Sinful (The Sin Duet Book 3)

by M. Malone

There was more shuffling of feet near the door, and I cursed. I heard a guard saying to the mic, “We’ve been compromised.”

  I didn’t waste any time. I just turned and fired my weapon. One to the chest and one to the head. This wasn’t my first kill. I’d killed in all kinds of ways. But this was strangely numbing, as if there were a big, empty hole inside my heart now that I could never fill up because of this one act I’d taken.

  When I turned back, I leveled my gun at Sabine. “Let my friend go.”

  Sabine shook her head. “I wish I lived in your world where something like that might happen.”

  I shook my head and prayed that Sabine would listen to me. I prayed that the little girl that once lived inside was still there. “Please do not make me do this. There’s a way out of this. You just don’t see it yet.”

  Sabine didn’t even blink. “We’re all just doing what we have to do.”

  My finger moved on the trigger, and then every single instinct, every single hour of training, kicked into sheer focus on that point. One wrong move and I would hit Diana, but I wasn’t even worried. Much like with the guard, I leveled my gun, fired, and Sabine went down.

  It was as if time slowed. The bullet blasted through the air following a precise trajectory and struck Sabine. Her petite body snapped backward and then slowly sank to the ground. I watched it all in horror, pain, and sadness.

  I wasn’t sure how long I stood there staring, frozen and unable to move, unable to process, but Diana grabbed me by the arm. “Listen to me. We have to get out of here. Move your ass.”

  But I couldn’t. I stared at Sabine. I’d risked Matthias for this. For someone whose love was more memory than reality. Why had I done that?

  Because you thought Sabine was like you, and in reality, she wasn’t.

  The fog lifted momentarily. I let myself be dragged out by Diana. She tugged me down the hall, watching both our fronts and our backs.

  When we rounded the corner toward the main exit point, we found Dylan in the hall engaged in hand-to-hand, and it was getting ugly.

  Matthias

  Glass shattered around me.

  The crash had me wincing, and the sound made my ears pop. What the fuck was going on? Where was my team? What was happening? The pain didn’t even register yet. All I could think about was this was not according to plan. Something was wrong.

  And then I was airborne.

  I went into a state of weightlessness that felt like an eternity. It was probably only a second, and then the hard, jarring crash back down. My shoulders roared from my positioning with the zip ties. And all I could do was groan. I was in complete and total darkness. But one sniff told me something either hit the fuel tank or it had ruptured for some reason. Real soon, this car was going to be up in flames. I needed to make sure I didn’t become barbecue.

  Suddenly, there was some jostling. Cursing. Gunfire. But I remained unharmed and untouched.

  Did that cursing sound familiar? What was going on? I wished I could fucking see. Then the next thing I knew I was being hauled out of the car, dragged, and then the zip ties were cut. Someone yanked the bag off of my head.

  I squinted to shield my eyes from any light that might be shining in them, but it was still dark, and then a face filled my vision. “You awake now, princess? We got trouble.”

  I forgot all about my stinging shoulders at that point. And then I tucked one foot under the opposite knee, placed my hands on the shattered glass and popped into fight stance. “What’s wrong? Gemma?”

  Rafe gave me a terse nod. “I’ll fill you in on the way. We’re not far from the facility that she broke into. Our guess is they were taking you in the securest way back there in the hopes of losing your tail.”

  I nodded. “You got my knives?”

  Rafe just rolled his eyes. “I’ll give you one better.”

  When we reached the follow car, Rafe reached into the back seat and handed me a full vest, my guns, weapons, grenades—the whole nine. “I think this is better than a few knives.”

  I nodded my thanks and strapped into my vest and then gave Noah an appreciative nod. “I would hug you, mate. But first, I want to go get my girl.”

  Noah grinned. “Don’t ever say I never gave you nothin’. Let’s go.”

  The ride to the other warehouse was less than a minute. And the whole time my whole body hummed with energy, rage, and violence.

