Page 43 of Vengeance

"I'm right behind you,” he said.

"You promise?" His heart squeezed at the thought of her wanting to make sure that he was safe too.

"I promise." She nodded before disappearing into the hidden passage. Doc followed halfway before stopping, and he looked back.

"I counted four men,” Vengeance said.

"No." Doc's expression hardened. "There are six."

Vengeance's stomach dropped. "I only saw?—"

"Two circled around the back,” Doc said. Hell, they were boxed in. He risked another glance through the shattered window and noticed a man in black tactical gear with no club colors. They were professional killers that Dante had hired. It was exactly how he liked his crews—professional and deadly.

One of the men motioned toward the rear of the cabin, and another raised a suppressed rifle. He was pretty sure that theywere clearing rooms—military style. Lucius wasn't leading this team—someone else was. Someone smarter.

A voice drifted through the doorway. "Bring the girl out." Vengeance recognized that voice immediately—Marcus. He was one of Dante's captains. The man trained recruits. Hell, he was the guy who'd taught Vengeance how to clear buildings. His stomach twisted because he knew exactly how Marcus would attack since he had taught him.

"V!" Marcus called. "You know how this ends."

Vengeance almost laughed. "I do."

"Then stop making this harder than it needs to be,” Marcus shouted.

"You first,” Vengeance said.

Marcus sighed dramatically. "You've always been your father's biggest disappointment."

"No." Vengeance smiled coldly. "I've always been his biggest mistake."

Marcus laughed. "That's probably true." The laughter stopped as quickly as it started. "Dante gave me one instruction."

"Just one?” Vengeance drawled.

"Yep,” Marcus breathed, “for some reason, he doesn’t want me to kill you."

That surprised him. "What?"

"He wants to do that himself." Vengeance's blood turned to ice because, of course, he did. Dante wouldn't trust anyone else with something so personal. A crash echoed from the rear of the cabin.

"They're inside!" Doc shouted from the hidden doorway. There wasn’t any more time to stand around talking. Vengeance grabbed the old Colt Savage had left him. The familiar weight settled naturally into his hand. With his pistol in one hand and Savage's Colt in the other, he looked toward the hidden passage.

"Go!" he shouted.

"I'm not leaving you!" Chloe yelled. His chest tightened. God, she sounded exactly like Bowie.

"You don't get a vote,” Vengeance shouted.

"I'm really starting to hate that sentence!" Chloe yelled. Despite everything, he smiled. She disappeared another step down the staircase, and Doc stayed where he was.

"What are you doing?" Vengeance asked.

The older man looked almost offended. "I'm seventy-one."

"What does that have to do with anything?” Vengeance asked.

"I've earned the right to ignore stupid orders."

Vengeance groaned. "You sound like Savage."