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“Your queen is fair compensation for Mrs. Kurti,” he said in broken English.
“Your boss owes us a lot of money. He knew the cost of doing business with us. Now, let the girl go. She’s innocent. Killing her won’t solve your problem. It will make new ones.”
He inched backward toward the open balcony doors, with the blade digging into Alex’s flesh. A whimper slipped from her lips. Terrified, she looked to me for help, a plea in her watery eyes.
“Drop your guns on the floor,” the man growled.
Alex squealed as he sliced into her skin. A droplet of blood slid down her pale neck. I wanted to shoot this motherfucker in the head, but I couldn’t take the risk. With his blade already cutting into her flesh, I had one move.
The man behind Alex kept a gun to her head. Another one pointed at us. I could dodge a bullet, but that blade… it was too close to her throat.
“Do it,” I told my brothers as I bent down to set my gun on the floor.
Marcello followed suit, his eyes on Kurti’s men. I could hear Bastian and Damian do the same behind us.
I carried two guns. One was still holstered to my chest. I also had my grandfather’s knife strapped to my ankle. After Alex had grabbed it from my back pocket and stabbed me, I decided it was time for a better hiding place.
“Get on your knees,” the man ordered.
I sank to one knee.
“Slide the guns to me.”
I pushed our guns to the center of the room. The life drained from Alex’s eyes as she stared at me. Her gaze shifted between Marcello and me, begging for help. She thought we had given up on her.
Not a chance.
We had sworn an oath to protect our queen. So had Bastian and Damian. They were not leaving my house with her.
“Kurti’s wife is alive,” I said to gain the leader’s attention.
Alex’s captor stared at me in disbelief. “No, she’s dead.”
“I have proof of life.”
He shook his head. “You sent her hand to Mr. Kurti.”
“It wasn’t hers,” I challenged.
“But,” he stammered. “Her wedding ring… it was on her finger.”
“Right ring. Wrong hand.” I rolled my shoulders with indifference. “It’s not my fault your boss can’t tell his wife apart from a stranger. If you hurt Alex, I will gut Kurti’s wife in front of him. Then I’ll kill the rest of his family and men and make him watch that, too.”
I had him right where I wanted him. That bit of uncertainty was all I needed. Even though he didn’t have orders to kill Alex, this changed the game.
He reached into his pocket and raised his cell phone to his ear. We only needed one slip-up—a small window of opportunity to get her away from him. Speaking in Albanian, he rambled words so fast I couldn’t make sense of them. I watched his chest rise and fall and noted the doubt in his eyes. He handed the phone to the man behind him, and they exchanged a few words. His hand slipped on the knife, and as he lowered his guard, I drew my gun from the holster and shot his elbow.
It was enough to loosen his grip on Alex without hurting her. He staggered backward, grabbing his arm as he howled in pain. As I rushed across the room, Marcello shot the man beside Roman, and I hugged Alex around her middle, tackling her to the ground. With my weight on her, I tried to shield her from the gunfire.
Her life was worth more than mine.
I would gladly die for my queen.
After my brothers fired the last bullet, I waited a few seconds and rolled off Alex. “You okay, baby?”
Out of breath, she nodded.
I helped her up from the floor and surveyed the destruction. The man who held Alex at knifepoint was on the floor on his back, gasping for air. Blood dripped from his mouth as he attempted to speak.