44. Diego
CHAPTER 44
DIEGO
The first painful gasp of air filled my lungs as Brooks took off with the kid. My hands shook as I tried to focus on my job and all the moving pieces of this operation.
I couldn’t believe how close I just was to losing Brooks and I was utterly fucking helpless, stuck behind this computer screen.
My fingers flew over the keys, monitoring everyone while also doing the tasks Maverick asked of me. I couldn’t think about that gun pressed against Brooks head or how I felt when it went off.
“Diego.” I didn’t turn around to look at Wes. I couldn’t. If I did I would fall apart, and I couldn’t do that yet.
“Wes, Dakota and Jay need you, go help them.”
Wes came and knelt next to my chair, but I didn’t look at him, my stare glued to the screens in front of me.
“Diego, don’t push me away. You need me here.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do here. There’s something you can do for them. I’m fine.”
“Please don’t lie to me angel.”
Why was he pushing? Why wouldn’t he just leave?
I heaved in a breath. A guard went flying up the staircase Brooks was currently going down.
“B, one’s coming straight ahead.”
“Got it.” Then I watched as he did a move straight out of an anime, using the banister to swing around the corner, and catching the guy right in the chest with his feet. He tumbled down the stairs. Brooks whooped, before grabbing Matty’s hand and double timing it down the stairs.
Wes was still here, wasting time. I heard his phone ring and he ignored it.
Finally I managed to gather the courage to turn toward him. “Your kids are gonna need you. There’s literally nothing you can do for me right now. I’m fine. Please just go.”
Still Wes hesitated. I squeezed my eyes shut, but I needed him gone. If he stayed, I would rely on him. I would fall apart in his arms, and I just…I couldn’t afford to do that.
“Wes, I need you to leave. If you care about me at all, you’ll respect that and go. I’ll safeword if I need to.”
He gasped, low and painful like I shattered him. My words did the same to me. It left a gaping hole in my chest that I wasn’t sure would ever be able to be repaired. I may be damaging it beyond hope.
Optimism that maybe I didn’t just ruin everything by pushing him away would have to wait. That was one more thing I couldn’t afford right now. Any optimism I felt had to be directed toward Brooks and the others. They were the ones with their lives at stake. I only had potential heartbreak to contend with.
I…was hesitant to say love but my feelings for Wes were big and strong, and headed there quick. I didn’t want to lose him, but if that was what got him out of this room, then so be it. As much as I’d love for him to stay, he could help Jay and Dakota, he couldn’t help me, and I didn’t want him to regret choosing me over his kid and their family.
“This isn’t over Diego. If you think you can push me away, you’re mistaken.”
I swallowed down my panic and turned away from him. I couldn’t deal with this right now. Maverick took down two guards that were coming for Brooks and Matty from behind. Brooks knocked another one out, then stabbed another in the leg. Even Matty got a punch or two in. Meanwhile, Skye and Leo were literally shooting their way to Luca.
By now everyone knew something was up, and the place was in lockdown. “They just locked everything down,” I told everyone, “I’m working on overriding it. Luca, Skye and Leo are coming, but be prepared to fight your way out.” Just a subtle nose scratch was the only response I got from him.
Wes stood up. “I love you, Diego. I will be back for you.”
He finally left, and as soon as the door to my office shut the tears started. No, fuck, not yet. I had to get everyone out alive first.
There was a scream and one of the guys, Daniels, got shot. “Fuck, boss, Daniels is down,” someone else called. Even watching them, there was too much chaos to follow everything.
“I’m…I’m okay. It hit my leg. Don’t worry about me.” He gasped out
“Can you walk, Daniels?” This was Maverick. He took down two more as he asked.
“I’ll try, sir.”
“Good. Peterson, get him the fuck out of here. We’ll handle the rest.”
