Page 128 of The Boss

His eyes lock with mine, blow wide and he crouches down into a squat just in time for me to fall into him. “Lasa,”he grunts, then louder asks, “What the hell are you doing here?”

I pull back from his embrace, “Saving your ass!”

“You—”

“I know!” I interrupt, “I also planned the mission and got you into this mess but I was the one who spotted the trap. I came as fast as I could.”

“It wasn’t fast enough,” he says, putting his forehead onto mine.

“What do you mean…Mac? Collin?” I ask, my mind starting to spin out.

He shakes his head, “I mean one second apart from you was a second too long, Mancini.”

I put a hand up to his rough, firm jaw and look into his eyes, “You didn’t hear? I got married. To a real asshole. Now my last name isQuinn.”Then I kiss him. Hard. He groans.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me, but, a little help here?” Mac yells at us from the driver’s side of the Hummer.

Quinn smirks at me, bloody, dirty, sweaty. Happy. I smile back up at him. We shift together toward the fight in front of the vehicle. Van starts,“Behind me and remember—”

“I know. Breathe, aim, shoot to injure,” I finish for him. He nods, and we start shooting. The second half of my team has taken out most of the Russians loaded into the armored van. All that’s left is the delivery truck to the left. Mac and another soldier are shooting on the driver’s side, so Van and I move around the rear of the Hummer.

There are only a few Russians left behind the truck, and as L-team moves in, finished with the others at each vehicle, we’ve got them outnumbered. I start to relax.

Then I hear the commotion, one second before my tiny earpiece beeps.

“Remnant! Incoming!”

CHAPTER 55

Van

“Damn it!” I yell, when we’re surrounded. Again.

“They can’t give us more notice than that? What kind of overwatch—”

“Luna,” I scold her. She can’t rant about Command out in the open. And no, they can’t give us a heads up. Since they don’t exist.

Gunfire rains down from two new trucks in front of me. I shield Luna with my body and she’s crouched down, shooting under my arm. She lets off a few rounds and hits one guy’s foot. Then another. From her low position she easily takes out their tires too.

“Good, baby,” I grunt. She’s so smart. I’m so fucking proud of her.

She came back. For me. Wait, not now you big pansy ass sap!

A bullet whizzes by my side, way too damn close. I can’t lose Mac or Luna. We already lost a couple men at the other positions. The Russians came at us on all sides, and with the damn Remnant too, apparently.

We’re better shots, though. That’s the thing about most made men. It’s all about the sex, drugs, and riding around in fancy cars collecting money. They don’t study, they don’t train. We do.

After what feels like a million rounds, my arm trembling, all of the men ahead of us are down.

“Clear,” Mac says.

I turn to Lu—Luna?

“Not so fucking fast, Quinn, finally got her this time!”

“Tad, let her go,” Mac warns the old Irishman from behind me. I can’t form words. Luna’s eyes are wide, his filthy hand over her mouth, his arm clamped around her. He’s gripping her hurt shoulder and…this fucker…

I pull my gun and shoot him in the head.