Chapter 69 #2
About to follow, muffled voices reached my ear, stopping me. “Please, we’re just–”
“Move!” a harsh command followed a loud groan.
Staying in the shadows with my back against the wall, I peered out one of the windows, watching a black clothed fucker herd our cleaning and kitchen employees with a gun. Lorenzo returning to the top stair, shifted my attention.
“They’re clearing the house,” I explained, jerking a thumb over my shoulder.
He frowned, descending to my side. “Why the staff?” He looked out, his expression visible concern. They were shepherding our people into a tight group in the courtyard. “I don’t like the fucking smell of this?”
As if to enforce his statement, the sudden whir of chopper blades echoed through the building. “I hope like fucking hell that’s Dario firing up our chopper,” I grunted, taking a step up.
The chopper was our only safe passage back to the mainland. All our boats would make for easier targets on the open water.
Dario came running down the stairs, deflating my optimism. “The controls are busted on our chopper and the one landing isn’t ours.”
“Fuck!” my brother and I cursed together.
“We need to end this shit.” Lorenzo raced down the stairs with Dario and I on his tail.
When we reached the ground floor landing, he stopped us with a hand up then gestured to one of the windows that overlooked the courtyard.
A row of armed men in full black, formed an arc behind our people, their weapons at ready and aimed our way.
“Fuck this.” Irrational as always, I took a step forward and Lorenzo grabbed my arm, his hold tightening when I struggled.
He answered my scowl with one of his no-nonsense ones. “Until we know what they want, you’re not fucking going out there,” he warned.
I took a steadying breath or risked punching him in the face. “What the hell are they waiting–” Bright lights suddenly flooded the courtyard, cutting me off. “Fuck me, these assholes came prepared for a party,” I muttered, aware that didn’t bode well for us.
“Down!” Lorenzo’s warning rang out, his hand yanking Dario and I with him.
We dove for cover as the building lit up like the fourth of fucking July fireworks gone unchecked. Cheek to the floor, I glanced over at my brother. Only one thought blinded me. If anything happened to him, these fuckers would pay.
“Cease fire!” An authoritative voice I didn’t recognize, bulldozed through the chaos and immediately the gunfire stopped.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, Remo.” Now that voice I recognized.
“Ajay,” I grunted, slowly sitting up.
Backs pressed to the wall, Lorenzo and Dario followed suit, dusting fragments of plaster, wood chips and glass off their clothes.
“I’m giving you one chance to surrender, Remo. Come out now, or I start executing your staff. One by one.” Ajay’s voice boomed across the courtyard, each word precise and controlled despite the rage I could hear simmering beneath.
Eyes on me, Lorenzo’s jaw tightened, his head slowly shaking from side to side, but he remained silent. We all did and the quiet lengthened, broken only by the occasional shuffle of movement outside.
A woman’s scream pierced the air and I shot up. Lorenzo and Dario rushed to their feet too. We all looked out a window. Mary, our cook, struggled against one fucker as he dragged her across the paving toward Ajay.
He grabbed her arm. “This is your fault, Rossi,” he shouted. “Their blood will be on your hands.”
Mary cried, thrashing against his grip. The rest of the staff stayed huddled together on their knees, their eyes wide with terror as they watched the scene play out.
Ajay’s fucked up face, twisted into a grimace before he pressed a gun to Mary’s temple. “You have thirty seconds before I start the countdown.”
Teeth grinding, I clenched my fists, debating whether he’d kill her. Mary had been in our employ for ages and the only woman who made me smile with every dish she prepared. “We should do something.” I glanced at my brother.
He shook his head. “The minute we step out there–”
“Ten!” Ajay’s manic laugh cut across the courtyard. “Nine!”
“Fuck.” I slammed a fist into the wall, welcoming the dull ache to my knuckles. “They’re fucking innocent, you piece of shit,” I hissed, not wanting to give away our position.
“Eight!”
