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So many different emotions course through me as we near the club—adrenalin, rage, dread, but worst of all,hope.
Hope she is okay.
Hope she is alive.
Hope she wasn’t harmed.
Hopeis the worst fucking emotion you could ever feel. Hope gets people killed. It’s the one emotion that can make you do the stupidest thing and get yourself killed. I may not have realized it before but right now in this moment, I know with a hundred percent certainty that I would lay down my life for Anya if it meant she got to live and be free of her father.
“ETA two minutes, strap up and be ready,” Andreas calls from the front seat. Bishop, Knight and King ride in the middle row, Brock and I are in the back, while Liam drives. Vin is already set up on the roof of the building opposite the main entrance of the club. He is the best dead shot and the only one me and my brothers trust to have our backs and clear our path inside. Vin will keep it clear so we can exit in haste and get the fuck out. “The takeover is happening now, an emergency board meeting is happening as we speak. The cops and army won’t come to his aide, even if we die. Vlad will be fucked and never able to recover from this.”
Andreas’s words should bring me gratification but they don’t. All I care about right now isn’t taking Vlad down, I just need to get my girl back and then I’ll be able to think straight and focus. This is new for me. I’ve never really worried about anyone this way except for the girls, but even then, I never felt this way. I feel responsible for Anya and making sure she is safe. With the girls, I just felt a sense of… protectiveness. I feel that with Anya as well but it’s worse. I double check my guns and make sure that I have the four grenades strapped to the front of my bullet proof vest. We each have tactical helmets on to protect us from head shots—the Crows offered for us to use their Kevlar suits and guns, but we declined. We may be helping each other but that didn’t mean we trusted them to not give us faulty guns, you can never trust someone who wants the same thing you do. Make no mistake, whether Andreas admits it or not, he wants to lead the Bratva and Bishop won’t let that happen. He can’t risk him turning out like Vlad.
When we round the corner to where the club is, everyone shifts forward in their seats. Liam slams on the breaks causing us all to jerk. We all amble out of the vehicle sluggishly, we were supposed to jump out of the car and run into the club guns blazing but instead we stand here at the curb staring. Crowds of people run from the building, some men that are with Bratva come out with bullet wounds, the smell of smoke draws my attention to the back of the club. Billows of smoke are coming from the roof which snaps me out of my daze.
“Let’s move!” I shout as I take off toward the back of the building. No one aside from Vlad’s guys know about that entry. I hear Andreas shouting orders to his men behind me but keep going, my brothers following my lead and are hot on my heels. As we round the corner two guys come into sight, before I can even draw my gun two shots ring out, each making a perfect hole in the center of the guys’ forehead, each of them dropping to the ground. I owe Vin. I knew he was good but I didn’t realize he wasthatgood of a shot. My pace doesn’t slow as I leap over one of their bodies, making my way to the door that is held open at the bottom by a brick. I attempt to go through but Bishop reaches and grips my elbow, pulling me back. The stench of smoke back here is strong.
“Don’t be a hero,” Bishop growls. “We go in but as a unit. Don’t make any rash or stupid moves. Vincent can’t cover us inside.” I get what he is saying but right now I don’t care about my safety. I care more about finding Anya.
“We need to split up. I’m not fucking leaving here without my brother!” Knight’s tone brokers no room for argument. Right then Andreas and his guys find us.
Andreas darts his gaze between the four of us warily before speaking. “We going in or waiting to be shot?” Bishop shoots him a scathing look before turning his attention back to me.
“I always lead but, in this instance, I’m blind to the floor plan in there so lead us. Don’t fuck up, Gage.” I give a curt nod and don’t stick around to trade more comments before I lead us all into the fray. Screams and shouts of help can be heard coming from the club side of the building. We rush down the red halls, half-naked girls are running from the rooms screaming and crying. Andreas barks orders to some of his guys to get these girls to safety and out of here. Shit turns sour when we round the corner, gunshots pop off. Our element of surprise is blown. Vlad’s men are everywhere, my back is plastered flat against the wall. I turn to Bishop and find a look of outrage coated on his face. I look past him and that’s when I see what has him so angry, Knight and King aren’t with us, they have gone to find Rook.
“They’ll be okay,” I say, trying to appease him and keep his head in the game. He just grunts in response. When the shooting stops, Andreas uses hand signals to his men to fan out. I peek around the corner and that’s when I see red. I draw my AK-47 to the front, flip it to full auto and let loose. The guards that are leading Vlad and Ivan from the office use their bodies as shields so those fuckers can get to safety. I don’t stop, not even when the other fuckers start to shoot at me, I feel Bish and the others behind me shooting. I manage to drop a few of them with head shots. Bish and Andreas’s guys take out the rest. For foot soldiers these guys are useless! They should have been able to take me out with a single shot, it shows what kind of a leader Vlad is when his own men can’t even protect him.
