I rolled out the way and pushed the pain out of my mind. Pushed it right out.
He stood and held it gracefully in the air.
“You know, in Russia, I got the chance to learn sword fighting. Samurai style. This is Shi Shi Mushi. The Japanese believe in naming their swords. Some for their deeds, some for their strengths. I gave it that name because of how I embued it.”
“I couldn’t give a flying fuck what you call your sword. Where’s my girl?” I pulled out my gun and pointed it at him.
“Luc, you got here too early. She’s not ready to see you yet. I mean, come on, dude. Raphael must have told you we’d contact you and give you the directions to get here for eight. When you think about it, the same result would have been achieved. Right?” He waved the sword around as he spoke.
“You know what? I’m bored now.” I fired a shot at him, but he was quick. He dodged it. Then I did something I didn’t normally do. I underestimated him.
I didn’t think, and since we’d never actually fought like this, I’d never been able to assess his fighting skills.
Victor launched himself into the air with the grace of a dancer and the sharpness of a sword fighter. He whipped the sword across me and knocked the gun out of my hand.
I reached for my other gun, but he sent a roundhouse kick straight to my chest and knocked me flying.
Back on the ground, I winced and got up quickly. Victor looked scrawny and like he couldn’t do much in a fight, but that was his advantage. He clearly had skill.
“So, I should let you know that I embued my beloved swords with viper venom. One nick, and you’re dead. D.E.A.D. Ha ha ha.”
Fuck. This just kept getting better and better.
This guy was a prick and a fucking half. He smiled on seeing my temporary stupor. I was going to have to really focus. A bullet in my arm didn’t exactly help.
He came at me, but I dodged him. One more time, and I rolled to the left, closer to where I’d dropped my gun. No way was he just going to allow me to get it though.
The ferocious look on his face told me so.
I moved swiftly, fast, quickly, dodging his blows.
Swerving around him, I managed to land a kick in his back, sending him down to his knees. I took the opportunity to kick him down the stairs, and he dropped the sword.
Good, finally.
I launched myself down at him before he could recover and knocked him further back. The minute we made contact, the punches began.
Fist for fist, blow for blow. I was surprised he could take a guy like me.
The asshole also had an ace up his sleeve.
He pulled a pocket knife from the pocket in his sleeve and dug it into the bullet wound on my shoulder. It was so painful I cried out from it and saw stars again.
That gave him the upper hand, and he managed to get on top of me and pin me down.
He pulled the knife out and held it to my face.
“I should cut your face off and eat it. I think I’d love to display it on the front of my car though. Like a flag. On your cheek I’d write idiot.”
“Fuck you.” I tried to headbutt him, but he sliced across my cheek.
“You have the diamonds, don’t you?” he sang.
I did. I had them in my jacket pocket. They’d stayed there, safe.
He went to move away my jacket, but I caught his hand and crushed it. That made him madder. He stuck the knife in again. Right into my wound. The damn wound was throwing me off my game. I should have been able to take him down easily, but then I realized why I was thrown. My arm felt numb, and suddenly, I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Or my arm.
Fucking bastard.
“Ahhhh, it’s working. That arm of yours won’t be any good to you for at least half an hour.
“What did you give me.”
“Do you like it? I’m going to give you some more. I give it to all my meals that I keep alive as I eat them. Amelia’s gonna get the same. Though she’ll be dead by the time I get to eat her. I still want to save her tits. I was thinking I’d get a glass case made for them.”
I growled at him and moved my good arm, punching him hard. He punched back, and damn it, we both went tumbling down the next rung of steps. Without my arm it made it difficult to control myself.
I hit my head hard on the edge of the last step. That actually made me feel sick.
Again, Victor seized the opportunity and came at me. He pinned me using his legs around my arms. It was a lock I couldn’t break out of.
But I had to.
I had to save Amelia. I had to save my girl.
Once again and for the second time today, I thought of how much I loved her. Both times were just before I thought death had come for me.
Victor pulled a gun from his back pocket and pulled the trigger.
“Time for you to go, boss,” Victor taunted. “Time to—”
A gunshot sounded. I gasped when I saw the damn thing go through Victor’s chest and wiz past my head.
Victor sucked in a breath and grabbed his chest.
“Blood. I actually have blood, and it’s red. My mother told me that devil children had blood like tar. She lied, like with everything else.” Another shot ripped into his chest, and blood splashed all over my face. When Victor skittered back, howling in pain, I saw Claudius coming down the stairs, gun in hand.
“The first one was for Henry, the second for Lydia.” Claudius bellowed and shot him two more times. “That was for Jack and Susanna.”
I was surprised Victor was still alive.
“Revenge.” Victor gurgled blood and slumped against the railing on the stairs.
Claudius shot him again in the stomach. “That is for taking Amelia and Gigi and for all the shit you’ve dealt over the last few weeks.”
Victor opened his mouth, but no words came out.
To my surprise, Claudius reached behind him and pulled out Victor’s sword he’d dropped upstairs.