Lorenzo’s eyes met mine, his faltering expression a dead giveaway he was also disputing the odds. He didn’t say anything, just studied my face with that intense gaze. I could see his brain working a mile a minute.
“Seven!” Ajay laughed like a lunatic.
“We can trying fighting our way out?” Dario suggested yet his voice sounded just as unconvinced as we looked.
“Six!”
There’d be fucking hell to pay when I got my hands on the bastard.
“Nervous yet, asshole?” Ajay taunted. “Five!”
Anger flaring my nostrils, my breathing resembled a raging bull ready to enter the ring.
“Four!”
Mary’s sobs echoed through the night air while her husband, the estate’s gardener, prayed loudly. The others remained rigid statues, too scared to move.
“We need to get out there, Renz.”
“Three!” Another dark laugh bellowed around us. “Two!”
Lorenzo looked torn for a moment, and I knew his concern was focused solely on my wellbeing. “Stay here,” he ordered, quieting my argument with a glare.
“Renz–” I tried to stop him just as Ajay called out the last number.
“One and–”
“What the fuck’s going on here?” Rayden’s confused voice rang out.
In the split-second Lorenzo and I shared a look; the color drained from his face the same time concern washed over mine. “I fucking warned Rayden to stay away,” he seethed.
But Rayden never listened. He chased danger like it was a lover and my brother knew that.
We all charged the door. Gunfire erupted, raining down on the building, driving us back. Murderous rants fell from our lips, our bodies hitting the only wall offering us protection. The blast stopped as suddenly as it began.
“Oh, this is even better than I expected.” Ajay’s laughter ricocheted through the bullet riddled door, now hanging on one hinge. “Rayden Princeton, a pleasure and such perfect timing.”
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker!” Lorenzo growled.
Our movements cautious, we stepped toward a side window in time to see Ajay release Mary and stride over to a fighting Rayden surrounded by several men.
He threw wild punches, catching at least two fuckers in the face and another with a knee to his groin.
The boy never failed to surprise me and I silently praised him, hoping he’d get the drop on them and escape. But they quickly overpowered him.
“Feisty fucker, aren’t you?” Ajay scoffed, two of his men pinning Rayden’s knees to the ground and his arms behind his back. “Not to worry, we’ll see how well you fare in a minute.”
“I can’t get anyone on the phone,” Dario pulled our attention. Phone in his hand, he shook his head. “They must’ve used a signal blocker.”
Hot tension radiating off my brother, he paced the floor, rubbing his jaw and cursing under his breath. Dario and I exchanged hopeless looks.
Guilt burdened my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Renz.”
He stopped pacing to look at me. “For what?” I jerked my chin toward the window, apologizing for Rayden’s dilemma.
Lorenzo offered me a small smile. “You’re just as important, Fratello and just as pig-headed as he is,” he said the last part on a sigh.
“He seems to relish the danger I carry around me like a second skin,” he muttered. “We’ll get them soon enough.”
“Now then,” Ajay called out, his voice dripping unconcealed satisfaction, the muzzle of his gun pressed to Rayden’s temple. “Shall we start the countdown again or should I just pull the trigger?”
“Touch him and you will fucking die!” Lorenzo roared, his palms slamming the only untouched glass hard enough to shatter it.
“Then bring out your brother,” Ajay yelled back.
This time I didn’t allow my brother to stop me. I barged out the door, only pausing because the clicks of several triggers engaging caught my ear. Hands up I stared at the motherfucker. “I’m here, let him go.”
Lorenzo appeared at my side a second later followed by Dario. “What the fuck?” He glared at me.
“Hmm.” Ajay scratched his chin with his gun, his eyes darting between me and my brother. “One has to die, Lorenzo, who will it be. Rayden or Remo?”
“You fucker!” Lorenzo gritted, his face twisted in indecision, his fists clenched at his sides.
Rayden lifted saddened eyes to my brother, slowly shaking his head. “Choose Remo, Renz,” his voice bleeding with thick emotion, he surprised me.
