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“Go easy,” Felix sniggers. He glances across, remaining in place as Tim acts as soldier for the younger brother. “Raul.” He clicks his fingers and has the hand on my neck loosening. “Let her go.”
I fall with my rock still in my hand, then I scramble forward, not for Archer to protect me, but for me to be close enough to remove him from this horrible family reunion.
Our chests slam together, and his arm wraps around my hips, then he places me at his back and swaps my rock for his second gun. “Shoot.” While Tim keeps guard, Archer folds his neck and stares deep into my eyes. “Shoot, Minka. Whoever. Wherever. Whatever you have to do.”
Slowly, dangerously turning back, he loops his free hand in my belt and forces me to stay behind his broad chest. “We’re not joining your army, Felix. And you said it yourself; you’re not gonna kill us. That would only show the Pastores more weakness in your ranks. So turn around,” he sneers, “and go back to New York. Tell Dad you couldn’t find us.”
“The war will come here if you’re not careful.” Felix runs his tongue along his top teeth. “We lose, they’re gonna hunt the rest of us down. We win, we stay in power and you stay safe.”
“Or Tim and I just disappear.” He turns when Felix continues to prowl. He twists and keeps me covered. “Change our names. Find a new city. Start a new life.”
“And her?” He leans to the side and winks when our eyes meet. “You’ll leave her exposed.”
“She’s nobody,” Archer growls.
His words put an ache deep in my heart. His cool dismissal makes my eyes water. But common sense keeps me afloat. He’s saying whatever needs to be said.
“She’s a doctor I was fucking so I could get ahead on the force. I don’t stand in front of her because I’m fond of her, Felix. I stand here because if she dies, my life gets messy. If my life gets messy because of you, I’ll bring my own fucking war to your door. Then see what happens when the Pastores find out we’re not united.”
“Exactly what I’m trying to avoid!” Felix shouts. “Join us so we stand strong.”
“Leave us be,” Archer counters angrily. “Tellpeople we stand strong. No one has to know any different.”
“They need toseeus. They need to know we’re one.”
“We aren’t one!” Archer goes to step forward, only to stop again when my weight reminds him we’re attached, and to advance would mean leaving me unguarded. “We’re not family anymore, Felix. We’re nobody, because you choose your cock over allegiance. You choose money and power over what is right. And fuck, maybe I am the romantic. But it shouldn’t be so difficult to put your family first.”
“You think I haven’t?” Charging forward, Felix brings his gun up again. “You think I don’t do everything with my family’s reputation in mind?”
“Fuck the reputation!” Archer snarls in response. “What about us? What about brotherhood? What about Jill? Or Anne? Or fucking loyalty?”
“Loyalty?” Felix throws his head back and laughs. “Loyalty? She,” he points his gun so I’m staring straight into the barrel, “shesold you out, Archer! She could choose you, or she could choose to save the child that wasn’t even yours. Wasn’t even hers. She chose some rat kid, and let you walk into this mess.”
“She chose right.” Archer places his palm across the barrel of Felix’s gun. It won’t stop a bullet. It’ll simply make a mess before it hits me. “Mia had nothing to do with any of this. But again, you chose to hurt others for shits and giggles.”
“I thought she was yours.” From angry to smirking, Felix sniggers. “I thought she was one of us. I have every right to want to meet the girl I thought was my niece.”
“But she wasn’t. You abducted a fucking child for the thrill of it! You killed Anne. You lured my doctor here, and now…?” He shrugs. “What? You’re no better off. You just look stupid.”
“You will watch your words, brother.” From jovial to enraged, Felix brings the gun to Archer’s chest. “You will respect your betters. I will take Dad’s place long before you ever c—”
“And I will beat you both there.” Stepping across, Tim sandwiches himself between Felix’s gun and Archer’s chest. “I will step up next if I so choose, and you will become my fucking lap boy.”
He pushes Felix back with a strong shove. “When I step into power, you’re gonna wish you never came anywhere near Copeland. You’ll wish you didn’t step foot inside my bar. And you’ll fucking plead for forgiveness for ever touching that little girl, when she had no part in this.”
Rolling his eyes, Felix lowers his gun just a fraction. “She’s not hurt. And eventually, she’ll forget it ever happened.”
“But I won’t!” Fletcher’s angry voice echoes across the warehouse.
In the second I take to turn and look, he shoots off a round that knocks Felix back a step. He fires a second time, sending dirt spiraling into the air. Then Archer throws me to the ground, knocking the breath from my lungs and stealing whatever view I had of the scene playing out around me.
Bullets zing across the steel warehouse, bouncing off an iron structure and ricocheting back until a man cries out.
But which man? Who is shooting? Who is being shot?
“Go! Minka!” Archer squeezes off another shot and drops one of Felix’s guards to his back, then he twists around and picks me up just as roughly as that same guard did when I came in here.
My collar cuts off my air, my legs fail to work as quickly as I want them to, and when Archer throws me toward the stack of crates I hid behind earlier, my head raps against the timber, and my vision goes dark for just a moment.