  “What the fuck happened? It was supposed to be in and out.”

  Noah grumbled in the front seat. “Yeah, supposed to be. The best laid plans and all that shit. It turns out, Sabine was not at all friendly. She was in on it the whole time.”

  I stared at him for a moment. “So you’re telling me the whole thing went tits-up because the damsel in distress was no damsel at all.”

  “Yeah, right. That about sums it up. We’re here. You boys go do your thing.”

  Rafe tapped me on the shoulder and gave Noah a smile of solidarity. “I know, brother. You wish you were in there. But since that one—” He inclined his head toward me. “—went all Kill Bill on your ass, it’s best to sit this one out, lest Lucia have my ass for getting you killed.”

  Noah grumbled but said nothing else. His gaze met mine and he said to me, “Go get your girl and bring her home.”

  “Too right.”

  I followed Rafe around the corner to our mark for entry. Rafe signaled that we were going on channel two and then indicated I should follow. We checked our weapons one more time and essentially followed the sound of gunshots. Before opening the door, Rafe turned to me. “I know you’re all better and shit now, but this isn’t the time for that. If you still have access to that guy, the monster they made, let him loose.”

  “I have every intention of it.”

  And I had the opportunity to do just that. The moment we were through the doors, we were struck by two guards. Rafe leveled one easily with an elbow uppercut that had the guard’s head snapping back, and then Rafe wasted no time popping him in the throat with a silencer.

  I was less surgical about it. It still was a clean kill, but instead of using my gun with a silencer, I used my knife. The blood splattered. It didn’t even faze me as I stepped over the dead body and kept moving.

  Rafe just rolled his eyes. “What is it with you and the knives?”

  “When you have a knife in your hand, it requires you to be up close and personal. It requires you to be intimate with someone. It was the only time I ever actually got close to anyone.”

  “Yeah, that works.”

  We turned left in the hallway. I knew that we could handle whatever we encountered. The last thing on earth I wanted was for Father and his crew to move Gemma.

  If they moved her, I didn’t know if we’d ever be able to find her again. I would move heaven and hell and let the Family know I was coming, but they would relish torturing me, if they could.

  It wasn’t long until we found Dylan attempting to hold off ten guards. The kid was doing well, but he was outmanned and soon to be outgunned. Rafe tapped him on the shoulder and he nodded his acknowledgement that we were there. Then Rafe turned his attention to me. “Let’s do our thing.”

  I nodded and then promptly tuned out everybody and everything except for the targets in front of me. Rafe went left, I went right. Dylan kept firing shots and laying cover for us.

  The first guy approached and made his first move. I swept my right arm along his left and then twisted at his wrist. There was a yell of pain and the guy dropped to his knees. Then, I grabbed him by the hair, delivered a knee strike, and popped him in the head with my gun.

  As soon as that guy was down, I sheathed my gun again and went for the next. Two guys attacked me at once, hand to hand. That was more difficult, but I just focused on the one on my right and went for the jabs.

  The other guy fought back, and I felt each of his blocks. Hammer fist block one, elbow block two, shielding the side of his face as I aimed a hook punch.

  But that left my opponent open because th
e dumbass didn’t have his other hand up. Before he could even react, I had my thumbs in his eye sockets. He yowled and tossed his head back, exposing his throat, which I exploited by punching him hard.

  The guy choked back his pain, and then I added insult to injury by putting an arm bar across his trachea and using my left arm to hold his right arm nice and steady. Then I delivered a series of knees before finally, fully turning my body to block his friend. When I delivered another sharp knee to the groin, the guy sagged in my arms. Then I let go of his trachea, pulled out my gun and popped him once between the eyes, and then his friend right behind him. “What do you know? Two for the price of one.”

  I felt rather than heard the next attacker coming from behind down the corridor. But as I turned to face him and fight, the guy went down like a sack of bricks. I shifted my gaze to Dylan, and he nodded.

