Chapter 7 - Three Inches From the Heart
“Enough talk!” Vance snarled, tightening his finger on the trigger aimed at Aleandro’s back. “Drop the gun, or I blow your spine out right here!”
In that fraction of a second, Isabella made her choice.
With every ounce of strength left in her battered body, she hurled her chair sideways into the control panel. The iron frame slammed into Vance’s hip, knocking his balance off by a fraction of an inch.
BANG.
The gunshot exploded inside the enclosed room. The bullet, intended for Aleandro’s spine, tore through the air and struck Isabella squarely in the left side of her chest.
She gasped, a sharp, ragged sound, as blood bloomed like an iron rose across the cream silk of her dress.
Aleandro’s mind shattered. The cold calculation that had governed his entire life vanished, replaced by an absolute, primordial fury.
He spun on his heel, caught Vance’s wrist, and snapped the bone backward with a sickening crunch. Before Vance could scream, Aleandro drove his tactical knife straight up under the man’s chin, pinning him to the wooden frame of the office door.
He turned and fired three rapid shots into Viktor Malikov’s chest before the Russian could touch the detonator. Malikov collapsed, the switch slipping harmlessly from his dying fingers.
“Isabella!” Aleandro dropped his weapon and fell to his knees beside her, his hands trembling violently as he pressed his palms against the dark pool spreading across her chest.
“Aleandro...” she whispered, her eyes fluttering as her skin turned ash white. “The clock...”
“Shh, don't talk. Look at me, Bella. Look at me!” Aleandro roared, his voice breaking for the first time in his life. “Dominic! Get the bomb squad kit! Cut these wires right now!”
Dominic rushed forward with tactical shears, expertly snipping the main disarm lead on the vest while Aleandro kept his weight pressed against her wound. Blood poured through his fingers, staining his gold watch, his cuffs, and his hands.
May you like
“Stay with me,” Aleandro pleaded, pulling her weak, trembling body against his chest. “You saved me. You saved us both. Don't you dare close your eyes!”
“Three inches...” the team medic stammered as he burst into the room with a trauma kit, checking her pulse. “The bullet hit high... it’s three inches from her heart! We have to move her right now!”
