Page 30 of Her Bossy Bodyguards

“It’s your funeral, asshole,” the goon murmured and started to walk.

And as soon as we stepped through the innocuous doorway, I spotted a few of Barca’s guards already on the floor, their chests completely still with their eyes staring at nothing, focused on the ceiling above.

Kingston.

“What the fuck—” the guard in front of me started, but I used the base of the handgun to knock him out cold. I ran through the dark hallway, determined not to stop until I saw either Natalie or Kingston, both options good enough for me to halt my sprint. But sure enough, just when I thought I’d reached the light at the end of the literal tunnel, there were three guards waiting on the other side.

“Who the fuck are you?” one of them barked, his hand already hovering over his gun. “Speak or we’ll shoot right…”

The guard’s sentence was cut short due to the fact that I’d shot him first. And as he fell down dead in front of me, I tried to shoot the other guards, too, but the gun in my hand was jammed and useless. Realizing that my weapon was about as useful as a goddamn limp banana, I threw it directly at one of the guards, taking him by surprise.

My newly free hand connected with his jaw. It was enough to stun him, and I slipped his gun out of his holster, shooting him once in the chest. A bullet whizzed by my head, and I took a second to direct my attention to the last remaining thug. But instead of shooting him, I kept my gun aimed right at his neck, a lingering threat that I had no issue turning into a promise.

“Take me to Natalie,” I said, my weapon still positioned tight in my hand.

“Who the fuck is Natalie?” The guard shook his head, holding his palms up in defense. “I swear to God, I don’t know who that is.”

“Barca’s new favorite plaything.” I struggled to keep the bile from rising in my throat. “He brought her home maybe a day ago?”

“Oh! Her!” The guard seemed relieved that he had the information I was looking for. “You just have to keep going down this way, turn right, and you’ll see where he’s keeping her. If she’s your girlfriend or something, it’s okay. I don’t think Barca fucked her yet. I think he just wanted to keep her in the cage for a little bit longer.”

The cage?

I interrupted the guard’s explanation by making good on my earlier promise, the bullet lodging itself right in the middle of his throat.

“Zeke! Look out!”It was the first thing I heard when I took that final right, Natalie’s voice seeming to echo in the poorly lit room. “Zeke!”

I ducked reflexively, moving out of the way of some unseen assailant. And as a guard tripped over himself, falling right by my feet, I quickly brought my foot down on his neck, keeping him in place under my boot. I looked over toward where I’d heard Natalie’s voice, spotting her inside a large, silver cage. There were actually cages everywhere, situated all throughout the room, but they were empty, with remnants of women’s clothing scattered across their floors.

It looked like the last shipment of women had just gone out.

“Don’t kill me! Please!” the guard begged for his life. “Do whatever you want with the girl! Just don’t kill me!”

“What happened to the other women?” I asked, my tone calm. “Where’d you send them?”

“I don’t know that shit, man!” he cried. “All I know is that I’m supposed to watch them until it’s time to move them to the next port.”

“The next port?”

The guard went silent. But I encouraged him to keep talking by applying even more pressure to his neck, feeling something snap lightly under my foot.

“Shit! Fuck! Okay!” he groaned. “The next port is supposed to be at—”

Just then, the guard’s head exploded into a million pieces under my foot. And as I moved away from his headless body, I heard someone cocking a gun a few feet behind me, somewhere off to my left.

“I hate snitches. Don’t you?” a man said with a sigh. “You must be Zeke Trapper.”

I started to turn around to see who I was talking to, but the stranger let off a warning shot that zoomed right past my shoulder.

“No need for any of that,” he continued. “Besides, I think you already know who I am, Mr. Trapper.”

“Montel Barca,” I guessed.

He softly chuckled. “Good. I’m glad we’re already acquainted. Oh, and before you bother threatening me with your backup, you should know that I already have your partner. He’s taking a little nap.”

“Barca, if you hurt him, I swear to God, I’ll slit your fucking throat myself. There won’t be a day in your life from here on that you won’t need to look over your shoulder.”

“Relax. If I wanted to hurt either one of you, don’t you think I would’ve blown your brains out back at the cabin?”

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