  I gave him a chin nod and headed back on the fray. Two more assailants. Elbows, knees, kicks—a knee to the inner groin and I could almost feel the tear of his muscle. But I was still moving. Still up. A bullet grazed my thigh, and then I let out the monster. I finally unleashed the control and let him at it.

  If anyone had asked me later what had happened exactly, there was no way I would be able to recall it all. All I knew was that there were punches and kicks and knives and guns. My shoulder took a hit. My knives were bloody. The blood dripped down my arms and off my fingertips.

  The space was smothered with it, and my breathing was hard, my muscles ached. But when I finally came to and looked around, the narrow opening where several hallways met was literally filled with bodies. Rafe was reloading his gun, as was Dylan. Neither one of them seemed fazed at all by anything I’d done or what had happened there. Rafe just pulled a rag out of his back pocket, tossed it to me, and said, “Wipe your face. There’s more.”

  And together, in a triangle formation, we all turned down the hallway toward the other gunshots. We only made it about fifty feet in before a door to the right opened, and out stepped the one man I’d hoped I’d never see again in my life. The person that started this all.

  Father.

  “Matthias. I must say, despite the fact that I have had several casualties at your hand, I love seeing what the years of training have done for you. I have to admit, you’re psychologically resistant. I’d always known you were special though. From the day your whore mother brought you here, I knew what you could be. I saw it in you. All those little chats we used to have while you were sleeping, just little suggestions. I had a deal with Orion. He wanted you primed, ready. At that time, I didn’t know why. He just paid me a hefty price. He said he was sending a woman and her child my way. And I was to take good care of him, make sure that I was ready for what was to come. I mean, for a few million quid, who wouldn’t? I must say, I am impressed. I do not like the sentimental streak of yours, though.”

  Rafe and Dylan held guns trained on the bodyguards, and I just stared at the man who had been my tormentor, who had killed Gemma, who pumped my mother full of poison and then sold her. And then I looked at my friends, neither one of them wavering, ready to drop every single one of them at a moment’s notice.

  These guys were my real family. This was what family meant. It didn’t matter what the Family had done to me. It didn’t matter what my own father had done to me. What mattered was my brothers and what we could accomplish together. What mattered was my love, Gemma.

  Father was still talking. “I’m so sorry you’ve come all this way for nothing. You see, Gemma’s already been dispatched promptly and—”

  Just having Father say Gemma’s name flipped my switch. I didn’t even blink. I just raised my gun and shot the man between the eyes.

  His bodyguards were close enough to feel his breath and I still got to him. Further proof that no one was invincible. The funniest part was that we said nothing. We merely stepped over the bodies and went after Gemma.

  We heard one final gunshot, and then there was silence down the hall.

  Oh God, please let her be alive. Please let her be alive. Please don’t let her be hurt. Please don’t let her pay for my mistakes.

  When we turned the corner, guns ready, the three of us ready for anything, we found Gemma and Diana and Ryan still alive. Banged up, bloody, but still alive. There was a man on top of Diana, and she was trying to shove him off of her frame.

  All I heard was the growl that roared out of Rafe. Then Rafe had the guy’s body in his hands, throwing him away like he was nothing more than a sack of potatoes. Diana choked and coughed, but she was fine. Rafe pulled her up and dragged her into his arms. Dylan handed Ryan my ammo pack, and I nodded my thanks, but my gaze was only on Gemma.

  She was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, chest rising and falling rapidly with every breath she took. “Gemma.”

  She blinked her eyes open and then frowned. “Matthias? Is that you?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. It’s me, love. You’re okay. Everything’s okay.”

  She still held her guns in her hands, but her hands were trembling. “All this death because I got it wrong. I was wrong. I was so wrong…” Her voice broke on sobs, and I gently disengaged the guns from her hands, tucking them into the back of my cargoes before pulling her to me. “It’s okay. There, there. I got you now. I’ve got you. We’ve got each other. Nothing’s going to hurt you now. It’s okay. You’re safe now. We’re both safe. We’ve made it out.”

