“The fuck?” someone curses under their breath. “That makes three, right?”“Something’s wrong,” another soldier mutters as he lowers the body to the ground. There’s something sinister about the way the bone in the neck bulges awkwardly at a weird angle. In no time, I’m sure the area around it will turn purple and blue, but that’s not what’s weird.“There are too many of them,” Adeline notes to which some of the soldiers with me nod in agreement. They’re right. There are too many.Noah’s team reported that there would be around three dozen men scattered around and inside the village where they keep the prisoners, but we’ve encountered three already, which means the other teams are in a similar situation. We’ve barely managed to scratch the surface and something has already gone wrong.“We blew up their boat, someone must have seen it,” another comments.“Wait,” I call out quietly, stopping in front of the downed enemy. Call it morbid curiosity, but there’s something I need to confirm. K
My eyes widen in surprise, there’s no way they know I’m part of the mission team. From the corner of my eye, I notice Dante’s finger flexing around the rifle’s trigger. As carefully as I can, I reach forward to grip the back of his shirt, tugging him back, a silent warning to help him calm down. It seems to work.“Let them go,” Noah hisses, his shoulders tense as he aims his gun slowly toward the village chief.“Those weren’t my orders,” the chief replies smoothly, in his thick South Asian accent. “I was told to talk only to Jean Atwood and I’m sure that’s not you.”Ever so slowly, Dante inches sideways to block me from the enemy’s view. My grip on his shirt tightens, in fear of what’s about to come.“If she’s not here, my orders are to kill them all.” There’s a glint in the chief’s eyes, something akin to amusement, and it makes me sick to my stomach.I can’t let him kill all of these innocents. Slowly, I pull away from Dante, but he senses my movements, he knows what I’m about to do
“What are you doing?!” I ask, my voice turning shrill in sheer panic, but before Dante could answer Noah and another soldier had positioned themselves in front of him, to protect their master.I stare Dante down, but I don’t shake his hold on me. His hands grip my upper arms in a bruising hold, his rifle forgotten, hanging uselessly on its strap.“Jean—”“It’s okay,” I whisper, “It’ll be okay.”With my eyes, I beg Dante to understand. I don’t want to make the sacrifice either, knowing full well that Serafino is just salivating at the notion of possessing me, but I know what I have to do. I’m desperate to stop this. I won’t be able to take it if another person gets hurt because of me. Especially if I can stop it from happening, even if I have to turn myself in to do it.“Jean, no.” Dante’s voice is stern, but there’s desperation mixed in there too. He’s grasping at straws the same way I am. There’s no explanation for it, just the urgent need to protect.Dante’s stormy gray eyes hold mi
DanteEverything happened so fucking fast, there wasn’t enough time for us to react. Apart from the sudden charge from a new party, explosions from all directions keep shaking the ground causing the prisoners to panic.Two distinct gunshots ring in the air bringing my attention back to Jean.“Adeline!” Jean’s voice pierces through and I watch her dive for Adeline. A close distance from where she lies is the chief’s body, as the life drains out of him, watering the ground with his blood.Fuck. Did she shoot him?I didn’t even see it happening. I can’t believe I was so focused on the chaos caused by the rebels that I hadn’t realized what happened to Jean. Some husband I am.“Protect your mistress!” I shout over the chaos, already running toward where Jean is hunched over Adeline, her hands coated with red as she presses her hands firmly on the latter’s chest. But I know it’s too late. One look at Adeline’s eyes and I knew she was dead before she even hit the ground.I don’t bite back th
Dante“What do you mean I can’t go back to my estate?” I clutch the phone tighter, bracing myself for the bad news.Luca clears his throat on the other end, “Serafino made several hits just last night… After he learned of your attack on the island. Word on the street is he’s still pissed and that he might try to attack your estate. It’d be better to stay in one of the penthouses for now.”Well, that certainly isn’t the way I would have wanted to start my day. I’m jetlagged, my head is pounding with a headache, and Jean still hasn’t woken up. And now my consigliere tells me more bad news.My eyebrows furrow as I rub the bridge of my nose to try to alleviate the pressure. “Fine. I’ll stay at the penthouse. Wait, multiple hits?”From the driver’s seat, Noah spares me a glance through the rearview mirror, also interested in what Luca has to say. I put the phone on speaker, and we both intently listen to Luca’s words.“Yeah. My best guess is Serafino’s throwing a tantrum after learning of
Jean“You really love him, don’t you?”I turn around when I hear Adeline’s voice behind me. I hadn’t even realized I’d been staring at Dante who was standing a few paces from where we are as he ironed out more of our plan with Noah.No matter how I look at it, Dante has this certain lightness to him when he’s around Noah. It’s like with Noah here, Dante’s burden is lessened and I’m thankful for that. He must be so happy seeing his brother again after so long. And I can only imagine I would feel the same joy when I see my sister again.I face Adeline and give her a genuine smile. “Yeah. I really do love him.”There’s no point denying it now, even to myself. I love Dante. And we’re minutes away from storming a smuggling ring. I can’t help but worry for him.Dante may be hardened by hundreds of battles but he’s still human, he could still get hurt, and he could still be killed.“I just worry that this is the last time I’ll see him.” I shake my head to rid myself of the thought. “Sorry,
Jean “What?” Dante asks in disbelief, looking at me as if I‘d said something out of character. Maybe I did but it’s for the best. This way he knows exactly what I want to do. The need to be active and involved is strong because the minute I stop moving I’ll start to crumble. “How are we proceeding with the plan?” I ask, subtler than the last question. “I need to do something, Dante— no you don’t understand!” I add when he tries to reach for me and cut me off. “I need to do something.” Dante’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion before the realization hits him. Suddenly, he has a hand around my wrist and practically drags me across the kitchen and into the living room. I don’t even get time to admire the penthouse’s interior because Dante all but pushes me down into the plush black couch. I hit the cushions with a soft plop leaving me to crane my neck all the way back to look up at him. “What—” “Sit down,” he says, cutting me off. Though confused and pissed at how he’s manhandling me, I
JeanHow long has it been? Two hours maybe since I fell asleep on the couch from exhaustion. How many times have I cried myself to sleep these days? But I needed that.Sometimes, a good cry is what you really need to clear your head. And now that my head is clear, I’m starting to regret everything I said earlier.I find myself in the kitchen after my stomach grumbles its complaints. I don’t remember when the last time I ate was, I think it was before the mission started. I fix myself a simple breakfast of bread and coffee, forcing my mind to stay blank as I go about mundane activities.After loading the dishwasher, I head back to the bedroom on the second floor to rest, there’s nothing else to do anyway. I try to watch a movie but I can’t seem to focus, not even making it to the ten-minute mark. I can’t seem to shake the images of Adeline in my arms along with our other fallen soldiers.I clench my fists until I could feel my fingernails bury deep into the skin of my palms, the pain g