Carter and Nathan turned to each other and rolled their eyes, deciding not to argue with the stern older man. There was no use. The man followed her mother’s orders to the letter, never straying and never allowing error, all in effort to please his boss. They understood and never gave him a hard time for it. He was protecting them, why would they object to his rules if it allowed him to perform his job better?
Carter scooted back to her side and pulled on her seatbelt just as Nathan clicked his. After she’d pushed hers in the lock and heard it click, the belt automatically tightened around her waist and body.
As he looked over to her pulling on the straps of her belt he took her hand in his. “You all right, honey?”
Shifting uncomfortably, Carter frowned. Hers may have pulled a little too much. “The belts are a little too tight.” She released his hand. “I’m going to do it again. It’s not letting me readjust.” She reached for the buckle and attempted to release the seatbelt only to find it jammed. “Shit,” she muttered. With a sigh she gave up and slapped her hands on her lap. “I’m stuck ….”
“Stuck?” Nathan asked as he reached over to assist. “What the hell is wrong with your seatbelt?” he wondered aloud as they turned on to the highway, headed for their country home. “It’s stuck. How did it get this tight on you, honey?” He inched his finger between the strap at her waist and frowned at how tight it was around her body.
“It did it by itself, bubby.” She shifted again. “It’s uncomfortable.”
“But it will keep you safe,” Shadow said from the front. “When we get you home, we will cut you out of the seatbelt.”
Nathan’s frown only deepened as anger became evident in his features. He released his seatbelt and moved closer to Carter as he continued to work on her belt. “But in the meantime, my wife must endure discomfort. That’s not acceptable,” he said angrily. “You will pull over so that we can get my knife from Mikilo.”
Shadow immediately protested. “This I cannot do, Salerno. Anastacia does not want me to linger. Silas could be anywhere—”
“Shadow, you need to do as I say when you are driving myself and my wife. When you are with Anastacia you listen to her. You will pull the car over now. We have plenty of men behind us.”
“Fine then,” Shadow conceded reluctantly. “I can pull over once we get across bridge—”
“Do you not understand the meaning of the word now?” Nathan snapped.
Carter wanted to calm her husband but she couldn’t. When she took a breath in she could have sworn it got painfully tighter.
She began pulling at the belts along with Nathan. “It has to come off, Nathan. I’m going to bruise.” She tried to put the top belt over her head and get out, but it was pointless. The belt was just too tight. It was now to the point of holding her to the seat. It made no sense. It was almost like someone had—
Realization dawned on her and immediately ceased her body with fear. Her eyes widened and her heart pumped faster in her chest as she reached forward and gripped the arm of Nathan’s coat. She shook him, trying to get his attention as he and Shadow continued to shout at each other. Eventually she had no other choice but to scream to get their attention.
“Stop,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Stop! Stop yelling at each other.” They both immediately went silent. Carter locked her eyes with Nathan as her body shook with panic.
“Someone did this,” she exclaimed frantically. “Someone did this! Something’s about to happen.”
His eyes widened and he shook his head. “What are you talking—”
She shook him again. “Think, Nathan,” she screamed. “Think! Someone doesn’t want me to get out of this car. Why?”
It was at that moment Nathan realized what was happening, too. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Everything after that moment flashed by in a tragic, horrific blur.
Nathan whipped around to stop Shadow from driving any further, but at that exact moment blindingly bright lights from a large vehicle sitting in the middle of the bridge cut through the windshield. The lights revealed the men, Carter guessed about thirty of them, each armed with heavy guns that they immediately began to fire at the SUV.
The first several bullets flew through the front window, killing Shadow instantly. His body slumped forward and his foot went down heavily on the gas, making the car speed up.
