A gun.
I wasn’t lucky.
But fuck me, it was a goddamn Glock.
Fucking-A.Keeping a sharp eye on the door, I scrambled for it, snatching it up and checking for ammo. It was locked and loaded, ready to go, and the fear in my chest dialled back a notch.
Fuck you, Carlos.
My messed-up wrist had seized my stronger hand. I fiddled around until my grip was sure.
Then I made for the fucking door.
I slipped outside, my gaze fixed on Carlos, almost tripping over the bodies of the Thing Twins, both riddled with bullets.
Other bodies littered the scrapyard, more men than I’d known were here. I stepped over them, zeroing in on cover ten feet away, but I didn’t make it.
Carlos was on the other side of the yard, but he seemed to hear me all the same. He spun around and his enraged roar rang out like a dying fucking grizzly bear.
He ran for me, his bodyguard at his heels, and barrelled me over, knocking my frail fucking self to the ground.
I went down hard, losing track of my weapon, lashing out with every limb that still worked.
Grunts of pain swamped my hearing—mine or his, I couldn’t tell. I ran out of air, of energy, but the will to kill this bastard surged inside me and I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t.
He can’t leave here alive. If that meant I wouldn’t either, so be it.
I was stronger than Carlos. Younger. Fitter. But my hands were bound and my body felt weak.
He gained on me, rolling me onto my back, that damn fucking knife at my throat. In the distance, someone shouted my name.Cam. But I didn’t believe in fairy tales and my president bursting on the scene to save my miserable life was a step too far.
“Mateo!”
Nope.
“Mats!”
Fucking hell, I was losing my mind. Carlos slammed his knee into my ribs, driving the breath from my lungs. The knife dug into my throat and I smelt the end, blood and despair.
Relief.
But as the blade pierced my skin, digging down, the burning pain was abruptly ripped away. Carlos disappeared with a thud and a shout, and blue sky claimed my vision. Fresh air filled my lungs. I rolled over, struggling to my knees, and the sight that greeted me nearly sent me crashing back down.
“Mateo!” Cam ran towards me, covered in mud, a firearm clutched in his hand.
Behind him was Folk, and from the side came Nash, Locke at his back, closer to me than any fucker except Carlos and his—
What the actual fuck?
Carlos was on the ground, hands up, staring down the barrel of his bodyguard’s gun. It made about as much sense to me as the fact that Cam had half a bush sticking out of his soaking wet hair.
Wooziness rocked me. I almost threw up, but my brothers reached the scene first. Strong arms gripped me.Nash.Probably. All I knew for sure was that it wasn’t Embry and that nothing was right in my world until I knew he was okay.
That he wasalive.
“Em—”