Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
The link had almost broken.
Vander let out a low growl and pulled harder.
The chain broke.
He staggered forward, his arms dropping and blood rushing back into his abused muscles.
“Yes,” Rhys said. “You did it.”
Vander rubbed his wrists and shoulder. He pulled the rest of the chain off his wrists, then walked over to where Rhys was hanging.
“So, we get free, then storm out of the mafia villa packed with guards?” his brother asked.
“Yep.” Vander tugged on the chains.
“While unarmed and barefoot.”
Vander’s lips quirked. “Yep.”
“You always were an overachiever.”
He worked Rhys’ chains free, then caught his brother when he stumbled. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” Rhys stretched, his neck popping. “Think I’m getting too old for this shit.”
But he was grinning. Some part of him was enjoying this.
The truth was, they were made for this work. It was what they were good at.
So is your wife.
Vander ignored that little voice. He grabbed the chain off the floor and tested its weight.
It would do for a weapon.
He headed for the door, Rhys right behind him. He grabbed the handle.
It was unlocked, and his lips curled. Excellent.
He eased the door open.
He took in the long empty hall. There was no furniture, no windows, and no guards.
“We’re in a basement, by the looks of it.” He slipped out.
“A big one, too,” Rhys murmured, staring down the long hall and several other corridors leading off it.
“Justin said Navarro had a big villa outside of town.”
Rhys raised a brow. “So he can do his dirty work with no witnesses.”
Together, they headed down the hall. They needed to find a way out. He saw several more cells, which were thankfully empty.
“Damn, the place is huge,” Rhys said as they turned a corner. “Maybe mafia kingpins compare dungeons. Whoever has the biggest dungeon is the baddest of all.”
The hall ended, and Vander clocked two more corridors branching off.
He also saw two guards exiting an adjacent doorway.
“Hell,” Rhys muttered.
The men spotted Vander and Rhys, went rigid, then charged.
Vander watched them come. He wanted a fight. He was pissed, and he had a lot of emotions churning inside him.
He swung the chain. It wrapped around the lead man’s arm and the guy bellowed.
Vander yanked. The man stumbled forward, and Vander attacked. He landed a flurry of hard, unforgiving punches and kicks.
Yep, it felt good.
Rhys launched himself at the second guard. Vander heard the sound of thuds and grunts.
He jerked his guy forward and rammed his knee into the man’s face. With a gurgling sound, the guy collapsed.
Rhys kicked his attacker. The man hit the wall, then slid down and landed on his ass. He didn’t move, his chin on his chest.
“Maybe this escape won’t be too hard after all.” Rhys grinned and flexed his hands.
Suddenly, shouts echoed off the stone walls.
Vander jerked his head up and saw a group of guards at the end of the hall.
One drew a gun.
“Or not,” Rhys said.
“Run,” Vander ordered.
They spun, and sprinted in the opposite direction, zigzagging as they moved.
The gunfire was loud, and they both dove to the floor. Bullets thudded into the wall nearby.
Vander lifted his head and spotted an open doorway. “In there.” He leaped to his feet and raced through.
Rhys followed and slammed the door closed behind them.
They were locked in darkness.
“Shit, I can’t see a thing,” Rhys muttered.
“Wait.” Vander moved his hand over the wall and found a switch. He flicked it.
The lights came on.
He stiffened. “Shit.”
They were in some sort of lab. Several long workbenches were loaded with equipment, glass beakers and metal pots, as well as tubing.
“I think Navarro does more than keep prisoners in his dungeon,” Rhys mused, as he located the door’s deadbolt and turned it.
Vander strode forward and spotted a table at the back stacked with white bricks in neat rows.
Behind them, the door thudded as a heavy weight hit it.
“Quick, let’s push a table in front of it,” Vander said.
Together they shoved a heavy wooden table in front of the door, its feet squeaking on the concrete floor.
“Now, let’s see if there’s another way out.”
They both quickly searched the room. There were no windows and no other doors, except the one they’d used to enter.
Vander’s eyes watered. The scent of chemicals in the room was so strong. Hell, he knew how dangerous drug labs could be.
