Page 35 of He Is Ours (Lovers in Crossfire #2)

Chapter thirty-five

Olivia

We

have

been

waiting

in the treeline for over an hour. My nerves will not calm down until I see Alex and Rachel come out of the building. If I weren't pregnant and next to my paranoid brother, I would have gone in already to see what was going on.

A few people have already left the warehouse. Most of them are having intense conversations as they come out. One woman came out screaming about something I couldn’t hear, but her arms were flailing through the air, so it must have been intense.

"How much longer do you think it's going to take?" I ask Oliver, who is lying on the ground, his sights lined up on his sniper rifle.

"I don't know, but I am not taking my eyes off the door.

I had a bad feeling about sending just the two of them in, especially Rachel.

We should have sent other guys in with them.

" He stops talking, and his body goes rigid.

I pull up my rifle and look through the scope to see what he is looking at.

I see one of the Starr brothers walk out the door, but no Rachel or Alex.

"I swear to god, Olivia, if you don't put that fucking rifle down." He says without lifting his gaze. Oh my god, this man.

"Shut up, Oliver. I can shoot the rifle as long as I am safe! I looked it up." He shakes his head and goes back to watching the door.

This whole perimeter watch thing is more boring than a stakeout; at least we had shitty music in the shit mobile.

My mind starts to drift off to the day of the docks and all the people I didn't get to save, including fucking Jones. His dead body, bleeding on the dock, invades my memory. I swear I will figure out how to end these fuckers; for Jones, for the people in sex trafficking, and me.

"Olivia, I need you to stay calm, but look at the door," Oliver whispers, catching my attention.

I lift my rifle and look through the scope, focusing on the door.

As soon as my sight clears up, my blood turns ice cold.

I see Tyler holding Rachel, being dragged out the door.

My adrenaline spikes, and the only thought in my mind is ‘We need to get to Rachel right now’.

"What are we going to do, because staying calm is not going to happen, and if you don't give me an order soon, I am about to get real trigger happy, real soon.

" I look down at Oliver, who is taking deep breaths to calm his shaking, and I see the slight movement of his trigger finger.

When I look back on my sight, I see one of the Starr brothers on the ground.

Tyler reaches behind himself and pulls out a blade that shines in the street light, and holds it up to Rachel's throat.

You can see her say something with a smirk on her face, so I can only assume it's some smart ass comment, and Tyler looks murderous.

For the love of god, Rachel, shut your damn mouth.

"Liv, look!" Oliver says to me. When I move my sight away from Rachel, I see Alex walking out of the door, blood dripping down from his forehead, with an evil snarl on his face. He slowly walks towards Tyler, almost creeping.

"Oli, I don't know what he has planned. Keep aim on Tyler; I will aim at the other brother, next to Tyler.

" He grunts his approval. I position it so that it sits perfectly in the pocket of my shoulder, and take aim straight at the nerdier-looking brother.

I control my breathing so that my aim never wavers.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

I am ready for this fuckery to happen and be over so that I can go home.

Something shiny catches my eye, and I turn my rifle in Alex’s direction.

I notice a knife in his hand, but not just any knife.

.. It looks like one of Rachel's knives.

Where did he get that? Did she drop them?

Did they unarm her? I know the way that Tyler is holding her around her chest that her arms are restrained enough that she wouldn't be able to get to any of them, but that's the white one she has been obsessed with since she killed Tony.

A chill rolls down my back, and bile rises at just the thought of Tony.

I move my eyes back to the scene unfolding in front of me.

Alex takes the blade and stabs Tyler right in the neck, in that artery, what the fuck is it called, Carotid artery, I think?

Who knows, the fucking jugular, then sliding it across his entire throat, flaying it open wide.

His blood spilling out of the gaping wound in his neck, all over Rachel.

His blood is caked in her blonde hair, and it is sliding down her back, covering her shirt and pants.

Her red heels now have the darker crimson of Tyler’s blood sliding down them.

Rachel turns out of Tyler’s grip, and before I know it, the other Starr brother is on the ground with a bullet wound to the chest. Oliver has always been a good shot, but damn, that was amazing, dead fucking center.

Before I even realize what is going on, Oliver grabs my hand and runs out of the woods to where Alex and Rachel are.

Rachel's hands are moving all over the place as she talks to Alex.

"The fucker hit you with brass knuckles," I hear Rachel scream at Alex as soon as I am in hearing range. He grabs her wrist in mid-air and pulls her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head.

"Are you guys ok? What the fuck happened in there?" I am running to them now, completely out of breath. They don’t answer me and just open their arms, adding me to their embrace.

As soon as they close their arms around me, the world stops moving, the chaos ceases to exist, and I am home.

It doesn't matter that the Starr brothers are on the ground, dead, next to us.

It doesn't matter that Oliver is standing right there, watching us.

Nothing matters besides Rachel and Alex.

They kiss my head as Alex places his hand protectively on my belly.

"Let's call a clean-up crew and go home. I am done with today, and the only thing that will help this headache is some whiskey and pussy." Alex says.

Oliver damn near choked on his spit. "Alex, I love that you love my sister, but please don't talk about her pussy in front of me," he says, then makes a dramatic gagging sound.

"Shut up and go find Alessio. I see how you look at him. Ask pretty please, and I bet he would suck your dick." Alex shoots back at Oliver. I love that they are always joking with each other.

"You are being a smart ass while I have an AR-15 strapped to me?"

"You're going to shoot me? While your sister is so happy?"

I look over Rachel's shoulder and see Oliver roll his eyes and pull out his phone. Typing out a message to someone, then putting it back into his pocket.

"Come on..." I say, the metallic smell in the air finally makes its way to my nose, causing my stomach to start rolling.

I step out of Alex and Rachel's embrace and turn to walk away, stepping on something squishy but hard.

When I look down, I see Tyler's arm under my boot, and the ground is stained crimson from the blood under him.

I look up from his arm that I just stepped on, moving up his body until I make it to his throat, sliced wide open, the flesh peeled back like fabric, showing every layer of muscles until you see the esophagus.

That's when everything I ate today comes right back out.

I throw up so violently that I start to shake.

Every ounce of throw-up lands on Tyler's face and in the gaping hole in his neck.

Just that causes me to continue to throw up, and eventually, I am dry heaving.

Rachel comes up behind me and starts to rub my back to comfort me.

"Please just take me home," I cry. Rachel mumbles a reply that I miss, and loops her arm through mine, pulling me away from the scene.

I have never been a squeamish person, but this pregnancy has my stomach fucked up. Being with a knife-happy woman and a trigger-happy man is going to be hard.