Page 56

Crew

O ne of the guards cuffs a zip tie around my wrists, and though it’s tight enough to cut, it’s not exactly a disadvantage. If I used the right force, I could easily snap out of them.

Rema’s phone drops to his side, call ended, while he watches me with a sneer. It only makes me grin when his guards loop another zip tie around my wrists.

My grin drops when they move toward Liv. “Don’t fucking touch her,” I shove the guard that moves to zip-tie her as well.

“You might get away with transporting him like this, but you really think people won’t ask questions when they see a woman with her hands tied?” Liv asks.

Rema sneers again, twisting to leave abruptly. I linger close enough to feel her skirt brush my slacks as we walk. I can tell she’s scared. The tension in her shoulders, her pin-straight back, the slight shake in her walk. It makes the anger in my chest burn hotter.

It’s only a matter of time before we’re in the middle of the party. The hotel is crawling with people now.

Rema halts for a group of drunken guests to pass, and I take the opportunity to step closer. One of the guards grabs my wrists roughly, but Liv must sense it because she takes the smallest step back. Close enough that I can feel her again.

I whisper, leaning close, “Do you trust me, Princess?”

Her hair brushes my chin as she looks at me. Her blue eyes are like ice as she nods. Rema strolls forward again, and the guards shoves me after him.

The party blares around us wildly, people swerving in and out of the dance floor. We weave through the ballroom until we reach the balcony on the other side. The guards enter first, and we follow. I’m not surprised to find Skar at the head of a long table, leaning against it lazily.

Despite Skar being visibly unarmed, Rema stiffens when he finds the full-spread of food across the table. It’s clear that we interrupted a dinner of sorts.

Two women occupy a pair of the high-back chairs, arms now bound to their seats. One, I recognize as Sofia Vercelli. I only recognize the dark tattoos decorating the arm of the other.

They’re Prevyain.

“Donatello.” Skar motions for him to sit, but Rema doesn’t move.

Not as the four guards shut the door and we each assess the chance we have of winning here. I have to admit I thought we had better odds.

Skar’s eyes settle on Sofia, indifference written across his features. “What I still don’t get is your connection in all of this.”

Sofia’s cocky reply is a smile- as if pleased Skar didn’t put the pieces together. “Sofia Rema Vercelli. Pleased to formally meet you.”

She’s his daughter- and somehow we missed it.

“I assume we can come to some kind of agreement in exchange for your brother and the girl?” Rema asks.

“Agreement is a funny word,” Skar counters. I know from his swift assessment of the balcony that he’s planning something. “How long have you been planning this?”

Sofia crosses her arms, revealing little. “You don’t even know what this is, do you?” she laughs, but it’s her father who speaks next.

“Enough, Sofia,” he growls before looking back at Skar. “You know this isn’t about Harvey’s petty debt by now.”

“Naturally,” Skar tucks his hand in his pocket casually. “You have more money than you know what to do with, I’m sure.”

“This has never been about money.”

Skar shifts his weight, hand flexing at his side. “Influence then. Is that all?”

“You own Westos-“

Skar laughs, shaking his head. “If you want Westos, you’d have better luck killing me.”

“There’s only the matter of your brother,” Sofia adds sarcastically, and Skar’s eyes flicker back to her.

He smirks. “Don’t tell me killing him is where you draw this line.”

“It isn’t,” she hisses as another voice chimes in.

“My daughter is.”

Recognition hits me as a man steps out of the shadows, and we come face to face with Charles Orlova.

Charlotte's father- a man we thought had disappeared forever. I should've known better than to think his wife’s death would be the end of things. Charles stands behind Donatello. Still the same awkward, bumbling man as always, but he’s not cowering behind his wife anymore.

“She is here, isn’t she?” Charles glances around, and after a few moments, he seems unsurprised when Charlotte slithers out from the shadows, gun pointed directly at her father’s head.

“Hi, Papa.”

One moment, everyone’s still, and the next, guns are raised. Charlotte sighs, the sound more tired than anything, but she doesn’t flinch even though the barrel of five guns are pointed directly at her.

“Can we skip this part? I’d really rather not kill everyone just to prove a point.”

“You’re outnumbered,” Charles reasons.

Charlotte grins. “I’m worth at least six of you.”

Charles watches his daughter with unrelenting curiosity. He doesn’t say anything for a long time, but he finally nods to Rema, who motions for his men to lower their weapons.

Charlotte eventually lowers her gun, frowning. “Skar won’t give you shit.”

Charles shrugs with a single shoulder. “It’s all about finding the right leverage. For Skar, it’s you. For you…” he says, looking directly at Liv. At me, at Skar. “Take your pick.”

