Page 190 of Dark King Daddy

My uncle turned his head.

I dropped my weight and wrenched away from him. His fingers dragged down my arm, caught my sleeve. The seam ripped. I shoved him with my good hand, hard enough to send him stumbling across the threshold.

Then I kicked the brick.

It scraped over the concrete. The door began to close, and I drove my shoulder into its outer face.

Kostya shouted. The edge struck his forearm as he reached for me. He snatched it back.

For an instant I could still see Oleg through the narrowing gap. His gun. His mouth opening.

The door slammed.

I ran.

My first step almost put me on the ground. My knee gave, and Daniil caught me beneath the arm before I fell.

“Move, baby. With me.”

I moved. It hurt. Everything hurt. The towel slipped off my hand, and I left it on the concrete.

Behind us, the door handle rattled.

Daniil pulled open the rear passenger door. His hand went to the back of my head.

“In.”

I grabbed the frame with my bleeding hand and scrambled across the seat. My shoes caught each other. I couldn’t get my feet out of the way. I heard the steel door crash open behind us.

A shot smashed the rear window.

I screamed. Glass struck my hair, my neck. Daniil came through the door after me and forced me down across the seat.

For a moment there was only his weight and the ringing in my ears.

Then the car door slammed.

“Go.”

Nikita reached for the phone beside him, tapped it and dropped it back onto the console.

“Sent.”

The car moved.

I caught Daniil’s shirt. His shoulder. His neck. I couldn’t see enough of him. He had been outside when the shot came.

“Are you hit?”

“No.”

“Daniil—”

“I’m not hit. Keep down.”

Shouting came from the garage. Another shot, then several so close together I couldn’t separate them. Daniil bent over me as Nikita swung the car towards the gate.

Through the broken rear window, I heard Kostya scream.