Page 50 of Before the Fall

Then I hear him say the words I’ve been praying for.

“They’re here! Time to make some magic, Dickie.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, but I don’t want to rejoice too soon. Even if Victor doesn’t want to rape me anymore, that doesn’t mean Jaxon and the rest of the men are safe.

Just as I’m sure Victor is preoccupied, I see him turn toward me holding a knife and wearing a smile that terrifies me. “Time for those jeans to come off, little Tia.”

All I can do is scream in the hopes that Jaxon can hear me and burst into the room before Victor gets what he wants.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Jaxon

We walk into Victor’s house, and the first thing I hear is a scream I know is Tia, making my heart skip a beat as we all march past the dead bodies of Victor’s men. I expected far more guarding the estate and the house, but they seem to have all vanished when he needs them most.

Not surprising. The guy is a complete dick to work for, so why would anyone lay down their life for him?

“She sounds like she’s in that room downstairs,” Cason says, pointing the way.

Someone rounds the corner from a hallway and takes aim at us, but Ryker quickly blows the guy away. Two more follow that guy and meet with the same fate, dropping where they stop.

I’ve never seen Ryker like this. He’s like a killing machine, and I’m here for it one hundred percent. It’s about fucking time.

“Feel like getting a little target practice in?” Kane asks as we step over their dead bodies and try to avoid the blood and brains that sprayed everywhere behind them.

Ryker turns to look at me and shrugs. “Just doing what I came here to do. Stay sharp. Victor may have told his men to stay close to him to lure us into a false sense of security and think this is going to be a cakewalk.”

Just as he gets that last word out of his mouth, two more poke their heads out from behind a wall near the kitchen. Itching to kill someone, I lift my gun and pop the one on the right in the middle of his forehead. He drops like a fifty pound bag of flour, leaving only his buddy next to him.

“I got him!” Cason calls out, and a second later, he pumps two into the guy, sending him falling to the floor like his friend did a few moments ago.

Just beyond them is the door that leads to the basement. Beyond that door, it’s a narrow set of stairs I’d rather not spend much time in. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel if there’s more than one guy waiting for us.

We stand there for only a few seconds before Tia screams again, and even though I know I should wait for what our plan is, I can’t. I charge through that fucking door with my gun ready to kill anyone who gets in my way of saving her.

I hear Ryker say something about having my back as I take the stairs two at a time. The first of Victor’s minions waiting for us downstairs begins shooting before I can even see him, so I spray the fucking area in front of me, hoping I catch him at least once.

Behind me, Cason and Kane call out when they see one and take their shots, helping me get down to the bottom of the stairs. Once I turn the corner, there’s another one waiting for me, though, and he’s had fair warning we’re coming.

“You’re not getting through here,” he says with a shitload of bravado, if not a whole lot of brains.

I raise my hand to shoot him, but he gets off a round before I do, catching me on the arm. The spike of pain sends me stumbling back into the wall. The guy says something cocky about enjoying this, yet a second later the only thing he’s enjoying is a shot to his face courtesy of Ryker.

“I’ve heard enough talking out of these assholes today,” he says when he stops to help me.

Waving him off, I push the pain away and shake my head. “I’m good. We need to get to Tia.”

“You sure?” he asks, looking down at my arm and the blood starting to soak my shirt.

“I’m fucking fine. Let’s go!”

As we pass the one who shot me, I kick him in the side for fucking hitting me. “Asshole. In your next life, work for a better boss.”

I still haven’t seen Dickie, but I can only hope he’s with Victor. With any luck, I can get a two-for-one deal and kill them both.

The house falls silent, which tells us all of Victor’s outside men are taken care of. Now we just have to deal with anyone protecting him inside that room we think he’s in.

We all stop outside the door for a few seconds as Ryker silently motions that he wants to lead the way. I think about arguing with him since I’d love to be the one who takes out Victor, but I understand why he wants to be the person who gives his brother what he’s got coming to him.