Chapter 185: Nowhere To Run
Selene’s POV
"What the hell is Lucas still doing in there?" I spat out loud in the car.
I hated the way we were sitting idle with no action. The longer we waited, the more the heat in my blood would drain away, and I’d lose the edge that kept me sharp. I’d lose the hunger to kill, and I couldn’t afford that, not tonight.
We had wanted this done from the inside, not the outside, because it was less predictable that way. But Lucas wasting time was making me have second thoughts. This had to be quick, very quick. I couldn’t afford not to have what I wanted at the moment I wanted it.
"Maybe he’s still bargaining with them," one of the soldiers beside me said. "That can be a very hard job."
Which was true, and that only irritated me more.
"But time isn’t a luxury we have," I said, my patience wearing thin. "If we waste too much of it with him in there, he’ll run out of lines, and they’ll know something is wrong."
"What can we do?" I asked, more to myself than to anyone. "We can’t just sit here like this. Things might be going sideways in there."
I was sweating inside an air-conditioned car, which was strange. My palms were damp, and my heart thudded against my ribs like it wanted out. I kept seeing William in my head, pale and fragile on that hospital bed, and I kept telling myself I couldn’t fail him.
Fucking hell. The air conditioning, which was supposed to soothe me, did the exact opposite. It smelled like fuel, though I couldn’t have said what it was supposed to smell like. The scent clawed at my nose until I wanted to rip the vents out.
"We can wait a bit longer, and if he doesn’t..."
"Turn off the AC," I interrupted.
It was off immediately. The silence that followed was thick, and I hated that too.
"You can continue with your suggestion, please," I said. I still wasn’t at ease. I just wanted to kill.
"I say we give it another twenty minutes," the soldier said. "If he doesn’t come out, we try to penetrate."
"I don’t like that word, try." I turned to the man in the back. "We have the chief tech operator here with us. I don’t know if he’ll understand their algorithm and all that, but whatever we do has to be fast. We can’t risk being caught, and we can’t risk Lucas being killed."
"That sounds like a good idea, Luna," the chief tech operator said.
I exhaled slowly, but it didn’t help. Every second that dragged by felt like a blade pressed to my throat.
---
Lucas’s POV
"And who told you the slot was open for a new member?" Tony asked me.
"I didn’t think the slot ever closed," I said. "If it had, Tony, you would have blocked me out and kept me from entering this place. But that’s not the case."
Tony looked at me and smiled. I knew that smile. It was his corny way of doing things, of making a person believe the wrong thing.
"You know what broke the last team here?" he said. "A lack of togetherness. This job depends on being family, on looking after each other. That’s why I made you all choose to stay or leave, and you chose to leave. You were the last person I expected to do that. But I guess when a man like you has his pride stung, he walks away, protects his peace and some shit. I understand. That’s why I left this place open for you. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. It’s never too late."
I went down on my knees.
"Only people who have everything they need have pride, Tony," I said. "Family is all I need. Everything I need is here. Thank you."
I thanked him over and over, as expressively as I could. I tried to squeeze out fake tears, but they wouldn’t come. Fuck!
The truth was, some part of me wanted to cry, and that scared me more than the mission did.
"Welcome back to the team," Tony said.
𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
Valentina and Ciro came to help me to my feet. Valentina’s hands trembled on my arm, and I had to look away from her.
"So happy to have you back, boss," Ciro said.
"I’m not your boss. Draven is." I could see the anger on Draven’s face from across the room. He didn’t want me back.
Tony left, and I was alone with Zeno, who wasn’t thrilled to have me back, and Salvatore, who was thrilled enough for everyone. I couldn’t care less about either of them. I had a bigger mission, and it was moving too slowly. Luna Selene must have been losing her patience by now.
"I need to use the toilet," I said. "Be right back."
I left their midst immediately, but May wouldn’t stop staring at me. People said she used to be military. Maybe she suspected me. Maybe she was suspecting me and some shit. Fuck her.
I took a quick turn toward the control room. It was empty. The operators must have gone on break after setting up everything they needed.
Huh. Lazy tech guys.
I didn’t know what to press, so I looked for landmarks and pointers. My eyes found the button labelled ACCESS. I went straight to it and murmured into my mic, "Granting access now."
I placed my hand on GENERAL ACCESS. The gates were supposed to open on their own accord. My finger was about to press down when a voice came from behind me.
"I knew you weren’t here for redemption."
I turned. It was May.
I had been caught. Nothing I said would change that.
"What do you know?" I said, just to stall her. "You’ve served one man all your life. You don’t know what freedom is like, so you can’t give it."
"How many of them are outside?" she asked.
"This is your end. There’s no need to talk shit." My hand was still on the button.
"What do you gain from betraying your family?" She pulled out her gun. "If you push that button, you’re dead."
"Fuck you."
I pushed the button and ducked immediately. May fired at the emergency system, and the alarm burst out, extremely loud. The buzzers beeped over and over until my skull felt like it was splitting. Every guard in the building would be awake by now.
May searched the room for me, shooting wildly, but it was too late. The access had already been granted. They should flood in any minute now.
While she fired sporadically, I managed to slip out of the room and run for my life.
Fuck! The noise only got louder. Men came pouring out from everywhere, and I ended up at a crossroads between two doors, both blocked by Tony’s men.
"There’s been a breach!" May yelled behind me. "Keep Tony safe and eliminate the fucking threat!"
Some of the men split off and ran to take care of Luna Selene.
My stomach dropped. Selene.
May kept her gun pointed at me. My own breath was loud in my ears.
"There’s nowhere to run now," she said.