Page 94 of Ruthless

Enzo’s unleashes a dark chuckle. “The same thing they’ve been promising me for the last twenty years. A seat at the table.”

Being taken under the Council’s wing is one of the greatest honors anyone within the organization can receive. Why the fuck would they offer Enzo that kind of protection and backing just to takemeout?

With my thoughts spinning, I miss the threat until Enzo’s focus shifts behind me. Sara races into the basement with Patrick hard on her heels and wielding a Desert Tech MDRX rifle.

She launches herself at Jeremy right as Patrick braces the custom rifle with his shoulder and aims.For Sara.Icy panic floods me, and my mind blanks from fear.

No one hurt her even during the townhouse siege, so what the fuck is Patrick doing?

Instinctively, I charge, placing myself between her and the death that awaits at the end of his gun. In those sweet, precious moments before the bullet cracks the air, the desire for revenge disappears, Enzo disappears, and my focus narrows to the only person in this room who ever really mattered.

Chapter 39

Sara

Dante’s arm cinches around my waist, knocking me into my brother, and the three of us crash to the ground. Not a heartbeat later, after the pop of a gun, Enzo’s head explodes above us, blood and brain matter painting the cement walls and splattering our clothes.

“What the fuck!” Jeremy squirms away, backpedaling from the gore, his eyes too wide for his face. “What the fuck…what the fuck!”

“Speak to mepiccola tesoro.” Dante threads his fingers through my hair, and his breath fans my lips. “Tell me you’re not hurt.”

Grabbing his hands, I press my forehead against his. Between us, our racing hearts ring loud. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Everyone all right?” The man I barreled past on the stairwell enters, leading with his gun. Not a single hair out of place, as if blowing people’s heads off is just another typical day at the office. He’s the guy who led me to the basement after I ran into SilverTech, like he knew exactly who I was searching for.

Dante swings his head toward the man before pressing a firm kiss to my lips and rising to his feet, his fingers twitching on his weapon like he’s not sure whether to draw or stand down.

Jeremy’s voice breaks through the tense silence. “No! We arenotall right!” I manage to shut him up before he attracts further attention.

“Why’d you shoot, Patrick?” Dante positions himself between us and the threat. “I had everything under control.”

“You wanted him dead, didn’t you?” I heave a sigh of relief when Patrick finally lowers his weapon and remove my hand from Jeremy’s mouth. “I couldn’t tell. You two were chatting like two old hens at a Sunday brunch.” His pause drips with malevolent intent. “What did that Conti son of a bitch have to say, huh? Surely nothing quite as interesting as our visitor here.”

My relief is short-lived when Patrick points his gun straight at me. Using my body as a shield, I cover Jeremy while the air arrests in my lungs. I prepare myself to suffer the same fate as the faceless man on the floor. Dante cranes his neck, and I’m terrified that his undiluted fear will be the last thing I ever see.

Quicker than I can follow, Dante lifts his arm and fires a single shot. I scream as Patrick keels forward onto the cement, the bullet lodged in his forehead visible for a second before he smacks face-first onto the ground.

Dante’s at my side before the first echo of the shot finishes reverberating through the room. As he reaches his hand down to me, Jeremy lets out a pained whine and rushes over to a janitor’s bucket, losing the contents of his stomach. Not that I’m judging. My brother did just witness two murders.

Maybe I can get a two-for-one deal in therapy.

Dante helps me to my feet while Jeremy works to compose himself. “We’re in the basement, so I doubt anyone heard anything, but we only have a few minutes before someone starts wondering where this piece of shit wandered off to.” Though his touch is gentle, my stomach drops at the look in his eyes. He’spissed. “You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing here?”

I extract my arm and lift my chin in defiance. “I told you I was coming.”

“And I told you to trust me. You could have been killed,tesoro.”

My chest pinches over his agonized tone, but my emotional bank is already overloaded.

Mostly recovered, Jeremy gets shakily to his feet and comes over to stand next to me, careful not to glance at either of the bodies nearby. I rub soothing circles on his back, body boundaries be damned, and he lets me.

“Angela.” The ache in my chest intensifies as I recount her treason.

“She was the mole the entire time.Shewas one of the nurses on duty the night Jackson supposedly died of internal bleeding. She was the one who led me through the house the night of the attack,straightinto the arms of the Council’s soldiers. The Council’s been orchestrating everything, with Angela serving as their loyal servant.”

Dante’s face flushes with fury, and he pivots, driving his fist into the nearest wall. “I should have killed that bitch months ago.”

“Angela?” Still pale, Jeremy digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, struggling to process everything he’s seen and heard. “You mean your friend from the hospital? What’s she got to do with any of this?”