18. Roman
18
ROMAN
What the fuck is that noise?
I don’t want to move. I just want to lay here with my arms wrapped around my naked wife.
She murmurs in her sleep and shifts, pressing herself tighter against me.
Her soft curves touch me in all the right places making my cock swell between her ass cheeks.
I’m half tempted to wake her up by plunging into her pussy that’s still dripping with my cum.
But that sound hits again.
Damn it. It’s my phone.
“What?” I croak. It has to be something like three in the morning.
Entirely too late for bullshit.
“Mr. Petrov?” Violet’s shaky voice comes through. “We have alarms going off at the Empire. Did you want me to call the police?”
With a groan, I roll away from Nadia’s hot body and run my hand down my face. I don’t want the cops anywhere near that place.
They’d start asking questions about all of the surveillance cameras I’m having installed, and the secret hallways for high end clients.
“No. What about sending Marco and Rico over?” That’s why I hired them. Muscle.
“They’re currently working on removing a loud crowd of football players.” She has a tinge of desperation behind her words.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it.” I hit the button to end the call and slide out of the covers.
The air conditioning keeps it cool enough at night to make my dick twinge when it hits the air.
I should be back soon, I’ll wake Nadia up to warm myself.
Dressing quickly, I rush down the stairs and into my car.
The parking lot is quiet, and empty, when I pull in. Heat radiates from the cracked asphalt when I step out.
Grabbing my gun and my flashlight, I work my way slowly towards the main entrance.
I don’t see any signs of broken glass, so I check the alarm on my app.
Yep, something is still triggering it inside the building.
Shit.
I hit the code to unlock the door, and wait for it to close silently behind me.
The darkness absorbs the sounds, and the smell of paint and sheetrock hang heavy in the air.
My ears strain to hear any noise, but nothing moves.
Creeping quietly over the array of extension cords strewn across the floor, I start working my way slowly to the first room.
The glow of the flashlight highlights the aim of the barrel of my pistol.
Nothing.
Another corner to an empty hall.
I wish I knew the layout in here better. I’ve barely spent any time, but have indulged in every free minute with Nadia instead.
I’d rather know every inch of her body than this place.
It doesn’t have the same appeal.
Huh. My priorities seem to have shifted.
There’s a piece of my mind telling me to say “fuck it” and leave. Let whatever criminal do their deed, I’ll clean up the mess later.
Whoever they are, they can have the place. I got what I needed out of the deal.
I’m nearly halfway into the building when I decide I’m done. It’s been almost two hours. I haven’t found any sign, and I’m tired of wasting my time.
Something crunches under my foot.
Broken glass?
With a burst of pain, my weapon and light fall from my hands as a crowbar is slammed over my arms from a hidden door.
Rolling backwards, I duck and narrowly avoid a crashing blow towards my head.
Fuck.
My wrist screams at me when I push myself up and scramble backwards.
“I was hoping it would be you.” A menacing voice echoes through the dark corridor.
Shadows of a man loom over me, and he kicks my gun away with a rattle.
“Do you have any idea how much money it cost me to hire those men to keep your goons busy? I didn’t think you’d want the cops here.” When a flicker of illumination hits, I recognize the hollow eyes of that asshole Drew Allen.
“Of course it’s you,” I grunt, holding my left arm against my body. It feels like it might be broken.
Hurts like a bitch. “I didn’t make your wife cheat on you, dipshit. She came to the club all on her own.”
He swings his weapon like a bat, making me jump out of his reach.
“She wouldn’t have been there if you didn’t exist!” His voice cracks and he lunges towards me, the sharp tines aiming for my gut.
“You’re insane, you know that?” Or, maybe I’m the crazy one, trying to yell at the man with the death wish, while I don’t have anything to defend myself.
Turning, I run in the direction of the exit.
But, the hook of the crowbar snags around my ankle, sending me hurdling onto my chest on the cold floor.
This guy is pissing me off.
My foot shoots out, catching him in the side of the knee.
With a cry, he topples over, and I hear the heavy steel bar bounce off of the concrete.
I kick out again, trying to connect with his head, but my heel glances across his shoulder. My hand doesn’t want to hold my weight, so I use my elbow to push myself up.
His shoes scrape, and I can hear him chasing me around the corner.
This isn’t going to end well for one of us.
And, I don’t lose. Nadia being naked in my bed proves that.
Making a hard turn, I grab the frame to pull myself into the next dark room.
The smell of chemicals makes my nose burn. Holding my breath, I wait for his footsteps.
As he tries to run past, I fling the door open.
The thump when he hits it echoes through the empty building, followed by a grunt as he falls again.
A metal cylinder tips and rolls against the wall when I shift.
This is exactly what I need.
Grabbing the end, I flip it over and charge out into the hall and raise it over my head.
Swinging it as hard as I can, I connect with the middle of his back.
The high pitch scream reverbates off of the paneled walls making my ears buzz.
I drop my arm again, this time he deflects the blow with his elbow.
Hooking my calf, he jerks my leg out from under me, and the back of my skull hits hard enough to make stars shoot in front of my eyes.
Fuck.
His fingers dig into my thigh, then my ribs as he straddles me.
The first fist finds my cheek. Another hits me in the temple making the ringing in my head even worse.
No way am I going out like this.
Flipping the metal tube, I find the aperture on the end, and pull the trigger to kick out a blast of a blue flame into his eyes.
Both of his hands jerk to his face, but I don’t let go.
Fire catches into his hair, and heavy shirt.
Leaping off of me, he backpedals through into the room I was hiding in.
Shit.
I know those smells that are in there.
Dragging myself as quickly as I can, I manage to get just past a flimsy wall when it feels like all of the air is sucked out of my lungs.
God damn it, no!
I’m dizzy as hell, but I push myself to my feet and try to run.
A ball of flame whooshes around me and knocks me back to the tile.
His scream reaches new highs until the blaze silences him.
I have to get out.
The plume of toxic smoke boils over me, choking me with the fumes.
Trying to cover my nose and breathe through my sleeve, I keep crawling towards the entrance.
My eyes burn, and darkness absorbs the haze, making it almost impossible for me to tell which way I have to go.
Coughing, I slump to my belly and try to pull myself further.
I’m so dizzy, I can’t focus.
Maybe, if I just lay down for a moment, the air will clear.