Chapter Thirty-Six
ENZO
Lola.
I'm burning alive.
My pulse pounds as something sticks hard in my throat, and my chest is so tight it's a wonder I can breathe.
The fucking mansion estate is big. Thank God the only buildings being used are this sprawling mansion and the guesthouse.
We get in thanks to Cade's brilliance, and we know where to hit the hardest thanks to Silas getting us the blueprints and using his drone.
But I don't care about that.
The thermal imaging has shown us where people are concentrated the most. We know there are only two people in the guesthouse, and they are not together.
One has to be Lyndall.
And since Lola is here, the other?
Whoever they are, they better be caught up on their prayers if my father reaches them. Dad and Silas are heading there now.
But as bullets fly outside, along with cries and thuds of people falling dead, I can't take my eyes away from the sight in front of me.
Lola.
My gun is aimed.
But my blood is alternating between freezing and boiling.
There's no way in fucking hell I can pull the trigger, not unless I go for a headshot. And while I'm good, I'm no sniper or sharpshooter.
Dom's gun is trained, too, but not on me. I don't think he has seen me yet.
He is aiming at a side door to the right of me, and I'm in a pool of shadows.
I have the advantage. I should move.
But how can I?
The fucker is using Lola as a human shield.
My gorgeous, sweet, feisty, unforgiving Lola.
And as it always happens around her, I don't know what to do.
Lola has seen me.
Dom hasn't.
Yet.
The coward is trying to see where the next man with a gun might pop out from.
He clearly wants to go through that door, and he is not about to let her go.
I have no idea how many men are in the mansion now.
Thermal readings showed no one on this half of the mansion. Most people were outside.
But things change.
The fucker holding her is focused. On that fucking door.
If I move, he'll see me. If I pull the trigger and miss his head, he'll throw her in the way.
And I'm not risking a headshot. Not when he's bent over, pressing his cheek to hers as he speaks.
He is nothing more than a spineless piece of shit. And if I find out he has so much as touched her more than he is doing now, he'll not only eat my gun, but I'll torture the fuck first.
Dom kisses her head.
The sight is so rage-inducing I have to bite my inner cheek to stop myself from doing something crazy, like charging at him and killing him with my bare hands.
They are closer now, and his voice drifts to me.
"Maybe I won't get you that body bag yet.
Tell you what. After you give me a kid, and I'm bored of you, I'll hand you to my men.
Who knows, maybe you'll be as good as Gretchen.
Maybe you won't just hold off that body bag, maybe you'll avoid it.
And we can have fun destroying your lovely whore holes. "
What the actual...?
Red takes over me.
I let out a roar and launch myself across the room.
I aim lower with my first shot as I run, hoping he'll let Lola go, hoping to get a kill shot if I can.
He lets out a cry of pain.
And Lola whimpers.
Dom is shaking his hand, and he has dropped his gun.
What he doesn't do is let go of my woman.
He sees me. Eyes wild. "You think I don't have another gun? A way out? You'll let me go if you want to see your sister again. And this whore is mine."
I have a moment to make up my mind.
If he had another gun, he'd have it pointed at her head. Hell, he'd be pointing it at mine.
I meet Lola's eyes. Mouth, "Trust me?"
She doesn't nod, but her eyes shine, and her lips tremble as she mouths one word.
"Yes."
To me, it's so loud she's shouting it at the top of her lungs.
"The bitch is fine, but we'll be going now. This marriage will be consummated in every way by the end of the evening," Dom says, "And you have no say in it. If you try and move, I'll kill her and have your sister killed."
His bravado is admirable, but I catch the slight shake of his hand.
He's scared.
Good.
I gather my strength.
Taking a leap at him, I pull her away as I slam into him, knocking them both down.
The fucker loosens his hold on her as they hit the ground.
I shove Lola as hard as I can.
She makes a sound as I try to get her away from his grasping hands.
I turn for a nanosecond to make sure she's okay.
That's all it takes for him to move under me. And his fist connects with my jaw.
Pain radiates outward.
Fucker.
I punch him back.
And fists fly.
"Stay. Fucking. Down." Each of my words has me punching him in the face.
Still, he tries to get at her as she scrambles, trying to get to her feet.
I look at him as he is trying to reach for his gun that is just a couple of inches away from his fingers now.
I jump up.
He freezes momentarily.
I take the chance to kick the gun and stomp my foot down on his wrist.
He howls with pain and tries to knock me over.
