Sold to Moretti Mafia

Markus

Handing one of my guns to Fallon, I watch as she simply stares at it. Instead of reaching for it, she looks at it like it’s some kind of alien device.

“Have you shot a gun before?”

“No.”

“If everything goes as planned, you won’t have to, but I need you to at least have this. If I go down, you start shooting.”

“If you go down?” she asks in a high-pitched voice. “What do you mean?”

“Fallon, you know what we are walking into. I might get shot. Fuck, you might get shot.” Even though I will do everything I can to prevent that. Just the thought of her getting hurt has my chest aching, but I know she won’t stay behind.

The only thing calming my nerves right now is knowing that she is wearing a bulletproof vest underneath her sweater. Of course, that won’t save her if someone aims for her head. Fuck, I can’t think about this, or I won’t go through with it.

I’m already contemplating calling this whole thing off, throwing Fallon over my shoulder and taking her back home, where I’ll keep her chained to the bed. Yes, that would be much safer.

“Okay, I’ll take it.” She reaches for the gun. It looks much bigger in her hand. Her fragile fingers wrap around the sleek metal tentatively.

“It’s loaded with a bullet in the chamber. There is no safety. All you have to do is point and shoot, that’s it. Aim for the chest if you can.”

“Got it. Point at chest and shoot,” she repeats, but her voice is shaky, making me wonder if she could really go through with it.

Would she kill someone if her life depends on it? I already know she would risk her life to protect someone else, but would she take a life to protect her own?

“Just stay behind me and follow my lead.”

Felix was able to get me the blueprints of the building, and the intel says there are only three guys guarding her. We should be able to take them down easily since we have the element of surprise on our side.

“Ready?” I give her a final once over.

“So fucking ready,” Fallon answers right away, making me smile.

She was nervous on the flight, she was scared on the drive over here, but now her head is in the game. Her hands are steady, and her voice is determined.

“Let’s go,” I nod and lead her down the alley.

I parked the rental a block away, so they wouldn’t hear a car approaching. This whole block consists of abandoned buildings, most of them condemned, which means besides the occasional homeless person, you won’t find anyone here. Especially not in a fifty-thousand-dollar SUV.

Staying close to the wall, I walk down the small back road with Fallon following close behind. When we get to the building, I spot the camera above the door, right where Felix said it would be. I don’t know how he was able to figure out all this shit, but I don’t care. I’m just glad he did.

Before we’re close enough for the camera to pick us up, I raise my gun and fire the shot, shooting straight into the lens.

“Hurry,” I urge as I quickly make my way to the door, holster my gun and get the lock pick kit out. The door is older, and it only takes me a minute before the lock clicks open. In one swift move, I pocket the kit and retrieve my gun.

I open the door slowly, staying low just in case someone is already in the hallway. Sticking my head in, I see nothing but an empty space.

“It’s clear,” I whisper and move inside. Fallon is so close, I can feel her body heat behind me, and I let that calm the fear coursing through my veins. The fear of something happening to her tonight.

The place is dark, apart from some outside light coming from holes in the ceiling. The floors and walls are cracked and wet, which explains the mold and mildew smell filling the air.

When we get to the end of this hall, it splits into two corridors. I knew this from the plans, but I do not know where they are keeping her. Luckily, the idiots start to talk somewhere down to the right, giving themselves away.

I follow the voices with my gun raised. As we get closer, I can make out some of what they’re saying. My French is rusty, but I do know what la fille means… the girl.

I glance back over my shoulder at Fallon one final time, giving her a small nod. I told her what to do. Hopefully, she’ll listen to everything I said.

Positioning myself in front of the door, I suck in one deep breath before I lift my leg and kick in the door. The old, rotted wood breaks with ease. Small and large pieces fall away as I step into the room with my gun raised.

Time slows down as adrenaline floods my veins, and I become hyper-aware of everything around me. Two men are sitting at the table, their eyes wide with shock. One gets up while the other drops to the floor, but both reach for their guns.

I don’t think. I fire the first shot at the idiot who gets up instead of down. The bullet hits him right between his eyes, and his body crumbles to the ground.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I lower my gun and shoot again. Unfortunately, the other guy is fast. He rolls away, and the bullet hits his shoulder instead of his head.

Reaching behind me, I grab ahold of Fallon and drag her with me as I take cover behind the wall. The guy shoots at us twice, and I can feel the impact of the bullets through the concrete wall, but luckily, it’s not thin enough to penetrate.

Then I hear nothing. Silence. He’s going to have to come out eventually, and I have time. It doesn’t take long for him to get impatient. I hear him move around the room with a groan. That’s when I make my move.

