you, asshole,” she growls, swiping his feet out from under him. She’s instantly on top of him, stabbing him repeatedly with the glass right in his chest. “Don’t pull a woman’s hair unless you plan on deep dicking her. Guess this lesson is coming a little too late for you. Nevermore.” The last word comes out like a scathing curse.
Part of me wants to reprimand her for straddling some dude, but the other part is getting turned on by the sight of her using a weapon of convenience. Raven is absolutely stunning as she gives in to her darkness, embracing it and sinking deeper.
Cole slowly edges around her, having killed his attacker as well. It seems we’re either in a lull, or we’ve annihilated his horde of goons.
“Hey there, killer,” Cole coos. He reaches for her wrist on an upward swing and grips it tightly. “You got him. He can’t get any dead-er.” He chuckles at his joke.
She scowls at him, and I close the distance, wanting to get her on her feet as quickly as possible. She’s not in a good position for defense. “You really are gorgeous covered in blood when it doesn’t come as such a surprise.”
The psycho standing next to me turns a beaming smile directed at me. “Doesn’t she? Although, I rather prefer being the one to put it on her.”
Our praise seems to turn her mood, and she takes my offered hand. “What has you all fired up, Little Bird?”
“He pulled my hair,” she growls angrily.
I’m not sure why that set her off, she usually squeezes the life out of my cock when I do it to her. I thread my fingers in her hair and press my fingers into her scalp massaging it. “Better?”
“Much better.” She sighs and leans into the touch. Damn, she makes it hard for me to not give in to some wild fantasies right now.
Footsteps sound on the staircase, and I raise my gun, ready for whoever it is. At the same time, I don’t stop loving on my sweet girl. I’ll take any moment where she leans into my touch, not giving a single objection when I’m being soft with her.
Cole fists his gun as well, but his other hand moves his rock hard dick in his pants. “Damn it, Raven. Look what you did.”
She smirks. “Oops. My bad.” The little brat doesn’t sound too upset by it. I feel for the guy since I’m in the same fucking boat.
“I should bend you over and fuck you while I shoot anyone else who comes into this room.” He cages her in against me, grips her chin, tilts her head back and kisses her. All the while, my hand is in her hair, cupping the back of her head. She’s completely dominated, loving every second as she squirms in place, rubbing her ass against my aching cock. So not the time for this.
Movement appears where I heard the sound. I don’t wait to see more of them. The head is enough to take care of what I need, which is where I would’ve shot anyway. They tumble with a snapping crack down the stairs.
By the time I focus back on the two in front of me, I find Cole trailing kisses along the curve of her neck making his way toward her collarbone.
“No sex,” I grunt as I take a step back, dragging my little bird with me.
“Why do you always have to toss cold water on my plans?” Cole asks, although I can’t tell if he’s serious or not. There’s no way he actually thought it was a good idea to fuck in the middle of a firefight, right?
“It’s sixteen,” Little Bird says before I can decide. She grinds her ass against my groin again. The little tempting vixen.
A thud sounds from the hallway we came in through, and all three of us point guns to the opening.
“What’s sixteen?” Vander asks seconds later, his voice floating around the corner of the wall. We drop our guns and Raven takes a deep breath. I can feel a slight amount of tension leave her frame at the sight of him unharmed. He, on the other hand, scowls. “Bloody again, Reginetta?”
Her hands instinctively move to her ass, making me smile. Too bad she’s not facing me because I know the dimples coming out would make her melt… right into her panties.
“You can’t be upset. If you didn’t expect me to have some fun here, then that’s on you,” she says boldly. I’ll keep her fear between the two of us. And honestly, I’d never let anyone other than me give a punishment to our delectable girl.
“Fair,” Vander huffs, not sounding happy at all. His fingers twitch like he’s aching to cut her, wanting her to only wear her own blood.
“We’re on rule number sixteen,” she says, trying to quickly change the topic.
“That’s right!” Cole exclaims. He turns to Vander and taps his earpiece to make sure Grayson hears, too. “We’re adding another rule to the list.”
“I’m listening.” Vander crosses his arms over his chest with his gun resting on his bicep.
“Rule number sixteen: If you touch our woman, you die.”
