Chapter 197 – I Don’t Miss
Chapter 197 – I Don’t Miss
POV: Lila
The door didn’t just open.
It broke.
Wood splintered inward with a violent crack, metal hinges snapping like they couldn’t hold the weight anymore. The sound echoed through the building, sharp and final, cutting through everything we had just pieced together.
Every instinct in my body snapped into place.
“Positions,” Dante said, his voice calm but immediate.
No hesitation.
No second guessing.
Marco moved first, sliding behind a concrete column near the entrance. Luca took the opposite side, already pulling his weapon up, eyes scanning every possible angle.
Enzo didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
He shifted slightly to the left, placing himself just ahead of Dante without making it obvious.
Like he was already anticipating the direction of the first shot.
I didn’t think.
I moved.
Dropping lower, pulling Vivian further back behind a broken wall, making sure she was out of the line of fire.
“Stay here,” I whispered to her.
Her fingers tightened weakly around my arm.
“Lila…”
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
I didn’t wait for her to argue.
Because there wasn’t time.
Footsteps flooded in through the broken entrance.
Heavy.
Fast.
Organized.
Too many.
“They’re pushing in,” Marco said under his breath.
“I see them,” Dante replied.
Gunfire exploded.
Loud.
Relentless.
Bullets tore through the space, hitting walls, pillars, anything that wasn’t moving fast enough to avoid them.
I flinched instinctively as debris scattered around me.
“Three on the left,” Luca called out.
“Two down,” Enzo said, his shots clean and precise.
I stayed low, my heart pounding, my breath uneven.
This wasn’t like before.
Before, I had been reacting.
Surviving.
Now—
Now I was part of it.
“Lila, stay back,” Dante said sharply.
I ignored him.
Because staying back wasn’t an option anymore.
Not when I could see it.
The way they moved.
The angles they took.
The gaps.
I shifted slightly, peering around the edge of the broken wall.
Three men pushing from the right.
One covering from behind.
Two more entering through the doorway.
They weren’t rushing.
They were advancing.
Carefully.
Methodically.
“They’re flanking,” I said.
“I know,” Dante replied.
“No,” I said, sharper now. “They’re not just flanking. They’re splitting us.”
A brief pause.
Then—
“Where?” he asked.
“Right side,” I said. “They’re trying to cut you off.”
Before he could respond—
Gunfire erupted from that exact direction.
Closer.
Too close.
Dante turned, shifting his focus just a second too late.
A man stepped out from behind a collapsed beam, weapon already raised.
Straight at him.
Time slowed.
I saw it.
The angle.
The distance.
The way Dante was just slightly exposed—
“Dante!” I shouted.
He turned.
But not fast enough.
The man fired.
And I moved.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t hesitate.
I grabbed the gun from the fallen man beside me, lifted it, and fired.
Once.
The sound cracked through the air, sharp and clean.
The man aiming at Dante jerked backward, the shot cutting him off mid-trigger.
He dropped.
Hard.
Silence hit for half a second.
Then everything snapped back into motion.
Dante looked at me.
Just for a second.
Something unreadable in his eyes.
Then—
“Stay down!” he snapped.
But this time—
I didn’t.
I pushed forward.
Closing the distance between us, staying low, moving fast.
Another man stepped into view.
I didn’t hesitate.
I fired again.
The recoil hit my arm, sharper this time, but I held steady.
He went down.
“Lila!” Dante’s voice was sharper now. “Fall back!”
“No,” I said.
I moved closer, positioning myself slightly behind him, covering the angle he couldn’t see.
“They’re pushing from your blind side,” I added.
Another shot.
Another body dropped.
This time—
I didn’t miss.
Enzo’s gaze flickered toward me for a brief second.
Not surprised.
Not impressed.
Just… aware.
Like he had expected this.
“Left,” he said.
I shifted instantly.
A man rushed forward, trying to close the gap.
I fired.
He dropped before he could even lift his weapon.
My breathing was steady now.
Focused.
Everything else had faded.
The noise.
The fear.
All of it replaced by something sharper.
Clearer.
I could see it.
Every movement.
Every opening.
“You’ve done this before,” Enzo said quietly.
I didn’t look at him.
“Not like this.”
Another wave of gunfire hit.
Louder.
Closer.
