Page 111 of Seduction

“Coke,” he says, shoving his knife back in his pocket and closing the box.

“Looks like Junior is taking over his dad’s operation.”

“Yeah,” Gage agrees with me. “We definitely need to end this shit.”

The truck picks up speed, and Venom shouts from his seat in the front, “Brace yourselves, fuckers!”

There really is nothing to hold on to, so we press our backs against the wall of the cab. Closing my eyes, I send up a silent prayer.I’m coming, Ellen.

The sounds of the fence giving are followed by shouting and gunfire. Charger floors it, the truck lurching forward. When it powers through the wall of the building, our backs slam into the wall before we’re thrown forward. Getting my bearings, I pull my Glock. Gage, Razor, Allah, and Rico do the same. Razor growls, throwing up the rolling door before busting out like a demon out of Hell, two guns blazing.

“Find shorty,” Gage says before following.

I slip out, avoiding bullets as I begin to search the building. Up ahead, I spot Briggs ducking into a room on the second floor.

“Briggs!”

He looks back, firing two shots. I crouch behind a stack of boxes, watching him disappear through the entrance. I run for the stairs, keeping my gun trained on the open door. When I reach the landing, Ellen appears in the doorway. Briggs’s arm is wrapped around her sternum, his gun pressed to her temple. Her eyes widen when they land on me.

“Jon!”

“Let her go, Briggs,” I grind out between clenched teeth, taking tentative steps forward.

“Fuck you!”

Ellen is short enough that I can easily take him out with a head shot, but I won’t risk it.

“I just want her. Let her go and I’ll tell the others you got away.”

“You think I’m stupid, asshole?”

You fucked with what’s mine, so you’re a dumbass motherfucker. “Briggs—”

He plants his palm in Ellen’s back, shoving her forward. I scramble to catch her before she hits the floor. In the commotion, Briggs runs in the opposite direction. Fuck!

But I got Ellen. That’s all that matters.

“Babe, you okay?” I ask, urgency in my tone.

“Yes.” She throws her arms around my neck. “Just get me out of here.”

Movement from the doorway has me raising my gun. The man I saw in the ambulance steps out, hands raised in surrender.

“Don’t shoot,” he begs.

“Don’t,” Ellen cries into my chest. “They had his family. He didn’t have a choice.”

Gritting my teeth, I jerk my head for him to follow. I lift her into my arms, making my way back down the stairs. It’s quiet on the first floor. Gage rushes forward, eyes worriedly wandering over Ellen’s body.

“She hurt?”

“Can’t tell. Let’s just go.”

“Briggs?”

“He got away.”

“Who the fuck is this and why isn’t he dead?” He nods to the man in the scrubs.