A Treacherous King- Dark Mafia Romance

twelve

Maeve

One. Two. Three.

On Caine's mark I take off in a sprint towards the shipment crate pressed up against the front of the old building. My back hits the side of it with a thud. Shots ring out from every direction. I hear a cry of pain as a bullet hits one of Caine's men in the leg. He hits the ground instantly and rolls over to take cover behind a dumpster. More shots sound as I squeeze my eyes shut. I cover my ears with the palms of my hands and bring my knees up to my chest.

My heart has never beat this fast before. It's hammering in my chest making me feel lightheaded in its wake. I feel like I'm in the middle of a fucking Call of Duty campaign. This is definitely not how I envisioned my night going.

I realize now that I'm panicking. My chest is tightening up, my breathing becoming erratic. I need to focus if I am going to make it out of this alive. I open my eyes just in time to see someone coming right at me.

The figure grabs me around the waist and smashes me against their chest. I open my mouth to scream, not even having the capability to lift my gun, but a strong hand clamps down over it. A blind panic takes root in my chest. I thrash against my attacker, but they have a firm grip on me.

"It's me." Caine hisses in my ear. I stop thrashing and he slowly removes his hand from my mouth, letting go of me completely.

"Are you hurt?" He asks, a tinge of concern in his voice. He gives me a once over, checking for nonexistent injuries. I don't know why but his concern makes my stomach do a flip.

"No. Are you?" I say, barely above a whisper.

"No." The gunfire has slowed. Every few seconds, the unmistakable sound of bullets bouncing off the ground is the only indication that anything is still happening. Maks appears from the shadows, pressing his back against the crate.

"Docks clear. There's only a few left. They're hiding in that first floor room."As he says it, a man pops up from one of the building's missing window frames and fires off a few rounds blindly.

Maks leans around the shipping crate aiming his submachine gun and fires, a loud thud following closely behind.

"Stay close." Caine says. He stays low to the ground, me right on his heels as he rounds the side of the crate. Maks is leading and four other men take flank behind us. We stick close to the front of the building as Maks presses himself to the right of the door and does a finger count.

On three he swings his gun around and kicks the door in. The wood splinters as bullets start flying from a room to the left of us. Maks reaches into his vest and pulls out a grenade, pulling the clip and throwing it into the room with the unsuspecting men. I cover my ears as the loud bang goes off followed by agonizing screams. Maks charges into the building, firing off two shots. Undoubtedly finishing off the remaining men.

"It's clear!" He shouts. Caine grabs my hand and pulls me inside the building.

"Make sure we didn't miss any." Maks orders. Caine's still got a firm grip on my hand as he pulls me up a flight of stairs in front us.

"Leo!" He shouts.

"Up here!" A voice calls back. We reach the top of the stairs and cut right, going into a room at the end of the top floor.

"We're over here!" Leo calls outs. Leo and Simon are half hidden in a corner of the room. Leo is on his knees pressing a dirty towel to Simon's chest. The towel is soaked through with blood. My stomach clenches at the sight. Caine releases me and rushes over to the two men.

"Yebat." (Fuck) Caine curses. "How bad is it?" He reaches for Simon's hand and squeezes it.

"He's lost a lot of blood. We need to get him out of here." Leo says, a little dazed. He's obviously been up here for a while trying to put pressure on Simon's wound.

Caine simply nods in response. He grabs hold of Simon's ankles as Leo hooks his own arms under Simon's armpits. He somehow still manages to keep the pressure on the wound with the dirty rag as they hoist him up.

They quickly make their way back down the stairs. Simon moans like a wounded animal every time they descend a step. Someone had moved Caine's car, it was now sitting in front of the building. I open the backdoor as they lay Simon on the leather seat.

"I need you to ride back there with him and keep the pressure on his chest." Caine says, a tinge of panic in his voice.

My stomach is already weak, but with the determined look in his eye, I know I have no other option. I nod and get in the backseat with Simon. I rest his head on my lap and press my hands firmly on top of the towel covering his chest.

Simon looks like hell. His lips are purple, and he's visibly shaking. His normally curly hair is plastered against his forehead with sweat. I brush his hair back with my free hand. His eyes flutter in response to my touch. I don't think he's lost consciousness yet, but by the looks of it, he's not far from it.

Caine gets into the driver's seat and cranks the car, the engine roaring to life. We speed away, the car flying over the gravel road. I wonder if Caine and his organization use hospitals? Or if it's too dangerous to risk. A man coming in with a bullet wound to the chest would raise questions no doubt. I'm about to ask Caine where we're going when the back window of the car shatters. I scream, as the car swerves hard to the left.

"Are you okay?" Caine shouts. I have my head ducked down hovering over Simon's face. I lift it up a little to see bright headlights directly behind us in the rear view mirror.

"I'm okay!" I respond.

"Some assholes are trailing us. Keep your head down." He barks out. More shots are fired at the car, a bullet embedding itself in the passengers side headrest.

Fear takes a new grip on me. Bullets are flying into the car left and right, narrowly missing my head. Caine is swerving along the road trying to avoid being hit, but the car behind us isn't letting up. I know I can't release the pressure on Simon's chest so I try to focus on that and not the utter panic taking root in my chest.

Another car comes up fast to our right. A man leans out of the backseat with a semi automatic and fires round after round at the car behind us. The guy must have taken out the driver because the car jackknifes and hits a tree.

"I think we're clear." Caine announces. I release a breath of relief. I glance down at Simon to make sure he's okay. I push his hair back. He doesn't respond to my touch. I realize too late that his moans have subsided and he's grown incredibly quiet.