Charlotte watches him with quiet ferocity. She’s scared. She fucking has to be, and part of me wishes I knew what she’s thinking.

“We’ve been through this before, Papa. It didn’t work then. It won’t work now.”

“The future of our people- of the realm- lies in your hands. You betrayed your family once-”

“ Family ,” she scoffs. “You get Westos, you get all the money you’ve ever dreamed of. Then what? What does any of it mean when everyone and everything that matters is gone?”

He doesn’t answer. His frown merely deepens. “I thought as such.”

“Your mother’s failure with Hydran was merely the beginning,” Rema says.

I can tell the words have the gears in Charlotte’s head grinding, but I look at Liv whose blue eyes are wide. The fear is clear in her expression. The sight fills me with something dark. Murderous.

“How does this end?” Skar asks, stepping forward so Charlotte is at his back. “You kill me and there will be an uproar. There’s not a person in Westos who will be on your side.”

Rema laughs. “Killing you creates problems- it doesn’t solve them.”

“Controlling you, however,” Charles continues.

Skar lurches forward, grabbing Charles by the collar of his suit and lifting him. Every gun shifts to him while Char holds hers to Rema. “What’s stopping me from killing you right now?”

Liv screams, “Don’t!” My eyes dip to see her shaking her head. “Don’t. They still have Aleks.”

Skar pauses at that, back tensing even as Charles struggles in his arms.

“Why don’t we settle this man to man?” Charles wheezes, face red as the air slowly leaves him. “You keep your brother and your wife. W-we’re all happy. We just want your cooperation.”

If there’s one thing I know about Skar, it’s that he doesn’t like being threatened. That and he’ll do anything for his family. I’m unsurprised when he drops Charles.

“Wise decision,” Rema grins, but Skar sneers.

“I suggest you keep quiet. Or your men will be cleaning your blood off the floor.”

“You won’t kill me, Skar,” he says, all too pleased.

“No,” Skar replies, looking toward Charlotte. “She will. And I won’t stop her.”

Rema at least has the sense to look scared, especially when four of his men drop to the floor around him. His eyes go wide before settling on the food. The dinner we interrupted. He stands abruptly, wobbling before the effects hit him and he collapses against the table.

“Papa?” Sofia cries, feeling his neck for a pulse as she shakes him. Then her eyes find Charlotte in horror. “What did you do?!”

“She poisoned the wine,” Charles says, voice blank. “Although I’m sure that’s not all.”

Skar’s nod is all the confirmation I need to stand and snap my zip ties loose. “Go and find Aleks and Harvey,” Skar says as he faces Charles again.

“I know where they’ll keep them,” Liv says. “But there will be more of them,” she says as her eyes dip to the guards. I reach into one of the guard’s pockets, retrieving my pistol.

I grab her hand before motioning toward the door. “Let’s go.”

“Charlotte-“ Charles starts as I follow Liv toward the stairs.

“You’re not in the position to bargain,” she snaps, but once we’re inside, I focus on searching for any other guards.

I motion Liv closer so that she’s standing behind me as we cross the party. “I heard them talking. He’s in the main suite. It’s somewhere on the third or fourth floor.”

Checking my magazine and making sure I still have several rounds in my pocket, I grab Liv’s hand again. “Stay behind me. Quiet as you can.”

Adrenaline courses through me, warm and familiar. The main stairs wind twice before a landing appears with doors on either side. It’s watched by two guards, and I’m willing to bet there will be more between here and the main suite. I push Liv back a step as I rack my brain for a plan to get past them.

“I have a crazy idea,” Liv whispers. She glances towards the sprinkler above our heads before reaching into her skirt, withdrawing a lighter. “Can you lift me?”

She must have the same idea I do. I kneel, allowing her to sit on my shoulder. When I lift her, she reaches up, flicking the lighter. But it doesn’t light. She curses as a door opens down the hall.

“Liv,” I warn quietly as she flicks the spark wheel.

My hand holds her thighs steady, and just as the flame ignites, I see movement over my shoulder. I fire first, think second, and Liv gasps as the movement jolts her. The lighter slips out of her hand, setting the alarms off as I shoot a round at another guard.

Flames explode across the carpet, swallowing space by the second. Sirens blare around us loudly, and I brace for the moment people pour into the hall. I hide my pistol behind my coat, motioning for her to jump down. I shift her weight, carefully catching her and setting her down as doors open.

“Crew-” she says, and my attention finds the fire now eating away at the carpet.

I grab her hand as more and more people flood the hallway. "The stairs are to the left,” I direct everyone as flames swallow the hallway.

There’s no putting it out now. Guests flood the stairwell, trampling over each other to get downstairs. But we go up, still watching for any guards.

