by A. J. Macey
“Not for long,” I sing-songed, the lock giving way under my work. “Let’s go. The guys should be around here somewhere, and Frankie is locked down in his office. Here, take this,” I offered, bending down to the quickly cooling body when we made our way farther down the hall. Yanking the gun from the dead guy’s waistband, I held it out to Garrett. He waved me away, trying to refuse, until I shook it in his face. “You’re the gimpy one of us, so you need the weapon.”
“You are such a brat, Kitten,” he muttered, but he took the weapon with nothing else more than a soft sigh. He knows he loves my snark. “When we find Jace, whatever you do to him, can you not hit his torso? I have something I need to get back from him.” My brow raised in question, but I nodded, figuring I could ask him about it when we weren’t all possibly about to die. Starting back down the hall as quickly and quietly as I could, Garrett followed behind me.
Time to get revenge.
Chapter 20
December 25th
Wednesday Night
Ciar
Women and men fled the hotel and casino, all wide eyed and fearful as we made our way into the buildings. Shouting and gunshots started, the party already in full swing when Brooks, Stone, Elliot, Valerian, and I reached the main area of the casino floor. Adrenaline pumped, a surge of energy flaring in my veins as a man barreled around a corner with a baseball bat.
Dodging the shiny metal weapon, I struck back, kicking out and catching the scrawny man in the knee. Before he had a chance to do much of anything, I aimed and fired. My eyes scanned the space, looking for any threat nearby or any sight of Dove and Garrett. It was utter chaos around us. Frankie’s men flooded the area from all directions, trying to outnumber our forces. Aces’ members fought with fists and knives, some picking off who they could with their gun; each member had their own mobster to fight.
“I found our answer,” Chase exclaimed. “Dead ahead. Fat fuck the lawyer and Weasel the accountant. If anyone knows where Kiera and Garrett would be after they got off the elevator, it’s them.”
I sprinted toward them, catching Stone’s and Brooks’s eyes. Valerian followed us, his gaze focused on the two men. Seeing their demise coming toward them, they screamed and tried to run but only got fifteen feet into a side hall before I caught up. Excitement mixed with the adrenaline flowing through my system, and my lip turned up into a cruel smile. Valerian took down Brian Chan while I knocked Cory Harbold off his path and into the wall. Ha, fucker.
“Please! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know!” Brian shouted, his hands going up as if it would stop Valerian. Cory fell to the ground, his eyes staring back at me warily.
“How was Frankie ‘Smokes’ able to have such a strong empire built on such weak pieces of shit?” I muttered before looking at Brian. “Where are Kiera Casterelli and Garrett Newlyn being kept?” I demanded, my finger tracing the trigger with the urge to shoot but restraining myself, needing to get the information and find my Dove first.
“Down on the bottom floor, in one of the holding cells!” Brian rattled off. He opened his mouth to say more, but Cory moved before I could stop him. The fat fuck pulled out a gun, shooting Frankie’s accountant. As soon as the shot was off, I pulled the trigger a couple of times, shooting Cory in the chest. Several rounds weren't necessarily needed, but my lip curled at the satisfaction of the sensation. Once he was dead, two main thoughts permeated my mind, anger that he killed our source of information and determination now that we had a location.
“Let’s go get Kiera,” I directed to Stone and Brooks who came storming into the hall.
Don’t worry, Dove, I’m coming.
And God help whoever gets in my way.
Stone
Valerian pulled Brian Chan’s ID out of his jacket pocket, tucking it into his slacks as Ciar did the same with Cory’s. We stuck to the interior hall we had found, zigzagging our way farther into the building until we came to a second set of elevators and stairs. Most of the men who worked for Frankie were out on the main floor fighting with the Aces and Elliot, leaving the four of us to head to the lower levels.
“You two take that set of stairs to the floor immediately below us. Clear the path as you go if you run into anyone,” Ciar directed to Brooks and Valerian. “Stone, you’re with me in this staircase. We’ll head straight down to the lowest level. Everyone still have comms?” After a round of yeses, Ciar nodded and ran toward the door leading to the second of two staircases.
“Meet you down there, Boss,” I told Brooks, patting him on the back. He gave me a quick ‘you too,’ and headed off with Val. While my adrenaline was pumping, my mind was steady and clear. Everything felt still and serene, almost as if trapped within a bubble even though it was chaotic, dangerous, and loud. I was used to the threat of battle even after all these years.
“We’re pretty clear down here,” Ciar stated, but the comm wasn’t emitting any sound. Digging it out of his ear, he tried a few tests but nothing worked. A sound almost like a growl worked its way out of his chest as he shoved the piece back into his ear. “Looks like we’re on our own. Let’s go.”
Every step was confident as we started walking through the bottom floor of the Solace Casino. My eyes vigilantly scanned my surroundings, every corner, doorway, and possible hidey hole. We had just cleared a room when Ciar started to run. It wasn’t until we got closer that I heard the sounds of a scuffle farther down the hall.
