Page 150 of Devotion

Stepping toward him, I place my foot down.

A colossal snap shakes the structure.

And the floor caves in.

30

CIRO

Everything fucking sucks.

Mostly the bullet in my back. I can’t really figure out where it is. It just makes me wanna roll around like a dog in shit. Or someone on fire.

Gasping for breath from the impact of the fall and the bullet as much as the pain, I stay hidden, shoved under the remains of a couch. All around me I hear sounds of fighting.

Who the fuck is fighting in a natural disaster?

Oh. Right.

That would be the Mocro. Guess Pyotr told Adil where he could shove his negotiations.

I am debating taking a really long nap or maybe puking my guts up when I hear her voice. The angel of my dreams. My she wolf.

“Ero. Ghost.”

And I know that tone.

It promises pain and retribution.

I scoot out, trying to get an angle on them, to stop her from going up against my insane brother. Because as much as I trust her, he’s a natural born killer.

And I cannot bear the thought of losing her.

Which must be why I find myself miraculously on my feet when the crack splits the floor, dropping out under her. Two steps. A flying leap.

“Gotcha!” I feel her hand in mine, lying flat on my stomach over the edge. The floor slopes down at a steep slant, dropping off into the garages below, another hole gaping just beneath us. If she slips, she falls three floors.

But I can’t get up.

Agony lances through me, shooting down my arm, weakening my grip.

“Ciro!”

“Hang on!” I wrench out through clenched teeth.

“Are you sure? I was considering joining the circus, like you. Learn how to fly.”

“That. Was. Awesome. And. You. Know. It.”

“Not as awesome as pulling me up…”

A gunshot pings off the marble tiling next to my hand, making me flinch and lose the tiny bit of progress I made.

“Or as stupid as taking that bullet for afucking Bratva,” Ero’s wavering voice reaches me across the hole. The gun clicks again as he cocks it.

“I would take a bullet for any of my brothers.”

“Then take one for me. From me.” He fires again, grazing my shoulder, spraying blood into my face.