The air was thick with smoke. James coughed hard, trying to clear his lungs, his head still ringing from the explosion. When he looked up, the haze hadn’t cleared, but he could make out a group of women on the ridge ahead. There were at least a dozen of them, all in tight combat suits, standing above him with cold, unreadable faces.
The one in front was impossible to miss. She had a buzz cut, a grenade launcher balanced on her shoulder, and a wild, cocky grin. Smoke still curled from the weapon. “James, I knew it was you,” she called out, her voice icy and sharp, slicing right through the chaos.
James squinted, his grip tightening on his rifle until the veins stood out on his hand. He recognized her. Black Mamba. The same top-tier assassin who had kidnapped Emmy and dragged her off to Burma two years ago.
“Didn’t expect to run into you here,” he called back.
Black Mamba hefted her grenade launcher, tossing a grenade in her other hand like it was nothing. “Fifty million bucks on the line,” she said, almost bored, “just to keep this guy alive.” Her gaze flicked to the man hiding behind her. “How about a deal, James? Let him go, and I swear I’ll leave your sweet little wife and your two kids alone. Or...”
She ran her tongue over her lips, her eyes turning dark. “Or maybe I’ll take another trip to the States. Wouldn’t mind snatching your twins and seeing what games we can play.”
James felt his vision blur with rage. All the air around him seemed to crackle with a dangerous energy. “Take them out! Not a single one walks away!” he roared.
His team, Dragonscale, didn’t hesitate. They squeezed their triggers, sending a storm of bullets up the ridge. Black Mamba and her crew were already moving, diving behind cover.
She shouted back, “If you want to die that badly, happy to help! Light them up!”
A single, heavy gunshot rang out. Will was perched high in a tree, his sniper rifle smoldering at the muzzle. On the ridge, a woman who’d just poked her head up to launch a grenade toppled backward, a neat hole in her forehead.
“Damn, they’ve got M32 rotary grenade launchers!” Will’s voice was low and tense in James’s earpiece. “Way too much firepower. It’s like they’re carpet bombing us. We’re completely pinned!”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO