Page 56 of Possessive

"This is an interesting place for a chat," Gianni said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"This isn't a chat." The first of the strangers, a man in his forties with a long chin, said.

"I thought not." Gianni raised his gun and shot him in the centre of his forehead.

The other three dropped back, crouching on the other side of the SUV.

"We came to deliver a message," one of them called out.

"Why can't these motherfuckers learn to text?" came from the direction of the twins. "Even Reuben can text."

"What message?" Damon asked.

"Kurt Lasalle said to back the fuck off."

"We have no intention of backing off," Reuben said coldly. A heartbeat later he said, "Kill them."

Apparently he wasn't in the mood to follow the suggestion of whoever said not to kill the messenger.

Before anyone could move to follow his orders, another two dark sedans stopped behind the first, further blocking the exit.

"Shit just got real," Gianni said.

Damon hummed his agreement. "Too fucking real."

CHAPTER 22

REUBEN

I rubbed a hand over my forehead. A headache threatened. They usually did on nights like this.

I reached into the SUV to pull out a gun for myself. Reluctantly, I handed one to Mina.

I should insist she stay in the car, but under the circumstances, we needed her, and knives would not be enough. Not unless they got a lot closer. None of us had any intention of them getting anywhere near her.

She eyed the gun, but slipped the knives away and took it. As I would have expected of her, she checked to make sure it was loaded and the safety was off. Old, well-learned skills were hard to forget. Impossible with our lifestyle.

I turned my attention back to the new vehicles. Two people stepped out of each one, all on the opposite side, keeping their vehicle between us and them.

Unless others hid in the back, then it was six against seven. Three crouching on the other side of the SUV and four out on the street. We'd faced worse.

Gianni dropped down low and crab-walked silently to the end of the SUV. After a moment, Damon followed. They slid around the front, their movement followed by a painfully loud gunshot, then another.

They threw themselves back behind the SUV.

"One down," Gianni grinned. "One of them almost took a couple of hairs off my head."

Lucky the shot wasn't lower than that.

Without a word, Mina dropped to her stomach on the concrete. For half a second, I thought she'd been shot. That was until the gun in her hand flashed once, twice.

Shouts of pain came from the other side of the vehicle.

"My fucking foot!"

Laughing, Gianni darted back around the front of the SUV and finished off the last two attackers with a shot each.

Damon grunted his approval of Mina's tactic. Injuring them by shooting them in the feet or ankles was the perfect distraction. Unorthodox, but perfect.