The guest didn’t even slow down.

He kept on sprinting.

One of his bodyguards turned around and fired a shot.

He hit one of Hazard King’s men in the chest.

The body armor soaked up most of the hit, but the man still went down.

That was all it took to set things off.

Chaos broke out.

Other guests saw what was happening and figured they’d make a break for it.

If one man could run, maybe they could too.

Panic kicked in as the instinct to survive took over.

Ten more guests jumped up.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Their bodyguards, the ones who were still standing and armed, started shooting, trying to protect their bosses and clear a path to escape.

Hazard King’s crew quickly struck back.

They let out controlled bursts of gunfire.

They took careful shots.

But there were way too many targets now.

So much movement.

So much chaos.

The auction hall had turned into a war zone.

Gunfire echoed off the marble walls.

Muzzle flashes lit up the dark.

You could hear screams and shouts, orders yelled in several languages.

Hazard King shifted his focus away from Alpha.

He raised his rifle and aimed at the fleeing guest who started all the trouble.

He hit him in the leg.

The man went down screaming.

Even with the injury, his bodyguards dragged him toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Leo and Reyes were already moving.

With black masks on and weapons ready, they opened fire into the crowd.

They weren’t aiming at the guests but at the bodyguards, the armed men.

The real threats.

One bodyguard went down. Then another. And another. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

But the shooting kept coming.

A bullet hit the stage, just inches from Azalea.

She ducked, grabbed her pistol, and fired back.

She hit a bodyguard in the shoulder; he spun around and dropped his gun.

On the floor, the thirteen girl operatives jumped into action.

They moved like they were all in sync.

The blonde, who had been "sold" first, reached down to her leg.

Under her white silk dress, taped to her calf, was a small pistol.

She yanked it out, rolled onto her knees, and took her shot.

She nailed a bodyguard who was aiming at Leo, and he went down.

All thirteen operatives did the same thing.

They reached under their dresses and pulled out hidden weapons, small, easy to hide, but deadly up close.

They spread out across the stage.

A defensive line was set up, and they started shooting at any bodyguard who aimed at the Hazard King team.

Out of nowhere, the situation changed.

There were twenty armed bodyguards facing Hazard King’s crew—twenty men, plus Leo and Reyes with eight operatives, and thirteen female operatives. Forty-one against twenty.

The Hazard King’s crew was better trained, better equipped, and had the upper ground.

The bodyguards began to drop fast—five, then eight, then ten.

Some guests tried to escape, only to find the exits blocked by Hazard King’s men outside. Gunfire erupted from the doorways, forcing them to turn back.

They were trapped, just as Hazard King had planned.

On stage, Alexander was moving slowly and carefully, attempting to stay under the radar.

This was all part of the plan.

Hazard King had told him two days ago.

"When the shooting starts, you need to blend in and make it look like you’re just trying to save yourself. Get out of the building. My people will grab you from the parking lot and take you somewhere safe."

"Why?" Alexander had asked.

"Because your daughter still needs a dad, and you helped us out. I take care of my allies."

Alexander nodded, understanding.

Now, he was following through with that plan.

He dropped to the floor and crawled toward the stairs leading to the stage.

Everyone was caught up in the gunfight, the guests running for their lives, and the bodyguards scrambling. All eyes were on the gunfight. No one was watching the stage. No one noticed Alexander.

He made his way down the stairs. Five steps, six, seven, he was almost at the bottom when—

A bullet fired by a bodyguard in a panic, trying to hit Leo, completely missed. It hit a marble column, bounced off, and ended up hitting Alexander right in the chest.

The bullet tore straight through his chest. He wasn’t wearing any armor. Why would he be? He was supposed to be on Alpha’s side.

The hit knocked him back. He gasped and tried to grab the railing to stop himself.

Then another bullet, from a different shooter, nailed his knee and broke his kneecap. His leg buckled, and Alexander tumbled down the rest of the stairs.

He hit the floor hard, rolled, and ended up half on the last step and half on the marble floor.

Blood spread beneath him, pouring from the wound in his chest. His knee was shattered. He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond. He tried to scream, yet he couldn’t draw a breath. The bullet had pierced his lung. He was suffocating. Drowning in his own blood.

Alexander pressed his hand against his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. Blood was spilling out between his fingers.

It was way too much.

It was happening way too fast.

He looked up and saw the chaos all around him.

No one noticed him.

No one saw him go down.

Everyone was busy fighting, shooting, and running around.

He tried to drag himself forward, one arm, one leg, toward the exit.

He made it just a couple of feet before collapsing again.

His vision was fading, the edges going dark.

He thought about Emma.

His daughter.

Adopted... but truly his.

Would she know?

Would she understand that he had tried to do the right thing?

Suddenly, Alexander’s hand slipped in the blood, and he hit the floor.

His eyes stayed open, but he stopped moving.

*****

Across the room, the shootout was still going strong.

Fifteen bodyguards were out of the fight now. Only five were left standing, and they were getting crushed badly.

One of the bodyguards tossed his weapon aside and put his hands up. "Don’t shoot! I give up!"

Hazard King’s crew grabbed him right away, binding his hands with zip ties and forcing him to kneel.

Two more bodyguards followed suit and surrendered too.

The last two tried to run. Reyes dropped one with a clean shot to the head, while Leo handled the other with two shots to the chest.

Suddenly, everything went quiet, shocking and instant. The gunfire stopped, leaving just the ringing in everyone’s ears and the sounds of the injured.

Hazard King quickly looked over the scene. There had been twenty bodyguards in total: seventeen were dead, and three were in custody. Sadly, there were also casualties among the guests: twelve were killed, caught in the chaos or hit by stray bullets.

Sixty-one were still alive, all on their knees now, surrendering.

In Hazard King’s crew, two were wounded, but neither critically. Their bulletproof vests had saved them.

All the female operatives were safe and sound, with no injuries at all.

In Leo’s team, one person had a little wound, a graze on the arm, which was already patched up.

The losses were within acceptable limits.

Hazard King turned back to the stage.

Where is Maksim?

The man was gone. He was no longer up on the stage.

Hazard King scanned the room.

There he was. Thirty feet away.

Maksim was crawling, using just one arm, the good one.

His other arm was no good, shattered by a bullet from Hazard King earlier.

He was dragging himself toward a bunch of surrendered guests, trying to blend in, trying to hide.

One of the guest bodyguards, one of the three who had given up, was lying nearby.

He was dead now, shot during the fight.

Maksim reached for the gun of the dead man.

His fingers wrapped around the grip.

Hazard King lifted his rifle and fired, hitting Maksim right in the thigh. Maksim let out a scream and dropped his gun, crumpling to the ground. Both of his hands were messed up now; one was shattered, and the other was holding onto his bleeding leg.

Hazard King stepped over and loomed above him. "There’s no way you’re getting out of here today," he said flatly.

Maksim stared up at him, his silver mask long gone, his face twisted in pain and anger. "You—you can’t... the world will—"

"The world already knows," Hazard King cut in. "Your face is on every screen. Everyone knows your crimes. You’re done for."

Maksim tried to spit at him but missed, just managing to drool blood onto the floor