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The longer Knox just stands there staring at Xander without saying a word, the more uneasy I become. I see he’s struggling to comprehend what he just heard. I want to wrap my arms around him and hold him close, telling him that we’ll get through this but I’m scared. I have so much guilt inside me over that night, he didn’t just lose his sister, he lost his baby he didn’t even know I was carrying and he also lost… me. It’s so strange feeling nothing for someone one minute only for a tidal wave of memories you didn’t know were missing to come back to you, then for you to feel this overwhelming amount of emotions toward someone you thought you hated but slowly grew to care for. Then bam, you realize you’re so deeply in love with him that you don’t understand how you could have survived six years without remembering who they are.
I look to Taylan next, who looks torn. These are his two best friends and here he is being put in the middle and no doubt he will be forced to choose. These three have grown up together, forged a bond that blood brothers can’t even manage to obtain, yet one night has ruined that. One night has changed everything they have ever known and there is no way to repair it. Xander took away that chance to make things right when he hid the truth from all of us and fed the demon inside Knox that thought I wronged him. He whispered words of hatred and blame about me, leaving Knox no choice but to believe his brother.
“What have you done?” Taylan speaks so softly I almost miss it, but the anguish and confusion is evident in his tone. Xander stiffens further but he doesn’t get a chance to reply, out of nowhere, red lasers begin to cut through the air, then Knox is tackling Taylan to the ground as the first shots ring out. The air is knocked out of me when Xander knocks me to the ground and pins me there with his body. I scream as more shots ring out.
“Knox?” Xander shouts over the gunfire. I can’t move my head thanks to his weight but I spot Knox and Taylan trying to crab crawl toward us but shots keep hitting the ground near them. I watch in horror wanting to scream at them to go back but then by the grace of fucking God, Knox’s men come bounding down the path with their guns drawn. Some return fire toward the woods behind us while the others rush forward and haul Knox and Taylan back. Knox struggles in their hold, fighting to get free so he can come for me.
“Lakeland!” he roars, the fear in which he says my name sends a fresh wave of panic through me. As the shots get closer to where Xander and I are, screams tear out of me. I feel his arms wrap around my waist and then without warning he rolls us and I shriek only to sputter and choke when I swallow water. The freezing lake water is a shock to my system. Xander keeps an arm around my waist as we break the surface. I cough and try to tread water as terror grips me. I may not have had my memories for six years but a subconscious part of me has been terrified of open water for reasons I can’t explain, but now I know why. I try to swim to the bank but Xander yanks me back against him and swims further into the middle. I scream for Knox who is still fighting to get to me but I can’t move. I can only hope Xander doesn’t succeed this time in killing me.
“Shut up. We need to get out of sight and you screaming like a fucking banshee keeps alerting them to where we are.” Snapping my mouth closed, I quit fighting against him as I register he is right, since he threw us into the lake we haven’t been shot at. Knox must come to the same realization because I see him stop struggling and nod to his men before they all break apart and go in opposite directions. I bite down on my lip to keep my teeth from chattering but the bite of the freezing water makes it difficult. When Xander reaches the opposite side of the bank he shifts me so my back is to the edge and he plasters his front against mine. “You stay here, stay low and don’t make a fucking sound.”
“You can’t leave me here, please,” I beg him, the thought of being alone in this body of water has me gasping for air. Xander grabs my face in both his hands forcing my head back so I can meet his stare.
“I’m unarmed, your father and Gio are out there with their men and I can't risk you getting captured or shot. Knox will never forgive me for what I did to you and I will never forgive myself for that, but if you get caught or killed, he will hate me for the rest of his life and I can’t live with that. Stay here, Lake, please.” His eyes implore me to do as he says. I’m so furious with him but even I can admit he is right. If Percy was to find me, he would use me against Knox, so would Gio, which is the only reason I nod my head. “I’ll find Knox. Do not come out unless Taylan, Knox or I call out to you, got it?”
“Y-yeah,” I say before I grit my teeth to stop them from chattering. Xander nods his head and propels himself out of the water, leaving me clinging to the side and staying low so no one can see me. I feel like a coward hiding out here. River wouldn’t be scared, she would be out there fighting alongside Knox and his men. I’m not stupid, I know how to use a gun but I’m no sharpshooter. I whimper when I hear more shots and screams of pain but it’s the sound of voices close by that has my throat closing with fear. If I stay here they are sure to find me. I shrink down lower and plaster my back to the bank as I scan the area, hoping to find somewhere safe to swim to until Knox can come for me but everywhere else is illuminated by the moonlight and now I get why Xander chose this spot because it’s shrouded in darkness.
“I want all of them dead. Save me that little prick of a nephew of mine, I want him for myself.” I stifle a gasp at the sound of Gio’s voice above me. I hunker down further, praying to God they don’t spot me.
