Sleeping With the Enemy

Sequel: Chapter Nine

Anthony

Gemma trembled as I held her hand, leading her farther down the hallway. It was quiet out in the club now, and that wasn't a good sign. It meant the men who were after Gemma were probably searching the place for us, and we had to get out of here before they found us.

There was a doorway that led out to an alleyway back here somewhere. When I finally found it, I leaned my head to be sure we were clear. Parked right outside the door was a motorcycle, and I knew it was our only shot at escape.

I'd need eight seconds to hot wire it, and then we'd be out, but working on the motorcycle and covering us would be impossible to do at the same time. I was going to need help.

"Have you ever fired a gun before?" I hesitated to even ask Gemma with the state of shock she was in, but I didn't have another choice. Somehow, I had to move her out of shock and into survival mode.

"No, I haven't." She shook her head frantically. She was planning to take over for her father and had never shot a gun before? Jesus Christ.

I rubbed my temples, trying to concoct a plan.

"Look at me." I cupped her chin, forcing her to look at me. My dominant touch seemed like just the shock to her system that she needed. "You've got to get it together, Gemma. I need you. Do you understand? We're going to get out of here, but I need your help."

She nodded, wiping the tears off of her cheek.

"There is a motorcycle out there and I need to hot wire it so that we can get out of here. We're going to run out there and I want you to duck behind it. Okay?"

"Yeah." Gemma

"Hold on to this." I put my gun in her shaky hands.

"Woah!" she cried. "Anthony, I can't..."

Tears started bubbling in her eyes again. "Gemma, you are the heiress to a powerful Mafia organization and in a few months, you'll be leading it. You can do this. I need you. I can't do both things. All you have to do is watch. And if you see something, I want you to hold this down." I placed her finger on the trigger so she knew exactly what to do.

"Anthony..." she pleaded.

"You trust me, right?" I leaned close to her, my lips inches away from hers. "All you have to do it hold it down and it will shoot for you. And you only have to do it if you see something. I promise, it will be okay."

"I... okay." She stuttered, calming the tiniest bit.

"Great." I said, hoping I didn't look as unsure as I felt. I was trusting my life to a 21-year-old girl who had never even held a gun before. But we had no other choice.

It was either do this, or stay here and lie pray to the gunman. They were professionals, and we wouldn't last long. I had to keep her safe.

"Good girl. On the count of three. You remember what you're going to do, right?"

She nodded, a small shudder on her sweet lips. I wanted to comfort her. Wrap her in my arms and assure her everything was going to be okay. Tell her how badly I wanted her. There would be plenty of time for that once I got us out of here, though.

"You can do this." I wasn't sure if I was talking to her or myself. "One, two, three..."

I threw the door open, jerking Gemma into the empty alleyway.

"Bend down behind this." I nodded toward the motorcycle. "You see anyone, you shoot."

Gemma's eyes were wild with fear, but she did as I asked, bending down behind the bike and propping her hands on the seat, poising herself to fire.