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“What do you think?”
“I think you’re my wife and I can’t keep my hands off you.” I don’t want to either.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out. Winters’s name flashes up on the screen. Fucking shitty timing. It could be about Zeke though, so I don’t dare ignore him.
I slide my finger across the screen to answer it, giving Sariah an apologetic look as I pull her closer against me. “What?”
“Kane’s found Wood. Ford called and said he’s gone off after him on his own. He tried to talk him out of it, but your brother couldn’t be swayed.”
“Fuck!” It’s not unusual for Kane to go off half-cocked, but I’m pissed he’s done it without me. I want my vengeance too, and I don’t want to visit yet another brother in the hospital. “I’m on my way down. Get the car ready.”
As I hang up, Sariah’s eyes come to mine. “What’s going on?”
I kiss her, soft and wet. I wish we could do more, spend the day in bed fucking each other until we can no longer walk straight, but I have to save my brother from whatever stupidity he’s embarking on. “I have to go out for a little while.”
Worry crosses her face, and I see the question in her eyes. She wants to know more, and I can’t give her that. I expect her to push for answers, but all she says is, “Okay.” The trust shining in her eyes makes me choke up. I don’t deserve it.
I don’t bother getting changed into a suit, staying in my loungewear instead as I grab just my keys, wallet, and a fierce-looking knife. I don’t keep guns on the property—too risky. Winters will be armed anyway. I give Sariah a final look before I step into the lift and ride it down to the ground floor. Aaron Leep and Winters are together in the foyer. As soon as he sees me, Winters steps towards me. “Ready to go.”
I turn to Aaron. “You stay here and keep an eye on the girls. No one comes in or out. Understand?”
Aaron nods. Reassured, I follow after Winters. My heart is racing as I think about the trouble my brother could have got himself into. Jeremiah isn’t going to be merciful if Kane shows up to kill him. Nervous energy zings through my body, firing every synapse as it does. I try not to think about worst-case scenarios and just hope that we’re in time to stop Kane from doing something stupid. If anything happens to my brother…
I call Weston from the car and ask him to meet us with men. I’m not taking any chances, and extra manpower is the only way to stay breathing.
After what feels like an age, Winters starts to slow the car. I peer through the window as he pulls onto a side road. There is only one structure at the end of it—a dilapidated red brick building. There are graffiti tags along the wall, and the windows were put in on the ground floor at some point and have been boarded up.
Unease ripples through me, my senses suddenly hyper aware. I’ve learnt to trust my gut over the years. It’s saved my life more times than I can count. Right now, my gut is telling me something is wrong. I climb out of the car, my gaze everywhere as I try to figure out what the perceived danger is. I don’t see anything untoward, but my senses are still tingling. “This is where my brother is?”
“That’s what Ford said.” He peers up at the building, and I can see the uncertainty in his face too.
“Did you speak to him directly?”
“No, Aaron did.”
As soon as these words leave his mouth therat-tat-tatof gunfire fills the air. Winters grabs my arm and drags me behind the car out of the line of fire. Bullets fly past my head, coming from inside the building itself.
“It’s a fucking trap!” Winters hisses. He hands me a gun from the holster on his ankle. “Shoot at anything that moves.” He pulls a second gun from the holster under his suit, and we start firing back.
I can’t see where our enemies are. I just know they’re on the first floor of the building and that they mean to kill us. They’ve taken out Zeke, incapacitated him, and now they’re trying to kill me. Is Kane really in trouble, or was it all part of a ploy to get me here? They knew my weakness exactly and played to it. Like a fool I walked right into the trap. My weakest link has always been my family and the people I care about, and right now it might get me dead.
Sariah’s image floats across my mind. Aaron double-crossed us, and he is alone with my wife and my sister. They will trust him because we trusted him. I wonder how long he’s been on the payroll of someone else. As soon as I get my hands on him, I’m going to make that fucker wish he had never been born. I’m going to bleed him from every fucking orifice after I’ve carved his skin off his bones.
We just have to hold on long enough for Weston to get here. I’m grateful as fuck that I had the foresight to call him—that I hadn’t gone Lone Ranger. That decision might just save my life and Winters’s.
Winters shields me with his body as the gunfire becomes overwhelming. There is no way we can fight this. This is a battle we are losing. When the firing stops, my heart starts to race. They have us pinned down and they know it.
A voice echoes around the courtyard, yelling out, “Surrender and we’ll spare your lives.”
For some reason, I don’t believe him. I wouldn’t show my enemy any mercy, and I don’t expect they will show us any either.
I glance at Winters. He checks the amount of bullets he’s got left in his gun, his mouth turning down. I’m out too. I’ve been in some hairy situations over the years, but being pinned down without any way to defend ourselves might be the worst.
I’m not scared to die. We all have to meet our end at some point, and with the life I lead, I expected my death to come sooner than for others, but I have to get back to Sariah and my sister. Fuck knows what kind of danger they are in, what kind of stunt Aaron Leep has pulled. I had no idea that fucker was dirty. He played his part of dutiful soldier so well. How long has he been on Easton’s or Wood’s payroll? How long has he been feeding secrets back to our enemies, and what did they offer him to turn tail and betray his brothers?
None of that matters. The only thing I need to worry about is how to live long enough to save the people I love.
And I do love Sariah. Our relationship might be unconventional. Our beginning might not have been the one most people have. But she is mine, and I will do everything in my power to protect her life. If Wood gets hold of her, there is no telling what he will do to her. That terrifies me in a way I’ve never experienced fear before.
