Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Colin
T he helicopter bounced off the ground with a bone-jarring thud before hovering a foot above it. We were already moving, spilling out into the night like a wave of controlled chaos. The moment my boots hit the ground, the crack of gunfire erupted around us. Instinct kicked in and I dove for cover behind a decorative stone wall, Lincoln beside me as adrenaline surged like fire through my veins.
“On your six!” Reynolds shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos as he fired off a burst, taking down an enemy trying to flank us. The others spread out, moving with the lethal precision honed over years of training. I’d never been more grateful that the men we hired at G&H were anything but amateurs when it came to combat. Zara was inside that house, and the thought of her in danger drove me forward with a singular focus.
I popped up from cover, sighting down my rifle and squeezing off two quick shots. Another of Mihal’s men crumpled to the ground. The gunfire began to thin, the silence between shots growing longer as we systematically took out the threats. My breath came in sharp bursts, the night air cold against my skin, but I barely noticed as I moved toward the front where the rest of them were, and hopefully, where I’d find the real enemy.
And then I saw him—Mihal, emerging from the shadows like a snake ready to strike. His eyes locked on mine, and a twisted grin spread across his face. Without thinking, I dropped my rifle, charging him with a roar that tore from my throat. We collided, the impact sending us both to the ground in a tangle of fists and fury.
“You think you can take her from me?” I snarled, driving my fist into his jaw. He grunted, swinging back hard enough to split my lip.
“She’s mine,” Mihal spat, his eyes wild and voice thick with contempt as he tried to land a punch to my ribs that I easily evaded. We circled and he probably thought he had a chance. What he didn’t know was Lincoln was closing in behind him.
“You’re just a pathetic excuse for a man who can’t get a woman unless you kidnap her. I’ll kill you before I ever let you get your hands on her again.”
He laughed, a cold, ugly sound that was cut short when Lincoln pressed a gun to his temple. I wanted to end him, prayed that Linc would pull the trigger. It would make things so much simpler and ensure that he never bothered Zara again, but that wasn’t who we were. I had to satisfy myself by throwing him to the ground and roughly securing his hands with a zip tie.
“It’s over,” Lincoln’s voice was like steel as he looked around.
Mihal struggled, cursing us in another language but there were no more sounds of gunfire. I stood over him, chest heaving, trying to step back from the rage. Zara was safe and we would make sure she stayed that way.
I stepped back, my eyes never leaving Mihal. “You’re going away for a long time, you son of a bitch,” I muttered, the adrenaline slowly ebbing from my system. “That is if your own family doesn’t kill you as soon as you are inside.”
Linc nodded to me, a silent confirmation that the threat was neutralized. I took a deep breath, the tension in my muscles slowly unwinding. The fight was over, but the real battle—the one to protect Zara—was just beginning. And I’d be damned if I ever let anyone get that close to taking her away from me again.