Page 93 of Burdens
I crushed his hand under my boot and stood above him. “I would say it was nice knowing you, but…” I let my sentence trail as I pointed my gun at his head.
Hamza barely had time to look up, his groans of pain cut short when I shot him, his head evaporating into a crimson void, the collateral painting my clothing.
“Didn’t take you for one fond of theatricals,” Nassim remarked, his voice calm despite the chaos we’d just created.
I looked over at him to see him standing above a sea of bodies, a proud smile on his face. He was also holding Barrera by the back of his collar with a gun pressed against his temple.
“Sometimes it makes the kill a little sweeter,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug. Then I met Barrera’s gaze with a smirk. “Nice to see you again, boss. Miss me?”
Noah and I had only left a couple of days ago, but with the state in which Barrera currently was, you’d think he hadn’t slept in years.
His skin was even more weathered, the wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead even more pronounced. Deep dark circles marred beneath his bloodshot and unfocused eyes.
Anger flashed across his face, his jaw twitching with fury. “Fucking traitor,” he spat through clenched teeth. “I knew a woman should never be trusted, you fucking b?—”
But before he could hurl the insult my way, Nassim swiftly silenced Barrera with a blow to the back of his head using the butt of his gun. As Barrera slumped into Nassim’s grip, he let go of him, his body tumbling to the ground.
“Always so charming, isn’t he?” Nassim said with a smirk.
I huffed out a laugh and holstered my empty gun into its compartment, then reached for another one. “You’re ridiculous. Let’s go,” I ordered. Pressing a finger to my ear, I spoke to Kai, “We have him. We’ll meet you guys at the rendezvous point.”
I heard a grunt as Nassim pulled Barrera’s body up. With his body now slung over his shoulder, Nassim said, “All right, let’s go before I pull my back carrying him.”
I led us to a large oak door and pushed it open, realizing that we were stepping into the far left side of the mansion on the bottom floor.
How many fucking secret doors does this place have and why have I never seen them?
I quickly checked for any other guards, and when the coast was clear, I held the door open for Nassim to come through it.
And as we walked across the courtyard and toward the building at the back where our meeting point with the others was, one thought was at the forefront of my mind.
I might not be the one pulling the trigger in the end, but I was looking forward to this bastard’s final breath.
1 This is the start of a famous Moroccan nursery rhyme called “A Jrada Malha”.
2 For God’s sake.
3 Fucking pathetic.
CHAPTER 26
NOAH (PRESENT)
I fired two last shots,the bullets lodging themselves straight into the chest of the man running full-speed toward me with a machete in his hands, his body lunging forward and hitting the ground.
A sickening thud from the guy’s head smacking on the ground echoed in the air before a loud silence fell upon us. My chest heaved up and down as my eyes scanned the front yard, the aftermath a complete bloodbath.
Piles of corpses littered the ground, including two of ours, their blood forming pools of the filthy gravel.
I’d tried to help one of them, but I’d quickly become a bit preoccupied when one of my father’s men tackled me to the ground and tried to strangle me—he was lying somewhere in this carnage with a nicely sized hole right between his brows.
“Not too bad for an old man,” Jamal’s voice broke through the quiet as he walked over to where I was standing.
“Who are you calling old? Besides, need I remind you that I’m the one who taught you how to shoot a gun?” I countered, raising a brow.
Before Jamal could speak, one of Nassim’s men, Ruiz, approached us. “We’ll take care of the bodies. Kai just informed us Nassim and Amalia made it out and are waiting for you in the basement.”
“Thank you,” I replied, giving him a small nod of gratitude. “While we’re down there, do you mind doing a sweep of the property?” I asked him. “There might be kids locked somewhere and I want them out, but be careful.”
