Game (6 page)

“
What
the hell does that mean?
”
I
asked.
“
Look, I screwed up,
okay? But I got away. I
’
m
alive. Maybe I ruffled a few dusty feathers, but come on
…”

Fiore sniffed the air.
“
Rat. That
’
s what they
’
re
calling it. A rat.
”

“
I
’
m not
…”

Fiore lifted his hand and
threatened to smack me again.

The door opened and I knew what it
was.

The only reason the bullet didn't
tear through my head right then was because I was facing Fiore and the bullet
could have gone through my skull and into his.

But when he stepped to the side,
there was no reason not to shoot.

I was dead.

~ ~ ~

“
I
have her,
”
I said as calm
as I could.

I tried to brace for the bullet,
but there was no bracing. It would just happen.

“
Who?
”
Fiore asked.

I was buying myself seconds now.

“
Her.
The woman. I won the fight.
”

“
Wait,
wait, wait,
”
Fiore said.
“
You took your prize?
”

“
Of
course I did. I
’
m a fucking
fighter. When I win, I get paid, Fiore. Money and woman. That
’
s me.
”

Fiore lifted his left hand. He
shushed
with his hand.

That small gesture saved my life.

“
Tell
me more,
”
he said.

“
She
works for Zander. That
’
s
…
I have her. I took her. She
’
s with me right now, Fiore.
”

Fiore
’
s
eyes went wide. With a gentle nod he touched his chin again. He then folded his
arms.
“
Bring her to me
right now, Finn. She might just save your life.
”

Christ, this was going to work. I
’
d save my life by giving Shayna
’
s to Fiore.

I turned and the door exploded open
again. There were two men with guns. They saw Fiore and raised their weapons. I
backed up and tossed Fiore to the ground.
Maybe if I took a few bullets,
Fiore wouldn
’
t
think I was a rat.

10.

(Shayna)

Finn told me to stay back and sort
of hide. It was kind of impossible to do considering how big and open the house
was. So I just lingered near a corner in what was some kind of living room or
sitting room. I stood next to a gold statue of a man making a fist. The house
was so quiet.

I waited.

I couldn
’
t hear a thing.

All I could do was hope that Finn
would emerge from wherever with some kind of a plan. Speaking of which, I
needed my own plan. Zander would try and find me. He would kill me. It had been
long enough with Zander and his people though. I couldn
’
t do it anymore. I was getting nowhere. My
intention had been to find my sister and nothing else. That was years ago.

I saw a man run toward the door. He
took out a gun.

I pressed my back to the wall.

No, no, no.

The guy opened the door and then
his head snapped back with a spray of blood. He collapsed to the floor as
another man came running into the house. He was dressed in all black and
crouched down. The gun in his hand was really long. Definitely a silenced
weapon.

He ran through the house like he
owned the place.

I started to step forward and then
another man came charging through the door.

He had the same kind of gun.

They both worked across the main
floor.

I inched along the wall, trying to
stay hidden as I followed them.

Room after room, I had no idea how
big the house really was.

The two men stopped at a door.

They whispered something and then
opened the door.

“
Fuck!
”
a voice yelled.

It was Finn.

“
No!
”
I yelled and ran toward the
men.

One of the men went into the
office. The other started to turn as I ran at him. It was foolish. Such a dumb
and risky move. He had size. He had a gun. I had nothing. For a split second, I
thought about flashing him. That had worked before, right? Why not now?

Something told me that these guys weren
’
t going to give a damn about my
boobs though. So I put my head down and drove into the guy. A white hot pain
shot through my shoulder, but I felt the guy moving. Then there was a hard thud
and I shot back. My back crashed into the other side of the doorway. The guy,
however, had dropped his gun and was stumbling into the office.

My little move distracted the first
guy enough that he turned and pointed the gun at me.

I saw a man in a suit on the floor
and Finn standing in front of him. There was blood on Finn
’
s shoulder and arm.

Had he been shot?

Finn jumped forward and threw a
punch, hitting the guy in the head. He then turned and threw another punch to
the second guy, square in the face, sending him back to the wall.

“
Where
’
s the goddamn help?
”
the man on the floor yelled.

I just froze and looked left to
right, wondering who was a good guy, who was a bad guy, and who was going to
kill me.

Finn easily held his ground with
the two guys, keeping a safe distance from them, his fists balled tight and up,
ready to fight. Each time one of them moved, he swung, connecting, keeping them
at bay.

Two more men appeared, blood
dripping from their heads. They looked woozy and confused as they entered the
office.

“
Get
them!
”
the man on the floor
ordered.
“
Right now! Finn!
Step back!
”

The two men Finn had been beating
up were quickly subdued again, this time put in handcuffs. The room started to
calm a little.

Finn turned and put his hand to the
man on the floor.
“
Get up,
Fiore. You
’
re safe.
”

Fiore.

The man on the floor was Finn
’
s boss.

Fiore got to his feet and walked to
the two men that had tried to kill him. He made a fist but didn
’
t punch. Instead, he swung his
fist like a backhand, hitting each one.

“
Motherfuckers,
”
he growled.
“
Who do you work for?
”

The two men started to laugh.

I knew the laugh. I didn
’
t know their faces though
…
but that laugh
…

“
They
’
re here for me,
”
I said.
“
They work for Zander.
”

“
Ah,
”
Fiore said.
“
Of course they do.
”

One of the men looked at me.
“
I
’
ll
go to my grave first, but you
’
re
next. You and those pretty tits
…”

Finn swung again and hit the guy in
the jaw, knocking him out.