“Find my daughter, I want her alive.” I inhale sharply through my nose at the sound of my father’s voice.
“What if she remembers?” Gio asks as shots continue to ring out around us, we’re so secluded out here that no one will be able to hear the gun fight and report it to the police.
“She won’t, the drugs she’s been taking for years will make it almost impossible for her to recall a single thing from back then. She thinks Knox tried to kill her that night after we drove off.” The carelessness in the way he speaks about that night is like a punch to the gut. A father is supposed to love their children and cherish them. Percy Deveraux never cared about me or my sister, we were just pawns for him to use and marry off to gain more real estate and money.
“Someone took her down that night but it wasn’t Knox, whoever it was did a fucking good job. Not killing her was the best fucking torture for that little prick, I hope it kills him inside knowing the bitch he loved doesn’t even remember him.” Gio and Percy laugh and it sickens me to my core.
“Boss, we got one.” My breath hitches when I hear more footsteps above me, then someone grunts in pain. I pray to whoever the fuck is listening for it not to be Knox.
“Ah, would you look at that, Percy.” The gleefulness in Gio’s tone is alarming me, he has to have someone Knox cares about.
“Kill me because I will never tell you where my son is.” The lake water doesn’t seem cold anymore compared to the ice filling my veins at the sound of Clara’s voice, those sick fucks have Knox’s mom.
Knox
Cohen tosses me a magazine and a gun. Stu appears out of thin fucking air strapping me with a vest. I look over to see Taylan strapping up and barking orders at our guys to spread out and form a perimeter to block these fuckers in. It’s our best plan until Floyd and Mase get back with the rest of the men. These cunts have been watching us and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
“Lance, I want you, Jordan and Cash to get my mom the fuck out of here.” They nod their heads and rush off to do as I ordered. Looking to Sel and Paul, next I order both of them to get Roberto out, if he is a part of my camp being attacked then his end won’t be swift, it will be drawn out and painful. Once I’m strapped up, I nod to Cohen and Taylan to follow me as I instruct Stu to lead the rest of the guys out to close in on these cunts. “How far out are Mase and the others?” I ask Cohen.
“Soon as I heard the first shot I called him back, twenty minutes tops, boss.” Grinding my teeth, I give him a curt nod. In twenty minutes we could all be dead, in a gunfight all it takes is a second for you to die so twenty minutes may as well be three hours.
“We move to the eastern side of the lake. Xander took Lakeland there to shield her from sight. Once we get her, you take her and get the fuck out of here, clear?” I can see Cohen wants to argue that he should be staying behind while Taylan and I run with her but not this time, this shit ends tonight.
“Yes, boss.” I push in front of Taylan and crouch low to peer around the side of the cabin and immediately jerk back when a shot whizzes past my head. A whoosh of air escapes me as my adrenaline kicks in, I fucking live for this shit.
“Two on the corner, three on the right and one on the left. On my count we go.” Taylan and Cohen grunt their agreement as I push to my feet. “Three… Two… One!” The three of us run out from around the side, Tay takes the three on the right, Co takes out the single fucker while I take down the duo on the corner. Both of them are hot on my heels as I rush to the next cabin plastering my back to it, we just need to get around this cabin to hit the woods and can use the cover of the trees to get to Lake without being seen.
“Knox!” Taylan hisses garnering my attention. I turn and follow to where he is pointing. My eyes widen at the sight of Xander stripping the guns off one of our fallen soldiers behind the cabin we have taken cover beside. I rush past them. At the sound of my approach, Xander lurches to his feet and points the gun at me. When he realizes it’s me, he quickly drops it just in time for me to press up against him.
“Where the fuck is she?” I snarl.
“I left her in the lake. I wasn’t armed and couldn’t risk her getting taken?—”
“But you could run her fucking down with our car and kill my kid?” Xander stumbles back a step and shakes his head. He opens his mouth but I refuse to allow him to speak. “When this is finished, you’re gone,” I grit out, making sure he can hear every ounce of hatred I feel toward him for taking her from me and robbing me of the chance to watch a life we created together grow inside my girl. Xander snaps his mouth closed and nods, looking pained. He has no fucking right to look that way!
“Move!” Cohen shouts just as men round the corner and open fire. We’re forced to sprint for the cover of the woods. This is the worst possible situation to be in, we’re in the open with no cover. The four of us run in a zigzag pattern making it hard for anyone to get a shot. A couple of feet from the covers of the trees I dive forward and roll along the ground until I take cover behind a tree. I peer around it and open fire when I spot Gio’s guys. Shouts ring out from either side of me and I loathe to fucking admit it but I’m relieved when I hear the sound of three other guns firing from my side.
The five guys drop to the ground but I hear more shouts from behind them. “I found the Don, this way!” the cunt calls out to the others.
