“She does have a cracking set of jugs on her!” Bryan shouts.
Shaking my head at Chris, my heart aches as I watch a single tear roll down his cheek.
“Get your fucking hands off my daught?-“
The guy behind my dad pistol whips him and he falls on his face.
“How about I carve my initials into her, gramps?” Bryan shouts. “How does that sound?”
“You do that and you’ll suffer a pain no human can bear,” Chris replies in the coldest, most assured voice I’ve ever heard.
Bryan laughs. “Oooooh. Like cutting open someone’s palm or breaking someone’s fucking leg?”
“Wayworse,” Chris states.
“Like what?” Bryan asks, walking back over to his nemesis.
Chris glances at me before locking his unblinking eyes on Bryan.
“Your grandparents,” he states. “Your parents. Your close friends. Your future partners. You touch her again and I’ll let you live. But I’ll kill every person you’ve ever been close to. Past, present, and future. Then funeral after funeral after funeral, for the rest of your tortured life, you’ll know you’re responsible for every single one of them. That’s a promise. And I don’t break promises.”
Bryan’s mouth falls open, and he stands nose to nose with Chris Collins.
“Holy shit,” he snickers. “You really are one crazy bastard, aren’t you?”
“Under the right set of circumstances, yes,” Chris tells him, poker-faced.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that, gramps?” Bryan glances around the room. “Because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re handcuffed, unarmed, and outnumbered by four guys who fucking hate you. So what makes you think you’re getting out of here alive?”
Chris smirks. “Last chance. Let them go.”
“Umm…” Bryan winks. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Okay,” Chris sighs. “Then there are three people here who won’t be dying tonight. Jury’s still out on the other four.”
“You really are a cocky piece of shit,” Bryan gasps. “What makes you thi?-“
“Code seven!” Chris yells.
My dad glances at me before crawling into the corner of the room.
“What the fuck is code seven?” Bryan asks as Chris cracks his shoulders.
“The thing I’m best at,” he replies. “Sucks to be you.”
“Just shoot the prick or I will!” the guy on crutches shouts. “He broke my fucking leg!”
Chris snaps his head to him. “Shut your fucking mouth, dipshit. In twenty seconds, you won’t even haveone leg to hop around on.”
Then he stares at the bald guy.
“And your soccer days are over,” Chris says.
What the hell is happening?
Chris nods at me and mimes, “Close your eyes.”
In a blur, he twists his arms and flings himself behind Bryan.
Within a second, my ex-boyfriend is gasping for air as Chris pulls the handcuff chain tight against his throat.
“I fucking warned you,” Chris snarls in his ear. “Lift your fucking gun.”
Bryan doesn’t move, so Chris pulls harder.
“Lift your fucking gun, or I swear to God I’ll snap your fucking neck!”
Bryan raises his hand.
“Left leg,” Chris states. “Shoot your buddy in his left leg or die here on your feet.”
“S-sorry,” Bryan stammers, aiming the gun at the guy on the crutches.
The chair legs leave the floor as I jump at the sound of the gunshot.
The highest-pitched squeal I’ve ever heard erupts from the wounded guy, and he drops his crutches before plummeting to the floor face-first.
“Right foot,” Chris says, turning Bryan to the bald guy.
Bryan doesn’t even apologize as he fires a bullet into the bald guy’s foot.
“Fuck!” he screams, his gun flying from his hand as he hops around the warehouse.
The one remaining guy holds up his hands, and I spot a wet patch growing in the groin of his jeans.
“You want to know why you get to live?” Chris yells at him. “Because you didn’t shoot me at the cemetery when you had your chance. You’re not like these other losers. Now get the fuck out of here and make better choices.”
The guy walks backward to the door, then runs into the street.
Now on his feet, my dad collects the guns and kicks the two guys crying on the floor.
“She’s the last thing you’ll ever see,” Chris screams into Bryan’s ear. “Look at her!”
Bryan’s bloodshot eyes look set to pop from his head as he stares at me.
With my dad untying my hands, I watch the life seep from Bryan’s body and he drops his gun.
“Stop!” I shout, running over to Chris. “Stop!”
His dark gaze seems to stare through me. He’s not here. He’s away on some battlefield, blinded by rage.
“Chris!” I say, reaching across Bryan’s gasping mouth to touch his cheek. “You don’t have to be a scorpion. Please…”
His brown eyes soften as he draws in a deep breath, and I sigh with relief when he slackens the chain.
Bryan coughs hard and clutches his throat as Chris lifts his cuffed hands over his head.
“Stay right where you are!” someone yells, and I turn to find three police officers standing in the doorway.
“Wait!” Chris shouts to them, staring deep into my eyes. “Remember what I taught you in your swimming pool?”
He then nods at Bryan, and I glance back at the officers.
“They work forme,” Chris says. “Six inches behind the target.”
Turning to my insane ex-boyfriend, I suck in a deep breath and step up close to him.
“Hey, Bryan,” I say. “I need to tell you something.”
Still clutching his throat, he frowns when I tilt my head and smile.
Then I coil my fingers into a fist and swing as hard as I can.
My knuckles smash into his jaw and his head snaps backward, sending him crashing into the wall.
“Nowthat’s a punch,” Chris chuckles behind me as Bryan’s eyes roll.
“What do we have here?” a police officer asks Chris.
“Kidnap,” he replies. “These three pricks bundled Harper into a car. Then that loser shot his colleagues. His prints will be on the gun.”
“Hemade me shoot them!” Bryan yells through tears.
Chris smirks at the cop. “He’s full of shit.”
While the officers arrest the three men and drag them out the door, I just stand here staring up at Chris in disbelief.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “I put you in danger. You’ll be better off away from me in London.”
He smiles down at me.
“Change of plans,” he says.
“W-what?” I gasp.
Chris slides his cuffed hands over my head and stoops to meet my height.
“You’re bleeding bad,” I say, feeling the warm trickle dripping down my shoulder.
“I don’t see it,” he mouths.
“What? Are you okay? Bryan cut your hand open and?-“
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.