I want her as far away from the fucker as possible. "Run, Lola."
Holding my gun with a firm grip, I bring it down hard on his head.
With him a bit stunned, I shoot him in his right shoulder.
Try to hold a gun now, fucker.
I should shoot him in the heart or the head. The urge to kill is strong.
The urge to harm and maim is stronger.
After what I just heard, I'm going to have fun with some good old long, painful, drawn-out torture.
I kick him in the head and aim again, intent on hitting him somewhere that'll hurt and maim and bring maximum pain, but not kill.
I'm close range, so I shouldn't miss his fucking kneecap.
"Enzo," Lola cries. "Don't. He's not worth it. Lyndall. We need to... We need to rescue her. A-and his prisoner maid, Gretchen. They've done horrible, awful things to her."
I pull the trigger. Destroy his knee.
He howls again.
I stare down at him. "Where the fuck is my sister and what have you done to her and this maid?"
Dom laughs.
I lay a boot into his ribs.
A satisfying crack reaches me.
Music to my ears.
I grab his suit jacket, haul him up, and then I slam my head into his.
I go to get his gun, but it's gone.
A shadow falls on me as I straighten, letting Dom go.
"I'll finish the fuck." My father moves into view, kicking Dom in the head.
I turn, gun in my hand, as I realize it's not Dad that has Dom's gun.
It's Lola.
"Give me the gun."
But she shakes her head.
And she approaches, gun shaking. "I need..."
Lola takes a deep breath, aims, and pulls the trigger.
An ungodly sound fills the room as Dom screams. My eyes go to where the bullet hit. His balls.
I stare at her.
I was in love with this woman before, but now I'm in even deeper.
I breathe, taking the gun from her. "Lola... You violent, bloodthirsty thing. That was beautiful."
She's crying, silent tears pouring down her cheeks.
I almost turn and fill the writhing, screaming bastard full of bullets.
But Dad steps in. "Get it the fuck together."
I look at him. "Where's Lyndall?"
Dad gives me a not very gentle shove. "I don't know. Not where your friend claimed her heat signature was. Fucking technology. He's searching the guesthouse. I came to search here."
"She's in the guesthouse. He wanted her as collateral. A bargaining chip. So—" Lola wipes her face.
Outside, the gunfire gets louder along with the shouts.
"I'll finish this fuck," Dad says. "Go help find Lyndall. Now."
I grab Lola's hand and drag her, running through the mansion.
"They had a hood on my head the other time, and this time, I just couldn't... I—I don't know which way."
"I do." And I curse myself for letting this happen, for not forcing a million guards around her, not forcing them to be outside the fucking café. For—
As heavy, running footsteps approach, we wait by the side door where I came in.
Someone runs by, and I shoot them.
We listen, but there's no one else. Or at least, there is no more sound.
I think our men are mowing them down. I hope to fuck our men are mowing down Dom's people.
"Come on."
I drag her down a path and through the side door of the guesthouse. My heart hammers with every step.
He was going to marry her. He was going to hurt her, touch her. He was going to do vile things to her.
And I know I'm one to talk, with all the things I had her do and all the things I have done to and with her, but at least we have a safe word. She has control over what happens.
Unlike the fucker, I would never force her.
Not for real.
Not without consent.
Not in that brutal, ugly way.
And I get it. I don't want to do it for real. I want to play.
I suck in a breath, and my lungs burn.
We burst through the door, and Silas swings his gun, lifting it at the last possible second.
He shakes his head. "Fuck, man, thought you were one of the assholes who keeps trying to get in here to fucking hide. I just killed the last of them and then you."
"No luck, Silas?"
I notice the tiny gasp next to me, and I nearly kick myself.
Last time she saw him, we told her he was Simon the doctor.
Fuck. Am I as bad as Dom?
The lies I told her were for her safety. But they were still lies.
And Silas's identity totally slipped my mind.
Fuck. I don't have time for this.
"No," he says. "I've searched."
"We were upstairs." Lola tries to head that way, but I clamp down on her hand harder.
"I think he went through it all." My eyes go back to Silas. "Do you think they took her out of here already?"
"Possibly. But Cade is with the team outside, and only men have come through. And only a few."
"Have you seen the maid?"
We both look at Lola.
"No. Just dudes."
This time, she wrenches her hand free.
And with that gun still in her hand, she starts to move forward.
