Page 34 of Beguiled

At least he was affected by the precariousness of his position and the firepower, tumbling backwards into the hallway. That didn’t buy much time though.

I mentally willed her to stay on the floor while lunging toward the first guy, tossing him into the air by several feet. The knife tumbled from his hand, skidding across the floor. When he hit the wall with a savage thud, he wasn’t moving. I yanked his weapon from his hand, spinning while crouching. A bullet whizzed over my head, plunging into the wall.

With another two shots fired, I hit my mark, this time between the assailant’s eyes.

There was no time to revel in the glory of making the hit, prepared to finish off the last asshole when I heard two things.

The cock of a weapon a split second before being fired and a warrior’s cry.

Just as I spun around, a vision of the stunning beauty whizzed past me, a chair in her hands. She didn’t waste time, smashing it down on the man’s head. A brutal crack indicated she had more upper body strength than I’d given her credit for.

I threw myself in front of her, forcefully backing her away and covering her eyes. She wouldn’t like hearing that she’d killed a man, no matter the circumstances.

Her gasps were full of shock and perhaps a heavy dose of adrenaline. Hearing footsteps, I threw my arm out while keeping her body pinned against mine.

When a few of Sean’s men rushed into the room, they were shocked at the sight.

“What the fuck?” The one guy had been my liaison and the only soldier who knew anything about me. Rory shook his head, half laughing as he scratched his head.

“Take him,” another said.

“No,” Rory said. “He did us a favor. Check the exits and get the guests out of here.”

“You sure, boss?” the third asked.

“Yeah,” Rory said. “I’m sure. Check the pockets and the damn security system. I need to know how these motherfuckers got in here.”

“Yes, sir.” The other two eyed me as if I was the enemy.

I took a deep breath. “You could have a breach in your ranks, Rory.” Was it possible the assailants were Armenians? Maybe Russians.

Or perhaps something else altogether. Now I would think about Mikhail with every incident.

Without stripping their clothing and searching for a tattoo, either an AP for Armenian Power or the Armenian flag, Iwouldn’t know for certain. Even then, certain clans didn’t require ink as a sign of respect.

Rory wasn’t thrilled I’d mentioned it. “We’ll look into it. What happened?”

The girl was silent, likely falling into shock. I had a feeling she was very new to the scene.

“Found the asshole accosting her. Maybe ready to use her to get to your boss.”

His nod was while he was staring at her.

I backed away, lifting her chin with a finger. She didn’t want to look me in the eyes. A perfectly acceptable reaction. “Are you alright?”

Her nod was deliberate, but only once.

When I turned toward him, I shook my head. He walked further into the room, crouching down by one of the fallen assailants. “Never seen him before.”

“He was here all night,” she croaked out, her voice little more than a cracked whisper.

“Goddamn it,” Rory hissed.

“That means you have more than one flaw in the system,” I told him while shoving my gun into my pocket.

His entire face was pinched. “Thanks for the assist.”

“You’re welcome.” That was the moment the girl grabbed her bag and fled the room.