Page 31 of Caught in the Crossfire

“Oh, I’m not leaving him,” I growled, aiming my weapon.

He stared, unflinching. Bastard didn’t even close his fucking eyes as he stared death down at the end of my barrel. The girls whimpered and cried, but I would deal with them once he was dead.

“No!” she shouted, struggling in Obi’s arms. “Stop!”

Why the fuck was I hesitating? Was it the crack in her voice?

“We have to get out of here, princess,” Cas said. He aimed his weapon at Volpe, just like me. Neither of us took one step backward, instead forming a wall of protection between him and her. “The girls we can take, but…”

But Cas wasn’t shooting either.

“Bring him!” she almost screamed. I turned my head at her voice. Her eyes were frantic as her fingertips dug into Obi’s shoulders. “Donotleave him or those women behind. He’s coming with me, or I’m not leaving.”

The four of us gaped. Ciel was the first one to clear his throat.

“All right,ángel, whatever you say,” he replied, stepping around me and pressing my weapon down. He did the same to Cas. “Let’s go, Max! We have to move!”

The man took a careful step forward, saying nothing. His face was a blank slate as he stepped over the bodies between us. He only looked down to make sure he didn’t slip in the blood pooling from the unfortunate man Leona had sliced to ribbons.

“It’s okay,” Leona said to the women. “Come on. It’s safe now.”

They hesitated, holding hands and shuffling against the wall. They kept their heads down, except if they looked at Leona. But then the first one in line pulled forward, and they moved behind Max. He kept his body blocking them, but there was no reason for him to do so. None of us would hurt those girls.

As soon as Max got close, Cas seemed to right himself. His gaze darkened, and he blocked Max’s path to where Obi still held Leona.

“You make one wrong move,” Cas threatened. Still, the bastard said nothing.

I stepped up beside him, pulling out my pistol and pressing the muzzle to his forehead. Max still didn’t flinch. “I’ll bury this bullet in your brain before you can even blink.”

“Ryu, please,” Leona’s voice begged. At that, Max’s gaze softened as he looked at her. It made my blood fucking boil.

“Just fucking try me,” I warned, pressing my gun to his forehead even harder. After another three seconds, I pulled away and tucked my pistol back into its holster.

Cas and I exchanged a glance, silently promising that if he stepped one foot out of line, he’d be dead.

As much as I wanted to murder him and leave him on this ship to rot, for now, we had to roll with this. If Leona wanted him to come, then he was coming. Same with the girls. We could figure out what the fuck to do once we got off this fucking ship.

But I wouldn’t hesitate to kick him off the yacht and let him fall into shark-infested waters thesecondhe became a threat.

“Go.” I picked up my assault rifle again and used it to direct Max to fall in line between Cas and me. He followed the order with hesitation.

“It’s okay,” I added softly as the women walked past. “You’re safe now.”

Our group went back through the hallways of the ship, but we didn’t see anyone except dead bodies I knew we hadn’t killed.

I stared at the back of Max’s head. The two of them had to have something to do with this.

No wonder the boat was so quiet. They’d already killed everyone. They’d already freed the other women captive here.

Obi kicked open the door we had come through originally. I pulled the folded up wooden pilot ladder from my backpack, secured it to the lip of the bow, and tossed it over the side.

I radioed to the boat man, my eyes and weapon never leaving Max. “Target acquired, plus extras. Prepare the first aid kit.”

He radioed back. “Copy.”

“I’ll go down first,” Ciel said as he climbed over the side. When he got to the RHIB, he secured the pilot ladder to the edge of the boat and held his hand up. “Come on!”

“Wynn?” Leona asked, head upturned at Obi.