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She finally listens and rushes down the stairs, holding up the bottom of her dress to avoid tripping. Piper is right on her heels. Cruz was right to call my bluff, so I tuck the gun away.
Cruz lunges, swiping out with his knife. He’s slow and off balance, giving me ample time to avoid his strike. His momentum carries him past me, and I have him disarmed and on the floor in one breath.
“That was way too easy. I won’t even be able to brag to my friends about this.”
“Vete a la chingada,” he spits.
I snicker at the coward’s outburst. “You pansy-ass rich boys are all the same. You don’t have the balls to take on a real man. I’m more of a challenge than the women you’re used to pushing around.”
The bastard continues struggling against my sleeper hold until finally going limp. I would love nothing more than to end the bastard’s life, but if I did, his father would no doubt hunt Marisol to the ends of the earth. I drop him to the floor, smiling when he lands squarely on his nose. “You’re lucky. I wanted to slit your throat.”
I’m still tempted to, but my five minutes are almost up. I don’t want to waste whatever diversion Ruiz manages to set off. Grabbing my bag from the bed, I jog down the stairs to find Piper standing watch outside the bathroom door where Marisol must be hiding. “Marisol, we need to move.”
The door opens, and Marisol throws herself into my arms, sobbing. “How did—”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, we’ve—”
An explosion cuts me off, and I grab Marisol’s arms, pulling all her focus to me. “We’re leaving. Now!”
Yanking open the side door, I scan the area beside the pool house and find it clear. Piper leads the way, and I grab Marisol’s hand, pulling her outside and to the rear. When Piper rounds the back corner first and snarls, a lead weight drops into my gut.
I freeze, but it’s too late. Four guns are trained on us. Marisol shrieks, and I pull her backward against my chest. “Nice try, Romeo. Back inside,” one of the men says.
Piper growls at the man, and he shifts his aim to her. “Call off your dog, or I’ll put her down like one.”
Low and angry, I spit out the commands to stand down and stay, “Odejít.”
The group closes in, and one of them yanks Marisol away from me. “Get your fucking hands off her.”
Another steps behind me, striking me with the butt of his gun. The blow takes me to my knees but doesn’t knock me out. Piper whines, feeling helpless, but she won’t disobey my command.
My hands are forced on top of my head, and all my weapons are confiscated. Two guards yank me to my feet while one pulls Marisol back inside the pool house. The last man keeps his gun trained on Piper as he backs through the opening. When the door closes, she’s still outside.
“Where is Dario?” the leader demands when we’re herded to the living room.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
A kick to my knee sends me to the floor again, and the asshole snatches Marisol and shoves his gun in her mouth. “Where. Is. Dario?”
“I’m right here.”
Cruz staggers down the stairs, rubbing his neck. I knew I should have killed him. Cruz grins when he spots me on my knees, trussed up like a criminal. Once he’s gloated for a moment, he slithers over to Marisol. “Hello, wife.”
He grabs her throat and slams his mouth onto hers. I lurch forward, immediately receiving a kick to my gut. Marisol struggles, and Cruz releases her, only to backhand her across the cheek. “You’ve been a bad girl, Marisol. Do you remember what that means? I’m going to put a bullet in your boyfriend’s brain, and these guards are going to take turns with you. I don’t even care if you can’t walk afterward. I only need your brain and your hands to work.”
“Anyone that touches her is a dead man,” I roar.
“Oh yeah? How do you think you’ll manage that?”
Cruz slips a knife from a holster on one of the guard’s belts. He steps toward me, arcing his arm wide. Shattering glass is followed by a menacing growl, and then Piper has Cruz on the floor, ripping into his arm like a woodchipper. The man screams, and all four guards spring into action.
I jump up, ignoring the pain in my knee, and kick out at one and trip another. One falls in front of me, and I slam the heel of my boot into his neck. One down. Four left.
Time slows to a crawl as my brain struggles to process what happens next. One of the two upright guards grabs Cruz’s feet, attempting to pull him free of Piper’s jaws. The other aims his gun at my dog.
Time stops completely when Marisol yells and dives over Piper. The gun’s muzzle flares, and the bullet strikes Marisol before I can even open my mouth to stop her.
I reach for the dead man’s gun, firing off three quick shots to end the lives of the three remaining guards, and then I crawl to Marisol, lifting her off a motionless Piper.