Page 2 of High Stakes

I was right. I don’t like it.

“I swear to you,we did not know that the warehouse was compromised. We knew that the rat had been dealing with the Italians, but not the Irish.” Maxim’s accent is thick as he tries to explain their innocence. His brother sits beside him with a hard glint in his eyes. “Lexi, Do you still have that contact?”

Lexi nods once without looking away from the monitor that plays Emelia’s fight on loop.

“Then use it. We have no ill will toward the Black Crown, and Miss Emelia is too pretty to end up on the wrong end of a barrel, don’t you think?” Maxim tosses a set of keys to his brother, who catches them with ease.

My skin prickles at his comment, but I don’t speak. My eyes also remain glued to the monitor, silently begging for any hints from the grainy image.

Alexie stands slowly and holds out a hand to me. “Come. I have a way inside.”

I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet. What choice do I have? I’m out of options and my girl is on borrowed time.

Marcusand I shift uncomfortably in the back of the Porsche parked outside a boarded up gas station. Alexie looks into the rearview mirror and meets my glare. “You don’t have anything bigger?” I snap, and drive my elbow into Marcus’s side.

“Ow, fuck face!” He snaps, and shoves my knee with both his hands. “I literally cannot slide over any further.”

Alexie smirks into the mirror and there’s a brief moment where I imagine myself pulling a gun and slamming a bullet right between his stupid eyes. “This is what I came here in. My apologies,” he says with a chuckle. “We can go inside in just one moment.”

The phone in his hand pings. His eyes move across the screen before meeting mine in the rearview mirror again. “I go in first. You two wait fifteen minutes before following. That will give me time.”

“You can have five,” I say slowly, clenching my teeth so hard my jaw aches.

“I cannot do it. I can maybe do it in ten,” Alexie counters calmly. “I will work as fast as I can.”

“Just hurry the fuck up,” Marcus snaps, and hits the back of the driver’s seat with his fist twice. “My legs are cramping.”

I turn and level him with a seething glare. “Your legs are cramping?” My anger boils over and I barely register Alexie exiting the car and disappearing into the building. “She’s in there having God only knows what done to her, and you’re here complaining about your legs?”

Marcus holds up his hands, palms out. “Easy, man, I want to get to her just as much as you do. Let’s tone down the murderous glare.” His eyes drop to his phone as it vibrates in his lap. “He’s in. The place is full of muscle. He says give him five minutes and then you can tear the place apart.”

I scoff and swing my eyes to the clock on the dashboard, watching the minutes drag by agonizingly slowly. I take a deep breath in through my nose and then blow it out. At breath number 84, my body is vibrating with feral energy and I can’t sit any longer. I push myself out of the car and stalk toward the building without a glance over my shoulder. I know Marcus is hot on my heels.

When I slam the door open, three men in black tactical gear jump to their feet and reach for their weapons. Marcus drops the first two before their fingers even close around their guns. I swing at the third as he aims at Marcus, my fist connecting with his jaw. He grunts and turns on me, dropping the gun to the floor in favor of fists.

Fine by me. I need something to beat to a pulp.

My hands blur as I swing, my fury unrelenting.

Jab. Cross. Jab. Jab. Right uppercut.

My knuckles connect with his nose, snapping his head back and sending him to the floor. My eyes burn and my muscles tingle as I drop on top of him and continue to pummel his face. I can feel his blood running down my face and into my beard, but I can’t stop my arms as they swing, one right after another.

Marcus squeezes my right shoulder, hard, and pulls me out of the trance I’m trapped in. I nod at him and scrub my handover my face and head, smearing the blood across the tattoos that decorate my scalp.

Four more men enter and shout angrily in Italian, swinging their guns around to aim at us. I dive behind an overturned snack fixture as they open fire. Marcus ducks behind the counter, popping up every few seconds to rain his own fury down in the form of bullets. I pull my pistol from my waistband and we quickly drop the men as they stalk through the room.

I stand and take in the scene of gore before us, chest heaving as the adrenaline continues to cause my heart rate to climb. The silence is broken by Alexie’s voice as he shouts ‘enough’ followed quickly by a single gunshot.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

My stomach drops out of my body and my knees buckle. “Emelia,” I breathe out as Marcus grabs my elbow to steady me.

“Move it, Castelo,” Marcus grunts, but I’m already moving.

My legs pull me forward before my mind can even register what direction is up. I stalk through the growing puddles of crimson and push open a metal door with so much force that it slams against the wall. My eyes scan the room and land on Emelia’s bloody form tied to a chair. “Alexie, how bad?” I lunge forward and drop to my knees in front of her because I am physically incapable of standing for one more second as I take in her injuries.

My lungs are so tight in my chest that I can barely breathe. My fingers itch to touch her, but I don’t know where she’s hurt, so my hands just hover uselessly. She’s covered in so much blood.

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