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Scrambling to my feet, I came face-to-face with Paulie. He had a gun leveled at me, but I didn’t care. Even if he got a shot off, it wouldn’t be well-aimed and it certainly wouldn’t be enough to stop me unless he somehow managed to plant one in my brain.
Closing the distance on him quickly, I grabbed the gun in my left hand, seizing his wrist with the other. I twisted the gun downward and to the side, adding additional pain to the pressure point I’d tried to use against Leander earlier.
Like a twisted dance, Paulie spun in the direction I was pushing, trying to alleviate the tension I was putting on his gun-hand. In the midst of it, he head butted me. The angle was off and he missed his mark, but his forehead still connected solidly with my cheek. A burst of pain sparked in my face but I shook it off quickly.
Fueled by rage and impatience, I heaved my weight downward. The effort was rewarded with a loud “snap.”
Paulie screamed and let go.
I ripped the gun off of his mangled finger and promptly put a bullet in the center of his forehead. The first guy, having regained control of his breathing, made a beeline for the exit. He got one in the back of the head before I turned the gun to Gianna.
Breathing hard, I canted my head as I studied her. “Well, well, princess. Bet this wasn’t the happily ever after you were expecting.”
Gianna had her own gun drawn, but it hung uselessly at her side. Black tracks ran beneath both eyes and her lower lip quivered.
Leander stood behind her, one hand around her throat. In his other, he clutched the switchblade, still glistening with his own blood. His mouth was lowered against her ear and his lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Whatever it was made her cry harder.
“My family will come for you,” Gianna said, the waver in her voice betraying the confidence of her words.
“They can try,” I replied with a dark smile.
Leander and I locked eyes, electricity simmering between us.
“‘The death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world,’” he murmured against her ear with a chilling calmness. I thought he was going to finish off Poe’s essay, but he didn’t.
He lifted the switchblade and drove it into the side of Gianna’s neck. With one quick motion, he pushed the blade forward, slicing through her trachea and her vocal cords. Blood sprayed in front of her in an arc, gushing out so fast it sounded like someone turned on a faucet.
As soon as she collapsed, I surged forward and seized Leander’s face between my hands, claiming his mouth with frantic kisses. He dropped the knife and clung to my jacket, gasping for breath between his return kisses.
“Sit down,” I said suddenly, pushing him onto a crate.
He hissed, clutching his abdomen. It did little good. He had too many wounds and not enough hands. Blood continued to drip beneath him wherever he moved. “Where’s Lorelei?”
“Fuck if I know and fuck if I care. If that bitch isn’t dead already, she’s going to be soon enough.” I ripped my jacket off and pressed it over his stomach. The makeshift bandages Lorelei tied in place were already soaked through.
“There,” he said, tipping his chin.
I touched his cheek gently, keeping my frown to a minimum. I wanted to tell him “No,” and that I could give two shits about her, but I couldn’t refuse him anything after the torment I just put him through. Clenching my jaw, I walked over to where Lorelei’s heels were sticking out from behind a junked vehicle.
Sadly, she was alive. The gunshot I heard earlier was meant for her, not Leander. Except, Gianna was a terrible shot and only got the bitch in the shoulder instead of the head.
When Lorelei saw me, her eyes widened. She tried backing up, but there was nowhere to go.
“You stupid, self-righteous fucking bitch.” Grabbing her by the throat, I hauled her to her feet like a fucking life-size Barbie.
She screamed, a combination of surprise and pain that ended in a strangle cry the harder I squeezed, hopefully cutting off her air and her blood flow. Fear radiated out of her so strongly I could practically smell it.
Dragging her back to Leander, I threw her at his feet like I was paying tribute to a conquering warlord.
“What do you want to do with her, my love?” I asked, sorting through the punishments in my mind. “Stab her five times? Shoot her in the fucking head? Or how about I take her down to the river and drown her?”
She turned her terrified gaze to Leander, tears welling again. “Leander...”
I dropped to one knee behind her and snatched a handful of her hair, yanking her head back. “I’ll make it quick this time. Promise. I won’t do you dirty like you did to us.”
She shrieked and clawed at my hands.
Leander watched the two of us, silent pain etched into his face. He needed to get to a hospital, not dick around with this bitch anymore. She’d already cost him enough.
