Page 66 of Sold to the Bikers

"Hang back," orders Badass. "Don't do anything stupid or I'll be the one to kill you, Animal. I'm not going to risk fucking losing you again."

While they yell at each other, Quickshot doesn't say a word. He just pulls his gun casually and moves to the corner. He ducks out, fires, then pulls back. Someone screams, just for a moment, and then a whole barrage of gunfire slams into the wall just beyond the corner.

Oh God, we're going to die. So much for saving Sandra.

We can't even save ourselves.

35

QUICKSHOT

"We're fucking pinned down,"snaps Badass. "The fucker must've called in the whole goddamn Fabbri family. How the hell did they get here so fast?"

"It's that Giancarlo guy. I bet that fucker called them as soon as we showed up. They’ve just been killing time." Animal sticks one of his pistols out and fires twice. Someone screams, but there's a lot of those fuckers.

And we have to keep Natalie safe.

"It doesn't matter where they came from or how they got here. We need to find a more defensible position. And we need to get there before we run outta ammo." I look around for options, then start running down the back of the building to see if there's any on the other side. "You guys stay here."

"Got it."

I look around the corner, and pull my head back just as fucking fast. A pistol cracks and a bullet whines by like a furious bee.

Three, two, one…

I poke my head out, just long enough to find the fucker, aim and pull the trigger. He goes down like the target in a carnival shooting booth, not even having time to scream. I didn't come here to start the fight, but I'm going to fucking finish it.

"Come!" I wave for the others. The coast looks clear.

"What's your plan?" asks Animal.

"Cover, protect Natalie, find Sandra, get the fuck out."

"Fair enough," says Badass. "How do we do it?"

"This way." The Unwanted clubhouse is an old mansion, long past its prime when this section of town was worth something. The fucker who was shooting was using a side door for cover. A way out is a way in. "Quick."

I move first, skirting the fringes of the fight. It’s not as safe as I’d like, but most of the attention is elsewhere.

Animal comes first, stopping behind a post with both guns pointed towards the courtyard. He waves for Natalie to run. She takes one terrified look towards the action, then dashes across, getting behind the railing I'm using for cover.

Badass comes last, throwing himself down to hide his big frame. "We should be getting Natalie outta here, not bringing her inside."

"No fucking argument here, other than that the way out's a fucking warzone right now and there's no fucking way she's letting us leave without at least trying to find Sandra." I glare at her, just so she knows exactly how dumb of an idea I think it is. “What do we do if she doesn’t want to come with us?”

"Who?" Natalie looks up at me from where she's crouched. "Sandra? She has to come with us."

"She's a goddamn adult. You don't have to fucking like it, but she's old enough to make her own choices. I’m not saying I buy her sudden love for that human shit stain, but I'm not going to fucking carry her out kicking and screaming." I look in the door for trouble, but the room's empty. "Come."

"If it was me, you would," counters Natalie like it's even a fucking argument.

"Of course we would. Unlike your damn sister, we fucking love you." I say it casually, not even fucking thinking about it, but Natalie stops so suddenly that Animal yanks her the rest of the way inside so she isn't exposed.

"You what?"

Badass nudges her forwards. "You can process that one later. When we're not in danger of getting fucking shot. Read me?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. We have to figure out where Sandra is." She gets her mind back on the task, but she keeps glancing over at me like I've sprouted another fucking head. What the fuck did she think? That we'd do all this shit for fucking anyone?