“Eat shit, asshole!” Kiera’s irritated voice echoed through the halls. A shot rang out right before we made our way around the corner. Ciar skidded to a stop, calling out before Garrett could shoot him. “Sweet baby Jesus, it took you guys long enough.”
“Sorry, Dove, had to get through the thick of things upstairs,” Ciar murmured, kissing her fiercely. My brow raised at hearing someone so cold and hard apologizing. I guess Kiera can even turn Ciar into a softy. Brushing the thought off, I looked over Garrett.
“What’s injured?” I asked him. Scanning his mottled and bruised skin, I noted several cuts on his cheek, jaw, and throat. They were scabbed over, and several swatches of dried blood smeared on his face telling me he wasn’t recently injured. He is alive, I told myself with a steady breath, and that’s what matters. The ache that had been permeating my chest since finding he had been taken subsided, my brain finally allowing me to process that he was okay. I’ve lost too many soldiers before; I can’t lose my brothers too.
“Think my shoulder is fucked, I’m not sure if it’s dislocated or what. Other than that, it’s just bruises,” he told me, his voice rough and gravelly like he hadn’t had anything to drink. “Where’s Boss?”
“With Val up on the floor above us. Elliot and the rest of the Aces are having fun going toe to toe with the mob.” Garrett’s smile was small, but a wave of relief filled me at the tiny movement. I took a deep breath, gently grabbing his good shoulder.
“Glad to see that being a stubborn asshole kept you alive,” I murmured with a chuckle.
“Me too, Grave. Me too.”
“Excuse me, Stone, what about me?” Kiera huffed, stomping over from where she had been standing and talking to Ciar… or Chase seeing as how he was nearly hopping up and down where he stood.
“Get over here, Brat.” As I spoke, I scooped her up, hugging her tightly. “You scared me,” I whispered only loud enough for her to hear me.
She didn’t say anything, just tilted her head so she could look up at me. Pure joy was etched onto her face, my chest squeezing at the expression. The sincerity of her feelings toward me was something I realized my ex never had, and I was grateful that I had someone who truly cared about me. Her smile was bright, her deep green eyes sparkling at my sentiment. Kissing her quickly, I squeezed her one last time.
“We need to find the others; the sooner we find them, the sooner we can figure out the next part of the plan,” I directed as Chase handed over one of his guns to an unarmed Kiera.
“The plan is to find Jace, beat him to death, then go kill my fath
er. Easy peasy,” Kiera rattled off, making it sound like we were baking a cake and not trying to dismantle a well-established crime syndicate. None of us decided to argue, knowing if anyone could make it happen that easily, it’d be Kiera.
“Is it just me or does it seem pretty empty down here?” Kiera asked. “Did my father’s men really just flood the fight?”
“Yeah, from what we saw of it anyway,” I explained, following Chase as he ran up the stairs. “Ciar and Valerian found the lawyer and the accountant pretty quickly. Brooks and I were busy fighting off a couple of guys with Rider, Nate, and Elliot, but when we saw Ciar shoot Harbold or whatever the fuck his name was, we joined them.”
“Well, my father has over eighty men immediately under his employment whereas The Aces have almost seventy but the members of this leather wearing boy band seem to be pretty stubborn, so I think we’ll be all right,” Kiera noted, her arms pumping as she jogged up the last few stairs. Chase had given control back to Ciar, his permanent scowl cluing me in to the switch as he opened the door, both of us aiming down opposite ends of the hall. When we found it was clear, we started to the left, with the plan to sweep through the floor until we found Brooks and Val.
“Look out!” Kiera hollered. She and Garrett ducked into one room in the hall, while Ciar and I dove through the opening at the other end. A rapid-fire line of bullets sailed down the hall, the shooter waving the gun back and forth. “I think someone’s watched too many mobster movies!” Kiera shouted across the hall during the lull as the man reloaded. Ciar and I moved together, one standing and one lower to the ground. Curling around the edge of the frame, we aimed and fired right as he clicked the new magazine into place.
“We’re good,” Ciar called. “Let’s keep moving.”
Over the next ten minutes, we worked our way through the floor. There had only been two other men we had run into as we scoured the halls and rooms, both of whom were growing cold on the marble as we moved on looking for Brooks and Val. A sense of worry started to grow when we neared the first end of the lower level we were on and hadn’t found our president and Chase’s mentor.
“Did they go downstairs to look for us? Or they’re on the other half of the floor and we have terrible luck with picking which side to scout first?” Kiera questioned. “Don’t you guys still have comms?”
“Yeah but as soon as we stepped into the staircase and into the basements, they stopped working,” Ciar explained. Kiera cursed under her breath, her lips pursing.
“Must have some kind of barrier built into the walls to keep devices like this from working,” she muttered. She had just opened her mouth when we heard a shot go off. It wasn’t jarringly loud, but its echo still reached us. The worry that had started to fester grew to fear as we took off toward the sound.
“Oh, Valerian, it’s so good to see you,” I heard Jace sneer as we reached them. “With little Brooks Abbott too, how wonderful for me. Now, either you’ll do as I say, or the next bullet will be aimed at your skull.”
