My world slowed. Dmitri’s eyes flicked to me, then back to him. “Which hospital?”
“I don’t know, please. He said…he said the Gallos would take Alessia to a hospital, but he didn’t mention the name.”
I fired the gun, shooting him right between the eyes. He slumped forward, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
Without a word, I walked out. Right now , I didn’t need Luigi. I was going to get Alessia. Fuck it. There was something I hadn’t figured out yet. She got under my skin, and I hated that. I hated how she lingered in my head.
But what really lit the fire under me was the fact she was in danger.
I gunned the motorbike through the jammed streets, carving between vehicles. Horns, brakes, and shouts closed in on me, but they faded beneath the single thought of Alessia.
Sirens rose behind me, blue lights flashing in the mirrors as they tore through traffic. I sliced through, engines screaming on both sides, until the sirens fell away and the city belonged to me again.
Renat’s safe house rose behind tall walls. I cut the engine and let the growl die. My hand found the pistol and I fixed the silencer as I moved towards the gate.
The first guard at the gate stepped forward, raising his hand. But I moved faster, pulling the trigger. The bullet punched through his chest, dropping him. Another burst from the shadows with a gun drawn. My second shot caught his head, he jerked back as blood streaked across the wall behind him.
Voices filled the air as I moved towards the entrance. I drove my boot into the door until the wood splintered and swung wide. A woman stood in the hallway, her hands trembling above her head, eyes wide with panic. I moved toward her, my shadow covering hers.
“Where is Renat?” I asked while I pressed a gun on her forehead.
She stammered through her shaking. “I… I don’t know.”
Footsteps cracked behind her. I aimed just as the man on the stairs appeared, he collapsed mid-stride, his blood painting the wall. I faced the woman. “Where is Renat?” I repeated.
She sobbed. “He…he isn’t here, sir.”
I shot her and she toppled sideways, her blood slashing across my face. The silence closed in thick around me until a door closing from upstairs broke it apart.
With my gun raised, I moved towards the stairs. Halfway to the landing, a bullet tore across my upper arm, hot and searing. I turned, saw the shooter sprinting through the hall downstairs, and fired. My shot ripped into his leg. He collapsed and grunted as dragged himself toward an open door.
I leapt the last steps and closed in. As he clawed away, I grabbed his hair and drove his skull against the floor. Blood spread under his face. I pressed the barrel against his forehead. “Where is he?”
“He is not here,” he wheezed, hands clawing for cover. I pulled the trigger and the bullet tore through his ear. His scream pitched high, his body twisting on the floor.
“Where is Renat?”
“Hospital,” he cried.
I shoved the gun under his chin. “Which hospital?” He choked out the name, spitting blood with every word. “And Alessia?”
“The Gallos took her to the hospital. I swear.”
The gun clicked empty in my hand. I slammed him down and stood over, scanning around and noticing we were in the kitchen. I needed something to use and end him. My eyes landed on the stove and I moved to turn the knobs, letting the gas hiss out as I checked the house.
I tore through the rooms, stripping every space clean. By the time I returned to the hall, the air choked with the smell of the gas.
I stepped outside, drew out my lighter, and flicked it open. The flame caught as I tossed it through an open window and left.
The house erupted. Fire ballooned outward, shattering glass and hurling debris. Alarms wailed across the block, but I swung onto the bike and gripped the handles. The engine roared, thenight behind me alive with alarms and firelight.
As I drove off, my chest tightened with every breath. I shook my head, but the blur spread wider. Lights bled across my vision, bending out of shape.
Not now.
The road spun sideways. I swerved away from an oncoming truck. Losing my balance, the bike flipped out of the road and the ground chewed into me as I hit. Wet, ragged gasps tore out of my chest as I fought for air.
My hand fumbled in my pocket as I pulled the pill bottle. I caught it and twisted it open, shoved the pills into my mouth and choked them down.