“
No,
”
Fiore said.
“
Nobody dies yet. I want
everything out of them. Got that?
”

Fiore
’
s
men nodded.
“
Yes, sir.
”

“
Then
do me a favor,
”
he said.
“
Cut their eyes out and send them
to Zander. Make it known that we
’
re
watching him too.
”

My stomach flipped.

The intruders were taken from the
office.

Finn walked to me and grabbed my
hand. He looked me dead in the eyes.
“
Are
you okay?
”
he whispered.
There was a sense of care and humility in his eyes and voice.

“
I
’
m fine,
”
I whispered.

“
Good.
”
Finn then turned and took his
hand from mine. He then grabbed the front of my pants and pulled at me.
“
Fiore. This is her. This is my
prize. This is Shayna. I
’
m
giving her to you.
”

What. The. Fuck.

~ ~ ~

My skin crawled as Fiore walked
around me three times. His eyes climbed up and down my body. My only saving
grace - I guess - was that at least I wasn't naked. I knew better than to talk
or try and defend myself. These guys didn
’
t
care about that stuff.

“
You
’
re one of Zander
’
s own,
”
Fiore said.

“
Yeah,
”
Finn said.
“
Damn near as close as possible.
Isn
’
t that right?
”

I didn
’
t speak.

Fiore faced me and closed in on me.
He sniffed me.
What the fuck was I? A dog?

“
Right,
”
Fiore whispered.
“
Right. You
’
re the prize.
”

“
I
told you I
’
m not a rat,
”
Finn said.
“
I didn
’
t mean for all that to happen, Fiore. But look what
we got.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Fiore said. He reached out and
touched my cheek.

I winced back and felt like
throwing up.

“
No
worries,
”
Fiore whispered,
“
I
’
m
happily married. And the women on the side
…
I pay for. So there
’
s no
feelings.
”

“
Good
to know,
”
I said.

“
You
are beautiful though.
”
Fiore backed up and eyed me again.
“
I
mean, really beautiful.
”

“
So
we can get all the details,
”
Finn said.
“
Anything we
want. I
’
ll press her for
information.
”

“
I
’
m standing right here,
”
I said.
“
You realize that, Finn?
”

“
Hey,
stop talking,
”
Finn said.
“
This is business.
”

“
Did
you fuck her yet?
”
Fiore
asked Finn.

“
What?
”
I asked.
“
What am I, a whore?
”

“
Nah,
”
Finn said.
“
We were on the run last night
and I took her to my cabin. Kept her safe. I wanted to show you, Fiore. I mean,
I fucked up, but look what we got.
”

“
Oh,
we have something,
”
Fiore
said. He finally walked away from me, back behind his desk.
“
We have something amazing.
”

“
She
’
s willing to tell you anything,
”
Finn said.
“
Obviously in exchange for her
survival.
”

“
Right,
”
Fiore said. He looked at me.
“
You like to live?
”

“
Sure,
”
I said.
“
I don
’
t
mind it.
”

“
And
you decided to take your stand against Zander last evening?
”

“
It
wasn
’
t planned,
”
I said.
“
Everything happened all at once. Really fast. I
tried to help Finn. I didn
’
t
realize who he was though.
”

Fiore laughed.
“
If you did, you wouldn
’
t have helped?
”

I looked at Finn and curled my lip.
“
Probably not.
”

“
I
like her,
”
Fiore said.

“
Yeah,
”
Finn said.
“
She
’
s something.
”

Finn then winked at me.

Seriously?

Finn brought me here and was just
going to give me up like this? And then wink at me? He was using me to save his
own ass.

“
So,
Shayna,
”
Fiore said,
“
tell me something about Zander.
”

“
Like
what?
”
I asked.
“
How he
’
s a pig? How he loves to kill? How he runs a gun
trade through his illegal fights? Not to mention the fights usually have
weapons. That
’
s what makes
them brutal. The ultimate experience, I guess. To actually see someone die.
”

“
Right,
right,
”
Fiore said.
“
The ultimate experience. Does he
still move drugs?
”

“
Of
course.
”

“
He
still deals back home?
”

“
Yes,
”
I said. I felt sort of bad
admitting anything, but really, what did I care? I wasn
’
t loyal to Zander. Or Fiore. Or Finn. I was loyal
to finding my sister. And maybe
…
maybe Fiore could help
…
“
But they talk in Russian so I
can
’
t understand it. Lately
he
’
s seemed more angry than
usual.
”

“
We
’
ve been pushing into his
territory,
”
Fiore said.
“
That
’
s what made last night even more dumb.
”
Fiore looked at Finn.

“
Hey,
”
Finn said.
“
I said I was sorry. I went for a
beer with a friend and ended up there.
”

Fiore hit his desk.
“
You knew damn well what you were
doing, Finn.
”

“
And
now look at the good that came from it,
”
Finn said.
“
You have one of
Zander
’
s own. He knows I
took her. He knows who I am, right? He obviously sent guys here already. He
’
s distracted and mad. You can
strike hard now, Fiore.
”

Fiore looked at me.
“
Shayna, two men got into my
home. They tried to attack me. How did they know?
”

“
Know
what?
”

“
Know
where my office was?
”

“
I
don
’
t know.
”

“
He
’
s asking if you knew about this,
”
Finn said to me.

“
What?
”
I said.
“
No. I have nothing. Check me. Search me.
”
I lifted my hands.

“
Maybe
I will,
”
Fiore said.

“
Wait,
”
Finn said and jumped to my
side. He put a hand to my stomach.

Why did it make my body flutter?

“
I
checked her,
”
Finn said.
“
She
’
s not wired or anything. They knew where you live,
Fiore. Everyone should lay low and hide a little. Let this happen
…”