Page 8 of Then We Shatter

“This is as far as we can go by road,” Ronan explains through the cab window. “We’re on foot from here.”

The opening attack isn’t as bad as some scrapes we’ve been in, but it’s still a shit show. My brothers and I split into separate units, and the Griffins do the same as we breach the outer perimeter of the compound. It’s not so large that we’re not aware of each other’s positions, and when I don’t have eyes on my brothers, we’re in contact through comms.

Katarina stays with me and one of her first kills is a sniper tracking Ronan and his unit. If Ronan doesn’t clock her saving his ass, I’ll be sure to let him know later. Explosions and gunfire echo through the mountain range, and while we eliminate the enemy with practiced efficiency, we don’t avoid all casualties.

A poor woman is killed as she tries to escape from the main lodge where the captives are being held. Oleg Kalinsky, a Bratva deserter, is leading the counter attack and he’s the one who carries out what amounts to a cold-blooded execution.

When he retreats to the second floor where Lorcan and his men had been clearing the bedrooms earlier, the Griffins pursue him. My unit circles the lodge so we can attack from the other side, but as soon as we step into the building, the fighting intensifies. The ex-Bratva soldiers have recovered from our surprise attack and are pushing back.

“Killian, we’re in the gym,” Malachy says in my earpiece. “We’re outnumbered.”

I immediately change direction. “Heading to you now.”

“I’m on my way too,” says Lorcan.

“Ronan, Tiernan,” I add, “keep your men outside. Don’t let any fuckers escape.”

Katarina spent time here and she’s the one to lead our unit down a long corridor to a set of double doors. Before she can dive straight into the fight, I slip my fingers into the waistband of her jeans and jerk her back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she hisses.

Protecting her is instinctive, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to admit that. “Staring at your arse is distracting me,” I say instead. Not a lie. “Keep behind me.”

There’s no time to argue. I crash through the doors and start firing. Malachy and four of our men are on the other side of the gym. They’ve been hemmed in, but our arrival forces our enemy to scatter.

Lorcan appears from the other side. There are less men in his unit than there were before. Not good.

If I’d been worried Katarina would be reluctant to open fire on men she might know personally, she quickly proves otherwise. She keeps to my shoulder and as I turn my weapon to the right, she aims left and takes out two gunmen. When I pick off targets in front of us, she directs her fire behind. Our movements are fluid and perfectly synchronized. It’s fucking beautiful.

By the time the last man falls with Katarina’s bullet in his head, we have an audience. Malachy narrows his eyes at me. There’s no explanation for how attuned Katarina and I are to each other’s moves, but before he can make some acerbic comment, Mace Griffin cuts into our comms. They’re caught in a standoff upstairs.

“I need to be there,” Katarina says, spinning on her heels.

I’m about to follow when Malachy grabs my arm. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing with her, don’t.”

“Not the time for a lecture, Mal.”

“That may be so, but when the fighting stops… I know you,” he says. “Don’t. Do. It.”

In my periphery, I’m aware of Katarina disappearing from view. My need to follow and protect her is primal. I’ve given my brother my only answer so I turn to the others. “Mikey and Conor are with me. The rest of you clear the ground level and let’s be done with this.”

When I catch up to Katarina at the top of the stairwell, I slip in front of her, again, and peer through the narrow pane of glass in the fire door. It provides a clear view of the corridor that dissects the lodge’s second floor in two, dividing up the guest bedrooms.

Oleg has his back to us and is holding Barrett Emerson at gun point as he faces Ash Griffin and his three brothers. As hostages go, Barrett is a poor choice. The entitled prick and the Griffins have been at war for most of their lives. Of more concern to Ash, and the reason for the stand-off, are the pair of soldiers behind Oleg who are pointing their weapons at two of his brothers.

The Griffins don’t make it obvious, but they know I’m here. No one else is looking in my direction and I intend to keep it that way.

“As quiet as you can, lads,” I whisper to my men. “Kat, sorry, but you need to stand down for this one. We know what we’re doing.”

Ignoring her scowl, I crack open the door, grateful it doesn’t squeak as I slip into the corridor. The nearest Bratva soldier is keeping Hunter in his sights. He doesn’t know I’m behind him until I press the barrel of my gun to his temple and clamp a hand around his mouth. In a coordinated move we’ve perfected over the years, Mikey grabs the guy’s rifle before he can pull the trigger or drop it.

Oleg is busy informing Ash of his demands. He hasn’t noticed he’s one man down, but as Mikey drives our prisoner backwards to the stairwell, the second soldier turns. He stares down the barrel of Conor’s Glock and is frog-marched into the stairwell to join his comrade.

While Oleg prattles on, unaware that he’s lost any leverage he had over the Griffins, I take in more of the sobering scene in front of me. Bodies litter the floor. Two of them are my men, Lorcan could have been another. Someone’s going to pay for that.

Ash catches my eye only briefly. Let’s do this.

I’m creeping up on Oleg when Katarina appears next to me. I hate to say it, but she’s even stealthier than I am. There’s a glint in her eye that’s full of fire and fury, and just like that, I get why she’s here. Oleg. Whatever history they share, it won’t be a pleasant one.