Chapter 17
Adelmo
His gun rises. I grimace, expecting the hammer punch of a bullet.
And Izzy comes back to kick him in the gut.
Then I kick his head and recover the gun.
I drop him with that third shot, back of the head, like they planned to do with Izzy. Blood sprays across my tiles. Amazingly, the glass around us is intact.
It’s done. She’s free.
There’s always something ready to go wrong. I check outside.
At the yacht…most of them are down and out, dead probably—only one is running, aiming to vacate the premises having seen his friends get killed. The sniper cracks off two more rounds, and he skids and flops down onto the green, perfectly mown lawn beside my swimming pool.
“Damn. He’s bleeding into my pool.”
I offer Izzy my hand, while examining her for new wounds. The old bandage is loose. Her hair has flown everywhere and sticks to her, has turned into a bird’s nest of sorts. Her dress is fucked, marked, torn. Her nipples show through and my breath catches. I smile. Yessss. We’ve done it.
Montez? The waitresses will have dealt with him. I count the gunshots I remember hearing behind me. Three, and that was ages ago. Kasimir has spoken since then also. I heard his voice. All is good.
The only blood is on her side and seems not to be Izzy’s. She looks flustered and in pain—understandable, considering the manhandling. I pull her to her feet, and she yelps. I didn’t hit her stabbed hand?
Frowning, I zero in on her side again. Then her focus drifts past me. Her eyes show fear. Her mouth opens then she dashes past me, heading into the house.
Catching her by the waist, I turn to find Kasimir there. Rage has turned his face red. A pistol hangs from his twitching hand, and he’s bringing it higher.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Though she’s trembling, Izzy stands before me, facing off Kasimir like a mother bear defending her cub. “No. Please. Leave him alone.” Her voice caught on the last words, cracking from strain and fear.
Kasimir’s rage sputters out like a fire in a gale and devolves into utter bewilderment. “What?”
I put Izzy behind me, using force.
“Stay there,” I growl that harshly, to make it clear to her. “He’s not going to shoot me, Izzy.” But he might shoot her. I stare him down. “This is my brother.”
Behind him, my girls stand sentinel, to either side of Montez’s corpse. His throat has been cut and he has several bullet holes in him that are leaking red all over my fucking tiles.