Carter was screaming, urging Nathan to take cover and protect himself from the bullets, but he wouldn’t listen. He’d gone into protection mode, shielding her with his body. The bullets were flying through the car so quickly, Carter couldn’t even hear her own cries. She gripped his hair and shook him, crying, pleading, begging him to protect himself, screaming for him to just listen to her, but he wouldn’t. Stubbornly, he covered her, protected her, even though she didn’t want him to, even though she wanted him to protect himself, to let her go …
Then it happened.
An abrupt hit to the side of the car sent it hydroplaning over the now water-covered road. The hit had been so forceful that it caused Nathan’s body to jerk forward and slam against the back of the seat in front of them, knocking him unconscious. Swiftly, Carter reached forward and gripped his shirt, jerking him back to her and locking her arms around his larger body as she connected her hands in a tight fist. One of her arms popped of socket, and the belt holding her against the seat tightened until she nearly couldn’t breathe, but she still held on to him. The car was spinning out of control, but she still held on to him. Even when the car flew off the bridge and went plunging into the river beneath it, Carter held on to her husband.
The impact of the car plunging into the river nearly made Carter pass out, but she held strong and fought against it. She knew she only had a short amount of time to shake Nathan awake and get him out of the car before it submerged under the water.
“Nathan!” she screamed, shaking him until she heard him let out a pained moan in his unconscious state. Above them the storm worsened, and on the bridge the sounds of an all-out war was filling the air. Shouting, cries of agony, and gunfire, Carter even heard a male voice screaming her and Nathan’s names. Her eyes went to the front window. Water seeped through the bullet holes and it looked as if it were moments away from shattering, and allowing the water to consume the inside of the car.
“Nathan, honey, please wake up! Wake up!”
The last scream got through to him and his eyes shot opened, darting in every direction as he fought to process what was happening. Realization hit him hard, showing in the panicked expression that fell over his face.
“Shit!” he exclaimed breathlessly, looking around at the water filling the car. “What the fuck?”
Carter gripped his shoulders tightly. “Get out of the car, Nathan. If you go down with it it’s harder to get out. So please, please! Get out of the car now!”
His eyes darted between hers, as if he were trying to understand the words she’d said. After a second his eyes cut to the belt still tightly holding her to her seat.
Carter shook her head firmly. “Please, Nathan” she begged. Their babies; he needed to think about their babies. Aleksandr and Maksim couldn’t lose both of them, not like this.
When Nathan’s eyes once again locked with hers, she saw exactly what she knew she would see … he wasn’t going anywhere.
He put a firm grip on her belt and once again began pulling. Seeing that he wasn’t giving up and not wanting them both to die, she pulled the belt with him. The water continued to rise more rapidly around them, and the war continued to rage on the bridge above them.
“It’s going under, baby,” he said as he removed his coat and suit jacket. “They’re not going to make it to us in time. There are too many people up there trying to stop them.”
“Nathan, please! Please get out of the car.”
He shook his head. “The front window’s going to shatter. That would kill us. We have to let the water in,” he muttered, talking to himself as he continued to pull. He lifted
his eyes back to hers, speaking to her quickly. “I can’t leave you, Carterina. Don’t worry about me, I need you to be calm and do what I say.”
Carter nodded her understanding. The sound of the front window’s glass cracking caused her to jump. Nathan calmed her by gently cupping her face.
“The river’s about twenty-five feet deep. I’m going to see if the window is still functional so I can open it and let the water in. Right when I do it, I want you to breathe out until your lungs are empty, then take a deep breath before we go under, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered, and nodded in understanding.
He quickly kissed her lips. “We’re going to make it through this, baby. I promise you.”
Before Carter could even tell him she loved him Nathan, shifted and delivered a forceful kick to the window on the opposite side of them, shattering it. The water rushed through the window immediately and Carter … she remembered something she’d done to the car last week!
“Nathan!” she yelled.
“Don’t be afraid, baby, take a deep breath now!”
In order to get his attention, Carter grabbed his face. “Under the seat!”
That was all she had a chance to yell before the car submerged and began to sink to the bottom.
