Page 18

CHAPTER 18

Sienna

“Get down !” Rusty’s weight slammed her into the stairs as bullets punched through the space where they’d been standing. A couple of bullets hit the balustrade, showering them with splinters.

“Oh my god!” Sienna’s shriek tore from her throat as Rusty pressed her against the cold steps.

“Stop!” Wang’s voice ricocheted off the walls.

The sudden silence amplified her gasping breaths and thundering heartbeat. Every muscle in her body trembled.

“Get down here, bitch, or your fucking mutt is dead!”

A sob clawed its way up her throat, threatening to choke her.

“Hey.” Rusty’s breath was hot against her ear. “Listen to me. Do exactly as he says. Exactly.”

“What?” Fear made her voice crack. “What about you?”

“I will save you. I promise.” His tone was like steel wrapped in velvet. “You have to trust me. Okay?”

She managed a jerky nod as Soda nudged her nose into her hand.

“Get down here!” Wang’s command scraped up her spine like broken nails. “ Now !”

Rusty’s fingers tightened around hers, anchoring her to sanity. “You can do this. I will come for you.”

She huffed out a shaky breath, then pressed her lips to his in a quick, desperate kiss. “You better.”

“You know I will.”

As she nodded, his certainty settled like lead in her stomach. Rusty would die for her. The knowledge burned like acid because she knew it wasn’t just words—it was a promise written in blood.

“Someone grab that bitch!”

“I’m coming !” Her roar surprised even her, and as her rage threaded through her terror, she stood. Gripping the splintered banister, she faced the monsters. “I’m coming.”

Each step down the marble stairs felt like wading through quicksand. Her legs were trembling traitors that threatened to make her tumble down the stairs. Weapon lights stalked her descent, and their harsh beams cut through the darkness like predator’s eyes. Behind her, Rusty and Soda dissolved into shadow, yet she felt Rusty’s gaze burning against her skin like a brand.

He watched her every move. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too late to save her—for both their sakes.

She reached the bottom step, and rough hands seized her arms as a guard yanked her forward, half-dragging her up the timber stairs and across the stage until she stood face-to-face with Wang. His eyes were black pits of hatred, and his sick smile promised pain.

Her tech-trained brain cataloged the incongruous details of the monster before her: a jade ring worth more than her new car, knuckles showing a roadmap of scars from years of physical fights, his fancy suit with hand-stitched initials in gold thread that probably cost more than her yearly salary. His eyes weren’t just cold though—they were like shark’s eyes . . . empty, unforgiving, heartless.

The kind of eyes that ended lives without a flicker of emotion.

“Where are your asshole friends?” Wang’s question came out soft, almost conversational as his arm tightened around his hostage’s throat and he pointed the gun at her cheek. The young woman’s whimper made Sienna’s skin crawl. “The dog man. Where is he?”

“He’s dead!” The words exploded from her throat, carrying fragments of her heart with them. Even knowing it was a lie, the image of Rusty bleeding out seared her brain. “He was shot! His body is up there.”

She jerked her head toward the balcony, forcing conviction into her voice.

“I watched him bleed to death!” The lie felt so real it burned her tongue.

Wang turned to his right. “Kenji.”

A man built like a fridge emerged from the shadows and his boots stampeded up the marble stairs.

Oh God. No! Why did I say that?

The silence stretched between her and Wang, razor-thin and crackling with deadly threats. Wang’s shark eyes studied her, searching for the fatal flaw that would reveal her deception.

Two of the women whimpered with tiny, broken sounds that tore at her core. It surprised her that she wasn’t a blubbering mess herself. Wild emotions raced through her blood like poison, but rage dominated everything else, burning through her fear.

A familiar clicking sound skittered across the polished stage—tiny claws, excited movement. Her heart stopped as Pickle darted into view, his little tail wagging like this was just another day at the park.

“Pickle!” She thrashed against the guard’s grip, but his fingers dug into her arms like mechanical clamps.

Pickle pranced right up to her.

“Let me go!” Her voice cracked as she fought harder, desperate to protect Pickle from Wang.

Pickle yipped and danced in front of her, his little body wiggling with excitement, completely oblivious to the danger. Each happy bounce was like a knife in her chest. His pleading eyes gazed up at her with such pure trust it made her want to vomit.

Wang lowered the weapon and aimed at Pickle with heartless precision.

“No!” The word ripped from her chest, raw and primal.

“Pickle, come here, boy.” The Colombian woman’s voice was both sweet and broken with terror.

“Are you crazy?” Grace hissed, shrinking away. “You’ll get us all killed!”

“Don’t shoot,” Sienna blurted. “I’ll turn your power back on.”

Wang jerked his gaze back to her. “You did this?” His eyebrow lifted, and when he cocked his head, the beam of a flashlight caught in his black eyes.

Pickle’s nails clicked against the polished wood as he scurried to the trembling women huddled together on the floor.

“Yes.” A reckless smile spread across her face as she forced bravado through her veins.

“Bullshit!” He swept his gun back toward the hostage in his grip and his sleeve rode up, revealing the edge of a tattoo snaking up his forearm. His empty eyes flickered with something worse than coldness—pure hatred.

