Page 56 of Double the Dilemma

“No,” Esme rasped. “This is bullshit, Fury, and we all know it. Even her own team knows it.” She looked at Simba, who was currently watching the spectacle with an assessing gaze. “You’re really going to let her walk out there and put herself in harm’s way?”

Simba’s gaze swept to Karissa. She lifted her chin and stared at him, refusing to let him think her weak. When his gaze moved away from her, she looked at Razor. He was watching her with anger, uncertainty, and fear in his eyes. She could see him struggling, and she knew he wanted to grab her and hide her away, protect her. Because that was what Razor was, he was a protector through and through.

Maybe she was a fool, maybe she was about to throw away what they just started to build, but she couldn’t give in on this. She had to do this. She had to see this through. Both for herself, but for everyone else that had been hurt because of her.

She looked back at Simba as he said to Esme, “You know why we call her Xena?” He glanced around the room at those who were still lying on the ground, braced and ready. The other women were gone; it was just her and Esme. She assumed Glitch was still in the computer room with Code. “We call her that because she has been a warrior, and even with odds stacked against her, she is a fighter. She is fast, she is smart, and she is able to take care of herself. You all see her as a woman, someone smaller and weaker than the men around you, even though you also know that she’s a badass that can handle herself. But she’s a hell of a lot more than that.” He looked at Razor and added pointedly, “It’s time you all recognized that.”

Karissa turned to Esme. “I’m sorry if you want me to stand back and hide while she keeps shooting at people. I won’t do that. I can’t do that.” Then she turned to Razor and asked, “Are you going to stop me?”

Razor held her gaze, and it felt like they were teetering on the edge. As though his answer would determine their fate. Would he stop her? Or would he let her do what she needed to do? Finally he said, “I’ll be right behind you, but that doesn’t mean I like this, Rissa, and if you get hurt, I’m going to beat your ass and you won’t be able to sit for a fucking year when I’m done.”

“Noted,” she said, before looking back at Esme. Esme lay there, face a mask of terror while Fury covered her. “I love you, Esme.” Then she looked at Fury. “Take care of her.” Fury nodded, and he pulled Esme into his arms and dragged her to the basement steps. Esme didn’t fight him, but when Karissa turned her head, she saw the tears on her best friend’s face and she had to push the guilt away. She was going to see her again, because she wasn’t about to let Sena kill her.

Just as Fury closed the door after pushing Esme inside, he hit the ground as another shot rang out, going through the window again and hitting the doorframe a good foot above his head. “Damn she really is a bad shot, isn’t she?” Taz said lightly.

“Krissy, get your fat ass out here!” Sena shouted, her anger clear at being kept waiting. “The next one is going into someone’s head.”

Karissa belly crawled across the floor until she was beside Ursa at the window. “Then you better work on your fucking aim,” she yelled back out through the window. “Let’s go,” she whispered to Ursa.

Ursa nodded. “She’s directly across from us, probably one or two rows into the treeline,” he said quietly. “She’s got a rifle, but from the sound of that boom, it’s not high powered.”

“Do you have another way out that she wouldn’t see us?” Simba asked Savage.

Savage’s lips thinned and she knew that he didn’t want to spill their secrets, and when he glanced at her, she knew it was probably because of the stupid club business rule. If she knew and stayed with Razor, it went against everything they stood for. She tried not to resent it, but it still pissed her off. Even now that macho bullshit was coming into play, and she was over it. “Just tell him, and I’ll swear a blood oath later to never say a word. Hell, you can blindfold me for all I care, but hurry the fuck up,” she snapped at him.

Savage glared at her, but said something quietly to Simba, who nodded. “We need a distraction,” Simba said.

“On it,” Ice murmured, getting up quietly and carefully to his feet, he moved hunched over, toward the back of the room. Another shot rang out, missing him as it broke another window and the bullet lodged into the wood a few feet to the right of his head. Ice didn’t even flinch, and Karissa had a feeling she was seeing the reason for his road name.

“Krissy, I’m not going to tell you again,” Sena yelled out.

“Then put that gun away and we can settle this,” Karissa yelled back, “With me stabbing you in the heart and showing you how it should have been done the first time you tried.”

“Oh yeah, goad her, that’s a great idea,” Jax hissed, making her look over at him.

“Shut up,” Razor growled at him.

Sena’s dark laughter filled the air. “Fine, I’ll put it down,” she called back. “Come out, I have something to show you anyway.”

Karissa froze at the sound of her voice. There was something there, a glee that did not bode well. Fuck. She glanced at Razor, who was frowning fiercely and shaking his head. “Not yet,” he told her quietly. “Ice will get up onto the roof with Steel once he’s done with his distraction. No one is going out without back-up.”

“I’m not waiting around anymore,” Simba said darkly. “Xena, you wait in here until we can get into position too, and then you come out. Ursa, you’re on Xena and her man. Don’t need her getting shot before we can catch this cunt.” Then he and the other men slid back and headed for the stairs at the back of the room. Karissa tried not to be pissed they were leaving her behind, but she figured there was a plan. Ursa gave her a nod, and she knew that he understood she was pissed.

“I guess you don’t believe me,” Sena called out. “Fine. If you need proof, here you go. Say hi, bitch.”

Karissa let out a low snarl when she heard Glitch’s voice call out, “She really is insane, Xena. I see why you want to kill her. I want to as well, even after only being in her lovely company for the past few minutes.”

“Fuck,” Ursa snarled.

Karissa was moving before anyone could stop her. Razor cursed and lunged for her, but she dodged him, and she landed a kick to Ursa’s nose when he tried to grab her foot. She was done with this bullshit, and she wasn’t about to let another person get hurt because of her.

This ended now.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

KARISSA

She stepped out into the darkness, careful to keep to the shadows and close to the building. She might be finishing this, but she wasn’t stupid. She heard Razor hissing and snarling at her through the window, telling her to come back inside, but she ignored him. She also ignored the curses Ursa was sending her way. She probably broke his nose, or at least hurt it enough that he was going to be pissed at her when this was all over, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She had to focus on Sena and make sure that Glitch was okay.

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