Hunter (31 page)

Sometimes the guards were inside the basement walls. If we went storming in...

I didn't want to think about that.

I gripped my gun tightly. I'd seen no one so far. That bode both well and badly. Either all the outer men had been removed, or they were all inside. “Anything?”

Gaige shook his head once more.

Fuck. The Pontarellis needed a mafia masterclass.

I snatched the phone from his grip. It was locked. Fuck me. “Unlock it.”

He paused.

“Fucking now.”

He unlocked it and passed it back.

I brought up the contacts and dialled Angelo. It rang and rang, so I called again. And a third time.

He finally picked up. “What?” he snapped.

“What the fuck is happening in there, Pontarelli?” I demanded, keeping my eyes on the doorway of the house.

“Carlo?” he asked.

“No, the fucking Sandman.”

“Hold on.” A few seconds passed with the shutting of a door. “All but a few, but I'm pretty sure they're working on my side. They've refused to leave and know she's downstairs.”

“Don't assume with these fuckers. Can you get her up?”

“Without her being shot? I don't know.”

“Can we get in?”

“Without shooting someone? I don't know.”

“Don't know a whole fuckin' lot, do you, Pontarelli?” I snorted. “See you in around sixty seconds.”

I hung up before he could say another word and shoved the phone at Gaige.

“Ross—”

I slapped my hand over his mouth as I saw Anthony Rossi pass us. When he'd disappeared, I kept my hand there. “If they look like they want to kill you, they're gonna fuckin' kill you, so kill them first. Make sure your gun is ready to shoot. Hell, kill them even if they don't wanna kill you. I'd rather you kill someone on our side than be killed.” I tightened my grip on my gun, grabbed his jacket, and tugged him after me, still keeping my voice at a whisper. “I don't know what we're gonna find in there, but I know how to get to where she is with my eyes closed. Follow me.”

“Got it.” He pushed my hand from his jacket, but when I looked back, he was following me.

I stopped us and peeked over the bushes when we reached the front of the house. There was still no one around, so I looked through the softly frosted front windows. Again, nothing.

It looked silent.

I motioned for Gaige to follow me, then ran for the door. I opened it quietly and slowly, making sure to keep my senses on full alert for everything around me. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Like someone was waiting.

I didn't know if I was being paranoid or smart.

Both options were equally fucking viable.

I glanced behind me. Gaige's stance was much the same as mine, gun out, eyes scanning the wide open hallway. He was closer to my side now, and it was hard not to get distracted.

I was so close to Adriana now.

Even if I was still so far away. We were close.

The bullet sliced through the air, lodging itself in the wall just three feet away from us. A warning shot.

We'd only get one.

It was all I needed. Idiots just told me exactly where they were.

I raised my gun right as someone came running around the corner. I had no idea who it was as instinct made me pull the trigger and shoot my own bullet into their chest.

They dropped.

Gaige shot behind me, and I moved forward. One down—I wondered how many more people I'd have to kill to even get to Adriana.

Five. Ten. Fifty. I didn't care. I'd take down an entire country for her if that's what it took to keep her safe.

I moved down to hall to where I knew the locked entrance to the basement was. Maybe fifty people would be a few too many—I needed a bullet left to shoot the damn thing off unless Angelo appeared like magic to unlock the door. Even then, I knew shooting the lock off would be quicker. I needed quick.

I fired three more bullets, hitting my targets every time. I stepped over one of the bodies and kicked the gun in his hand away. Fuck it—I stepped back and grabbed it. If there was anything better than one gun, it was two guns.

I had a feeling I might need both.

“Quick.” The basement door opened, and Angelo Pontarelli's face appeared in the gap. “Gaige will be fine.”

I slipped through the doorway, tucking one of the guns inside my jacket. “Why is she still down here? And Gaige?”

“Gaige will probably run away.” Angelo reached around me and locked the door from this side.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

“And Adriana's still here because it was easier to let you come in and kill everyone than it was to have her killed trying to get her out.”

“I only shot three people,” I argued.

“Associates.” He snorted. “Nobody else was stupid enough to stay. There was a rumor you were headed this way.”

