Page 105 of Duty Devoted

“Lauren!”

“Let me go!” Her voice, but distant. Too distant.

The smoke cleared enough for me to see three of Diego’s men dragging Lauren over to him.

Diego had her. One arm around her throat, pistol pressed to her temple. His guards formed a protective semicircle as he backed toward better cover.

My heart jackhammered in my chest, but my hands were steady as I brought my rifle up. God damn it, I had no shot.Diego was using her as a human shield to try to get out of this. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

“She has to die for killing my son. Not now, of course. Not until she has served her purpose. But she killed my son, so her life is forfeit to me.”

Diego kept scooting backward. I couldn’t let him escape with Lauren. There was only one way I knew how to stop that.

“She didn’t kill Mateo. I did.”

He pressed the gun harder against her temple. “Lies.”

“It’s not lies. She’s a doctor. She came here to help the people in your country. She didn’t want to kill anybody—not even the man who was obsessed with her for no other reason than she said no to him.”

My team had taken positions, but no one had a clean shot. Diego knew what he was doing, keeping Lauren between us and him. I needed him to lower his weapon just a little.

Lauren’s eyes found mine. No panic there. Just trust.

This woman.I don’t know how I’d ever lived without her, and I definitely wasn’t going to start now.

Her hand moved slightly—she was going to do something. I nodded slightly.

“Ben,” I said quietly into comms. “Get ready with Jolly.”

“Copy.”

“I killed your precious asshole of a son.” I lowered my rifle slightly, keeping Diego’s focus on me. “Let her go, and we settle this.”

“You think I’m stupid? The moment I release her, your men kill me.” He started backing up again. “No, she comes with me. Maybe I’ll return her to you eventually. In pieces. There weren’t any pieces of Mateo left to send me.”

Lauren’s eyes flicked down, then back to me. A signal.

She went limp, her full weight dropping suddenly. Diego, not expecting it, had to adjust his grip. The pistol moved away from her head for a second.

“Jolly, attack!”

The dog burst from cover like a rocket. Diego saw him coming and tried to swing the pistol around, but Lauren drove her elbow into his ribs.

I was already moving. The rifle came up. Diego tried to bring his weapon back to Lauren, but Jolly hit him from the side, jaws clamping on his gun arm.

He screamed, stumbling backward. Lauren rolled away.

I put three rounds in his chest. Then three more center mass to be sure.

Because this son of a bitch was not ever coming back for Lauren. This had all started because Diego had executed an unarmed man for no reason except hecould.

Never again.

Diego Silva crumpled, the pistol falling from nerveless fingers. Jolly released and backed away, growling.

“Tango down,” I called out. “Light up the rest.”

Without their boss and caught in a crossfire between Alpha and Bravo teams, Diego’s elite guards didn’t last long. Professional or not, they were outnumbered and outgunned.