“They’re not stopping,” Marco said.
“They won’t,” Dante replied.
“Then we don’t either,” Luca added.
We held the line.
Shot for shot.
Step for step.
They pushed.
We pushed back.
And for the first time since this started—
It felt balanced.
Not chaotic.
Not desperate.
Controlled.
Then—
Something shifted.
I felt it before I saw it.
A change in movement.
A break in pattern.
“They’re pulling back,” I said.
“No,” Enzo replied immediately.
“They’re repositioning.”
“For what?” Marco asked.
No one answered.
Because we all felt it.
That moment.
That pause.
Before something worse.
“Wait,” I said suddenly.
My eyes scanned the far end of the room.
The shadows.
The broken walls.
Something wasn’t right.
“They’re not just repositioning,” I said.
“They’re setting up.”
“For what?” Dante asked.
My chest tightened.
“Dante—”
A flash.
Barely visible.
But I saw it.
A reflection.
Metal.
A scope.
“Sniper!” I shouted.
Too late.
The shot rang out.
Sharp.
Precise.
Aimed straight at Dante.
Everything slowed again.
I didn’t think.
I moved.
I grabbed him.
Pulled.
The bullet tore through the space where he had been standing a second before.
Too close.
Way too close.
We hit the ground hard.
My shoulder slammed against the concrete, pain shooting through my arm, but I didn’t let go.
Another shot rang out.
Closer.
Faster.
“They’ve got a second shooter!” Marco yelled.
“Find him!” Luca added.
But I was already moving.
I pushed myself up, scanning the direction of the shot.
There.
A slight movement behind a broken window.
I lifted the gun.
Steady.
Focused.
The world narrowed down to one point.
One target.
One shot.
I exhaled slowly.
Then—
I fired.
The glass shattered.
The figure jerked backward.
Gone.
Silence.
Just for a second.
Then—
“It’s clear!” Marco shouted.
I lowered the gun slowly, my breath uneven now, my hands still steady despite everything.
Dante looked at me.
Really looked.
“You—” he started.
“You’re welcome,” I said, cutting him off.
A faint, disbelieving breath left him.
“You just saved my life.”
I shrugged slightly, ignoring the ache in my shoulder.
“I don’t miss.”
For a second—
There was nothing.
No gunfire.
No movement.
Just the four of us standing there.
Alive.
Still standing.
“You stayed,” Dante said quietly.
“I told you I would.”
He held my gaze for a moment longer.
Then nodded once.
Not just acknowledgment.
Respect.
And somehow—
That meant more than anything else.
But before the moment could settle—
Enzo’s voice cut through.
“Get down.”
Sharp.
Immediate.
I didn’t question it.
I dropped instantly.
The others followed.
A split second later—
A shot tore through the air.
Not from inside.
Not from the attackers.
From outside.
Different.
Cleaner.
More precise.
My heart jumped.
Another sniper.
But not theirs.
The shot hit one of the remaining attackers before he could even react.
Then another.
And another.
Silence fell again.
Heavy.
Controlled.
I looked up slowly.
My chest tightening.
Because I already knew.
That presence.
That precision.
“That’s the same shooter,” I said quietly.
Enzo didn’t respond.
But his gaze had already shifted.
Toward the window.
Toward the distance.
Watching.
Tracking.
Like he knew exactly where to look.
“Who is that?” Dante asked.
No answer.
Just silence.
And then—
A faint movement in the distance.
A figure.
Barely visible.
But there.
Watching.
Not moving.
Not leaving.
Just… waiting.
My breath caught.
Because something about it—
Something about the way they stood—
It didn’t feel like backup.
It didn’t feel like protection.
It felt like something else.
Something intentional.
Something planned.
“Enzo,” I said quietly.
His gaze didn’t shift.
“Do you know who that is?”
A pause.
Then—
“Yes.”
The word sent a chill through me.
“Who?”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Then—
“Someone we didn’t account for.”
My chest tightened.
Because the way he said it—
It didn’t sound like a surprise.
It sounded like a problem.
And as I watched that figure in the distance—
Still.
Silent.
Watching us—
I realized something that made my grip tighten around the gun.
This fight wasn’t over.
Not even close.
Because now—
There was someone else on the board.
And we had no idea what side they were on.