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CHAPTER20
Lucas
Winters and I get back into the lift and head down to the foyer. He doesn’t say a word, he never does, as he leads me out to the parking garage and into the car. I do notice his eyes are more alert than usual, scanning ceaselessly to make sure there are no surprises.
As I get into the car, I push Sariah out of my head. I need to focus. I peer out the window as the car whizzes through the streets of London. I’m not sure what the retaliation will be for Wood’s attack, but irrespective of whether we get Easton onside or not, we had better take a stand against that motherfucker. I don’t care what schemes my mother is cooking up. We take that bastard out.
When we pull up into the underground garage at Fraser Holdings, I’m feeling on edge. Just as I’m about to get out of the car, my phone rings. I see Kane’s name on the screen and swipe my finger across to answer.
“Where are you?” he demands.
“We just pulled into the parking garage.”
“Zeke and I are coming down.”
He hangs up and I relay to Winters what is going on. Waiting for Kane and Zeke to appear feels like it takes an age, but in reality, it can’t take more than a few minutes. Nathan Ford and Ryan Malone are on their heels, surveilling everywhere. I watch both my brothers approach the car, and my senses start to tingle. Something is wrong. Malone obviously feels the same because his head snaps around as he scans the underground garage, seeking threats.
I barely see the figure pop up between two cars. By the time I register the gun in his hand it’s already gone off. The shot ricochets through the concrete structure, sounding louder than it is. I scream something—maybe “No!”, but I don’t remember—as I reach for the door handle.
Zeke twists and ruthlessly shoves Kane to the floor. Then his whole body jolts as if someone shoved him hard. Confusion washes across his face and panic claws at my guts. He’s hit. That bullet found a home. His eyes lift and through heavy lids he finds mine. They flutter closed as he slides forward and sinks to his knees.
Kane reaches him before I do, tugging him into his arms before he can hit the deck. I skid onto the ground, my knees scraping along the tarmac as I reach my brothers.
Gunfire echoes through the garage as Malone, Winters, and Ford fire back at our attacker. I ignore everything but Zeke. His head is rolling from side to side as if he can’t keep it upright on his own. There is blood trickling from the corner of his mouth that makes my heart race like an express train.
“Where is he hit?” I snap out the question.
Kane’s hands roam over his torso and his palm comes away stained red when he hits the spot high on Zeke’s chest. I push his hand against the wound. “Don’t let go.” Cupping my brother’s face, I try to lift his head so that his eyes find mine. They are glassy and pain filled. Desperation claws at me. I won’t lose him like this. “Zeke, stay awake.”
Words spill from his mouth on a rush of air that I barely understand, but I think he says, “Bailey.”
My thoughts scatter as Ryan Malone sinks down next to us. “Fuck!” He hisses as he sees the blood seeping through Kane’s fingers. “This place is going to be swarming with emergency services in about five fucking minutes. You wanna catch these pricks? You need to go now. Both of you.”
I shake my head, feeling numbness starting to spread through my body. “Not leaving him.”
Kane moves aside and lets Malone take over applying pressure to the wound. He grabs my arm and tries to yank me up. “He’s right. We have to put an end to this, and we can’t do that if we are caught up in the police investigation.”
I let him drag me away from Zeke, even though I want desperately to stay with my brother. He needs me—needs both of us. The wound is bad. It’s bleeding profusely, and that scares the shit out of me. Malone turns to Winters and Ford. “Keep them fucking safe.”
I let Kane drag me into the back of the car, barely focusing on anything as Winters and Ford climb into the front seats with Ford driving. He peels the car out of the garage like we have the hounds of hell on our tails.
Kane peers down at his hands that are covered in blood and shaking a little. I’ve never seen my brother so out of sorts before.
“Are either of you hurt?” Ford demands, glancing in the rear-view mirror.
I shake my head. “Zeke… Fuck.”
Kane’s breath starts to rip out of him in heavy pants as his anger grows. “Wood is going to die for this. I’m going to rip out his guts and fucking strangle him with them. You feed him his own fucking heart. I want him dead, Luke. He’s got to pay for this.”
“And he will.”
The car moves out of the garage and back onto the main road. I don’t pay any attention. My whole focus is on my eldest brother and what happened to Zeke. Leaving him makes me feel like we abandoned him when he needed us most. It’s not a good feeling, but Malone was right. The only way we can exact revenge is not to be caught up in a police investigation. He’ll be safe with Malone. I trust him more than I trust Winters.
“We should have stayed with him.” Kane wipes his hands on his suit trousers, but it doesn’t get rid of the blood.
“We’re no good to him sitting at his bedside.” It’s true, we are not. “We need to be out there protecting our family.”
“We already failed on that count.”
