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CHAPTER24
Lucas
As soon as the emergency signal activates on my sister’s phone, I know we’re being lured into another trap. I have no doubt who has my wife and my sister. Jeremiah fucking Wood. That cunt is trying to draw us out by using the only leverage he has. I will kill him a thousand times over if he has laid a hand on her or my sister.
Kane is sitting next to me in the car, playing absently with a knife. He’s cutting the edge of his thumb over and over and watching the blood pool and then drip down his hand. I should stop him, but he seems to need the bloodletting, even if it’s his own.
We have over thirty men following us, ready to fight. Whatever happens today, we will take out Jeremiah Wood, and then we will systematically destroy his organisation. He has picked the wrong family to fuck with. For daring to touch my wife and my sister, I am going to make him pay.
As we get closer to the area where the GPS went off, I feel calm come over me. I live for the fight. I enjoy it, and I can’t wait to dish out retribution on a man who made my wife’s life a living hell. Once I’m done with Jeremiah, her father is next. For every bruise he put on her body, I’m going to visit tenfold on him.
Winters slows the car and I peer through the front windscreen, leaning forward in my seat to get a good look. There is nothing down here other than some junkyard filled with old cars that are rusted and broken.
Winters glances over his shoulder. “We’ll check it out.”
He cuts the engine and climbs out of the vehicle with Ford on his heels. Kane isn’t content to sit, and neither am I. I need to know my family are safe, and I can’t do that by sitting on the sidelines. Winters opens his mouth to tell me to stay behind, but I raise my hand, silencing him. “If you tell me to wait in this car, I’ll shove my gun down your throat and pull the trigger.”
Winters scowls, not fazed by my threat, but he doesn’t argue either. More of my father’s men gather around us, piling out of vans and cars that were trailing behind Winters. We don’t hang about. We begin our attack in earnest. No one wants to give them a chance to escape or hurt the women. I notice Ryan Malone, Zeke’s bodyguard, is also amongst the men. When this is over, I’m going to have words with the man. He’s supposed to be guarding our brother.
We move through the graveyard of cars, some piled high enough to provide cover. I still have the gun Winters gave me, though I have fresh bullets for it now. I also have a couple of wicked-looking knives hidden on my body in case I need them. As we move through the maze of broken-down cars, the smell of old engine oil thick in the air, I hear voices.
Malone holds up a hand, stopping us in our tracks as he hides behind the tail end of a car. He peers around the edge as we come to a halt and then turns back to us. “There are ten men guarding what looks like a small cabin. I’m guessing the girls must be inside.”
I don’t allow myself to think they might have been moved since Aurelia sent the SOS message to us. I don’t allow any fear to creep into my consciousness because my sister and my wife need me to be strong.
Malone gives me a look. “Ready?”
I nod and feel Kane moving up behind me, ready for whatever is coming. The men move quickly and attack with precision. I shoot as I move, making a beeline for the cabin itself. I don’t care about the men outside. All I give a fuck about is finding my wife and my sister.
As I approach the steps that lead up to the cabin, a man comes at me with a knife. I see the glint of metal as it strikes towards my face. I raise my hands instinctively to protect myself and feel fire down my arm. I barely pay it any attention as I grab his wrist and twist as hard as I can. It takes a couple of goes to get him to release the weapon, but as soon as he does, I slam my own knife into his chest. Blood bubbles on his lips as his mouth moves soundlessly. I push him back, sliding him off the knife, and he goes down to the ground like a sack of bricks.
As I rush up the stairs and tear the door open, a bullet flies past my head so close I feel the breeze against the side of my ear. Fuck, that was close. I rush into the room as two men barrel towards me. A gun explodes behind me, hitting the first man in the forehead. I don’t need to twist around to know my brother is at my back. Kane is always wherever I need him to be.
I stab the other man in the throat, tearing the blade out. Blood spurts like a geyser from his neck. Bright red. It stains everything it touches. He slams a hand around the wound, but it pours through his fingers. I don’t stop to watch him die, instead moving through the small space towards a closed door at the back. I twist the handle, and as I do, bullets punch through the wood. I recoil to the side, avoiding the trajectory as the frenzied attack continues. There are more of my father’s men in the cabin ensuring our safety. All of the men are subdued or dead, leaving me to focus solely on what lies behind the door.
I wait until the firing stops, not sure if the shooter is reloading or if he is out. I risk everything, lifting my foot and slamming it against the wood. The first kick doesn’t shift the door. So I kick it again. This time the frame is obliterated and the door swings open.
I expect to be looking down the barrel of a gun, but as I step into the room, I’m greeted by the sight of my wife being held at knifepoint by Jeremiah Wood. My sister is sprawled on the floor, her head tipped to the side, her eyes closed, and her mouth slack. Her face is red, as if she’s been hit. I’m going to kill this fucker, slowly and painfully. Malone moves to her side, slow and careful so as not to spook Jeremiah. He goes down onto his haunches in front of my sister.
I don’t meet Sariah’s eyes. I’m too scared to look at her. If I do, I will break, and I need to be strong for her right now. Kane moves in behind me, pointing his gun at Jeremiah’s head. He is flagged by Malone, Weston, Winters, and Ford.
Each man is pointing a weapon at Jeremiah. Sariah’s head is tipped back to accommodate the blade pushed tightly against her throat. For the first time in my life, I feel bone-crushing fear. One slip is all it would take to end her life. I hold my breath, hardly daring to draw in air. My lungs feel tight, like elastic bands are tied around my ribs. “Let her go.”
Jeremiah laughs, a dark, disturbing sound. “Since she’s my only leverage, I think I’ll pass.”
“Letting her go is the only way you leave this room breathing.”
“And then you’ll just torture me. I’d rather die. I think I’ll take your pretty little bitch with me.”
He pushes the blade deeper into Sariah’s neck, making her whimper. Blood trails down the column of her throat, a slow roll of crimson. My heart starts to pound in my ears as my rage intensifies. I want to kill this cunt. I want to rip his heart out and bathe in his blood. He is right about one thing. We are going to torture him if he lives. I’m going to strip the flesh from his bones while cutting out his intestines. We will make an example of him for daring to come at us, but for me, there is more to this. This is personal. He touched what belongs to me, because Sariah Fraser is mine, and anyone who dares to touch her will die.
“Oh, you’re going to die,” Kane says in a dark voice. “You came at the Frasers. That’s not something we can just forgive and forget. Your life was forfeit the moment you hurt Zeke. You cemented your death further by firebombing our property. Taking our sister and Lucas’s wife means you have no chance of walking out of here breathing.”
Jeremiah’s eyes snap to mine. “You accuse me of crimes against your family, but you stole the woman I was meant to marry and made her your own. You created this war between us. Do you really expect me to just walk away as if nothing happened? Would you?”
I wouldn’t. I would do exactly what he has done. Probably worse. But that isn’t the point. I don’t care that I would have reacted in the same way. He came at me and mine and he will pay for that.
“Now you’re going to let me and this bitch walk out of here. If you come close or try to stop us, I will kill her.”