“I like this rule,” Grayson says in our ears.
“Approved,” Vander grunts. “How was this not already on the list?”
“That was my reaction too.” Cole gives a smug smile like Vander proved some point of his.
“Rule number seventeen: Ravenmaster is, in fact, capable of making mistakes,” my bratty little bird chimes in.
Cole gasps. “How dare you?”
“That’s not a rule,” Vander rumbles.
“Sorry, Little Bird. You got vetoed.” I run my hand over her head and she scowls at me. “Now, we have a mission to finish.”
I move to retrace our steps. Our position has been given away, meaning we’ve lost all sense of surprise. I’d guess TB would head to the top floor since Vander was outside the building clearing it of guards. No available exits means he’d go for a panic room. And knowing him, he’d have one to hide away in until more backup could arrive. That bastard always used other people to fight his battles. Forever a master manipulator. We learned from the best, after all.
The life I lived with the bastard and the woman who birthed me went downhill real fast once she took him in. The lies and exploiting of others reached a new level. He enjoyed it from the start—flourished really. And my mother fostered the twisted darkness, fed it bite by bite until it grew into the man who embraced modern day slavery. Stripping people of their autonomy for money without a care for what happens to them.
It’s my fault, really. I should’ve exterminated him a long time ago.
Chapter 20
Raven
Once again, Jasper leads the way, taking charge of the mission. I step into line behind him, but as we pass Vander, he grips my chin with one hand and the other wraps around my waist tugging me against his chest.
I can hear Cole laugh below his breath and as he moves past us, he smacks my ass. I don’t pay him any mind, though. I’m too lost in Vander’s dark gaze. The dark storm brewing there traces over my face before narrowing in on my neck. His fingertips graze what I can only imagine is the beginning traces of the bruise blooming there.
“What the fuck happened?” If I didn’t know him so well, his gruff voice would make me flinch.
“A little light choking before a forceful stabbing?” I can’t help but try to put a playful spin on it. Maybe he’ll buy it, or at least get distracted enough so I can skip the lecture.
“I taught you better than that.” I open my mouth to object, but Vander keeps talking. “You weren’t paying attention. It’s unacceptable. Starting tomorrow, I’m starting your training again.” He bends and kisses my neck, coming back with a smear of blood on his lips. He licks it away and spins me around, wrapping one arm around my waist and frog marching me down the hall.
“Behind me,” Vander orders Cole, who does what he says without complaint. I have a not so sneaky suspicion that it’s only because it puts me in a better protected position, otherwise he’d want to be in the lead, killing whoever crosses our path first.
We quickly climb the stairs, bypassing the second floor and heading to the third. I’m surprised we don’t run into any more goons on the way, although I suppose they could’ve already attacked us and are dead on the kitchen floor.
“Stay safe, everyone,” Grayson says. “You’re entering another blank space. I can’t see anything up there, but I’ll let you know if I see anyone going up.” He sounds worried, like he’s sitting on the edge of his seat hating the fact that he can’t do much to help us. I wish I could take that away from him, but I can’t.
The closer we get to the top of the stairs, the slower we go. Cole made sure the cameras were looped on their end, so there’s a chance we can catch anyone up there off guard. Hence being quiet and not being seen before we have eyes on them.
According to the blueprints, the left side of the floor is an office, and a lounge which I took to mean a mancave. On the other side is the master bedroom. The Tulip Broker is so close I can taste his name brand, overly spicy cologne. My finger itches to pull the trigger and end his life. I can practically imagine the life draining from his eyes—even if I don’t know what he looks like. Huh, I wonder why I never thought to ask.
Jasper holds a fist into the air, signaling us to stop. He inches up the stairs, craning his head to get a peek of the upstairs level. He holds up five fingers, then points to the side with the bedroom. Five guards clustered together is a dead giveaway that they’re protecting something. He brings his fingers into the shape of a zero and signals in the other direction.
Without communicating anything else, Vander pushes me behind him and holds me flat against the wall, his large hand pressed against my chest with his fingers spread out. The touch alone has my heart speeding up, not to mention the disadvantage we’re in with the guards. One stray bullet is all it’ll take to kill one of the men I love.
