Page 55 of Double the Dilemma

Esme pulled away from Fury, who growled his displeasure but let her go, and she launched herself at Karissa. Karissa held Esme tight. “She grazed me, but the bullet almost hit Wren and she fell and hit her head against the side of the building. That bitch tried to shoot Win before she dived down over Wren. Thankfully she wasn’t hit or hurt. Oh my God, Karissa, I was so scared.”

Pain and guilt burst through Karissa and she held Esme tight, her throat constricting with the surge of emotion. She almost lost her best friend. Almost caused two teenage girls, who had already been through so much, to be killed right along with her. If Sena was a better shot, everything would be different. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Esme.” She looked over Esme’s shaking shoulders at Scarlett and Rogue. “I’m so sorry, Scarlett,” she said to her, too.

“It’s not your fault,” Scarlett replied shakily, holding her gaze. “It was that bitch’s fault. Doc said she’s going to be fine, she has a concussion and she needs to be kept on observation for a bit.” Karissa lifted her eyes to Rogue’s and held his gaze when she saw the anger there. Directed at her, and at the situation. She saw guilt, rage, and accusation. She took it all, and didn’t look away.

“We’ll find her,” Karissa said quietly. “I’m done playing hide and seek.”

“I agree,” Savage said darkly as he stalked over. “Simba, I need your men to help us find where she was shooting from and where she might have gone.”

“Done,” Simba replied.

Before he and the other men could reach the door, a shot rang out, breaking the glass in the front window. Screams filled the air, and Karissa was taken to the ground by Razor’s hard body. “Get off me,” she gasped out, bucking up against him.

“Stay the hell down,” Razor snarled in her ear. “You can play hero once the fucking bullets stop.”

More shots sounded as those closest to the window returned fire, the blasts echoing through the room. “Secure the women and children in the safe room,” Savage yelled.

Razor lifted off of her and she immediately snarled at him, “I’m not going anywhere, and if you even think of trying, I’ll shoot you myself.”

Razor glared down at her. “I’m not going to let her kill you,” he snarled back.

“Krissy, if you don’t come out right now, I’m going to start shooting everyone,” Sena’s voice called out through the night over what sounded like a loudspeaker. “You have one minute.”

“Fuck,” Razor hissed, and Karissa’s entire body stilled.

“Code, we need visuals, now,” Savage barked loudly so Code could hear him from the back room.

“She’s across the drive in the trees,” Code called back tightly. “But she’s disabled my cameras, so I can’t get an exact location on her.”

“Bloody hell,” Karissa hissed. That meant no one knew where she was.

“Leave this to us,” Simba told Savage. “We’ll get her and bring her back.”

“I’m going with you,” Karissa told them, moving toward them on her stomach.

“No!” Razor snapped, just as Esme grabbed her arm and held her in place.

“You’re not going out there,” Esme hissed furiously. “Are you insane? She’ll kill you on sight.”

“Then she kills me, but at least this will be over,” Karissa said evenly.

“Are you even hearing yourself?” Esme demanded. “You just willingly said you are going to put yourself in front of a bullet. You can’t be that crazy.”

“She won’t kill me,” Karissa said firmly.

“No. That is exactly what she wants. You’re not going out there so she can shoot at you too. I won’t allow it.”

“Esme…”

“Mi tesoro, you need to go,” Fury bit out, pulling at his woman’s body to haul her away.

“No!” Esme snarled. She whipped her head around and glared at Razor. “She’s your woman, so why the hell aren’t you telling her no? Are you not man enough to do that?” Esme’s eyes were wild, desperate. Karissa hadn’t seen her like this since Gabe was taken by her father.

“Esme,” Karissa snapped, ignoring anything Razor might have said. “You need to calm the hell down. I am going to find her, and I’m going to finish this. This has always been my problem, and I’ll be the one to solve it.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s just great,” Esme raged, pulling away from Karissa. “The last time you did that, you almost died because you got it in your head you didn’t need help. That you’re a big bad warrior that can do anything without help from anyone, even the people that care about you the most. Why the hell are you even here then, Karissa? What, you think I don’t know that you’re going to walk out there and try and goad her into taking another shot at you? That you’re willing to sacrifice your life because of all of this? That’s so fucking selfish. You think that if she kills you, or you kill her, it will be over. But you don’t give a shit about the mess you’d leave behind.” Her chest heaved, and her body shook with the force of her emotion.

“Mi tesoro,” Fury growled, clearly losing his patience.

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