The Serbians all whipped out guns, pointing them at Selene.
In turn, Vadisk, Rodrigo, and Ridley pulled their guns.
The tune to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly started playing in Oscar’s head.
Selene rolled her eyes, walked over to Andrej, and ripped the cigarette from his mouth. He surged to his feet with a snarl and everyone raced forward, but before anyone could reach her, Selene put the cigarette out on the hand Andrej had reaching for her throat.
Andrej stumbled back, spitting a word at her.
“Bitch,” Luca translated.
Oscar looked at him and blinked slowly to indicate that he’d gotten that.
Andrej drew his own gun and raised it, pointing it at Selene’s face. “I’ll keep you alive and—”
Selene sighed and dropped the cigarette. “Yes, yes, threats of violence and rape.”
Was the woman on drugs? What on God’s green Earth was she thinking? The man had a gun pointed at her fucking head. If he had to watch the woman he loved get shot, he was going to…well, he didn’t know what the fuck he’d do, but it would be something.
“Moving on.” Selene pushed his gun down. “Do you need me to tell you that I have this entire building surrounded, or have you figured it out on your own?”
Andrej looked at the man standing by the window. He shifted the plastic to look out then jerked back. He looked at Andrej and nodded slowly.
Andrej sucked in air through his nostrils. “That won’t do you any good if you’re dead.”
“If your solution to everything is to kill someone, it’s no wonder you’re not a major player. Killing lacks imagination.”
If they survived this, Oscar was going to put Selene in therapy. Anti-supervillain therapy. Was that a thing? Maybe Walt could do some shock therapy or something.
“I am—”
“No one.” Selene’s voice cracked. “You stumbled upon something valuable, and you treat it like that?” She gestured to Luca.
Oscar blanked his expression when everyone glanced their way.
“And look at what you did to him.” Selene’s eyes met Oscar’s for the first time, and he knew he was the only one who could see the desperate fear she was hiding. “He’s my favorite. If you kill him, I won’t have a matched set anymore.”
“What?” Andrej demanded.
“There is a man who looks just like him outside,” the man by the window muttered.
Andrej put his gun away, which indicated he was smarter than he looked. “Who are you?”
“You can call me Selene Gallio.”
Oscar leaned his head back against the wall and just barely refrained from banging it repeatedly.
Selene Gallio made sense as an alias. It was her real first name after all. But it was also the name of the oldest-known mutant in the Marvel Universe. Selene, the comic book character, was, of course, a villain.
Oscar opened one eye. Selene was looking at him and smiling. He closed his eye.
This was either going to work, or they were all fucking dead.
“Selene is a beautiful name. You are…American?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re with a triad.”
Selene stopped, frowning. “Excuse me? You mean the Chinese gang?”
Andrej nodded like he was so smart for figuring that out.
“First of all,” Selene declared, “that’s racist. I’m clearly Japanese.” She pointed to her features.
“Asian people look alike.” Andrej shrugged.
Selene sucked in an outraged breath. Die. They were all going to die because, shockingly, the Serbian mercenary was racist.
Oscar slid the heels of his shoes across the floor, making just enough noise to draw her attention. Selene pressed her tongue to her lip and held up a hand.
“You are not worth teaching. You, third favorite. Go get my favorite.” Selene tapped Rodrigo on the arm.
“I think that makes me second favorite,” Luca whispered. “Because we were going to invite Rodrigo to the gang bang.”
Oscar looked at him. Fucking what? Was he the only one who wasn’t completely unhinged in this relationship?
“I fail to understand why you think you have the power here,” Andrej said coldly. “You have men outside? Fine. What is to stop me from taking you hostage?”
“Do the thing with the dots,” Selene said, waving one finger in the air.
Owen pulled a phone from his pocket just as Rodrigo dropped to a knee beside Oscar. He took a knife from his pocket and started cutting through duct tape.
A red sniper dot appeared on Andrej’s shirt. Then half a dozen more dots appeared on the floor around him.
Everyone froze.
Rodrigo took a set of cuff keys from his pocket and undid first Oscar’s cuffs, then Luca’s. Oscar started working on the tape around