Invincible(11)

I didn’t even hear the ping of the silenced gun going off.

I looked back and saw a car at the end of the alley.

Holy shit… someone was here to kill me…



~



I didn’t have a chance to ask if he was okay. He could have just ran away, saving himself. He wasn’t the intended target. But he didn’t run away. He caught his balance and came storming at me.

Logic finally kicked in - he was part of this! He was going to try and kill me!

I opened the backdoor to the restaurant.

The sexy guy was right behind me. He slammed the door and grabbed me.

“We have to get out front. I have a car.”

“Who the hell are you?” I asked. “Are you here to kill me?”

“No, sweetie, I’m not.”

Sweetie.

It shouldn’t have done a thing to me, but looking at his dark eyes, dark hair in his face, I was melting already.

“You’re shot,” I whispered.

“Let’s go.”

“I have to get my stuff!” I said.

“Are you serious right now?”

“Yes. If I leave I can’t come back. You don’t…”

He gritted his teeth and pointed to the metal stairs.

We made it halfway up before the door opened below us.

“Come out and play!” a voice yelled.

That was followed by echoing footsteps.

When we got to the apartment door, the sexy guy opened it and we rushed inside. He slammed the door and pointed. “You have two f*cking seconds.”

“Who are you?” I asked again. “This doesn’t…”

Sexy guy grabbed me by the shoulders. He smelled of all man. Lingering sweat. I looked to each of his hands. His knuckles were swollen, a few had crusts of scabs.

He was a fighter. A real fighter. The gorgeous fighter who had been facing the wall, in tears.

“Wes,” he said. “My name is Wes. That’s all you need to know. Someone is trying to kill you. And now I’m shot and in your apartment. We have to get the hell out of here, right now.”

“I… I’m not supposed to leave,” I said. “I shouldn’t have been outside.”

“Dammit, sweetie, there’s no time,” Wes yelled at me.

I had no reason to trust him, but what choice did I have? If guys barged into the apartment and killed me… or maybe they’d kidnap me. Use me against Luke. Torture me the way Luke would torture people to get information.

I started to shake.

Then there was pounding at the door.

“Open up, cupcake!” a voice yelled.

“Fuck,” Wes said. “Hurry. Get your damn bag and lets go out a window.”

Wes ran to the window and looked out. There was a small ledge and a chance to jump to the fire escape. One slip though and you were gone. Maybe you wouldn’t die from the fall, but you’d be hurt. And then these guys at the door would be right after me. Or us.

“It’s too dangerous,” I said.

I ran into the bedroom, Wes behind me. Funny how it dawned on me that it had really been a long time since I was alone in a bedroom with another man. Yet there was no time to really dwell on it.

Wes stood in the doorway, hands balled into fists.

I grabbed my bag. “I’m ready.”

“You’re already packed?” Wes asked.

“You don’t know a thing about me.”

“I know. I’m starting to regret coming to check on you.”

“I’m supposed to be dead, remember?” I asked.

“They’re going to bust down the door and I’m going to take them out. Don’t get shot, sweetie, okay?”

“What? Wait!”

Wes moved through the apartment. He stood next to the door, ready to go. The guys kept pounding at the door, kicking at it. Finally, a gunshot rang and the door splintered around the knob. Another swift kick and the door flew open. I stood there with a suitcase. I let it go and put my hands up. Call it instinctive, but I knew how to create a decent enough diversion.

Two men came into the apartment and Wes went to work.

Maybe it wasn’t the time or the place to feel the way I felt, but watching him throwing a right fist and connecting with one of the guy’s faces… it turned me on. The guy fell to ground in a hurry, knocked out. The other guy turned, gun in hand. Wes threw a left, but he screamed in pain from where he’d been shot. His right hand came across and grabbed the guy’s wrist, twisting it so the guy released the gun.

“No, no, no,” the guy said. “You can’t…”

Wes threw his shoulder and the guy flew back into the wall. He then started to unleash punches - left, right, right, left. The guy bounced like he was being shot at. And when Wes stopped punching, the guy toppled to the ground.

He looked up at Wes. “You… you aren’t supposed…”

Wes lifted his foot. I turned my head. I wasn’t able to see it, but I heard the sickening squishy thud sound of Wes’s boot slamming down on the guy’s face.

“Move! Now!” Wes bellowed.

I grabbed my suitcase and went on the move. I hurried past the two bodies on the floor and followed the man who put them on the floor. The man who had taken a bullet - not sure whether it was meant for me or not.