* * *
I spoke too soon, we have been pinned down in the back end of the club for about ten minutes. We chased after Vlad and Ivan only to run straight into a fucking ambush. They were waiting for us in the club, right in the middle of the dance floor. Brock, Andreas, Bishop and I are holed up behind the DJ booth with a few other people that weren’t able to get out before the shooting happened. The look of utter terror on their faces angers me, these are his fucking people and yet he doesn’t try to barter or get them to safety. I know there is always casualties in a war but the loss of innocent lives is a toll that weighs heavy on me. If I can save a life, I will.
“We need to conserve our ammo, those fuckers aren’t slowing and my COMS are down, I can’t reach my guys.” Andreas has lost a lot of his men tonight, I can see the devastation in his eyes. I still haven’t seen Anya. I thought we could take those two fuckers down and then search for her. The fire is spreading and my guess is these fuckers are trying to keep us in here so we burn down with the club. “We need to find a way out, soon!” Andreas grits out.
“We should have waited for Tony.” Bishop breaths out, a whoosh of air escapes me at his quietly spoken words. We thought by having a few more men than they do we could win this—truth is, we were fucking fools. We have come into their home thinking we knew the layout better. My need to get to Anya may have just cost us all our lives. The gunfire stops suddenly, Bish and I share a look loaded with unease.
“How long will you hide like the filthy fucking rats that you are?” Bishop’s eyes darken, he grows ridged and clenches his gun at the sound of Mav’s voice. I peer through the small gap between the stand and the stage that we are hiding behind, more than twenty guys stand there with guns aimed in our direction. Mav, the coward, stands in the middle with men all around him. I knew he was always a fucking pussy! “Come out Bishop and we’ll let your little band of misfits go free.” I shoot my brother a warning look, there is no fucking way he is going out there to that little bitch. Mav is a fucking rat and cannot be trusted. “You have thirty seconds to decide, if you don’t, well… you know what will happen.”
“I’m going out there–”
I cut Bishop off, not wanting to hear this shit. “Not going to fucking happen!” I seethe. “If you get killed, Kiara is going to chop my fucking balls off and I am quiet fucking fond of my nuts!” He grips the scruff of my shirt and hauls me close until we are nose to nose.
“Don’t ever and I meanever, let me hear you say anything about my fiancée and touching your dick again!”
“I said balls, not dick,” I counter earning a growl from him and being shoved back into the stage.
“He will kill you the moment you step out there, I have no signal in here. They must have the place jammed up. I can’t call for backup and your backup is still hours away.” Bishop tries to hide his worry but fails. Andreas is right, we’re fucked and we all know it. Someone is going to die in order for the rest of us to make it out of here. I refuse to let that someone be Bishop.
I tune back into Andrea’s and Bishop’s conversation. “…As soon as I have their attention, you lot run….” I tune them back out again when Mav begins to count backward from ten. I shoot my brother one last look. He’s too focused on speaking with Andreas and the others to notice as I lay my rifle down and back away. I will not let any of my brothers pay the price for my stupidity. I should have made them wait but I was too eager to get to my girl. Unlike them, I don’t have someone waiting on me back home… shit, I don’t even think Anya would care if I lived or died honestly. I peer around the edge of the stage and fight the cough that threatens to break free, the smoke is getting thicker, I can feel the temperature rising as the fire draws nearer, moving from the back. Just as Mav gets to five, I step out with my hands raised, all eyes and guns turn to me.
“I’m here!” I call out.
“Gage, you fucking idiot!” I hear Bishop yell from behind me but I don’t stop moving. I know Andreas and the others will be fighting to hold Bishop back. I keep my eyes on Mav, who is grinning like he won the fucking jackpot, as I call back to Bish.
“Tell the girls I love them, tell Car I’m sorry I won’t be there to watch her marry Vin and tell King and Knight, I’m sorry I couldn’t save Rook.” When I stop in the middle of the dance floor, I take a deep breath before I utter the last words. “You were always my idol, Bishop. I never missed Tony or longed for a father figure because I always had you to look up to.”
“Awwww, isn’t that sweet. He finally admits he’s a bitch out loud for the world to hear.” I grit my teeth trying to tamper my anger and not allow Mav’s word to set me off. “Truthfully, I would have loved to kill the Don but…” he steps out from behind the cover of his men and closes the space between us until he is a couple feet away. I notice that he favors his left side from when Vin shot him, but I also notice the blood soaking through his shirt near his abdomen. He follows my line of sight and smirks. “Oh, yeah, your bitch shot me.” Pride swells inside me.
“Pity it wasn’t a head shot,” I snarl, his eyes darken as he strikes out and hits me across the jaw. I stumble back a step but right myself quickly and get ready to land a blow of my own until I hear all the guns cocking. Mav throws his head back and laughs like a fucking nut job, I need to do something so Bishop and the others can get out of here. I can hear the crackle of the fire, it won’t be long before it breaches the back wall and Bishop and the others will be cornered.
