Henry had to stop himself from snorting. Yeah, try that, buddy. Kay knew exactly what to do with a rapey son of a bitch. He was sure this asshole had done shitty things to many women who hadn’t had the means to fight back.
He was about to find out he was dealing with one who could.
“Please don’t hurt me.” Kay was gasping, her voice filled with fear.
He should probably try to make it look good. Although he had to say his first instinct was to simply watch her. She was spectacular, and as a teacher, he truly enjoyed his students doing well in the real world. Seeing them all grown up and able to emasculate a bad guy…it did something for his soul.
“Oh, I think you’ll like the way I hurt you. What do you say, Bishop? You want to watch me do your wife?” the boss asked.
It was time for a little confusion.
“Do I have to? I think it’s going to bore her. Kay, do we need to wait? Josh will kick my ass if I let that man even start to molest you,” he said with a sigh because he’d already seen her move to get the gun.
She wasn’t waiting.
That was the moment the ground shook and a loud boom went off in the distance.
Taggart really did like to blow shit up. He’d always been overly invested in explosives.
“What the hell was that?” The boss had dropped his hands from Kayla’s body and turned toward the sound of some building blowing up. Likely his house. The man reached for his gun and came up empty.
“Looking for this?” Kay had her perkiest smile on. “Thanks. I couldn’t bring a gun with me. I thought I’d just take yours.”
Kay turned and immediately fired off three quick shots.
“Don’t forget behind you, dear.” Henry was perfectly calm now. He trusted his former protégés. “He might not have a gun, but he’s still bigger than you.”
Kayla’s eyes rolled. “Like that matters.” Without looking, she kicked back and caught the jerk right in the balls. She turned and faced him down. “We’re going to have a long talk about treating women like pawns, asshole. I don’t simply exist so you can rape me and make my fake husband tell you something he doesn’t even know. Also, eww, he’s like another dad to me.”
“Older brother, please.” He wasn’t that old. “And thank you for believing me about the money and the drugs.”
Kayla gave him a bright smile. “Never doubted it. You did it all for love. It’s so romantic.”
Then she turned and fired two bullets into the man on the ground.
“I thought you were teaching him a lesson.” He could breathe again.
Kayla shrugged. “He wasn’t smart enough to learn.”
Another explosion rocked the ground.
“You should probably let me out,” Henry said. “More could be on their way.”
She shook her head. “We’re good now. The boys will take care of everyone else. Ten’s having so much fun. He found a flamethrower. Tag’s blowing shit up all over the place. They’ll be here soon. Oh, your little girl is divine, John…Henry. She’s the sweetest thing ever. I swear if we had my phone I would FaceTime her right now. I promised Nell I would keep her up to date, and the last time I was able to DM her was right before I let the mercenaries take me. They wouldn’t even let me keep my phone. Assholes. It’s okay. Ten promised he would get it back after he killed all of them. The case is Chanel. Josh got it for my birthday, so I don’t want to lose it.”
Kayla could talk a mile a minute.
“I don’t think we should call Nell until we get clear of the compound.”
“I know what it’s like to have to sit and wait to find out if the person you love is okay.” Kayla frowned down at the restraints. “They also didn’t let me bring in a knife.” She gasped and then Henry jumped at the sound of a shot so close to him. “Dude, stay dead. I hate it when I only halfway kill them. Eww, I also hate having to search dead bodies for the things I need. Do you think there’s a kitchen nearby? Or did Tag already blow that up?”
“Kayla, focus.” He so wanted out of those restraints.
“What the hell?” a deeply Southern accent said. Ten Smith strode through the door wearing all black, and he’d obviously ditched the flamethrower for an AR-15. “You’re out of practice, man. I remember a time when you would have smashed that chair and gotten yourself on your feet in no time at all.”
“Well, I’m a lot older now, and it hurts to break a chair around your body. I leave that to you youngsters. Although I would again point out that I’m not that much older than you.” Henry felt that way sometimes.
Tag jogged in, a huge grin on his face. “Hey, Henry. Smart of you to wait until someone showed up with a knife. Breaking a chair hurts. Damn, this was fun. I would stay away from the heavy white cloud that is currently hovering over the warehouse. I think it’s cocaine. It’s pretty when it explodes.”
“Yeah, I gotta admit. I missed this,” Ten said with wistful grin.
“You know what I miss? My wife.” If he let them, his former students would likely start a new team and tour the world blowing things up. “I thank you so much. Can I go home now?”
Ian pulled out a really big knife. “Sure thing. But my services come at a price. You’re going to have to find me a cabin. Charlie likes Bliss. She wants a summer place. I like the crazy shit that happens there, and I’m trying to raise free-range kids, so it all works out.”
Henry frowned. “They don’t like it when Texans buy up all the land and turn the whole place into