~*~
The rain pounded down on them, tossing the water as they fought against the currents to make it to the land.
“Of course you didn’t listen to me,” Nathan yelled at Carter over the loud, booming thunder. “I told you no weapons tonight, and you hide knives and shit under the backseat!”
“Are you kidding me, Nathan?” she asked right before slipping under the water. Nathan reached down and yanked her back up, pulling her to his body. Carter spit the water out of her mouth and took in a deep breath. “I’ve got an idea, bubby. How about you yell at me about how much of a pain in the ass I am after we get out of the fucking river!”
Nathan shot her a glare over his shoulder while he held her body and swam effortlessly toward dry land. This was nothing for him; the man swam in oceans for recreation.
When they made it to dry land, he pulled Carter along with him as they walked up a small hill.
“Quickly, Nathan,” she yelled, her voice quivering. “Take off your shirt, let me wear it.”
Nathan nodded. She’d had to take off her dress when the car had hit the bottom of the river because it was weighing her down too much, and he’d had to shed his jacket.
He swiftly removed his black suit shirt and handed it over to Carter. When she reached out to grab it, she double over from the pain that shot through her arm. “Shit!” she exclaimed through clenched teeth.
Nathan immediately came to her aid. “Carterina! What happened, baby?”
“My arm, my arm …” She pointed to it. “It popped out, Nathan, you have to put it back in— Ahh!” she screamed when Nathan jerked her arm, effectively popping it back in its socket. Glaring at him, she punched him in the arm. “What the hell? That hurt.”
“It’s better to do it when you aren’t aware. Now put on your shirt, baby.” She sat her large, golden knife aside and immediately began putting it on. “Do you really think this attack is Silas’s doing?” he asked her.
“Who else would do something like this? He’s a liar. As soon as I see him I’m cutting off his fucking head.”
“I’m sorry for yelling. I’m just flipping out, that’s all.”
Carter cocked her head to the side and gazed at him as she buttoned her shirt. “No apologies. You can yell at me anytime you want, bubby. I’ll still love you.” She finished buttoning the shirt and walked up to him.
“I’m not mad at you, you know I’m not. I’m glad you didn’t listen to me. I love it when you don’t listen to me. I just … I just—”
He reached forward, gripped a handful of her hair, and claimed her mouth in a hard, passionate kiss. He couldn’t help it; he had to kiss her. He’d been so afraid that he wouldn’t get her out of that car. “I love you so fucking much, Carterina.”
“God, I was so afraid I’d lose you, Nathan.”
“Never.”
“Never,” she moaned, gripping his hair and kissing him harder.
Nathan’s body shook. He was feeling too much shit right now, and they needed to stop. They had a fight to win.
Abruptly, Nathan pulled back from her and rested his forehead on hers while they calmed their heavy breathing. “We have to stop,” he said in a breathy whisper. “We need to focus right now, baby.”
She nodded. “Yes, you’re right, you’re right …”
“We have a war to fight.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “A war.”
Gently cupping her face in his hands, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Let’s end this…”
The sadistic excitement that flashed through her eyes caused a thrill of sinister enjoyment to shoot down Nathan’s spine. Surprisingly, neither of them felt anything resembling fear. They had been worried about the possibility of this attack for so long, but now that it was happening … Yeah,, this was going to be a piece of fucking cake.
Swiftly, he climbed the three medium-sized cliffs leading up to the bridge, reaching back down and lifting Carter up each time he got up one. When he finally pulled her up the last cliff, they quickly jogged up a hill, ending up on the opposite side of the fight.
It was almost too perfect. They could sneak up on the enemy from behind. Side by side they walked fearlessly toward the raging battle. They may as well have been skipping …
“You ready?” Nathan asked, never slowing their pace.
She looked over to him with a wicked smile. “I was born ready for this. This is the fight I’ve been waiting for, bubby. This is what I was trained for.”
