Chapter 9 - The Firefight
Pain exploded in Ronan’s chest, but he refused to let go of Sadie as they hit the ground behind a stack of steel shipping crates.
Bullets rained down from the catwalk, pinging against the metal and showering them in sparks.
Leo and the other guards returned heavy fire, their shouts drowned out by the deafening roar of automatic weapons.
Sadie scrambled backward, her hands slick with the warm blood pouring from Ronan's suit jacket.
"You're shot," she gasped, pressing her hands against the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.
Ronan gritted his teeth, his face turning pale in the dim warehouse lighting.
He pulled a small backup revolver from his ankle holster and shoved it into her hands.
"Run to the armored car outside, Leo will cover you," Ronan ordered, his breathing shallow and ragged.
"I am not leaving you here to die," Sadie screamed over the gunfire.
A Volkov thug flanked their position, stepping around the crates with an assault rifle raised.
Instinct took over, burying her fear beneath a desperate will to survive.
Sadie raised the small revolver, closed her eyes for a split second, and pulled the trigger twice.
The thug dropped to the ground, dead before he hit the concrete.
She had just killed a man to save the mafia boss who had orchestrated her kidnapping.
Leo provided covering fire, tossing a smoke grenade that filled the aisle with thick, blinding white fog.
Sadie grabbed Ronan's arm, hauling the heavy, bleeding man to his feet with strength she didn't know she possessed.
They stumbled blindly through the smoke, bursting through the side exit and collapsing into the back of the waiting armored SUV.
Leo slammed on the gas, tearing out of the harbor and speeding toward their secure medical safe house in the mountains.
The private doctor worked frantically in the back seat, stabilizing Ronan as they drove through the night.
Sadie sat covered in blood, her hands shaking as she stared at the gun still gripped in her lap.
Hours later, as she sat beside his hospital bed in the heavily fortified safe house, Ronan finally opened his eyes.
May you like
He looked at her bloodstained hands, then up at her face.
"You're finally ready," he whispered softly.
