Page 47 of Whispers in the Dark
But not Kazimir and Luka.
Nope. Those two look death straight in the eye as they stare at the warehouse, trying to figure out where the shots are coming from, which is why they don’t notice us approaching: Vin from the side, and me from the rear.
“Funny seeing you here,” Vin muses before shooting Luka. The bullet gets him in the shoulder.
“Motherfucker!” Luka shouts, gripping his arm.
Kazimir spins on his heel, facing Vin. “You,” he sneers.
“Did you miss me?” Vin ducks behind a stack of boats as Kazimir raises his gun.
Before he can get a second shot in, I take aim and pull the trigger, but my gun jams.Fanculo!Wasting no time, I fling my gun aside and launch myself at Kazimir, slamming him to theground. His gun slides several feet out of reach. He looks up at me with wild eyes, a sinister smile spreading over his face. “I was hoping our paths would cross again.” He jumps to his feet, appearing like a rabid dog. “You thought you’d hold a gun to my head and get away with it?” He laughs darkly, referring to the moment at Madeleine’s rehearsal dinner where I pressed the head of my gun into his temple, stopping him from shooting Eli. “This is going to be fun.”
He swings an arm at my face, but I avert his punch and maneuver my fist into the side of his jaw. Blood gushes from his lip, but he spits it out, jumping on the balls of his feet. “I’m just warming up.” He does a quick step, landing a punch right into my ribs, leaving me reeling back. I shake off the sting and charge him, tackling him to the cement. Gunshots continue to ring in the air around us as we lash out all our fury onto one another.
Finally, I have the upper hand when I land on top, my hands tightening around his neck. I watch as he struggles for air beneath my hold. This fucker will die beneath my touch, and I won’t lose one ounce of—
A growl reverberates from my throat as I look over at my left arm. A knife protrudes from my flesh, with Kazimir’s bloody fingers still wrapped around the handle. He pulls it down, causing a fiery pain to spread up my bicep.
I grab the knife out of his hand, pulling it out in one go, and toss it to the side. Blood seeps out over my skin.
“Another scar to add to the collection, you ugly motherfucker!”
I land a blow directly into his head, causing his eyes to close and his head to roll to the side.
He’s either dead or unconscious.
I’m hopeful it’s the former.
But I doubt I’m that lucky.
And I’m not willing to take any chances.
I reach behind me for my gun—my gun. My eyes dart to the side, landing on it several feet away.
“Mauro!” Vin shouts. “Let’s go! There’s too many! We have to move now!”
Reluctantly, I roll off Kazimir’s body and run for the awaiting vehicle as bullets fly around me.
But I don’t stop.
I keep running.
I keep fighting.
Because I have a wife waiting for me at home.
And I have no plans of making her a widow any time soon.
As I jump into the back seat, Vin steps on the accelerator, and we peel out of the lot.
“Cutting it kind of close,” Vin observes, looking at me from the rearview mirror. I roll my eyes and lean against the seat, catching my breath.
Alex is looking out the window beside him, so I tap on his shoulder. When he looks at me, I see so much fury in his eyes.
What happened?
“We lost one guard, Dario, and the women were…” He clears his throat. “They were tied up in the hull. Some of them appeared drugged.”
