Page 107 of The Beat of My Heart
Bending forward, I kiss my fiancé. The most ridiculous year of my life has also turned out to be my best one yet.
Chapter 38
-Memories, Maroon 5
Loki
Crouched down in the bushes of my biological father’s home, a home that now belongs to my half-brother, I go over the intel in my head one more time. They are holding Lexi in my old room. Not that I ever lived here. Miles did that to send a message, I’m sure of it.
Thanks to Julia’s intel—intel I’m fucking shocked she could get—I know they’re waiting for me. I have every inch of this place mapped out in my head. After all, it wasn’t that long ago I raided it. The event sent 3 of my half-brothers to jail and ended in gunfire. My father left in a body bag.
Of all the Blacks, Miles had been the one I was closest to the few times they forced me to visit. He’s younger than me by six years and I had really hoped that by being the youngest, he’d been spared. Now I know differently, there is no brotherly bond connecting us. It's good versus evil, and only one of us can win. For the sake of my friends, it has to be me that wins.
Giving my signal, I know my guys have taken out the cameras on the east side of the house, so I sprint in the shadows to my entry point. Using the grooves in the old stone, I scale the side of the building, stopping when I have reached just below the window I’ll need to enter. Hanging flush with the building, I wait for my signal. My guys will use heat sensors to ensure Lexi is alone before they let me enter.
After what feels like an eternity, I finally see the flash of light across the treetops to my left. Just as I’d hoped, so does Miles’ security team. The second I hear them exit the building, I lift myself up enough to break the lock. Technology is amazing. The lock pops with barely a sound. As silently as possible, I raise the window and heft myself through it.
Listening, I’m relieved when I hear silence. I know what I’m about to do will scare the shit out of this poor girl, but after all she’s been through in the last few days, I’m hoping the scare will be minimal.
Placing a hand over her mouth so she can’t scream and using my weight to hold her down, I see her panic, but I need her to listen so we can both get out of here alive.
“Lexi, listen to me. I’m on your side. I’m a friend of Dexter and Trevor’s, I’m here to get you out, but you need to do exactly as I say and not make a sound. Blink twice if you understand,” I tell her.
*Blink*Blink
Thank fuck.“Before I let you go, I need you to understand, if you scream, we are both dead. Do you understand?” I ask again.
*Blink*Blink
Releasing her, she sits up in bed. “They know you’re coming. You’re Loki, right?” she whispers.
This can’t be good.
“Yes, we need to move,” I say as the door swings open and I come face to face with my half-brother. Covertly pressing the button embedded on the ring I’m wearing, I signal my guys that they have found me.
“Brother, I’ve been waiting for you,” Miles says, raising a gun towards me.
As planned, the flare gun goes off, distracting Miles for a split second, but it’s enough time for me to dive for him. Thanks to Julia, I know he doesn’t have as many goons hanging around as my father did, but he has at least six men, so I need to make every move count. A quick jab to his throat blocks his airway, and he drops to the ground, the gun sliding across the floor.
Before I can make a move for it, Lexi picks it up, pulls back the safety, and points it at Miles. “You stupid idiot, do you not even know how to use a gun?” she scolds.
“Fuck you,” he says, spitting on the floor.
“Lexi, you know how to handle a gun?” I ask, surprised.
“Dude, I grew up in Vermont. They taught gun safety in second grade,” she scoffs.
These Vermont girls keep surprising the fuck out of me. Confident Lexi knows what she is doing, I walk over to Miles, pulling the handcuffs from my back pocket as I go. Just as I’m leaning down to cuff him, he lunges for me, plunging a knife I hadn’t seen deep into my flesh. The fucker was aiming for my heart, and he may have gotten it had I not been wearing a Kevlar vest. Lifting my knee to his groin, I push him off of me just enough that Lexi gets a clear shot. He crumbles to the ground with a loud thud as his head hits the hardwood.
“Fuck,” I say, removing the knife. I turn to Lexi, expecting her to be a mess, but she appears calm.Perhaps she is in shock?She moves to the dresser and pulls out a t-shirt that she rips apart. I watch for a second then realize she is making a tourniquet and sling out of her shirts.
“Another life lesson learned in the deep woods of Vermont?” I whisper.
“You know it,” she smirks.
“The gun had a silencer, but it won’t be long before we’re surrounded again, we have to move,” I tell her.
Removing my vest, I instruct her to put it on. She shrugs me off while applying pressure to my wound.
