at Felicity, who is just off to my left, struggling to get to her feet.
Alexis has never looked more beautiful. Strands of silky dark hair have pulled free of her updo, and her eyeliner has smudged a little under her eyes. With her elegant gown and the bloodied diamonds at her throat, she looks like a warrior queen. I pity any who would refuse to bow before her.
Before Alexis can aim the gun, one of the Cartel men slams his boot into her spine, and she cries out in pain but does not fall. Instead, she wheels on him.
I am distracted for only a few seconds, but it is long enough for Felicity to retrieve a knife strapped to her thigh and sink it into my chest. The pain is white-hot. I scream and lurch toward her, but Felicity scuttles out of my path.
BANG.
The man who kicked Alexis falls dead to the floor, and Alexis swings the gun toward Felicity. Felicity tries to scramble to her feet. If she starts to run, Alexis might not be able to hit her. I really need to make sure she gets combat trained when this is over.
I try to sit up, and the knife wound screams at me. I only have a precious few seconds before Felicity is on her feet, so I push through the pain and lunge after her. My fingers wrap around her ankle, and I yank her back to the ground, holding her in place despite her kicking at my face.
“Shoot!” I urge Alexis.
Alexis has both hands on the gun. She stares down at Felicity with a hatred so dark and so bitter that I wouldn’t be surprised if Felicity perished from the look alone.
“You were never my mother, bitch,” Alexis snaps. Then she pulls the trigger.
The bullet hits Felicity in the chest, and she collapses.
“Silvano!” I roar, catching the attention of my second, who is nearby holding a bloody knife. “Get Alexis to safety!”
The hardwood floor is wet and sticky against my hand, and I lift it groggily up to my face. It’s blood. I look down at the wound in my chest. My blood.
My strength saps away, and I sag to the floor.
35
Alexis
There is so much commotion in the ballroom that I can hardly tell who is who, which side is which. There are people grappling on the ground, someone strangling someone against the table, bodies strewn across the floor. Antonio’s wife Sheila roundhouse kicks a Cartel member in the face, and her dress rips all the way up her thigh. I decide if I make it out of here, I have to learn how to do that.
“Silvano! Get Alexis to safety!”
Gabriel.
I blink, and it’s like the world comes back into focus. My fingers are clenched so tightly around the gun in my hand that the knuckles have gone white. The gun. Felicity. I look down and see the woman who claimed to be my mother bleeding out on the floor. The ruby-red blood is striking against her pale skin and white dress, and flecks of it have spattered her blonde hair. It looks like I killed an angel.
An angel in disguise.
Someone grabs my arm, and I whirl on them, pointing the gun. Silvano puts his hands up, grimacing.
“Careful, I don’t have many lives left,” he says. “We need to get you to safety.”
“Do you have a phone?” I ask, lowering the gun.
He leads me past Dom and Antonio, who are hoisting Gabriel up between them. Both of them hiss in pain as the action elicits complaint from the wounds they endured the night Gabriel killed Kevin Lynch. “I called for backup already.”
“I need to make sure Harry and Clara are okay,” I insist.
“When we get to the safe room, you can call whoever you want.” Silvano pushes through the door and peeks around the corner before guiding me through. I look behind me to make sure Dom and Antonio are following with Gabriel, and my heart breaks. They’re having to drag him because he can barely move his feet. His head hangs down, long black hair falling over his face.
“Alexis, you can’t help him right now,” Silvano says, drawing my attention back to the task at hand. “We’re almost there. Do you still have bullets?”
I lift the gun up to eye level and frown. I have no idea how to check.
We make it into the bedroom with the hidden door, and Silvano lopes across the room to the closet, calling instructions back to me. “That’s a