  As she sobbed, she said, “But Father… He’ll just do this again.”

  I had never been happier in my life to tell her something. “Father’s dead. He’s never coming after us or anyone else again. I killed him. He’s gone for good.”

  And then Gemma collapsed in my arms. I calmly picked her up. She was mine to take care of now. Forever. Finally, the nightmare was behind us.

  18

  Gemma

  I woke up early the next morning but was so warm and comfortable I didn’t even move. It was so peaceful to lie in bed. There were no city sounds that reached that high in the penthouse, so it was as quiet as a tomb. No worries about being shot at and no fears that Matthias might not make it back to me. It should’ve been the most peaceful time of my life.

  But all I could think of was that Sabine was dead.

  She was a traitor.

  The thought should’ve comforted me. Because of her, members of our team had put their lives in danger. Matthias could’ve died. But love didn’t work that way. It wasn’t something you could just turn on and off. For so many years, Sabine had been the family that I’d lost. Just like Matthias. And I had grieved for her. The guilt of leaving her behind had never left me. It had become a personal mission to right the wrongs of the past. It gave my life purpose.

  I didn’t know what to do now since that purpose was gone.

  “It wasn’t your fault.” Matthias’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “I can see it on your face. You’re thinking about her.”

  “I’m always going to think about her. I’ll always wonder if I could have saved her if I’d gotten back sooner. They messed with her mind. Told her lies. If I’d been there—”

  “Then it might have happened to you too,” Matthias interjected. “You don’t have to feel guilty for escaping.”

  I rolled over into his arms. Warmth surrounded me, and I reveled in it. He somehow always knew exactly what I needed. Whether it was affection or a kick in the ass. Because he was right. I was feeling guilty for that long-ago day. We’d run and left her behind. Nothing could ever change that. And our futures had been decided from that moment on.

  “If only we’d been able to take her with us that day.”

  Matthias squeezed me tighter. “I don’t think that would’ve helped. Father would have found a way to punish us all. Things might’ve turned out worse for all we know.”

  Saying the name out loud reminded me. “I can’t believe he’s dead.” It had been the thing we’d always hoped for but never thought we’d actually see. It was like letting go of the boogeyman that had stalke
d you since childhood.

  “Believe it. He is gone, and he’ll never hurt us again.” Matthias looked down into my eyes. “Nothing will ever hurt you again. I won’t allow it.”

  I leaned up and our lips had just met when there was a loud crash. Matthias jumped up out of the bed, his gun in his hand. I didn’t even know where he got it, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

  “Stay here,” he yelled over his shoulder as he ran out of the room.

  Like hell I was doing that. He wanted to protect me, a feeling that I understood well. But he was going to have to accept that I was capable of taking care of myself. And that because I loved him, I was going to take care of him, too.

  Before I followed him into the hallway, I pulled open the drawer of his desk and took out the gun I’d hid there just yesterday. Matthias wasn’t the only one who had heat. He’d closed the door behind him, so I pulled it open and slowly crept into the hall. Oskar was already there, and he motioned for me to stay behind him. I rolled my eyes.

  I was surrounded by men who thought I was a delicate flower.

  There was another loud crash, so I pushed past Oskar and entered the living room, my eyes scanning for threats. Matthias was on the floor next to the coffee table. His eyes widened when he saw me.

  “Gemma, look out!”

  I caught a blur of motion in my peripheral vision just as Oskar burst into the room and shoved me out of the way. A figure clad all in black did a spinning roundhouse kick that clocked him right on the side of the face.

  “Holy shit!” Oskar stumbled back but recovered pretty quickly for a man of his size.

  I knew that kick could take down a Goliath. After all I’d felt it often enough when I was training.

  “Everybody stop moving!” I bellowed.

  Oskar gaped at me in astonishment as I approached the black clad figure. He stumbled forward as if to grab me, which earned him another kick to the chest.

  “Would you stop? They’re my friends.”