Crack.
Without thinking twice I spun around and directed the barrel of my gun at the quiet noise from behind me. The source of the sound turned out to be a strongly and solidly built man, mirroring my stance.
"Put the gun down," I hissed quietly, eyes narrowing at him. He wasn't one of Julio's men, but now wasn't the time to start finding out who he was.
"Who the fuck are you?" He gruffed out, voice close to echoing around the abandoned and dim storage hall.
My stance faltered and I was quick to move one hand away from the gun, pressing a finger against my lips to silence him.
He hadn't shot me yet, and I doubt he wanted to come face to face with the killing machines after me right now. The men after me would come running if they heard a shot, although I knew I could kill this man quicker than he had time to react.
The second I was left with only one hand on my gun, he took a confident stride forward and more aggressively pointed his gun at my head. I would never retreat or back down, especially when facing off with a man.
"You're not my biggest problem right now," I glared at him, harsh voice barely above a whisper, "if you're not going to-"
"Get down," he ordered all of a sudden, large hand grabbing my shoulder to push me down.
My ears rang from the loud echo of a shot.
One of the storage racks behind the mysterious man now squatting in front of me took the hit of the bullet, and I realised he had just saved my life.
I ripped his hand away from my shoulder and pushed past him, quickly rising to my feet and making a run for it. I heard him muttering out a curse and shuffling onto his feet as well.
Another shot fired, followed by a third.
I sprinted through the storage hall, making sure to not run in one line for too long and to stay out of view from the men paid to kill me. I squeezed the gun tightly in my hand, heart racing from the excitement of it all.
I heard a fourth shot much closer to me now.
A stinging pain emanated from my calf. I glanced down quickly enough to realise I had cut it on the edge of one of the old and industrial storage shelves. I cursed to myself at having been so reckless, knowing the professional men would need much less to track me down than a few spots of blood on the floor.
I then heard someone running behind me. I quickened my pace, not bothering to look back. I turned a sharp corner, wanting to lose whoever was following me. This was a mistake, as I ran down a small hallway between the shelves, down which one of Julio's men was standing, confused and oblivious to what was going on.
My sprint never faltered as I raised my gun and shot him, watching the panic in his eyes before he limply fell to the ground with a thud. I heard the steps behind me closing in quickly, and I glanced over my shoulder to find the mysterious man following me.
For some reason he wouldn't shoot me, but I still needed to lose him as he was nearing me all too easily.
I turned another corner, now running along the side of the storage hall, littered with rusty metal doors. No more gunshots sounded, and I wondered what Julio's men were planning.
I screamed brokenly when my upper arm was grabbed roughly and I was pushed against the concrete wall, my head hitting it and causing me to wince out in pain.
My sprint had come to an abrupt stop and I glared up at the culprit, both of our chests rising and falling with accelerated breaths.
"What do you think you're doing?" I gritted out, mustering up all the strength I had to rip my arm away from his rough hold but embarrassingly unable to do so.
Not letting me answer he forced one of the doors closest to my back open, and pushed me in to the darkness.
"Who-" I began with a defiant glare, infuriated by him sticking his nose into business he definitely didn't belong in.
I was cut off by being violently pushed against a wall once more, this time with a hand hand wrapping around my neck and the steady pressure of a gun's muzzle pushing into my temple.
The door creaked shut behind him and the stingy lightbulb lit up automatically above us, casting just enough light for me to see his face only a few inches from mine.
I had no time to wonder why there was electricity in the particular room, as his hand around my neck tightened and his dark eyes glared in to mine intimidatingly.
"You led them here," he grunted out lowly and aggressively. I almost laughed, not because of his stance but because my body reacted quite sinfully to his sexy voice.
"Not on purpose, you idiot," I managed out, not showing him the constraint his hand was placing on me, "good job, by the way. They'll love finding us here like sitting ducks."
"They're all dead," he gruffed out, jaw clenching as he studied me menacingly, "who are you?"
The barrel of his gun pushed into my skin painfully, expecting an answer from me at this instant.