“The van is waiting for you all,” I told them, “the police are on the way, so hurry up and get out of there, and the plane is cleared to go. Oh also, I made them cops aware that there might be innocent people in there, and they’re prepared to have to help trafficking victims.” Unfortunately, it was the best we could do now. I knew some of these assholes would end up getting away, but our primary role was to get Matty out of here, and anyone else we could help, we would. Those who managed to get away from the cops, well, we’d have to deal with later.
“We’re going to need medical attention.”
“On it, someone will meet you on the plane.” I replied, distracted, already taking care of it.
“Thanks Diego.”
I just watched and hoped it was enough. Brooks and Matty were the first ones out. The van door opened, and Brooks nearly threw Matty inside.
“I’m going back in.” He told us.
“No!” This was Luca. His cover had been broken now. They had locked the room he was in and two guards tried to remove him without making a scene to start with. Let’s just say they failed, and now he was literally fighting his way out as more and more guards poured out of fucking nowhere. How he was able to not only stay standing, but still focus on Brooks was fucking impressive. “Stay the fuck there and protect Matty.”
“But—”
“It’s a fucking order, Brooks. Stay put.”
He grumbled something but then replied, “Yes, sir.” He stood by the van, on alert and with the knife ready.
I could tell he was anxious though and didn’t want him to do something wreckless. “Amara is safe.” I confirmed that a few minutes before the shit went to hell. I was glad Luca had thought of having other people in place.
“Thank God. D, that was so fucking bad.”
“I know.” I had no idea what that poor girl went through but I could only imagine. My own past was right there, under the surface threatening to pop up and have me falling, but I tried to focus.
Peterson and Daniels came stumbling out next, with Peterson helping Daniels.
“Brooks, there’s a first aid kit in the van. You’ll have to stop the bleeding.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Peterson helped Daniels into the back seat and immediately Brooks went to work on stabilizing the leg while Peterson stood guard.
“I’m going to help the others,” Maverick called, “And no one fucking argue with me.”
Nobody did. Besides they really did need the help. I couldn’t keep track of the amount of bodies Skye and Leo had taken down. They were like a fucking machine. No wonder Luca trusted Leo to handle the security of his own property. Twice Skye had to discard his own weapon because he ran out of bullets and pick up another one. I had no idea how we were going to cover this up, but for now getting them out alive was more important.
Finally they got to Luca. He had taken a hard hit and was struggling. But he had gotten a gun off one of the guards he took down and had managed to get to the hallway. Skye, in an impressive show of strength, hauled Luca up, who was twice his size and pretty much carried him out of there.
Mav met them soon and took Luca from Skye. The scene was all chaos and carnage. I had never seen anything like it before.
By the time the guys managed to shoot their way out of the building the sirens were already loud and visible in the cameras.
“Hurry the fuck up!” I snapped.
They scrambled into the van and the driver took off just as the cops surrounded the building.
I slumped down in my seat, adrenaline causing my whole body to shake. I couldn’t even imagine how they felt. My job wasn’t done yet, not even close.
“I’m wiping the security footage now.” I told them.
“Thanks,” Luca panted, sounding pained. He was lying sideways in the van seats and clutching his side. “Status report, is everyone okay?”
“We’re okay, boss. Only Daniels managed to get himself shot.” Peterson snarked.
“Fuck off,” he responded, his voice raspy and a little faint. But he was still conscious. That had to be a good thing.
“The bullet is still in there,” Brooks informed us. “But I think I stopped the bleeding for now.”
I tuned out the talking, focusing on my job. There were bruises and scrapes. Luca was pretty sure he had a broken rib, and Brooks face was swollen, but they were okay. Somehow, even with that going completely off the walls, they were mostly okay.
The adrenaline that had kept me seeped out all at once, and I crashed. Every breath hurt and I struggled to get air.
I needed help but I was alone. I made Wes leave. Brooks almost died. Someone got shot. We’d be in crisis mode for a while, and I made Wes leave. I put my connection on mute so they couldn’t hear me, then nearly fell out of the chair from the force of my sobs.
I barely had the strength to crawl into a ball and cried.