But I’d fucking die before I robbed my brother of the only happiness he’d ever encountered in his fucked-up life. “Oh, fuck no, baby boy.” I winked. “You don’t get to save me.”
And for the first time since we met, Rayden’s smile betrayed his customary annoyance I’d come to expect from him. “Fuck you,” he retaliated, his words lacking their usual vehemence.
“Aww, how touching, I should fucking record this, it will make for a nice dramatic climax,” Ajay spat.
One of his men approached him and whispered something in his ear. Irritation quickly overshadowed his smug demeanor. He glared at Lorenzo for a long moment then nodded to his man.
I grinned. “Whose pulling your strings, asshole?”
His scowl spoke volumes. “Always think you know everything, you conceited fuck.”
“I think, I know,” I taunted, shrugging.
“Then let’s see how well you predicted this outcome.” He snorted a laugh.
I didn’t let him see my surprise, my enjoyment short-lived when I eyed the returning man, dragging a woman behind him.
Although her head was covered by a black hood, I’d recognize her body anywhere, yet it was the red scratches on her arms and legs that caught my attention.
My stomach clenched. Not just for her, for what she carried. What I couldn’t protect.
Every cell in my body flooded with rage. “Ishika!” I took a step forward and the men jerked their guns at me, their postures promising death.
“Remo?” Ishika called out, her head turning from side to side, searching for me.
“I’m here, baby,” the words were out before I could stop myself, earning a dark chuckle from Ajay. He knew he had me by the balls.
My eyes raked over her, the hood, the scratches, the way she held herself. Protect her. Protect them both. The thought was a drumbeat in my skull.
I launched myself at the men in front of me, taking down at least three fuckers with my fists. Behind me, I heard Lorenzo and Dario do the same.
A lone gunshot hit the air. “Stop or I’ll kill her right the fuck now!” Ajay’s warning followed a second later.
My fists froze mid-strike, my eyes jerking to Ajay as he ripped off her hood, tossed it away then slid an arm around her waist, pulling her tight to his side.
Her glazed eyes found mine quickly, wide, wild. I noticed their defiance, the tremor to her lips, the tears she refused to let fall. Fear skated her expression, but she wouldn’t give Ajay that satisfaction.
He waved the gun between Ishika and Rayden. “Choose, Rossi. Her life, or his. Tick tock.”
Fire raged in my veins. “You think I’ll play this–”
“Oh, you’ll play,” Ajay cut in. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill them both, and you’ll live with that. What would a fucker like you do when God hands you the trigger?”
Ishika shook her head. “Don’t listen to him–”
“Shut the fuck up.” Ajay snapped, striking her across the face, hard.
The sound shot through me, clawing at my heart, my gaze landing on the trickle of blood rolling down the side of her mouth. “Ajay!” I roared, clenching my fists.
He stepped closer, eyes glittering. “Choose.”
Ishika’s chin lifted, blood staining her lip. “Remo, look at me.”
I did. And in her eyes, I saw something that broke me wide open. Not fear, no begging, but acceptance. She was ready to die for me, for Rayden.
Ajay must’ve noticed it too, because his smirk faltered, just a flicker. “You’d really let her go, Remo? Let her die for you?”
I swallowed the anger, keeping his attention on me. “No.”
He raised a brow. “No?”
“Take me,” I growled.
That stopped him. “What?”
“Kill me, asshole, not them?”
He tilted his head, smiling. “You’d die for her? For them?”
“It’s not a choice, fucker, it’s never been one.”
Ajay’s smile faded altogether, his weapon wavering between Ishika and Rayden then he stepped closer until I could see the pulse beating in his throat. Slowly, his arm changed direction. The cold steel of the barrel lined up squarely with my brow. “It’s your lucky fucking day.”
Somewhere behind me I heard Lorenzo scream, “Wait one fucking min–”
But the gunshot that cracked through the air, was louder…