OWN HER: A Dark Mafia Romance(152)

I had no choice but to run. By taking out one of Fang’s men, there wasn’t a safe place to hide in this town. I had to leave. I had to get the hell out of Dodge, but I froze. I could have turned right then. I could have high-tailed it out of there. I could have run across the alleyway, jumped the low wall of the parking garage, and I could have disappeared into the darkness. But I also knew that turning my back on those two men would have been a deadly mistake.



“Take out your guns,” I told both of them, assuming they both had guns under their coats. I knew Number One did.



They both slid their hands into their coats and pulled out their handguns, holding them up in the air over their heads.



“Alright, good,” I said. “Now, drop them and kick them over here towards me.” I wasn’t used to being involved in standoffs like this. It felt like I was on TV or something.



They obeyed, just like the bad guys on TV did. Men who worked for my boss were the bad guys. What did that make my boss?



I bent down, keeping my eyes on them as I reached for the guns with my free hand. I grabbed one, stuffed it in the waist of my jeans, and then reached for the other.



“You forgot something,” Number One said.



“What do you mean?” I stopped what I was doing and put both hands on the gun as I stood back up. “What did I forget?” I asked again.



“You forgot one of us,” Number Three said.



I looked at One, Three, and Two lying on the ground. Then, I glanced at the car. The driver side door stood open. How did I miss that?

I stepped away from the car, turning to point my gun at the open door while keeping the two men in my sight.



“Where the fuck is your driver?” I asked them.



“Right here,” a voice said behind me, and as I turned around, something hit me. I didn’t know what it was, but there was a bright white light in my vision, and everything went hazy after that.



I didn’t go out immediately. I felt a couple of strong arms catch me as I fell. They went under my shoulders and wrapped around in front of me to hold me up, not letting me fall completely.



I couldn’t see. I blinked a couple of times, but my eyes didn’t want to open back up. I closed them against the blurry world around me. I tried to listen as the men who had me talked, but their voices were muffled. I heard someone laugh. Then I heard the doors closing around me. It sounded like there were too many doors for the car.



Then, I started falling, except I was falling sideways, and the darkness washed over me as I realized we must have been driving away from the apartment building.



I’m sorry, Cole, I thought as I finally lost the fight and gave in to the darkness behind my eyelids.





Chapter 16




Cole



The address we’d been given as Fang’s hideout was for an old boarded up office building downtown. It was a squat little brick building with an awning over the front door and a metal staircase leading up to a second story door on the side. The back of the building was set against a wall separating that lot from the next. There was an old faded sign on the front of the building advertising a grocery store.



I waved my hand, signaling to the guys to circle around the building. We were still in the old industrial section of town, so everything was vacant, or at least it was supposed to be. I pulled up underneath the awning with Dante and Gage on either side of me. We killed our engines and sat listening for a minute before climbing off the bikes.



“This was where all the factory and warehouse workers would come to cash their checks, I bet,” Gage said, eyeing the building.



“You still remember when it was open, don’t you?” Dante joked.



“I was a kid when this place shut down,” Gage told him, shutting him up.



“Alright, you two. This is where Fang is supposed to be hiding out, so let’s keep it professional until we’re out of here,” I told them, swinging my rifle around in front of me.



“It doesn’t look like anyone’s here right now,” Dante said.



We approached the front door and stood on either side of it. The only sound I could hear was the purring of all the motorcycles waiting to be given the word to close in on this joint. I looked at the guys.



“I don’t think so either, but we’re going to be careful either way. They could just be waiting for us. What do you think, Gage?” I asked.



“Who cares what I think? Let’s just go in. If we see anybody, we take them out. If not, well, your girl better hope they’re still here and didn’t get tipped off,” he said, looking me dead in the eye.



“I’m right there with you,” I told him.