A Marriage of True Minds: A Sasha McCandless Novella by Melissa F. Miller Read Free Book Online Page A

idea if that was always true. She knew that when Wally
Stewart severed her artery, she’d gushed gallons of blood and that certainly
hadn’t been superficial.
    But she looked
at the pain filling Naya’s almond eyes and lied. “Definitely. Just like a
nosebleed.”
    Naya exhaled
shakily and let the shears fall from her hand as a wave of relief washed over
her.
    Sasha helped her
to her feet and Aroostine tried to hand her the fallen scissors.
    “You’ll want
these,” she said.
    Naya hesitated
then reached for them. She turned to Sasha, ashen-faced. “Mac, I can’t. I can’t
hurt anyone. I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t
apologize. Don’t you dare. Can you get back to the dressing room by yourself or
do want us to take you?”
    Naya swallowed
hard, fighting back tears. “I’m fine. Go. Just ... do what you need to do to
get rid of these monsters.”
    Sasha and
Aroostine watched her make her way back to the dressing room, clutching the
shears to her chest. They waited until she tapped lightly on the door. She
called softly to the women inside, and the door opened. Naya disappeared
inside.
    “Are you still
up for this?” Sasha asked Aroostine.
    Aroostine nodded
grimly.
    Sasha handed her
the tall man’s machete and holster. “Let’s get this over with.”
    Up close and
personal violence was messy and stomach-turning. Even for someone as steely as
Naya. The sight of the man’s stomach pumping blood all over the sustainable
bamboo flooring hadn’t made Sasha upset or uneasy, but she’d had plenty of
experience—too much experience, to be honest—with violence, and even death.
Apparently, Aroostine had a similar history.
    “Thanks.”
Aroostine tightened the belt around her lace-trimmed cocktail dress and secured
the weapon.
    “How do you want
to do this? If we give it a few more minutes, maybe the leader guy will come
out looking for Dumb and Dumber.” She cocked her head toward the supply closet,
and the two injured men inside.
    “I think that
only works in horror movies.” Aroostine flashed her a smile. “You’re confident
that between the two of us, we can take down one guy, right?”
    “Yes.”
    “Me, too.”
    She sure seemed
calm. Sasha decided the younger attorney definitely fell into the
grizzled-veteran-of-violence category.
    “What if he’s
not alone in there?” Sasha asked.
    “Let’s jump off
that bridge if we come to it. Do you want to save your man or not?”
    Sasha nodded.
“Okay, let’s do it.” She reached over and touched Aroostine’s arm. “Thank you
seems inadequate—”
    “Thank me later.
So, I’m thinking we set up on either side of the door and then knock. He’ll be
expecting his guys to come back. If he’s stupid enough to stick his head out,
we’ll grab him and use him as cover when we go in.”
    “And if he’s
smart? Just burst through and start throwing punches?”
    “More or less.”
    “ That is
a terrible plan.” Sasha smiled. “But I don’t have a better idea, so let’s go.”

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    Leo’s jaw ached. Warm blood from his
split lip dribbled into his mouth, where it was pooling in a thick puddle of
metallic liquid. Soon he’d need to either swallow it or spit it on the floor.
He hated to spit, but the circumstances didn’t allow for much in the way of social
niceties.
    He’d been in the
hallway when the lights had gone out—en route to the dressing room to find
Sasha, tell her about Bricker, and promise her that lunatic wouldn’t disrupt
their wedding. But as he stood in the hall, blinking and waiting for his eyes
to adjust to the sudden darkness, two armed banditos had thundered
toward him and jumped him.
    His bruised and
swollen knuckles were a reminder that at least he’d gotten a few good shots in
during the attack. But he was outnumbered, unarmed, and taken off guard. It
hadn’t taken them long to overpower him and drag him back into the kitchen.
    To his surprise,
it was