The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 101

Brent positioned himself in a divet of the railing, completely out of sight for anyone below the stairs, and Kat like screaming, screaming and screaming until the earth reverberated with emotion.

She felt as if she were slipping in and out of consciousness, the warmth in her thigh spreading to the rest of her leg and then her entire lower body. It was like she was swimming in a boiling lake and she sagged against Andy more heavily, her frame not as solid as Brent's had been.

"Stand up," Andy instructed, jabbing her with the gun. Kat stumbled in place then stood swaying, everything wrong with her settling in all at once.

"Please, I need to sit down," she pleaded.

"Which is exactly why you won't," Andy responded lightly. "If you need to sit down, collapse. And if you collapse," she laughed drily. "I'm gonna shoot you. You should've just kept it in your pants Kat."

Kat wrenched her eyes shut, her tears renewing despite her dehydration. She'd never felt this alone before, never been in this much pain, and she was beginning to realize there was a very good chance she wasn't making it out of this alive, that Andy was serious, that she'd actually kill her.

"Oh fuck," Andy cried, looking at a screen she'd pulled from her pocket. "He's already here. He must've sped like shit, alright, alright get ready."

She pulled a bundle of cloth from Kat's briefcase that she didn't recognize, only realizing once Andy was shoving the pieces into her mouth as a makeshift gaga that they were slashes torn from one of the blazers her mom had bought for her. Kat gagged, struggling to breath around the thick fabric and choking, bringing her hands up to her face.

"Touch it and die," said Andy, sounding bored. "Now, sit over here, right there."

Kat lowered herself to the ground slowly, relieved to be off her feet but more afraid of the wound now that she could see it, could assess its severity and the amount of blood she'd lost.

"Anything to say, Kat?" Andy asked, looking down at her and pointing the gun squarely in her face.

Kat was breathing raggedly, pleading with Andy with her eyes.

"That's what I figured," she finished decisively, and all of them snapped to attention as the door banged open.

"Kat," she heard Jove's voice call frantically. "Kat!"

"She's up here," replied Andy in a singsong voice.

Kat and Jove saw each other in the exact same moment, their eyes meeting and each trying to convey an unspoken message they wanted badly to get across.

Jove started for the stairs, taking them two at a time, and was nearly to her, already crossing the landing in just seconds, when Brent stepped from the shadows, the first round already fired before he could expose his face to the light.

Kat screamed as it rang out, screamed despite the gag, and Jove's body jerked as the bullet hit him square in the chest. Another shot rang out, then another, all three slamming into him before he hit the ground.

Kat was screaming hysterically now, her entire being agony. She wanted to crawl to him despite the pain in her legs, wanted to be with him as he lay there, helpless as she was. She was choking on sobs, choking on her attempts for air, and she heard Andy take a deep breath beside her.

"Holy shit," Andy breathed. "Oh my god, you got him. You actually got him." Andy turned in a circle, clearly in pleased disbelief. "Holy shit you got him Brent, you got him. For Conner."

"I don't think," Brent said, approaching Jove's body, and suddenly he was on the floor, his head hitting the concrete with a sickening thwack and Jove's hand clenched tightly around his right ankle.

A sort of muted choke burbled from between his lips, and Jove, inexplicably unbloodied, was on top of him, methodically beating in his face with carefully placed punches. Brent stopped making noises after the first hit but Jove didn't let up, only raising up when Andy found her bearing enough to scream.

Jove grabbed the gun that had skidded from Brent's hands when his head hit the floor and aimed it at Andy, raising it just seconds after she had gripped Kat's chin and had the gun firmly placed back at her temple.