Page 81 of Unfettered

“Fuck!” I snarl as I glance down in disgust.

Gerald is on the floor in a puddle of blood, his breathing shallow as sweat mixes with his tears. The sound of glass breaking was a fucking bullet… No wonder the Senator finally picked up the damn phone. He moved the asshole right into position.

Based on our surroundings, this is Gerald’s fucking office. The Senator must have known he’d go here. Which means, he’s been in this house. Just how deep did Gerald’s treachery go?

Joel’s curses fill the air as I crouch down, desperately hoping that I can still get something out of this asshole. My gaze flicks toward Jayden’s brother, and I pale as a red dot flashes onto Joel’s skin.

“Shit!” I jump up, startling Joel as I dive into him. There’s another sound of glass breaking, and a lick of fire against my right upper arm, but I ignore it all as Joel and I hit the floor in a thud.

“What the fuck?” Joel curses as he shoves me off.

Shooting him a disgusted look, I snap back, “Look, asshole, I just saved your life, so maybe shut up and stay down.”

“Fuck. Are you bleeding? Jayden is going to kill me for letting his Princess get hurt. That is not on me. I swear, I don’t know how you even earned the nickname Chaos. So far, you only seem good at being in a damn hospital bed!”

Gritting my teeth, I get away from the window before I get up. Crossing to the wall perpendicular to one with the window, I grab a mirror that Gerald had hanging. I hope to hell it helps. My arm screams at me, because of course it was my dominant side that got hit. However, I’m juggling the mirror with my right hand, and using my left to place a call to Leandro.

“Yeah?”

“We got hit with a sniper. Gerald is on the floor bleeding. I got Joel down before he was hit, but I took some damage. I’ve got a mirror, and I’m checking if I can see what the fuck is going on, but can you get into his system and check the cameras? Or anything surrounding?”

I ignore the kid’s sigh as I creep toward the window, holding the mirror so I can see what’s going on outside. Wherever this sniper is, he’s doing a damn good job of staying hidden. There’s not much out there, for fuck’s sake.

I curse our luck for this, wishing we’d at least get to spend a little time talking to the asshole on the floor, but instead, I’m stuck watching our back in case the sniper decides to come closer. Or continues to try to pick us off.

The only evidence that Leandro is actually still working on the issue is his rapid typing and occasional muttering. Not that I can make out what he’s saying, but damn. Everything about this is pissing me off. My first job back and I feel like I’ve botched it.

“Finally,” he says, but he doesn’t follow through with anything, ratcheting my anxiety up even further.

Eventually, I break the tense silence. “Anything? Or should I just assume I’m going to have a sniper breaking in at any moment?”

“This isn’t a hacker movie. That means it takes me more than two seconds to get you what you want.” His flat voice grates on me, especially when he follows it up with, “Don’t think just because you’re Roman’s that you’re safe.”

I give an aborted laugh at that. “Right, kid. Same back at you. Face it. We’re fucking stuck together. You’re Roman’s best friend, and Lio claimed you, for some fucking reason. Don’t break the people who, for some damn reason, still trust you.”

A frustrated snarl comes across the line, and while I’d like to believe I just won, I know I haven’t. He’s probably trying to decide how he can get away with killing me. Well, may as well make life interesting.

The pain in my upper arm radiates harder the longer I hold the mirror up, but fuck if I’m going to let anyone sneak up on us. The sounds coming from Gerald slowly die down, and a surge of frustration hits me, driving my anger further. Fucker just had to go and meet his end before I could even question him.

This job has sucked from the beginning, and considering I’ve still got Joel making snarky comments that I’m ignoring, and the impending doom of Jayden taking his own ire out on my ass… I don’t see the ending getting any better.

“Alright, there was nothing on Gerald’s cameras. I backed out of his system and it’s closed down, so there’s no evidence when you leave. However, one of the houses on the lake had security that was actually up and running. I was able to find the sniper that way. He’s long gone in the opposite direction. He was in a boat.”

I whistle, impressed despite the situation. “That’s a hell of a shot, especially since he couldn’t get that close on the lake. I wonder if he’s a contractor, or part of the Senator’s dirty side?”

“Should I find out so you can offer him a job?”

“You can do that? That's impressive as well. Yeah, I’ll definitely take that information.” I let the mirror drop as I walk further away, now that I know it’s safe.

There’s a pause before Leandro responds, “And people think I’m messed up.”

“What? It was a good shot!”

“At least now I know why you’re called Chaos,” he scoffs.

Struggling to keep my temper under control, I retort, “Look, I’m sorry if our Boss cared enough about us to give us fitting names and yours didn’t… But, Il Padrone was simply that awesome. Sorry Cristian wasn’t.”

There’s a crash before silence. I blink, unsure what’s going on. I shift to look at my phone. Ah, the kid hung up. Damn, I miss the old types of phones where you could actually hear either a dial tone or someone slamming down the receiver.