Victor’s eyes went wide when Claudius raised it.
“This is for my brother. Fuck you for screwing with him!” Claudius swung the sword in a wide arc, hacking off Victor’s head.
All I could do was stare.
All I could do was look at the dismembered body of Victor and his head as it dropped down the stairs. Grotesque.
Claudius looked at me. “No more blood on your hands, brother, and not for him. Clean start for you. Justice is served. Now let’s go find Amelia.”
He reached out his hand to help me get up.
I looked back to Victor’s body, closing that chapter of him in my mind and my life.
On to the next mission.
Chapter 18
Amelia
A gentle breeze caressed my cheeks.
I looked ahead, through the doors to the sunroom, and saw her.
Mom.
My heart danced with the elation of seeing her. She walked around the garden in that beautiful red dress that made her look like a beautiful blast from the forties.
The suave curl of her hair and her cherry red lips carried off the look.
“Mom,” I called out to her, but she didn’t hear me.
I called out again, getting closer, and she stopped smelling the long-stemmed English roses and turned to face me.
She really did look just like me. Or rather, I looked like her, except I had Dad’s brown eyes.
She had bright blue eyes, almost like Luc, but his were almost turquoise.
She hugged me hard and stepped back to look me over.
“My dear girl, where have you been? Dinner’s going to be cold, and you know how Millicent gets when anyone’s late to dinner.” She chuckled.
Dinner…
Millicent…
Mom…
Where was I? When was I?
This was a dream. Had to be.
The realization of that tugged on my emotions.
“I know.” I didn’t care. Dream or not, she was here. She was here, and she looked real to me. She felt real to me. So
, it was her. For me, it was her.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in years.” She cupped my face and smiled.
“You haven’t. But it’s okay.”
“Come sit.” She put her arm around me and ushered me to the little bench beside the gazebo. “Tell me how your day was. And about the guy.”
“My day just got better for seeing you. And… the guy is nice. Really nice. I love him. He’s good to me.”
“Good, that’s all I want. Your father was good to me. But…” Sadness washed over her face. “I hurt him, Amelia. Don’t make the same foolish mistakes I made and hurt the people who care about you. There is no excuse for that. It’s all my fault. Everything that happened is all my fault.”
“No, it’s—” She didn’t let me finish.
She shook her head at me and planted a kiss on my forehead. “It’s my fault, sweet girl. Let’s face it. It is, and you know that I know that. That’s why we’re here.”
I opened my mouth to respond but stopped. I heard my name being called from far away. Far, far away.
Someone was calling me. My heart responded first, warming as it recognized the voice before my brain did.
Luc…
I looked around but couldn’t see him.
“You need to wake up,” Mom said. “Wake up and remember always that I love you.”
“I love you,” I told her, speaking from my heart.
She smiled, and darkness filled my surroundings.
“Amelia!” Luc cried out in a frantic voice. So hurried and panic stricken it snapped me out of the dream.
“Luc.” My voice was barely audible, and my throat was dry. Dry like I’d just swallowed a handful of dirt. I tried to swallow, but I couldn’t even do that.
I blinked several times trying to see my surroundings. The gentle breeze caressed my cheek, stinging my skin.
I was looking at a garden ahead of me. A vast expanse of wild flowers that hadn’t been tended to in forever.
“Amelia!” Luc’s voice again.
Now, I looked up and saw him. He was on the roof just ahead of me, standing about fifteen feet away. Claudius was with him.
Before them lay a vast expanse of rigid glass. On the roof. Not the kind you could walk across.
Wait… how did I miss that?
Where am I?
I made the mistake of looking down now and nearly fainted.
I screamed.
I was hanging from the roof of wherever I was, and below me was a drop of what I would say a hundred feet. A hundred feet right into the jagged rock formations that ran into the river.
I looked up to see two ropes were attached to me, wrapped around my arms and waist. They were attached to the bolts on the fixture on the roof. The ropes twined into one, and right there in the middle of the connection was a bomb.
An actual bomb.
“Fantastic,” Tag’s voice boomed just above me. He crouched down and smiled at me. “She’s awake. Had to knock you out to pull off this little stunt of mine. Glad to see your boys are here.”
“Let her go!” Luc cried. He tried to come across the glass, but Claudius held him back.
“The glass, Luc, wait,” Claudius cautioned.
Looking properly now, I could see the glass had missing sections. It was a little different to where I was, although where I was didn’t exactly look stable. I thought that part was intentional.
“Yes, Luc, the glass. I’m going to have to ask you to leave the diamonds over there and leave.” Tag declared.
“Fuck you, asshole. You seriously think I’m just going to hand them over to you? Release Amelia.” Luc stood firm, vicious in his manner and expression.
He and Claudius both had that dark, vengeful look.
I couldn’t believe they’d come for me.
“I’m sorry. This was never negotiable. You must have misunderstood. I wanted Amelia dead and to have possession of the diamonds. Not the diamonds in exchange for her life.” Tag laughed.
