Page 83 of Shutter and Sin
I chuckle at that. “So what’s my reward if I send the guards away?”
“You get to spend time with me. I’m the prize. I’m the reward,” she answers confidently.
“You are,” I admit. I turn around and motion to Sergei, who comes forward immediately.
“Sir, is there anything I can help you with?” he asks.
“My wife and I would like some privacy. Why don’t you and the others go wait by the car?” I tell him.
“Sir, are you sure?” he asks, looking concerned. “We can stay more discreet. We don’t think it’s safe around here.”
“Don’t worry. I can handle myself,” I reassure him. “Plus, this is a foreign country. We’ve done our sweeps. We talked with the Portuguese mafia, and we have a good relationship with them. It should be fine around here except maybe some street dogs, and I can handle those on my own.”
“Okay, sir,” he says, though I can tell he doesn’t like it.
Zoya’s waiting for me with her hands on her hips. “Are you coming?” she calls out.
“Of course. Lead the way,” I tell her.
We walk around, checking out old buildings with crumbling facades and colorful tiles. We turn down a residential street and see two women fighting in the middle of the road. A crowd has gathered, and Zoya joins right in with the cheering.
“Yeah! Beat her up!” Zoya shouts. “Yes! No, no, no- she’s gonna drag you by the hair! Grab her hair!”
I’m also watching, completely invested in the spectacle. “Uppercut! Yes!” I shout.
The crowd is cheering and excited. One woman finally wins, and the other runs off crying. It’s getting really dark now, and the streets are starting to empty, but Zoya is still just as energetic as she was this morning.
“Zoya, I think it’s time we go home for real this time,” I tell her. “It’s late, and we have activities tomorrow. We can continue this another day.”
“Alright. Sure,” she finally agrees.
We turn a corner and start heading back, and that’s when five men step out into our path. Each one is grinning and arrogant, and they come together with a look that is far too calculating. One of them, whom I presume is the leader, comes forward.
“Well, well, well. Rich kids walking around these parts,” he says with a laugh. “Didn’t anybody tell you it’s dangerous around here?”
They all laugh like villains in a movie, explaining their plan before they even do anything. I think to myself that they must have watched too many dumb shows, because I would never tell my enemies what I was going to do.
One of them comes toward me as we’re backed up against a wall. I put Zoya behind me immediately. If I were alone, I wouldn’t mind finishing them all off, but with her here, I can’t be reckless. I have to protect her first.
The guy touches my coat and says, “Look at this. Expensive.”
“Who told you that?” Zoya’s voice cuts through the air. “Who sent you?”
The man turns to her and sneers. “Didn’t anybody tell you women should shut up when men are talking? You’re probably a whore. Shut your mouth before I call your pimp.”
“Watch what you say to my wife,” I warn him, my voice going low.
The man just laughs. “Wife? That’s rich. Look, we’ll overpower you, rape her, kill you, and sell your organs.”
“We’ll rape her first. Then sell your bitch into trafficking,” another one adds as they all begin to cackle.
I move instantly to wrap my hand around the first man's throat and lift him off the ground. “Say that again,” I dare him.
The others freeze for a heartbeat, but then the sharp, metallic snap of a gun cocking cuts through the silence. Before the muzzle flash even fades from my eyes, I’ve already yanked the leader’s body in front of me, using him as a human shield while his own friend's bullets tear through his back.
“Shit! You killed Marco!” one of them screams.
The body goes limp, and I charge forward with the corpse, using it to knock into another man. That’s two down. There are three left, and one of them has a gun. I realize then that I forgot my own weapon in the beach bag.
