Page 56 of Mine To Possess
Then I want to have a long, detailed chat with Lenny and his team and find out how the fuck someone got through their defenses. All Igor has done by breaking onto my estate and into my house essentially means, he’s just delivered himself to me on a silver fucking platter.
I pull up outside of the house and jump out of my car. My blood runs cold when I hear a gunshot ringing out.Please be Lenny’s gun, please be Lenny’s gun, I pray as I fly into the house and follow the sound of a scream towards the lounge.
The door to the lounge is ajar and I slow myself down enough to take stock of the situation. If Lenny has the situation under control, knowing he told me to stay away, he won’t be expecting me and if I burst in there, there’s a reasonable chance he might shoot first and ask questions later. It’s what he’s been taught to do in these situations.
I peer through the crack in the door. There’s no sign of Lenny or any of his security team. Instead, I see Igor. On the ground is Lacey, bleeding from her leg. And opposite him is Amelia with Justine a step behind her.
Igor has his gun aimed right at Amelia’s chest.
30
VIKTOR
“Where the fuck is Viktor?” Igor snarls.
Amelia’s mouth opens and then it closes again, and I know it’s time to end this shit. I step into the doorway, giving away my position to Amelia and Justine. Igor has his back to me. His shirt is clinging to his back, soaked in nervous sweat that I can smell even from here.
“I’m right here you fucking bastard,” I say quietly.
Igor spins towards the sound of my voice as I hoped he would, the gun coming off Amelia. The second the gun is no longer pointed at her, I yell.
“Amelia. Justine. Get the fuck out of here.”
Neither of them moves, but my focus is on Igor now. He’s almost fully facing me, but his gun is still swiveling in my direction. With an angry roar, I launch myself at him. I collide with his body and send him sprawling backwards. I fall on top of him. The gun goes off, the sound of the shot muffled as it’s shielded by our bodies. A half second after the gun goes off again, I feel a blinding white pain in my left shoulder, and half a second after that, I feel the warm rush of blood from my shoulder down my chest.
My heart pounds loudly. Each hard beat brings a rush of warm blood out of me.
Igor’s body hits the floor with mine pouncing on top of him. I feel dizzy, but I hold onto consciousness, and punch down on Igor with my right hand. I catch him on the nose and feel the satisfying give of his cartilage, hear the crack that tells me I’ve broken his nose. He makes a grunting sound as blood explodes from his nostrils. I pull my fist back again, but Igor manages to get his gun arm free from beneath me. I feel the cold hard slam of metal against my temple and my vision swims in and out as the dizziness washes over me more violently now, threatening to carry me away on a wave of disorientating nausea.
Igor takes advantage of my pain and dizziness and shoves me hard to one side. He jumps up the second my body is clear of his and runs towards the empty space where the patio door’s glass should be. In that crazy moment all my senses become alive. I can even hear the shards of glass crunching beneath his feet.
Pulling on some secret superhuman strength deep inside me, I get to my feet with a roar of anger and chase after Igor. I know even before I clear the decking outside of the patio and get through the gate that leads from the balcony to the pool area that I’m too late. Igor’s body disappears around the side of the house. I know I won’t catch him, not while I’m in this state. Agonizing pain is radiating from my shoulder, and I can feel hot blood running down my chest and arm. I’m bleeding from my temple too, but despite the blood and the pain and the sheer futility of my action, I give chase to Igor.
Amelia screams for me to come back, but I’m absolutely fuming, and the anger fuels the adrenaline inside of me, pushing me on.
I run to the corner he disappeared around, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I stand there swaying with no idea which direction he’s run to. Wherever he went, he’s likely over the fence now and I know he’s long gone. To confirm my suspicion, a car engine roars to life on the other side of the fence. I hear tires squealing as Igor speeds away.
“Fuck,” I shout into the still evening air. “Fuck.”
When I catch him now, he’s not just dead, he’s going to die in agony like the flea ridden fucking vermin he is. I’ll make him wish he’d never even heard my name, let alone said it. I scream at the sky, letting my anger flood out of me. Then I turn and head back towards the house. I know I need to let some of the anger go for the minute. I need to make sure Amelia is ok and I need to call someone to get Lacey to hospital.
All of this is going through my mind as I step back into the living room. I’m almost knocked off my feet when Amelia throws herself at me. I open my arms and catch her, and she holds me tightly. It’s agony and fresh blood flows from my wound and soaks into her clothes, but I keep holding her anyway, needing to feel her in my arms, needing to know she’s ok.
“What happened?” I ask Justine.
“I don’t know,” she replies, with a shiver. “Amelia and I were in the kitchen. We heard a gunshot and then a scream and we ran in. Lacey was down and that man had a gun pointed at us. And then you appeared.”
“Lacey?” I ask. “Do you know what happened?”
“Not really. I was on my way down the stairs when I heard the glass breaking. I ran in here expecting to see I don’t know what. I thought maybe Justine or Amelia had had some sort of accident. Instead, there was the man with the gun. I demanded to know who he was and what he was doing here, and he just shot me. Who was he, Viktor? What did he want?”
“Valuables I’m assuming,” I lie. “Is everyone ok? Lacey, I know your leg needs attention, but other than that?”
“I’m fine,” Lacey says.
Justine nods mutely. She looks like she’s about to pass out and she practically falls onto a chair. I look at Amelia. She frowns and shakes her head.
“We’re ok, but you’re not,” she says, her voice full of worry. “And don’t be trying to pull any of this macho bullshit about being ok. You’re bleeding heavily and you look like you’re about ready to pass out. Sit down. I’m calling an ambulance for both you and Lacey.”