"All dead? You can't possibly know how many of them-"
I pressed my lips shut when he cocked the gun, eyes challenging for me to continue.
"Don't break in to places you haven't scanned over," his eyes darkened.
He was more intimidating than the threatening situation I had been in before, and I quite enjoyed it.
"Carrying around heat sensors isn't my style," I began, his choke continuing to restrict my breath even as my lips tugged up with a devilish smile, "shame you can't manage without them."
His eyes flashed with anger, but turned into surprise when I discreetly raised my hand enough to be able to press the muzzle of my gun against his groin. My eyes never left his, finding him beautiful alongside the sturdy and impressive build he carried himself with.
I looked up at him innocently before cocking my gun as well, the small and relatively empty room then falling silent.
He could feel my accelerated heartbeat with his hand easily wrapped around my neck, and my enjoyment of this situation clearly frustrated him further.
He dug his gun further into my temple, trying to get my smug and confident attitude to falter. I copied him and pushed my gun into his groin harder, only angering him more.
"I love it rough," I purred seductively, eyes fluttering down to his luscious lips in an attempt to confuse and distract the giant man, "everything's more fun with a bit of pain, isn't it?"
He seemed unfazed, quickly catching on to what I was trying to do. "Is my cock really more important than your life?"
"You tell me," I continued sultrily, looking up at him through my lashes now, "but I doubt you have it in you to shoot me, you're-"
He surprised me with his knee raising to knock the gun out of my hand.
It fell to the concrete floor, and I cursed at myself in my head for not having been more vigilant and prepared. Externally I stayed collected, not wanting him to witness any panic I may be feeling.
"Tell me your name. Now."
"Natalia, if you must know," I managed out a wry smile, airflow constricted very disturbingly and distractingly, and I was already feeling light headed.
"Your family name," he gruffed out domineeringly, dark gaze burning into mine.
The last thing he needed to know was who my father was. Then, he would surely kill me on the spot, depending of course what family he worked for and if they wanted to start a war.
"White," I lied through my teeth, but it seemed like he had believed it without question, "and yours?"
"You don't need to know," he grinned, the surprisingly stunning sight stunting me for a fraction of a second, before I kneed him in between his strong thighs.
With a pained groan his grip removed itself from around my throat and gun left my temple.
He cursed at me, but before he had a chance to grab me again, I slipped out of the room and sprinted toward the exit of the storage hall, my gun left behind.
--
"You do not," my father's angry voice raised as he rounded the marble desk in his office, "and I repeat, you do not go into situations like that alone. Ever."
"I handled it fine-" I insisted, but his stern stare cut me off. He leaned against the edge of his desk in front of myself sat on one of the armchairs.
I felt like a child getting scolded by their parent after stealing a cookie.
"I don't send my men anywhere alone. My only daughter is no exception."
I sighed and focused on my hands on my lap. The cut I had received by accident had been bandaged up by the medics, from where I had been hastily escorted to be reprimanded by my father.
I hadn't informed anyone of my encounter with the mysterious and sexy man, who for some reason hadn't shot me even when he had had plenty of chances to do so.
"I promised your mother I would keep you safe," he continued, tone softening as he knelt down in front of me. He took my hands into his lovingly and found my cold eyes.
"You let Noah do whatever he pleases," I gritted out, "I don't want to be treated any different from him just because I'm not a man."
"I would never approve of him entering a situation like that alone either."
"That's because he would be too scared to, in the first place!" I protested with an unhumored laugh, shaking my head to look away from his caring gaze, "I take initiative, I get things done, I-"
"You'll yourself killed continuing like this, Natasha."
My jaw clenched, tired of being cut off in this world constantly.
His men were more trained, but I relied fully on my instincts since they had never let me down before. Today had been a miscalculation as I hadn't expected to bump into anyone else except Julio's men.
"My men will take care of Julio's men and the shipment," he then spoke, ending my chance of complaining, "you won't touch a gun until I've said you can."
I held myself back from rolling my eyes, and resulted in a simple nod.
"My darling," he raised himself up enough to place a kiss onto my forehead, content with my compliance.