“I did,” Sienna yelled, trying to keep the attention on her. “It was easy. Your encryption codes were pathetic.” She forced a laugh, and the guard’s fingers dug deeper into her bicep, bruising her flesh.

The women trembled and pressed closer together, and a few of them slinked back as Pickle reached them. The Colombian woman scooped him up and cradled him against her chest like holding him was something she did every day. Her bravery had tears stinging Sienna’s eyes.

“You’ll die with that mutt.” The words darted from Wang’s mouth.

“No!” The word tore from Sienna’s chest, raw and primal.

The woman clutched Pickle tighter, and as she closed her eyes maybe in silent prayer, Pickle licked her chin and wagged his tail.

Movement flickered in Sienna’s peripheral vision. Rusty. He flowed between two pillars like a ghost with a deadly purpose. Her pulse jumped as one of Wang’s men slumped against a column and slid to the floor like spilled water. A surge of joy flooded her veins.

Yes! Get ‘em, Rusty!

“If you let these women go, I’ll restore your systems,” she said, praying that she could keep Wang distracted and buy Rusty time.

Her heart thundered, and her mind was torn between keeping Wang talking and discretely tracking Rusty in the shadows. “Your security is full of holes, and I found a ton of vulnerabilities. But I can fix them for you if you let them go. Honestly, considering what you do, it’s embarrassing?—”

“Shut up!” Wang’s eyes darted toward the balcony and sweat glistened on his upper lip like oil. His composure is cracking. “Kenji! Report!”

The silence that answered him made the air crackle.

She twisted against the guard’s grip, but his fingers clamped down harder, his meaty hand engulfing her arm like an industrial clamp. Pins and needles exploded through her fingers as her circulation slowed to a trickle. She swallowed a whimper and clenched her teeth against the pain.

The Colombian woman smoothed her hand over Pickle, but her eyes were on her like she was trying to tell Sienna something.

“Kenji!” Wang’s voice cracked, and he raised his gun toward the dark balcony above.

“I can tell you exactly how many of your video cameras were vulnerable.” Sienna pushed her luck. “And some of your security protocols?—”

“Shut up!” Wang’s gun snapped back to her, and his eyes blazed with the kind of rage that preceded a massacre.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. Every instinct screamed at her to squeeze her eyes shut and block out the evil bastard glaring at her. But she couldn’t. She had to be ready for Rusty—he was coming for her. And she needed to be ready.

Tears streamed down the face of the woman in Wang’s grip.

In Sienna’s peripheral vision, one more of Wang’s men crumpled like a puppet, silently flopping to the ground. His flashlight painted one final sweep through the darkness. But how would Rusty sneak up on the mountain of muscle crushing her arms? Or the second man who was hovering near the women? Or Wang whose gaze crawled across her face like a hungry insect?

“Kenji!” Wang roared so loud his neck veins bulged.

The Colombian woman’s hands tightened into white-knuckled fists around Pickle, and her jaw set with sudden steel as she caught Sienna’s eye and gave a tiny nod.

Sienna’s breath hitched.

She knows Rusty is alive.

Her heart stuttered as she found Rusty again in the distant shadows. He moved like liquid darkness between the columns, and she only saw him because she knew he was there. But where was Soda? She wasn’t at his side. The thought of something happening to his dog sent ice through her veins.

Twin shadows burst onto the stage—Rusty from the left, Soda from the right, moving like two halves of a deadly machine. Their synchronization was flawless, a force of precision and purpose.

Rusty’s shot landed squarely in the forehead of the man guarding the women. Chaos erupted. Screams tore through the air, and as the women scattered for cover, the guard’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor.

“Get down!” Sienna yelled, twisting against the fingers digging trenches into her bicep.

“? Al suelo ! ? Ahora !” The Colombian woman’s voice cut through the bedlam as she lunged forward, sheltering Pickle against her chest. The other lingerie-clad women hit the floor in a cascade of terror.

Soda struck like lightning, launching at the guard holding Sienna. The impact cracked through the air like thunder as the guard’s spine met hardwood. His screams sliced through the darkness while he wrestled with four-legged fury, then his cries cut off with a sudden finality that made Sienna’s stomach churn.

Sienna was so focused on Rusty’s sprint across the stage toward her that she missed the shadow moving behind her until it was too late. An arm locked around her throat like a steel cable, yanking her back against a body that felt like it was carved from stone.

As she thrashed against her captor, a cry tore from her throat. Cold metal jammed against her temple, and her breath froze in her lungs.

“Don’t move!” Wang’s voice boomed in her ear, pitched high with fury. The arm around her throat constricted until darkness bloomed at the edges of her vision like spilled ink.

Soda growled so deep and savagely that it seemed to vibrate through the floorboards. Her fangs gleamed in the dim light.

“Call off your fucking dog or I’ll blow out her brains!” Wang’s words sprayed spittle against her cheek as he ground the barrel deeper into her temple.

Sienna met Rusty’s gaze across the stage.

As tears pooled in her eyes, Rusty’s military calculation gave way to raw fear.