Gunfire sounded, bullets peppering the door. The assholes were trying to shoot their way in.
“Idiots,” he muttered.
Rhys pulled a face. “Vander, there’s no way out.”
He ran through their options. They were all shitty ones.
And he knew Brynn would know where he was by now and be on the way. “The only way out is through the front door.”
“And the group of angry mafia guards on the other side.”
Vander looked around. “We need to even the odds.”
“Okay,” Rhys said slowly.
Vander strode to the closest workbench. He looked over several bottles of chemicals, and picked one up, studying the label.
He grabbed several of them, then smiled darkly. “I have an idea.”
His brother groaned. “And now I’m more terrified of your idea than the angry guards out to kill us.”
Brynn slipped down the wide, stone stairs, Justin her silent shadow.
She paused for a moment and met his gaze. He nodded. The steady look in his eyes reminded her so much of Vander.
At the bottom of the stairs, she paused again and pressed her back to the wall. There were no sounds or voices. She hoped it stayed that way.
She peered around the corner. The hall was empty. She stepped into the basement level. It appeared that several corridors split off in different directions. Crap. Which way?
“This place is huge,” Justin murmured. “Could take hours to find them.”
In the distance, gunfire echoed. She tensed.
“Fuck,” Justin muttered. “Or not. Sounds like Vander’s making a move.”
Her pulse spiked. “Come on.”
She stalked in that direction and turned a corner…
And smacked into a guard.
The man cursed in Italian.
Brynn rammed an elbow into his ribs. Her other elbow cracked into his chin, knocking his head back. Her front kick hit his gut and drove him backward. He fell.
Four more guards filled the hall, shouting and rushing in their direction.
Goddammit. She didn’t have time for this. She had to find Vander.
She had to protect their growing child.
Brynn let herself flow into the zone. She didn’t consciously think or plan.
Being married to the most dangerous man she knew had advantages.
She trained with him, learned from him. She lunged and punched the first guy, then spun moving into the path of the second.
She landed a jab to his throat and heard him gag.
She spun again, and kicked the first guy in the knee.
She heard something pop and he went down with a sharp cry.
The next two were on her. She ducked and slammed a punch into one’s groin, then swung him into the fourth man.
The final attacker fell to one knee. She kicked him in the face, and he collapsed with a gurgle.
A pile of groaning men lay on the floor.
Justin just stared at her. “Wow. I think I’m kinda turned on.”
She shot him a look.
“Don’t tell Vander I said that.”
She yanked zip ties off her belt, tossed some at Justin, and the two of them quickly tied up the guards.
“I’m sick of wasting time. I want to find my husband and get out of here.”
They took two steps when a wave of nausea hit her hard, coming out of nowhere. Brynn staggered and pressed a hand to the wall.
Dammit. She breathed through the need to vomit. Of all the times for morning sickness to show up.
“Brynn?” Justin frowned at her. “Are you okay? You hurt?”
She shook her head, but that made the nausea surge, the hot taste of bile filling her mouth. She bent over and vomited on the floor.
“Shit.” He ripped a bottle of water off his belt. “Did you take a blow to the stomach?”
Taking the bottle, she took a big step away from the vomit, then rinsed out her mouth. “No.” She met his gaze.
Color drained from his face. “You’re pregnant.”
She nodded.
He groaned. “Oh fuck, I’m a dead man. When Vander finds out I brought you here, he’ll kill me. Slowly and painfully.”
She handed the water bottle back to him. “You done with the drama?”
“I’m a dead man walking. He’ll leave my rotting corpse out for everyone to see.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. If he killed you, no one would ever find your body.”
Justin pulled a face.
“Don’t worry, princess,” she said. “I’ll protect you. Now, let’s—”
Boom.
The walls shook. Justin moved, curling his big body over hers. They crouched close to the floor, dust raining down from the ceiling.
When the shaking stopped, they both peered down the corridor. A huge gust of billowing smoke filled the hall.
“I think we found Vander,” Justin said, dryly.
Oh, God. Brynn pushed away from him, and broke into a sprint.