I waited.
I couldn’t hear a thing.
All I could do was hope that Finn would emerge from wherever with some kind of a plan. Speaking of which, I needed my own plan. Zander would try and find me. He would kill me. It had been long enough with Zander and his people though. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was getting nowhere. My intention had been to find my sister and nothing else. That was years ago.
I saw a man run toward the door. He took out a gun.
I pressed my back to the wall.
No, no, no.
The guy opened the door and then his head snapped back with a spray of blood. He collapsed to the floor as another man came running into the house. He was dressed in all black and crouched down. The gun in his hand was really long. Definitely a silenced weapon.
He ran through the house like he owned the place.
I started to step forward and then another man came charging through the door.
He had the same kind of gun.
They both worked across the main floor.
I inched along the wall, trying to stay hidden as I followed them.
Room after room, I had no idea how big the house really was.
The two men stopped at a door.
They whispered something and then opened the door.
“Fuck!” a voice yelled.
It was Finn.
“No!” I yelled and ran toward the men.
One of the men went into the office. The other started to turn as I ran at him. It was foolish. Such a dumb and risky move. He had size. He had a gun. I had nothing. For a split second, I thought about flashing him. That had worked before, right? Why not now?
Something told me that these guys weren’t going to give a damn about my boobs though. So I put my head down and drove into the guy. A white hot pain shot through my shoulder, but I felt the guy moving. Then there was a hard thud and I shot back. My back crashed into the other side of the doorway. The guy, however, had dropped his gun and was stumbling into the office.
My little move distracted the first guy enough that he turned and pointed the gun at me.
I saw a man in a suit on the floor and Finn standing in front of him. There was blood on Finn’s shoulder and arm.
Had he been shot?
Finn jumped forward and threw a punch, hitting the guy in the head. He then turned and threw another punch to the second guy, square in the face, sending him back to the wall.
“Where’s the goddamn help?” the man on the floor yelled.
I just froze and looked left to right, wondering who was a good guy, who was a bad guy, and who was going to kill me.
Finn easily held his ground with the two guys, keeping a safe distance from them, his fists balled tight and up, ready to fight. Each time one of them moved, he swung, connecting, keeping them at bay.
Two more men appeared, blood dripping from their heads. They looked woozy and confused as they entered the office.
“Get them!” the man on the floor ordered. “Right now! Finn! Step back!”
The two men Finn had been beating up were quickly subdued again, this time put in handcuffs. The room started to calm a little.
Finn turned and put his hand to the man on the floor. “Get up, Fiore. You’re safe.”
Fiore.
The man on the floor was Finn’s boss.
Fiore got to his feet and walked to the two men that had tried to kill him. He made a fist but didn’t punch. Instead, he swung his fist like a backhand, hitting each one.
“Motherfuckers,” he growled. “Who do you work for?”
The two men started to laugh.
I knew the laugh. I didn’t know their faces though… but that laugh…
“They’re here for me,” I said. “They work for Zander.”
“Ah,” Fiore said. “Of course they do.”
One of the men looked at me. “I’ll go to my grave first, but you’re next. You and those pretty tits…”
Finn swung again and hit the guy in the jaw, knocking him out.
“No,” Fiore said. “Nobody dies yet. I want everything out of them. Got that?”
Fiore’s men nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Then do me a favor,” he said. “Cut their eyes out and send them to Zander. Make it known that we’re watching him too.”
My stomach flipped.
The intruders were taken from the office.
Finn walked to me and grabbed my hand. He looked me dead in the eyes. “Are you okay?” he whispered. There was a sense of care and humility in his eyes and voice.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
“Good.” Finn then turned and took his hand from mine. He then grabbed the front of my pants and pulled at me. “Fiore. This is her. This is my prize. This is Shayna. I’m giving her to you.”
What. The. Fuck.
~
My skin crawled as Fiore walked around me three times. His eyes climbed up and down my body. My only saving grace - I guess - was that at least I wasn't naked. I knew better than to talk or try and defend myself. These guys didn’t care about that stuff.
“You’re one of Zander’s own,” Fiore said.
“Yeah,” Finn said. “Damn near as close as possible. Isn’t that right?”
I didn’t speak.
Fiore faced me and closed in on me. He sniffed me. What the fuck was I? A dog?