She goes to the edge of the hall we're in that leads to more doors and, I think, the kitchen. She is shouting. "Gretchen? Lyndall? It's me, Lola. We're safe. Here to get you. Are you both here?"
"Who the fuck is Gretchen?" Silas opens a door that's already cracked and peers in.
I shrug and frown. "I don't fucking know."
He makes a sound of disgust. "I've been in all the rooms. Picked off the strays. I did find where she was held, but—"
"L-Lola?"
My heart lurches as my chest clenches hard. "Lyndall?"
I get a dirty look from Lola, and she waves the gun at me.
I hope to fuck she knows enough to have flicked the safety on. It's not pointed at anyone, but the weapon is in her hand, and I'm loathe to take it, as even I can see holding it brings a kind of comfort and sense of power to her.
"Lyndall? Gretchen? You can come out. I'm with your idiot brother."
I think I hear someone, to the right, behind a door that's half open, say, "Not my brother."
"And Simon-Silas, the traitor. Please come out."
But there's no movement.
Both Silas and I lunge for the room.
"We're here, but time's running out."
But Lola's faster. "Lyndall? It's Enzo. Your controlling not-brother."
Another sound.
This time, I push in, right as two people emerge from the back of a closet.
One of them is an ice blonde woman in a maid's uniform. The other is my sister.
I grab Lyndall and scoop her up as she starts to cry.
Silas takes one look at the maid, curses, and shucks his hoodie, wrapping her in it.
"Get them out of here." I hand Lyndall to Silas and push Lola his way.
Then I turn and run.
I know my father.
He'll be making Dom pay, stretching it out in the time he has here, making it hurt. But I want to finish the job.
No one shoots at me as I run for the big house, but what I see alarms me.
Three men, heading stealthily inside.
Crouching, I zigzag until I'm behind the first.
I pull my knife, slicing open his throat. Then I shoot the other two.
That's going to teach them a lesson. Or it would, if they lived.
I run inside and almost stumble on a big man bearing down on Dad, who's intently bent over Dom, bloodied knife and pliers in his hands.
Teeth and some other small lumps are scattered.
Nails, I think.
I aim at the big guy.
Before I can pull the trigger, a bullet slams into his head, exploding out the front with brain, blood, and skull.
He falls to the ground.
I whip my head.
Gretchen stands, her features twisted into something that's risen from a hell she seems to know too well, and it culminates in a smile. "Fuck you, Paolo."
"I couldn't stop them," Silas pants, hands on his knees behind Gretchen and Lola.
I nod. "Get Gretchen out. And the others."
My sister runs up next to him, takes in the carnage, and falls to her knees, throwing up.
Lola comforts her, rubbing her back.
Lyndall sobs. "I...I wanted to make sure you were okay. But when the gunfire started and the guards ran to see, G-Gretchen grabbed me and made me hide with her, as silent as we could be."
My father turns and gets up. "I said I'd take care of this, Enzo."
"You've had your share. Now I want mine."
Somehow, Dad and Silas start to herd the girls to the door, including the maid.
Lyndall is so shaky she leans on Dad for support.
Silas approaches me. "Got the all clear from Cade. We need to go."
I nod.
When I'm alone, I stand over the man, and I don't even say a word. I just shove the barrel of the gun in his bloodied mouth, aware I'm doing him a favor but not wanting to risk him somehow surviving and coming after us.
I pull the trigger, killing him.
Then I turn, and she is there.
"Lola?"
"Can we go, Enzo?" she whispers.
And though I'm mad, there's a part that's thrilled she stayed for me.
I take her in my arms but don't pull her close. "Did he touch you?"
She closes her eyes and shudders. "I'm in one piece, so is Squish. He didn't...he didn't do anything, not really."
"When you want, when you are ready, we'll talk about it."
"I don't want to."
My next word is so fucking hard. "Okay."
And I pull her in, holding her so close she's part of me.
She shakes as she cries.
I smooth her hair as she lifts her head.
And in the middle of the carnage, I kiss her, a gentle, soft kiss. "Everything's okay, you're okay. You're safe now."
"I was so scared..."
I swallow. "I know. And I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry about everything. I should have told you the moment I discovered the truth about the affair between Lyndall's mom and your dad—"
Lola silences me with her hand. "No. We can talk about that later. Right now, I'm just happy and relieved you got here in time. And you rescued Gretchen."
There's a dark story there, and I think I'm going to hate it.
"Always. And anything for you and Squish." I kiss her and wrap my arm around her. "But let's get the fuck out of here."