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He tilted his head from one side to the other, cracking his neck. “That’s not what I meant about sending a message.”
“Well, if you hadn’t gone off and announced where we were, then maybe I would know that.”
The two assholes standing on my front porch stood there watching the exchange between us. The mess he was making all over the place slightly distracted the bleeding one, but the other stood with his mouth gaping open like a dead fish.
“I’d leave if I were you.”
“No, wait, don’t go,” Noah said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Stay. Let’s put on a spot of tea.”
I rolled my eyes and moved forward, trusting he’d follow. “This is private property. We know who you are and we know why you are here. You won’t get her, and Miles is dead, so if you have any desire to live, then I’d get back into your truck and get the fuck out of here.”
The sound of a bullet whizzing my ear and Noah cursing was the last thing I heard before total chaos rained. I watched as my brother ran into the gunfight rather than away from it with blood running down his arm. Fuck.
I hurried behind him and managed not to get my ass shot as the two fuckers ran around the back of my house. With hand signals, we determined who would go in which direction. I lucked out, as the one that went to the right was the one that was already hit. He was bleeding out quickly and was leaning against the side of the house, holding his arm.
“Fuck man, we are just here to do a job.”
“Your job is my woman.”
“Every job is someone’s something,” he choked out as I hit him in the head with the side of my gun. He went down like a fainting goat and I moved forward, looking for Noah and the other guy. Blood-curdling screams hit my ears from just behind my shed and they weren’t Noah’s. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I made my way over to him, only to see he had not only subdued the guy, but he was in the process of severing his head.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“The message, asshole. I’m sending his head to Miles. You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t thank you. Miles is dead, remember? And how the hell did you plan to ship a head?”
“I’ll find a way. Besides, this one deserved it. Ayden is going to be pissed at me. She just sewed up this shoulder and now she’s going to have to sew up my arm too.”
I looked down and realized he was bleeding like a stuck pig all over the dead guy. “Is it deep?”
“I doubt it. Barely hurts.”
“That doesn’t say much. Come on, leave that guy there.”
“I’ll leave the body. I told you I’m taking the head.”
Three hours later, we finished with the clean-up crew. The guy I hit bled out before he gained consciousness and Noah’s head was on ice in a cooler. I had no idea what he planned to do with it, but for some reason the idea of mailing a head was exciting for him. When he pulled shit like this, I had to wonder who the hell he really worked for. Sure, The Syndicate was his main employer now, but I couldn’t imagine them being okay with him shipping a head across the country.
We stepped into the front door of his house, and he went to the refrigerator with the cooler. “Fuckin women. This thing is full of food. Where am I supposed to put my head?”
“Please tell me you weren’t really going to leave it in the house for her to find.”
“What’s the problem?”
I shook my head in his direction. “I have no idea how she deals with you. Go put it in the freezer in the garage. Besides, mom is coming here on Saturday and I don’t want her seeing it either.”
“Fine.”
Noah moved through the house, dripping blood as he went. I ignored him. My need to get to Talia was burning through me. I went to the basement and stood in front of the camera. They would need to unlock it from the inside, so I picked up my cell and dialed the number that went to the phone in the safe room.
Ayden picked it up on the first ring. “Hey, it’s Leo. You can open up now.”
She let out a sign of relief as I heard the locks on the heavy metal doors disengage. As soon as it opened, Talia threw herself into my arms.
“You’re back!” she cried out as I lifted her to me. “Are you okay?”
I held her tightly until she pushed back and held my face in her hands. “Are you okay?”
