Page 108 of Ruthless
“What’s going on? What the hell happened?”
“Someone, I’m assuming my brother, must have called for backup. We’ve got at least ten soldiers out there. They’ve destroyed the glass doors and the wall we were hiding behind.”
“You heard from Ash?”
“Yes, they’re still a couple minutes out.”
“Then we hold them off till the reinforcements arrive.”
“Gideon, you’re not—”
Even though she knew he was in severe pain, he sat up and then got to his knees. Pulling his SIG Sauer from his thigh holster, he locked eyes with her. “Remember what I said? We do this together.”
Arguing would do no good. The sooner they eliminated their enemy, the sooner he could get the medical attention he needed.
They crawled to the reception desk and, raising their heads, observed what they faced. The soldiers continued to stand, almost at attention, facing the entrance, yet not moving.
“They’re waiting for orders,” Gideon said quietly.
“From whom?”
“I’m guessing it’s not your brother.”
“No. He’s not calling the shots.”
“Whoever is in charge won’t leave us alive.”
Gideon was right. These soldiers would mow them down without a second thought.
“How do you want to play this?”
“We could wait until Ash and the team arrive,” Gideon said. “If we engage, they’ll defend themselves. Ten against two aren’t good odds.”
“Then we wait.” She glanced over at him. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’m ready to get out of here.”
Knowing that was all he’d admit, she nodded and touched his arm. “Then we—”
The first shot almost took her head off. If she hadn’t been leaning toward Gideon, she’d be dead.
“Looks like they’ve got their orders.”
The bullets came fast and furious. Kneeling beside each other, they returned fire. Curiously, the soldiers shot from the portico without advancing into the building. She took down one and managed to wing another. Gideon took down one and then two. But there were too many of them, and their weapons were bigger, designed for war. This was a battle she and Gideon would not win.
“Eve!”
When she turned to face him, it was all Gideon could do not to scream his outrage. She had blood all over her face. He didn’t know if she’d been shot or if the blood came from cuts caused by the flying debris and glass. All he knew was he could not lose her. Not today.
Glancing round, he spotted one of the guards they’d taken out earlier. The man lay in a recessed area behind the reception desk where they’d put him. But on the other side of his body was something they hadn’t noticed—several weapons were stored, including an assault rifle. Crawling over the body, Gideon grabbed the gun and yelled, “Here!” Eve was the best shot on their team.
Her eyes lighting up, she caught the rifle, checked the magazine, and then did the thing she did best. She started shooting.
As he watched the soldiers fall like dominoes, he noted two things. Eve hadn’t lost her touch, but the instant one soldier went down, another replaced him.
“There are more out there,” he snarled.
“Yeah. I don’t think—”