“My reputation tends to precede me, admittedly.” I shrugged a shoulder as I followed him down the basement hallway. “Where's Isaiah?”

“Waiting for Enzio's plane to land in fifteen minutes.”

Nothing like cutting it close.

I didn't say anything else as he fumbled with the ring of keys and put one in the lock of a door. It was solid, and I knew instantly which room she was in. “Did anyone touch her?”

Angelo shook his head. “I'm the only person who's been in the room. Isaiah tried, but I forced him to wait for Enzio. My bad cop act was convincing, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Addy?” he said softly, pushing the door open. “I'm turning on the light, so cover your eyes.”

“'Kay,” she replied quietly.

My heart clenched.

She sounded so fucking broken.

Angelo clicked the switch at the top, and it was so bright that even I had to blink harshly several times before my vision adjusted. I knew how hard she'd be struggling to cope with the sudden onslaught of light, so I pushed past him to see her.

She was curled in a ball in the corner beneath a blanket, with her hand covering her eyes. Her face was turned into the wall, and I swallowed hard.

God.

I didn't even know what to say. A lump lodged in my throat as the sound of bullets echoed on the floor above us. I hoped Gaige was doing okay, but in that moment, I didn't care. I didn't even want to fight—I wanted to take this girl in front of me and hide her away forever.

“What's going on up—” She paused as she dropped her hand from her eyes and saw me. “Hunter,” she whispered.

“Hey.”

Hey. Fucking hey. What a fucking dick I was.

“What are you doing here?”

“Saving you. Although...” I looked down and noticed some blood staining my light blue jeans. “The armor needs a little work.”

“What's going on upstairs?” She shook off the blanket and stood. Her legs almost gave out, and I shot forward to grab her. She managed to steady herself by the wall before I could touch her, but she inhaled sharply when my hand wrapped around her arm.

“Sounds like Gaige is shooting everyone,” Angelo offered.

“Gaige is up there? Shooting people?” she questioned, her eyebrows drawing together as she glanced over my shoulder at him. “Wow. Why aren't you up there helping him?”

She had a point.

“I, er...” Angelo stopped.

“That was a get the fuck up and help him, Angelo,” she clarified. “Now.”

He left without a word, and reluctantly, I let her arm go. I didn't want to, but she looked like she might kill me.

“Is Enzio here?”

I shook my head. “He will be any time.”

“Okay.” Her voice is quiet, and she tugs her lower lip through her teeth slowly. Her tongue flicks out to wet it, and she meets my eyes. “Did you kill everyone yet?”

It was a reasonable question, given the blood that dotted his clothes. I wondered if he even realized that his pants were splattered with more than a few drops, and he even had one dripping down his cheek.

“Only three people,” he replied, his lips twitching upward on one side.

“What did you do? Slit their throats?” I reached forward and wiped the blood from his cheek with my thumb. Maybe I should have been horrified, but if I was honest, it wasn't the first time I'd seen him covered in blood that wasn't his own.

His playground fights when we were kids meant I'd thrown away more than one stained cloth in my life.

“If I had a knife, maybe.” He grinned. Not maliciously, just... grinned. “There's a chance one was close-range.”

I ran my finger down his jacket to remove the blood. The gunshots above us had ceased, so I hoped that meant everyone that wanted to kill me were now dead themselves, and that Gaige and Angelo weren't among the bodies I knew would be littering the ground.

Hunter wrapped his fingers around mine, still holding his gun in the other at his side. His silver eyes were bright, even in the harsh light that flooded my prison. They changed from relieved to concerned, but they swam with guilt.

I hated the way the emotion darkened his eyes.

“Don't,” I whispered, gently grasping his jacket. “We can talk after.”

“What if we can't?”

“Are you doubting me, Hunter?” I looked into his eyes. “We will talk after this. You and me. Alive. Okay. Without my father lording over this family as if he owns it.”

He fought as his lips twitched. “Yes, Boss.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but instead, I half-smiled. Yes, I was hurt, and I was sure as hell angry with him, but now wasn't the time for it. No matter how much I wanted to snatch his gun from him and whack him in the face with it. Maybe even shoot him with it.