Her gaze cut to a dead body next to her. She quickly ran over to it, picked up two guns lying next to the man, and tossed them to Nathan. He caught both in each hand and reached around his back, pulling a knife he’d taken from the car from the waistband of his pants. He tossed it to Carter right as they made it to the back of a large black cargo van.
In front of the van, a line of five men stood shooting machine guns at Carter and Nathan’s men while they all scrambled back, trying to take cover and shoot back.
Nathan chuckled. “Looks like they need our help, sweetheart.”
“Shall we help then?” Carter chuckled. “You got me?”
“Always.”
They knocked their knuckles together right before Carter jumped on the back of the cargo van, stuck one of her knives into the roof, and lifted herself on to the top of it. Once she reached the top, she immediately stood to her feet and yanked her knife out before she sauntered across the top of the van.
The moment she was spotted by their men, their eyes widened with terror … then shock, and finally excitement. However, they didn’t move … not until she did first.
Carter flipped one knife in the air and caught it right before she sent it sailing smoothly through the air.
Nathan would never understand the science of knife throwing for as long as he lived. He had no idea how she could even see in this rain, or how she calculated the strength needed to ensure the knife hit its target without the wind or rain changing its course. The hit was clean and precise. So much so that the others next to him hadn’t even noticed their partner had been killed … until his body fell forward and they saw the knife that had surely penetrated his heart, lodged firmly in his back.
Before acknowledgment or retaliation could even occur, Nathan expertly fired off three bullets that pierced the remaining men in their heads. He rushed forward just as Carter slid down the hood of the car right into the last of the five gunmen. They fell to the ground, but Carter quickly rolled onto her back.
Seeing the man quickly gain his composure and rush to attack his wife, Nathan swiftly made it to his side. Reaching forward, he snatched the man up from the ground by his hair and jerked his neck back. Carter tossed up her knife and Nathan caught it. The man released
a sharp, roaring cry—effectively alerting the others of Carter and Nathan’s presence—right as Nathan jammed the knife in his throat.
Nathan released the knife from the man’s throat and tossed him aside just as someone screamed in a language Nathan was only familiar with because Gabriel spoke it.
Now confident, the men came from behind their shields, firing shots, taking out the enemy left and right. Nathan tossed Carter her knife, which she caught and immediately released to the air and into the throat of the man that had shouted the words.
It seemed like in that moment all gunfire suddenly turned to them.
“Carterina, get down!”
They both dropped to the ground, scrambling for weapons while their men fought to eliminate the enemy as quickly as they could. They were moving fast, but Nathan knew that they were still outnumbered. They needed something, a bomb, a fucking miracle, anything that would take the motherfuckers out quickly before they all died on the bridge.
“Machine guns. Machine guns,” Carter screamed to him. “Nathan!”
Machine guns! How the hell did he forget about the machine guns? “You’re a fucking genius, baby!”
“Hurry the hell up, Nathan, before they kill our asses!”
Right, right, hurry… Nathan scurried over to the guns, knocked one of the dead men off of the large weapon, and snatched it up. Both he and Carter rose from the ground with the guns at the same time.
“Salernos,” Nathan roared. “Giù!”
At the command, every one of his men dropped to the ground, allowing Carter and Nathan to light the motherfuckers up.
It happened quickly, both of them expert in their aim and steady on their feet. The enemy was neutralized in a matter of seconds.
When he and Carter ceased fire, Nathan shouted, “Call!” The men jumped up from the ground on the command with their weapons raised, identifying the man to their left and right by shouting off their names. Nathan and Carter kept their weapons raised until the last name was called out, ensuring that their men were the only ones still living. When the last name was announced, they both nodded and tossed their guns over the bridge. Carter ran over to retrieve her knives just as Reno ran over to her and took them from her hands. The man looked like he’d wanted to say something to her, but wisely he didn’t. Carter walked back over to Nathan and he took her hand.
Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War Page 58