49

Two bullets hit him squarely in the shoulder. The thunder of other bullets, however, only caused one of their men to go down and a second seemed so surprised that he hesitated a moment too long. Killian took the opportunity.

Strikes with the machete and chops off his outstretched arm. Blood spurted out of the stump like a fountain and his scream went to Killian's bones. They aimed at him again, this time to kill him and not just stop him like the first two shots.

Killian ducked under the screaming armless man, who was released from his colleagues' bullets and lay heavily on Killian's back. Practical. Killian, roaring, pushed himself towards a third, using his body as a shield, threw him the body of his colleague and hacked at his head with the machete. Unfortunately, he only hit the shoulder, which was so wide apart that the arm would have ripped off by itself in a few seconds.

It did enough damage to knock him down. Meanwhile, the fourth man, who had already been hit a few times by shots from his club - cheers for Dominik's good eyes - had built himself up as a protective shield from his mistress.

Killian was inevitably impressed. The man was still standing, protecting Viktoria to the last breath. Which had long since made itself out of the dust. Damn. He couldn't let that happen! But the shots from surrounding buildings covered their retreat.

Killian was forced to lie flat on the ground and took cover behind a car himself. Damn, he had to catch this bitch before she took off. Police cars thundered around the corner, cutting off the street under fire. Viktoria stopped in front of a squad car, gave Killian a triumphant look over her shoulder and... Got shot in the head.

Exactly from the policeman in front of her, who should actually belong to her people. Arnold Spencer. He looked upset, had a bleeding wound on his temple where someone had obviously tried to knock him down, but he was there and alive. And he had brought reinforcements. He gave a signal and heavily armed police units thundered out of the heavily armored pickup trucks and police cars and stormed the city blocks to stop the shooting by Viktoria's people.

Arnold walked slowly towards Killian, still a gun in hand and Killian dropped his machete before Spencer also holstered his gun and moved towards him with all caution not to be hit by a bullet from the houses after all.

"Sam is injured, we need an ambulance," Killian said quickly, leaning against the car. Arnold kicked the machete out of his reach. Careful was the mother of the china box, and then she took a look at Killian's injuries .

Don't worry, there's a whole bunch of them down a side street. Tell your people to lower their guns and let us do our job," he said. Killian just sneered.

"Sebastian should be up and away with his family." Arnold looked at him sullenly. Of course he had hoped to get hold of Sebastian Collin.

"I could send you to jail if I were him," he retorted dryly. The shots stopped in the house behind them and Killian got up to cross the street. He had to check on Samantha. Arnold followed him, at least until then until Killian shouted at him, "Marsh Collin, is three blocks from here at the St. Elisabeth private clinic, the money he uses for the payment comes from a Swiss account, which he hasn't registered for tax purposes. That should give you enough stuff offer to arrest him and obtain search warrants."

A line of ambulances drove into the gun-free area. In the buildings opposite, police officers dragged some still alive and arrested gunmen out of the building. Arnold Spencer seemed to be debating whether to arrest the people at Club or take down Marsh Collin, like El Capone, for tax evasion. He chose the latter. Grabbed some of his people and raced to the clinic with lights flashing. As it turned out, there were more honest cops than Victoria had thought.

Much more. Maybe the world wasn't so bad after all. A paramedic came up to him and wanted to help him. Killian waved him off and sent him to Sam. As expected, only his few men were still in the club and his little sister, who was still lying pale on the dance floor.

Only Sebastian's one man, who had served as a drip holder to make up for her blood loss, remained and nodded politely to Killian, before handing the saline solution to a doctor and following his masters. Wherever. Only when Sam was in the ambulance and the doctors had promised him that she would make it through did Killian allow himself to see a doctor. He fished two bullets out of his shoulders and treated a few abrasions before he too was taken to the hospital.

But he didn't stay in his room. He waited. Sam's operation lasted almost ten hours and luckily for the doctors, the surgeon once again confirmed that she would be fine. He burst into tears and cried like a baby in the middle of the hospital corridor.

Relief broke to the surface. Sadness about what happened to Sam and also about what happened to Tom. He couldn't forgive him, no matter what motives he had to bring up. There was always another way, but Thomas had chosen to kill an innocent girl because he desperately wanted to believe that a loved one was still alive. These thoughts brought to the surface the cruel calculation that always resided within him.

He already put the memory of Thomas aside. There would also be a time to mourn his former best friend, which unfortunately just wasn't now. He calmed down when the doctors allowed him to join Sam in the recovery room. Sheer relief washed over him as he took Samantha's pale hand in his, kissed it and waited for her to wake up.

Until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. These thoughts brought to the surface the cruel calculation that always resided within him. He already put the memory of Thomas aside. There would also be a time to mourn his former best friend, which unfortunately just wasn't now. He calmed down when the doctors allowed him to join Sam in the recovery room.

Sheer relief washed over him as he took Samantha's pale hand in his, kissed it and waited for her to wake up. Until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. These thoughts brought to the surface the cruel calculation that always resided within him. He already put the memory of Thomas aside. There would also be a time to mourn his former best friend, which unfortunately just wasn't now.

*****

Sam was in pain.

As she always did when she fell asleep in the middle of the sun and opened her eyes to the glare, her synapses overworked and sent a searing pain straight into her skull. Just like now, when she accidentally looked directly into the sweltering sun and tried to shield herself with one arm.

"You shouldn't sleep in the sun. You'll get sunburned!" came a hard, male voice that could only belong to the only man she really cared about. Killian.

She rubbed her eyes at his beautiful, masculine face and the now much too long blond ones Hair that had gotten a lot lighter in the last few months.

Just like her own . She took the glass he handed her.Ice cubes and a lime were floating in it. She sat up and looked down at her body, checking for red spots from a possible sunburn. Nothing. Except for this golden tone, which her body now had everywhere and made her skin appear so perfect that she had been amazed herself.

Well perfect except for the ugly white scars on her side and back. She could hardly believe that it had already been a year since they had left this town. Sam had never felt more relaxed and at ease than in the months since arriving here.

No appointments, no stress, no dangers. Just a peaceful dreamy white beach and deep blue water. Killian sat down next to her on the sand and propped himself up on his forearms while he looked at her. He was a lot tanner than she was and she couldn't get enough of the gorgeous tattoos on his body. And the ring on his finger.

They weren't actually married, but here in the Caribbean it was a lot easier to pretend to be a married couple than it was to explain to the locals that you were living with your brother. However, nobody really asked any questions here. Not about the money they had, not about their closed lifestyle, not about their family. Everything was just perfect. For the first time in their otherwise crappy lives.

"Is Dominik coming over with Clarissa?" Samantha asked while Killian reached for a sunscreen and she started applying it.

Maybe that's why she was so much paler than himself. Because of his caring nature. Dominic had come here with them and had quickly become the heartthrob of the neighboring small town. However, he had fallen for the daughter of an old bar owner on day one and made a fool of himself for months trying to impress her.

The father still had his problems with his daughter getting involved with a foreigner. But the apparent wealth he possessed seemed to calm him down somewhat.

"Yes. "Oh, and what do you intend to use it for?" Sam asked seductively. Killian undid the straps of her bikini bottoms and grinned broadly as his creamy hands slid down her stomach to her most intimate spot.

"I'll think of something." He breathed in her ear and Sam leaned in to kiss him. She was happy. Really happy for the first time and wished for nothing more than to be able to stay on this island together with Killian forever.

THE END