I come around the corner and fire into the room. He doesn’t have a chance this time. The bullet hits his chest before he can raise his gun at me.

The man joins his friend on the floor, and I watch the life drain out of his eyes before turning my attention back to Fallon. She’s hot on my heels, staring at the man I just killed. Surprisingly, she doesn’t look scared or satisfied. She really doesn’t look like anything right now. As if she has shut her emotions down, which might be a very good thing, depending on what we are about to find.

“You okay?” I ask as I look around the room. There is no sign of Fallon’s sister, but there are two empty food trays with half-eaten meals.

“Yeah. Didn’t Felix say there should be three guys?”

“He did. So still be on high alert. Let’s continue down the hallway,” I say and go back to leading the way through the building.

When I hear footsteps approaching from behind us, I quickly spin us both around, shoving Fallon behind me. As soon as I see a figure appear around the corner, I aim my gun at him.

“Stop right there, or I’ll blow your head off like I just did your friends.”

The guy stops dead in his tracks, his face goes pale, and his eyes go wide. He even puts his hands up, showing me his palms as if that will save his life.

“Where is the girl?”

“S’il vous plaît… please,” he begs for his life. What a pussy.

“Where is the girl,” I repeat, my patience dwindling away.

He slowly raises his hand and points to the hall behind us. “Last room,” he says with a heavy French accent.

“Merci.” I thank him before I pull the trigger. The shot echoes through the hallway. Before I can turn around all the way, a second shot rings out.

Panic seizes every fiber in my body, and I spin around in terror. Did someone shoot me? Or worse, Fallon. What did I miss, who did I not see coming? If something happens to Fallon, I will kill everybody in this fucking country.

In the single second it takes me to turn around, my head is swarming with all of these questions. When I’m finally turned enough to see what’s going on behind me, I’m even more shocked than I could have imagined.

Fallon is standing with her back to me, but she is angled enough to where I can see that she is holding her gun with both hands. A few feet away from us is a man, gripping at the center of his chest. Blood is seeping out between his fingers, where Fallon must have shot him.

He falls to his knees, then collapses to the front and falls lifeless to the floor.

The space falls into a dead silence, and for a moment, I just stand there, unsure of what to do. She killed someone. My innocent Fallon killed someone. She put her life before someone else’s, and I couldn’t be prouder of her.

Taking a step forward, I look into her face, expecting to see shock or remorse. Instead, I see relief.

“He was going to kill you,” she tells me, and my jaw almost drops to the floor.

Did she just kill someone for me? I won’t lie, now isn’t really the time, but my cock grows rather hard at the realization.

I don’t have time to dwell on that thought because Fallon is already on the move. Heading toward the end of the corridor.

“Wait,” I call after her, but she sprints further down the hall. “Let me go in first!”

Fearless, like a fucking warrior, she runs to the last door in the hall and slides the large deadbolt open. I’m right next to her as she pushes the door open. I raise my gun, pointing it into the room.

“It’s her,” Fallon gasps and runs into the room. I curse, trying to grab her, but she slips away. Growling, I quickly scan the room and find it empty besides a small woman sitting on a mattress in the far right corner.

“Fallon?” Her sister’s voice fills the space.

“It’s me.” Fallon sinks to her knees in front of her sister. The two immediately fall into each other’s arms.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Her sister’s voice cracks, relief flooding out of her.

“Everything is okay now,” Fallon speaks softly to her, pulling away to assess her a little. From where I stand, I can see nothing that would lead me to believe she was beaten.

She seems thin, almost frail-like, but not beaten or abused. She looks nothing like I expected.

“We need to go,” I growl, not wanting to cut their reunion short but also worried that we’re sitting ducks by staying here any longer.

Fallon nods and helps her sister to her feet. When she faces me again, there is a twinkle in her eye that wasn’t there before. I’m unable to deny the joy that seeing her happy brings me. I want to see her smile all the time, but how? This was always supposed to be temporary.

Now, I’m not so sure…

Amelie looks right at me, her hazel eyes are guarded, and her slight body trembles. She doesn’t really seem afraid of me, just unsure.

“That’s Markus. He helped me rescue you.” Fallon pauses and peers up at me, her big blue eyes bleeding into mine. “He isn’t going to hurt you. He’s one of the good guys.”

I almost snort while hurrying the girls into the hallway. One of the good guys? I wish. If only Amelie knew the shit, I put her sister through to get here.

“It’s time to get out of here,” I say over my shoulder and lift my gun.

Fallon nods her head, and together, we head out of the building.