66. Leona #3
“Get the fuck away from her,” I said. His pants were unbuttoned, and his shirt was torn.
His hand went to his hip, obviously looking for a gun, only to come up empty.
His eyes flicked over my shoulder to the table in the corner, but my body was blocking his access.
Ludmila scrambled off the bed and darted for the gun.
With the two of us against him, he decided the better choice was to bolt.
He leapt off the bed and headed for the hallway.
“Stay here!” I shouted to Ludmila as I followed him. “Check the other girls!”
Vokshi sprinted down the hall, shouting in Albanian. I kept my gun on him, taking two stairs up the staircase right behind him. I didn’t have a clear shot, and I didn’t want to kill him, or else I would have fired my entire clip at his back.
“Stop fucking running!” I screamed as he dashed through the nightclub. I dodged around countless regular customers dancing on the dance floor, waitresses, and guards. They split like the Red Sea while we both sprinted across the room and toward the back entrance where Justin had escorted us inside.
Instead of turning right, toward the employee break room and the door where we’d come in, Vokshi turned left.
I was ten steps behind him when he pushed through an emergency exit door.
I caught a glance of an evil snicker on his face, like he was taunting me—before he ran straight into a body with an oomph!
I stuttered to a stop, my eyes locking with Max.
He was armed to the teeth, dressed in head to toe black combat gear, holding an assault rifle.
He reacted instantly, dropping his gun to grab Arion’s shirt with both hands.
He slammed Arion to the ground, punching him in the face over and over.
Arion fought back, trying yet failing to get a few of his own punches in, but Max dominated him completely.
It was no competition. My mouth went dry while I watched Max beat the ever-living shit out of him.
“Max!” I shouted, trying to get his attention. “We need him alive!”
Max paused, holding back his last punch. He switched gears immediately, climbing off Vokshi to yank him to his knees instead. Max held his hands behind his back while he wrapped a length of rope around his wrists. Vokshi wobbled, face already bruised and swelling. His single open eye locked on me.
“I recognize you,” he said, before spitting blood onto the concrete ground right outside the door.
I froze. It was just the three of us here: Max, Vokshi, and me. You could hear a pin drop between us all.
“What did you say?” Max breathed.
“I recognize this bitch,” Vokshi wheezed through broken teeth.
I could barely understand his English, and I wished I hadn’t.
“We have your pictures everywhere. So many people wanted to buy you, myself included.” He cackled.
Blood coated his mouth. “You should have seen the men at our castle. Every single one of them got a copy. An Italian mafia princess? Oh, we were all tugging it that night. Even my father wanted to fuck you and break you.”
My stomach turned, and my chest quaked. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block it out, and to remain in control of my emotions. Not so I wouldn’t have a panic attack, but so I wouldn’t kill this fucker right here and now.
A gunshot ripped through the air. Vokshi slumped to the ground without another sound, eyes wide in death.
Max stood over him, gun at his side.
“Max,” I whispered while I stared at Vokshi’s body. “What have you done?”
The Camorra wanted that kill. The Camorra were on their way here, right now, expecting Max to deliver this man to them alive. We weren’t strong enough to keep them out of New York. It was ours , and they were going to take it. I couldn’t let them hurt my men.
“Leona, look at me.”
I did. Anguish rippled across his face, and it was in that moment that I realized I wasn’t the only one carrying the scars of what happened on that ship. Max went through it right alongside me. Max had been forced to watch, unable to do anything.
Who was helping him carry the pain?
“Max…” I took a step forward.
“I will handle it,” he said as he struggled to get his emotions in check. He tucked his handgun back into the holster at his side before he dragged his hands down his face.
I shook my head and opened my mouth to argue, but he stepped over Vokshi’s body. His thumb and forefinger gripped my chin so he could look me in the eye. I could feel the heat of his body so close to mine against the cold outside air.
“I said, I will handle it. Okay?”
I gaped, searching his titanium eyes for some kind of answer. Didn’t this just royally fuck us? What would the Camorra do when they found out ?
“Answer me,” he murmured. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
His thumb brushed over my bottom lip. A deep ache throbbed within my chest.
“I…” His voice dropped low.
He didn’t get a chance to finish before the door behind us burst open and Cas, Obi, and Ryuji stumbled out. Before I knew it, Max had stepped away.
“Vokshi is dead,” he announced.
“What?” Obi asked while the rest of my men surrounded me. Cas and Ryu both formed a barrier on each side of me, blocking me from Max.
“It was necessary,” Max said, wiping his head with his forearm. “Unavoidable.”
Cas pulled me into his chest, cupping my cheeks. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I’m fine.”
Ciel came rushing up with Wynn, both of them checking me over. Ciel inspected my neck and waist. “I saw on the cameras. You’re okay?”
My lips pressed together while I nodded again. “Yeah. The MTA director is inside.”
“He’s mine,” Obi said darkly.
“Did you get the victims away?” I asked Wynn.
“Yes, darling,” he said before he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “They’re okay. We’ve got everyone.”
I looked over my shoulder at the door. “We have to get inside. The girls?—”
Ryu’s finger pressed against his ear. “Ronan confirms all our girls are safe. The other buyers are sedated. We’ll move them back to Fallon’s house and question them.”
The air whooshed out of my lungs while my eyes closed. It worked.
“Get the other customers in the club outside and away from here, and then burn it down,” I ordered. “Max, tell the rest of your men to move forward with their strikes. Ryu, tell Konstantin Makarov to move on his side. Wynn, tell Ronan and Fallon to mobilize their men, too.”
Everyone nodded.
The orders would signal to our men to hit the rest of the known Albanian locations across Philadelphia and New York City.
Phase 3 of the plan. We were hitting them all with our combined forces—the Russian Bratva, the Irish Mob, and the Italians working as one.
After tonight, with no more Albanian leadership, they’d be finished.
We’d done it.
The nightmare began when Wynn and I were attacked on the street outside our home. Now, it would end with fire and blood, leaving only us standing in the ashes.
Except when I looked down at Arion Vokshi’s body, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t over yet.