Page 58 of Love & Vendettas

I turn and glance at Ghalen, who instantly moves to the door.

“Zaire?”

I turn back and glare at her.

“Consider my debt paid. Everything else is open season.”

“Game on,” I snarl, turning to follow Ghalen out the door.

27 – BAYLEIGH – AROUND THE CORNER

“Kenny?” I whisper in horror.

He slowly smiles at me. “Yeah, bitch. Your worst nightmare. You’re gonna pay for what you did to me. You and that whore of a sister of yours. And I’ll make sure Zaire is forced to watch you suffer.”

“He’ll destroy you,” I croak.

“Not before I destroy him,” he declares, punching me in the face and knocking me backward on the steps.

Pain radiates throughout my face, and I instantly feel my left eye starting to swell. My nose stings, my head hurts, and it seems like the world is tilting on its axis. I blink several times, knowing that I have to overcome this shit if I have any chance of surviving.

I can hear the other men drawing closer as Kenny towers over me again, but this time, I kick him in the shin. I know that he’s in pain from the torture Zaire inflicted on him but evil knows no bounds because he doesn’t stop.

Kenny kicks me down as I try to stand, and when I grab his foot to pull him down, he punches me in the side of my head. The force of the impact of his fist causes me to release his foot, and he stumbles back slightly.

We are both in bad shape. I’m trying to recover from the ringing in my ears and how he rocked the hell out of me with that punch. How my sister withstood this shit, I’ll never know.

Kenny’s gripping his midsection and wincing, so I know that he’s dealing with bruised ribs and some internal injuries, aswell. But when I survive this bullshit, and I will, I expect to have a migraine for days to come.

Reaching down, he punches me in the chest before grabbing my hair and trying to slam my head against the concrete stairwell. I grip his balls and squeeze tightly, forcing him to release my hair and grab himself.

“Put the gun down!” I hear someone shout from one floor above us.

I spin around, shooting up the stairs just as one of the men leans over the railing, looking down on us. I hit him in the neck. The other two scatter as the third man comes tumbling down the stairs.

“Shit,” I hear someone cry out just as Kenny wraps his arm around me and grabs my gun-wielding hand.

I try to jerk my hand free, but he’s got my hand in a vice grip. Using my free elbow, I jab him in the ribs, and he topples over, bringing me down with him. He cries out in pain; I know that whatever Zaire and his crew did to Kenny, he’s still suffering from those wounds.

I struggle to get up as the other two men race down the stairs. I barely make it through the exit door before they shout after me.

“I’ma kill you, bitch!” I hear one of the men shout as a bullet whizzes past my ear.

“Dumb fuck. Don’t kill her. We need her,” the lead man growls.

“Trying to stop her,” the second man hollers out.

I pass the two cars in the parking lot, but I know that it’s over for my ass if either of them shoots again. There’s nothing for me to hide behind.

I turn around and shoot over my shoulder, but I know that I’ve missed them.

“That bitch trying to shoot us,” the second man shouts as I run around the corner.

I look behind me to see how much of a lead I have on them.

Before I can think of my next move or even decipher if I’ve run into a dead end, my feet are snatched from underneath me. I feel as if I’m flying through the air before I’m pushed down. A hard body covers mine, and all I can think about is that it’s over now.

I have no idea what they’re going to do to me now that they’ve captured me again or that I’ve shot their men.

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