Page 76 of Lord of Pain
I hope it's not worse than that.
"This is no wedding," he gestures at our bridal attire and laughs.
We don't laugh, though I fake a convincing whimper.
His face darkens. "Are you stupid? I told you bitches to come here." He strides toward us, his little buddy behind him, arm sagging and covered in blood. His gun is still in his holster. I can see it.
Now, they're about five feet away. My hand holding the gun rises and I pull the trigger.
Sight the target, Roman whispers.Breathe, pull the trigger.
I shoot, center mass, just the way he taught me, and hit the first man in the chest. He drops like a rock and my next bullet catches the second one in the throat. He has his hands on his neck, blood seeping between his fingers, his eyes wide in shock.
I guess Icankill someone.
Chapter Thirty-Four
In which the aftermath is just what you’d expect. Terrible.
Roman…
When I first hear the gunshots, my heart tries to tear loose from my chest.
I break into a sprint, ripping through the bushes and dodging tree branches until there she is, my Violet, holding the Glock in her shaking hand. Goddamn, she is beautiful. A goddess of war in a torn and bloody wedding dress.
"Give me the gun, baby," I say, holding my hand out to her. She may have just shot two men, but Violet is with it enough to expel the ammo clip from the Glock before she hands it to me. "Good girl," I say, wrapping my arms around her. "Good girl." I whisper it into the crook of her neck.
She smells like adrenaline, and crushed grass, her citrus scent flooding my senses. Ivan and Melina are checking on the twins, so I allow myself to stand there, holding Violet's shaking body to me. I tell her how brave she is. How much I love her. How proud I am of her for protecting her sisters.
The moment is finally broken when a medical helicopter lands in the parking lot of the restaurant.
"If there's any luck to claim here tonight, it would be my parents buying out the restaurant,” I say, picking Violet up in my arms. Her poor feet are torn and scratched.
"That's good," she agrees. "At least there weren't any other diners there. The poor restaurant staff, though."
Paramedics rush into the restaurant with stretchers, and my father comes out first. His hand is up, holding onto Mother's and from the distance, it looks like they're arguing. Most likely because she insists he get strapped down on the stretcher. The paramedics lift Father gently through the open doors.
Fuck. The next gurney out holds a body with a sheet covering it. I recognize the sobbing woman and the man holding her up. Canton's wife and son. We invited them to meet and he was killed. On our turf.
Another stretcher emerges from the restaurant. Ava's talking to the person on it, a big stream of red spreading over the white sheet. Her head is low, speaking urgently to the paramedics. As the stretcher is loaded onto the helicopter, I catch a quick glance of the wounded man's face.
"Alexsey!" I roar, breaking into a run, Violet bouncing in my arms until we hit the roadway. She grabs my face, making me look at her.
"Put me down. Go over there, I'm fine, sweetheart."
I set her on her feet, but the helicopter is already taking off before I can race to the parking lot, lights flashing and the wind from the rotors buffeting us. Dmitri is out the door next and I sprint over to him, grabbing him by the shirt.
"What the fuck happened to Alexsey?"
Dmitri looks like shit, his face smeared with blood and there's a wound on his arm that's been wrapped up with a cloth napkin. "Luan. He's Driton Krasniqi's son. He knew their ambush failed, he lost his shit and started spraying the back of the restaurant with bullets. Alexsey managed to get the jump on him, but –" Dmitri's face twists in anguish. "Luan's bullets ripped his left hand to shreds while they were fighting for the gun, his arm, too." He chokes. "It's bad."
A soft hand touches my shoulder, it's Violet's. She's holding me this time. The ground is unstable underneath me and I'm swaying slightly.
"You got Medivac here," she says to Dmitri. "That's good, your father, Alexsey, they're getting everything they need right now. This is good," she repeats, watching for some sign of comprehension from my brother. Her dirty, anxious face looks up at mine. "Let's get a car now, Roman." Her sweet voice is calm. "Come on, you need to get to the hospital."
Dmitri is still silent, his pale blue eyes, identical to my father's, are blank as he looks out over the carnage of the parking lot.
"We do seem to leave the trail of dead bodies, don't we?" he says.