“You give her to me, or you get nothing,” Luc barked.
“Thought this might happen. Anyway, the answer’s the same.” Tag straightened and held out a remote control. “See this baby? It’s the detonator for the bomb above your love’s head. You will give the diamonds to me.”
“Do you seriously have no form of dignity? You’re an old fool.”
“You’re just like your father, Luc, awkward. An awkward brownnose who was little more than Raphael’s lapdog.”
“Why don’t you come over here and say that closer to our faces,” Claudius challenged.
“How about I let these guys answer that question for you?” Tag whistled, and from the platform just across from Luc, a host of guys emerged, coming up from downstairs. They all had guns.
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
God, this was it. Luc and Claudius would never make it.
I thought they would cower or something, but they didn’t.
“Blood for blood!” Luc yelled.
What I saw next made me think I was still dreaming.
Max and Sinclaire came out first, firing shots that took out the first row of guys.
Max, my partner Max.
I never thought I’d see him again. And Sinclaire.
They were both here.
Behind them were The Four and Maurice. They managed to take down more guys. They might have been outnumbered, but they had enough skill to deal with Tag’s men.
Luc and Claudius didn’t join in. They were looking for a way across the roof. I watched them. While Luc looked, Claudius covered his back, shooting at anyone who got close.
“Bastards. I’ll show them,” Tag growled. He moved around the arc above us, so I could see him fully. “This will not end well for you. I want you dead more than I want those diamonds. I want you dead.” He held the detonator out, so I could see it. “I think five minutes will give me enough time to dash.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a bullet ripped through his arm. I gasped.
It took him by complete surprise, and he dropped the detonator. I watched it drop all the way down and disappear amongst the rocks just below me.
Another bullet hit him, and we both turned to see where they were coming from.
Dad walked across the glass roof on our side. He’d come from a different direction than Luc.
“Fucking asshole, who do you think you are!” Dad bellowed.
Tag growled, propelling himself toward Dad, but he had to dodge when Dad fired more shots.
I looked at the two in complete horror. Dad looked like the person he’d been that night when he shot Agent Peterson. That was what he looked like. However, instead of the shock I’d felt that night, I felt triumph.
He’d come for me too.
“How dare you think you can hurt my daughter. You’re dead! Son of a bitch.” Dad screamed.
Tag took out his own gun and shot at him. Dad dodged it and jumped straight into Tag, knocking him over. I didn’t know where he got the strength and the energy from. Days ago, he’d looked so frail.
The two started fighting, and bullets started firing as they tried to shoot each other. One went into the glass and broke it, causing that whole section of panels to give. As the fixture dangled, I realized how unstable it was. Rust had taken the areas around it.
Another bullet fired and went through the glass nearby.
“Amelia,” Luc called to me.
I returned my gaze to him. He’d found a path and was inching across the roof.
“Luc, it’s not safe. Go back. The glass… it’s not safe.” I would just die if the roof caved in and he fell through.
“Don’t worry about me, goddess. I’ll come for you.”
I couldn’t steady my breathing. It was too much. Too much going on around me. Too much.
Dad and Tag throwing punches at each other. Luc climbing across a glass roof with missing panels and a rusty framework.
Another set of glass panels gave way just beside me, and shit, it took out
the bolt on the left holding me up.
I screamed as I dropped lower. Now, I couldn’t see Luc at all, but I could see Dad.
“You took everything from me!” Tag yelled.
“Fucking prick. This is on you, not me.” Dad barked back. They both had one gun now that they were fighting to gain control of.
Both had their hands on the handle. They maneuvered it down, and it went between them. Tag was on top of Dad, gaining control over him.
Across from me, everyone was still fighting. Bullets were being fired, everyone was shouting, but I heard that one single shot go off between Dad and Tag.
I screamed again when the two of them went still.
That moment seemed like forever. I watched it in complete horror, chills running down my spine in cold icy tendrils. Time froze right in front of me, like I’d pressed pause on the TV remote.
When Tag moved, my heart squeezed, but then he fluttered back, going limp.
It was him who got hit. Not Dad.
Not Dad.
Dad didn’t even spare him another moment. He came for me. With his face battered and bruised, blood running from his nose, he came to me.
“There, there. It’s going to be alright.” He tried to smile.
“Dad.” I winced.
“I know, I know. We can talk about this tomorrow. Let’s just get home and out of this crazy mess.”
I looked at him wondering how he was going to get to me.
Luc appeared in my view.
“Boss,” Luc cried.
“Lucian, you have to go back. The glass is going to give.”
“I’m going to jump across to you,” Luc said.
I looked from Luc to Dad, seeing their love for me, and felt so complete in that moment.
But damn it, just like with everything since this whole crazy mess had started, there was never a dull moment. Never time to take a breath.
The bolt on the other fixture started to wobble, causing me to drop. Dad saw and leaned in to try and catch the rope, but he was too far up.
Mafia Love (The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 3) Page 15
