Chapter 32 Kole
thirty-two
Kole
My heart pounds in my ears as I open fire at the doorway from behind the kitchen counter. I am unsure how many men we started with—maybe fifteen, but probably more. I do know, however, that Jo must have taken out the majority of them from the roof.
I should not be surprised that it turned me on to see her holding that sniper rifle, even though the timing had been wildly inappropriate. But my Little Fox is just continually catching me off guard.
It makes sense that she would be trained in every weapon imaginable, but the reality of Jo makes my soul sing. Even without the scent match, I would want her.
Need her.
West calls from his spot in the kitchen where the video feed monitors for the security system are. “There are five men left! They’re using the wall to the right for cover.”
“Time to draw ‘em out, boys.” Jo’s voice has me whipping my head around and I spot my wet dream come to life sauntering into the room, hips swaying as she holds a pistol at her side.
“Dammit, Jo!” Sam looks pissed. “I told you to stay on the roof!”
“I don’t remember agreein’ to that Sammy-boy,” she huffs. “In fact, I remember pointedly ignorin’ that dumbass request.”
“Wait.” Hayden looks at all of us. “Why did the gunfire just stop?”
“They’re moving.” West mutters. “They’re moving around to the back of the house.”
Jo gets a determined look on her face, and runs to the sliding glass door.
“What are you doing?” Sam hisses, motioning with his hands. “I swear to fuck, Jo, you better back away from that damn door right now—”
Ignoring him, she cracks the door open just wide enough to fit her gun through. “Everybody, get out of firing range.”
This can’t be a good idea. Regardless, I stay where I am, even as Sam rolls away from behind the couch.
“Lisichka, maybe—”
Bam.
A body drops, slumping into the door, and then in a move that’s either psychotic or genius, she throws the door open.
“Go!”
She’s reckless. Impulsive. With no barrier between us and the four men intent on killing us, there’s nothing stopping them from coming inside.
That also means there’s nothing stopping us from shooting them.
I raise to my feet quickly, taking out one man, while Sam nabs another. Hayden gets one in the arm, but before the soldier can retaliate, I move my gun in his direction and take him down with a hole through the skull.
The last soldier is on his knees, gun to his head as Jo looks down at him in disgust. “Darlin’ would you mind grabbin’ a dining room chair and some rope from the closet in the bedroom?
I have some questions I’d like to ask this fine gentleman.
” Then, as Hayden leaves the room, Jo moves to stand in front of the man, her muzzle never leaving his skin.
“Tell me, who sent you? What do they want? How did you find us?”
“You fucking bitch,” the man spits, looking pissed the fuck off. “You killed all my men—”
Sam stalks over, lifting the man by his collar and holding him in the air. “You really shouldn't have called her that.”
The man scoffs. “You’re not gonna get anything outta me, mutt.”
“I should make this hurt as much as possible,” Sam growls, shaking the bastard in the air. It’s at that moment Hayden returns with the chair and rope that Jo requested, and she gets to work, fastening him to the chair.
West comes and stands next to me, arms crossed. “Why do we always end up torturing people?”
“You’re too late,” the dead-man tied to the chair laughs maniacally. “You think we’re the only ones coming after you? There’s a bounty on your heads—all of you—and this is just the beginning. Dead or alive, they don’t care as long as you’re taken care of.”
“Who?” Jo growls, pulling a knife from a sheath on her leg. “Who put the hit on us?”
“I’m not talkin’.” The man shakes his head. “You’re gonna kill me either way, so let me die with a shred of dignity, knowin’ I kept my code.”
“Does your code include killing omegas?” Hayden snaps, his hand tight on his lighter. He’s abandoned his pistol on the dining table, which is probably for the best.
“This one doesn’t need protectin’,” he spits. “Killed thirteen men. She needs to be put down.”
A growl rips out of my chest as I stalk forward. I have said before that words do not mean much compared to actions, but this piece of shit has displayed a poor choice of both tonight. "You will watch how you speak to my omega.” My voice is ominous, a threat.
“Listen, we don’t have time to interrogate him. We need to get out of here before more men come.” Sam snaps, but at the look of victory in the asshole's face, I snap.
I pick up the man, chair and all, and walk outside.
The rest of my pack protests behind me, asking me what I’m doing.
They will see in a moment.
The man is heavy, but my rage fills my veins as I walk to the very edge of the cliff and place the chair right behind it. “Now,” I growl, grabbing the man by the throat and squeezing as I tip him backwards. His upper half is completely over the edge of the cliff—if I drop him, he’s a goner.
“You have two choices. You can tell us who hired you and how you found us, and I will make your death swift and nearly painless. Or, you can refuse, and I will push you over the edge of this cliff, let you break every single bone in your body on the rocks below, and then drown to death, the sea water filling your lungs so you sink to the very bottom of the ocean where the sharks and leeches can feed on you.”
The asshole’s eyes bug out, terror written on his face. “Wait—” I pretend to drop him, relishing the short scream that escapes him. “I’ll tell you!”
They always break so easily when faced with something as trivial as being dropped over a cliff.
Pathetic.
“Go on.” My expression blank, I wait for the worm to speak.
“Pierce. Richard Pierce sent out the order a few hours ago on the dark web. Three million dollars. Said he prefers his son stay alive, but isn’t going to hold his breath.
We’d get paid more if everyone was delivered alive though.
We were ordered to keep the bitch—ah!” He squeals as I let him drop briefly.
“The omega—the omega! We need to keep the omega alive or there’d be no payout! ”
I hear footsteps behind me, and I can tell by the lightness of them that they belong to Jo.
“How did you find us?” Jo asks, her voice hard.
“All the information was on the bounty listing. We just went to the address we were given.”
Sam meets my eyes from across the yard, his face full of fury. Declan has a rat. That’s the only explanation for them getting this address.
“You’ll make my death quick, right?” The prisoner sputters, looking at my Lisichka. I let the chair sit on all four legs again, making the guy look a little relieved.
Her hand moves to grip the man's face, squishing his cheeks together. “You would have killed him?” Her chin jerks towards me. “And the rest of them?” Jo’s voice is deadly quiet, completely void of emotion.
His face pales. “It’s not anything personal—we’re mercenaries—”
She tilts her head. “You had a deal with Kole,” she states blankly, staring at him.
“Just make it quick, please—”
She squeezes his cheeks harder, cutting off his words as she leans in close. “Killin’ my men is something that I take real personal, Precious.”
Then she pushes his face backward as hard as she can, completely tipping the chair over and letting it fall over the edge. The man’s terrified screams echo in the air until they suddenly cut off, swallowed by the sound of the crashing waves.
Jo sniffs, turning around. “He didn’t make a deal with me.”