me the second you have her. Give me a car and I’ll let her out on the way.”
There’s an argument behind the line of cars and then Atticus steps out, a Kevlar vest over his chest and a gun in his hand, sure and steady. Luca huffs and tenses, like he’s preparing to dive in front of his boss at the very first sign of more gunfire.
“I’ll say this once. You have no idea of who you kidnapped. Hand her over or you’ll find out.”
I meet Atticus’ eyes and I see the tells, the flex of his fingers and the shifting in his stance. Luca’s hand hovers over the hand gun at his side, the rifle a distraction and one that’s worked. They all are looking at it, and his hands being away from it entirely, and are seeing this as a white flag.
The moment my stance shifts, they know.
They know and they’re trusting me to get it right, the maneuver I’ve practiced for months with Lips and Illi until my body works on autopilot.
Duck, turn, wrist, elbow, disarm.
Lips had said those five words to me until I was hearing them in my sleep. The moment the gun is pointed away from me, Luca and Atticus shoot the other two men, a headshot and one to the chest.
The Collector’s son drops his gun and then I show him just how much of a pathetic little rich bitch I am not, because there isn’t anything quite as satisfying as breaking the asshole’s nose with my knee as he attempts to swoop down for the gun. I still desperately wish that I wasn’t wearing the skirt, but desperate times call for desperate measures and Lips always did say my thighs were a concealed weapon.
The moment he rears back, Atticus shoots him in the chest.
There’s more bullets flying around us and Atticus rushes at me, crowding me against the wall and using his body as a shield.
“Are you hurt? There’s blood on your skirt; where are you bleeding from, Avery?”
I glance down and then back up to meet his eyes. “It’s not mine. I’m fucking furious, but I’m fine. I’d murder someone for a glass of water and a hamburger.”
He huffs, grunting as a couple of bullets get a little too close for comfort and ducking his head further into mine until I’m completely surrounded by him. There’s a moment of silence, the gunfire ceasing around us and then the Crow’s men start calling out, “Clear!”
Over and over again until Atticus finally straightens up. It’s like a military operation now, the months since they’d taken out the Jackal and his men had obviously involved a lot more training.
“How did you find me?”
Atticus takes a step away from me, pulling at the straps and fastenings of his vest. “I’ve had him tailed for months; I knew where this place was. The moment I realized Amanda had gotten into my phone I came here.”
He pulls the Kevlar over my head and when I try to argue, he snarls at me, “You’ll fucking wear it until I get you home safe. All the way home, all the way into your house with the door closed.”
I nod along, feeling happy enough at him being alive and safe that I let him fuss over me for a minute. He didn’t just charge in, swing me over his shoulder, and ride off to find a tower to hide me in.
He trusted me to do what I’d been trained to do.
Luca walks over to us slowly, approaching as if he’s worried I’ll take a swing at him.
Or stab him.
If I were armed, I might.
“We got everyone; the place is clear. I’m glad you’re okay, Avery. You had us worried for a second there.”
I take a deep breath but my words still come out too harsh. “Did your men take out the suit on the third floor? No? Then you didn’t get everyone and that man needed a very messy death.”
Luca nods curtly and glances at Atticus before stepping away, speaking into an earpiece while they track down the other guy. I’m not stupid, I know he could’ve gone to a different floor, but I can feel it in my gut that he’s slipped through our fingers somehow.
I’ll find him.
Finding assholes like that is kind of my specialty.
“It’s not Luca’s fault, you know. Jack’s death is on me for not taking the Bear out sooner. I shouldn’t have held onto the sanctity of the favors so hard. We all knew he