Non-fatally, of course. Like his elbow or something.

“Let's go. Before he gets here,” Hunter said, holding his hand out to me.

I stared at his bloodied palm. “And how am I supposed to go up there with no way to protect myself?”

“That's what I'm for.”

“That's cute, but I'm not fucking Cinderella. More like Merida.”

“Who's Merida?” He frowned.

I stilled. Of course he'd have no idea about any kind of princess that wasn't born into blood. “Never mind. Just give me your gun.”

He looked appropriately horrified. “That's not gonna happen, Addy. Take this one instead.” He pulled one form the inside of his jacket and handed it to me.

“You just happen to have a spare?” I frowned as I wrapped my fingers around the handle. There was the tiniest amount of blood spatter on the barrel, and I wondered if he was ignoring some people when he said he'd only killed three.

“Yeah. Doesn't everybody carry a spare?” He flashed me a grin before a rich chuckle escaped his mouth. “No. I took it off some associate upstairs.”

“Once he was dead... right?”

“Absolutely. Almost dead at the very least.” He turned around, rolling his shoulders, and headed for the door. His gun clicked as he checked the magazine for bullets.

I slowly shook my head. “You're a little disturbed. You know that, right?”

“I'm more than a little disturbed,
bella.
I'm downright fucked up.” He glanced over his shoulder. “But downright fucked up is what's gonna keep you alive tonight.”

Well. When he put it like that... “Let's go,” I muttered, checking the gun he'd just handed me. Loaded and ready to shoot. I was glad.

I didn't want to talk anymore.

There was something strange about the plans I'd been making for the past ten years finally coming to fruition. I knew I was about to come face to face with my father for the first time in a long freakin' time, but I didn't feel so brave anymore.

I was scared.

There was every chance he, or one of his men, would kill me first.

I took a deep breath as I followed him through the small room. I decided there and then that the first thing I'd do when I killed my father would be to turn this exact room into a wine cellar. You know, after the basic disposal of bodies and cleanup this shootout probably already required.

I grabbed Hunter's hand as my vision adjusted from the harsh lights of the basement to the dimmer, more natural light of the staircase that lead to the top of the stairs. He paused for half a second, then squeezed my hand. Tingles ran up my arm, making my hairs stand on end. He released me as quickly as I'd grabbed him, and I didn't realize how badly I'd needed that second of reassurance.

It was as though that tiny moment had reminded me that I could do this, that I could be strong... Because he was there.

Maybe I should have been ashamed. Maybe it wasn't rioting feminist of me to admit that I needed him, but in that moment, with shit about to go down, with my entire existence in the balance...

I needed Hunter.

Not to save me. Never to save me.

I needed him to be next to me. To be there, to watch, even as everything crumbled, everything fell apart, everything went up in flames. All three things were realistic and viable. I hoped they didn't happen, but I knew with the clenching of my heart, that if they did, despite the unimaginable pain he'd caused and unforgivable lie he'd told me, he'd be by my side.

That was all I'd ever asked of him. It was all I'd ever wanted, all I'd ever needed.

Just... him.

Right there. With me. Always.

His silver eyes slid over his shoulder and locked onto mine. Death flared in their depths—a terrifyingly dark layer of shadow, and a chill vibrated at the top of my spine, but it didn't go anywhere. It simply say there, sending lightning bolts of adrenaline through my veins in a sensation that could only be described as preparation for what was to come.

If such a thing were possible. I didn't believe it would be. I didn't understand how I could ever be prepared for what was about to happen.

I was right to believe that.

A bullet whizzed past the doorway as Hunter pulled it open. He'd inhaled sharply as he had, and that was when I knew he didn't trust Angelo.

Honestly, I hadn't trusted him until that point either. Who knew what side any of these people were really on?

For all I knew, the bullet I just saw fly past the door was for my father. Or it was for me.

One of us. One of the sides.

I wondered if half the men in this house, in this family, knew they'd be devoting their lives to a lying piece of shit, and if they did, if it bothered them at all.