A door opens, admitting a guard in search of the fire. I wait for him to appear, and when he does, I knock his feet out from under him. He slams to his knees, and I use the butt of my gun to knock him unconscious.

“Hey!” Another guard yells, followed by two others, and when a shot rings out, I crouch behind the wall.

They’ve spotted me, drawing their weapons and firing. I shoot with deadly precision, taking them down. It’s quiet, and I check before motioning Liv closer. I stop in front of the next landing, pressing her flat against the wall to peer around the corner.

“Crew!” she yells as a shadow moves.

I fire off two shots, and a man’s body tumbles down the flight of stairs.

More guards will have heard that.

Her eyes follow the growing pool of blood at our feet, mind on the brink of panic. “Hey,” I squeeze her hand, forcing her to focus. “Let’s find Aleks and Harvey.”

“Okay.” She meets my eye, nodding furiously. “Okay,” she repeats.

I squeeze her hand tightly as we step over the body and cross the hall toward the suite. Inside, there’s a bed, table, sofa... and tied to a chair in the far corner is Aleks. His head is lulled to the side, his face bruised and bloody.

“Shit,” Liv whispers, stumbling toward him and feeling his neck for a pulse. “Just unconscious.”

I listen for footsteps past the sirens, but I freeze when I hear a gunshot from downstairs. Liv quickly unties Aleks, shaking him, but my guess is he’ll be under a while.

“We’ll have to carry him.”

There’s no way in hell she’ll be able to lug all two-hundred pounds of him over her back… and I can’t shoot and carry him at the same time.

“Do you know how to use a pistol?” I ask, already loading a new magazine.

She’s shaking. I can see the panic on her face, but she inhales, shoving it down. “I- yes. Yes, I know how.”

“Good,” I say, handing it to her and watching as she tests the weight. “Look at me, Princess.” She does, and I caress her cheek. “You’ve got this. I’m right behind you.”

She nods slowly at first. Then she's more determined. “I got this.”

I lift Aleks in one fell swoop, throwing him over my shoulder. I have my other pistol within reach should I need it, but she’s got this , I think as she steadies herself. She aims the gun in front of her, one hand braced under the magazine, the other gripping the trigger just as I’d done.

She checks both ways before prowling outside. I tail her with Aleks on my back. We make it to the stairs before we hear another gunshot, closer this time. Aleks stirs as I spot movement ahead- a gun being raised.

“Olivia!” I move without thinking. I reach for my gun at the same time I throw my body in front of hers. A shot fires off. Then two. Pain lances through me, spreading from my ribs and my lungs to my shoulders and legs. It’s almost enough that I drop Aleks.

Liv, I think . She’s the only thing on my mind.

Olivia. Fuck, is she-

Her watery eyes stare forward, terrified. When I see blood pouring from a guard’s body on the ground, I can see why. Except it’s her father who stands over the body- the shot fired from his gun. Not hers.

Thank you, her eyes are saying as she stumbles forward, hugging him while fighting back tears.

“How did you-?” she whispers, but when she sees Ricky behind him, he shakes his head.

“Ricky found me. Chase locked me in a room somewhere, and I knew we had to find you,” he says, squeezing her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers as she draws back to hug Ricky.

“Boy, am I glad to see you, Ms. Livia.”

Her responding laugh is choked. I ignore the throbbing in my side as her eyes land on me. On the blood pouring out of me. The guard nicked me before Harvey got to them.

I shake my head before she can freak out. “We get to Charlotte and Skar, and we leave.”

“But you’re-“

“Go,” I order her, gritting my teeth as Aleks comes to.

He groans, shifting and lifting his head. “Where am I?”

“No time,” I explain as I motion Liv, Ricky, and Harvey in front of me. Smoke fills the hall as we find the ballroom. Skar and Charlotte are likely still on the balcony.

“Did you see anyone on your way up?” I ask Ricky as Aleks groans again. It’s only now hitting him that he’s upside down, and with his leg, he won’t be able to walk without help.

“No one. Other than that Chase guy. We knocked him unconscious. Then I heard gunshots and-”

“Here!” Liv shouts as she crouches down.

That’s when I see the trail of blood leading inside from the balcony.

Who knows whose blood it is.

I waste no time in slinging Aleks down and placing him against the nearest wall.

“Get them out,” I order Harvey, and I walk to Liv, gently coaxing the gun out of her iron grip and meeting her eyes. “Go.”

“I’m not leaving you like this,” she objects, but I give her my signature grin. All cocky. All confident. Even if I have the creeping suspicion I shouldn’t be.

“Don’t worry about me, Princess.”

I squeeze her hand again. Though everything inside me is telling me not to leave, I take one last look at her beautiful face. I memorize every detail. Then I grip my pistol tight and head for the balcony.