Kiera didn’t wait to see what would happen. Her body shook in anger, two pink patches flaring on her cheeks. Pointing the gun Chase had loaned her, she shot Jace in the thigh without hesitation. The scream of pain Jace let loose was like music to my ears, but what my Brat did next was even better. She sprinted over and kicked the gun away from the prick. I couldn’t stop the smirk that spread as she started to stomp on his legs and arms where he was curled on the floor.
Karma’s a bitch. Or, in this case, a brat.
Kiera
“Kiera!” Chase shouted, stopping me from hitting Jace again. “Wait a minute.”
“What the fuck for?” I hissed. “I told you I wanted to beat him to death.”
“Give him to Val,” he said softly. Jace shifted slightly, but he wasn’t conscious enough yet to realize I had stopped. Blood pooled on the shiny marble flooring, leaking from the gunshot wound.
“Why?”
“Jace raped and murdered my younger sister. She was pregnant and expecting her first baby,” Val told me, his voice hard and cold as he glared at the man at my feet.
My eyes narrowed at the sudden information drop as I stood fully, but I understood not wanting to talk about the shit you’ve gone through. Though they totally could have mentioned that a couple of days ago during planning, damn troublemakers. As much as I wanted to make Jace pay for being a sick bastard, I wouldn’t take revenge away from Valerian, not when I had been seeking my own for the last eighteen years.
“He’s all yours,” I told him quietly, stepping away from Jace who had finally started to groan. Valerian dipped his head in a silent thanks, forcing the bastard to stand despite his wounded leg, handcuffing him with the pair that I had worn previously. Garrett stepped up, reaching into Jace’s pocket for something I couldn’t see from the angle I was standing. As they started to walk away, Garrett called out.
“Wait, I want him to see this.” Garrett slapped Jace on the cheek a few times, bringing him to full consciousness. When Jace tried to yank away from Val, Garrett nodded slightly, reassured that his ex-best friend was paying attention.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to me, my confusion growing. “Yeah, so, this is really shitty timing, but seeing as how we might all fucking die,” Garrett started to ramble. My brows drew down as he opened the little box up and dropped to one knee. “Will you marry me?”
I didn’t know if it was the concussion I was sure I had, the depleted adrenaline, or the fact that my asshole stepbrother was on his knees with a ring that made me gasp in shock, but I did, staring at him with wide eyes and an open jaw.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked, pointing to the shiny stones glinting in the overhead light. “You’re doing this here, in the middle of a storm the castle situation? Was that really your proposal plan? What about the rest of the guys?” I was now rambling, unsure of what to make of all the swirling emotions that had blew past my concrete barrier that surrounded my heart.
“Yes, I am serious, and while I haven’t exactly talked to them about it, I’m pretty sure they all agree, right?” Garrett asked the guys who were standing behind me. Glancing back, I came face to face to them all nodding, even Stone. “Right, then. Kiera Catherine Casterelli, will you marry me, marry us?”
“Fuck yeah, I will,” I told him without hesitation. My surprise at what was happening was blatant in my wide eyes and gaping mouth. I had dreamed about getting married, once upon a time, but I never once thought it would actually happen. Not for people like us, not for a girl like me.
Hey, guess good things can happen to not-so-good people.
“No! You fucking asshole,” Jace screamed, spit flying out as Garrett slid the ring onto my finger. A perfect fit, I noted with a smile. “She’s mine! You can’t have her—”
Valerian clocked him in the side of the head, knocking the annoying asshole out. Letting go, he dropped Jace into a heap on the ground to shake Chase’s hand.
“Congratulations are in order, never thought I would see the day that you would get married, Chase.”
“Me either, old man, me either,” Chase laughed patting him on the back. “But I don’t want anyone else.” Val chuckled and turned to me, sticking his hand out for me to shake as well.
“Don’t worry, I’ll send you his dick on a string as a wedding present,” he murmured with a wink. Glancing at Chase, I cocked a brow in a silent question.
“Hey, you said that’s what you wanted from Jace,” he said with a shrug and a smile. I shook my head and stepped back from Val as he let go of my hand.
“I think you guys can handle the rest of this. I have some unfinished business to attend to. I’ll see you all again.” He bent down to grab ahold of Jace’s shirt to drag him. “I expect a wedding invitation.”
“You got it!” I called out as he pulled Jace away and out of my life forever. Three major players down, final one to go. “Ready to finish this?”
“Fuck yeah, we are,” Brooks announced. Smirking, I rolled my shoul
ders back and readied myself, glancing at the ring encircling my finger.
I’m coming for you, Frankie, and I’m not alone.
Not now. Not ever again.
Chapter 21
December 25th
Wednesday Night
Kiera
“Here.” Chase dug out an ID badge as we stepped into the elevator as well as his comm. I swiped the badge, waiting a moment for the button I’d pressed to turn green, and when Chase dropped the comm into my palm, I stuffed it in my ear. “So, what’s the plan?”
I stood silently, watching the numbers go up slowly and purposely avoiding his questions because I knew they wouldn’t like the answer.
“Kitten?” Garrett asked. “You have a plan; I know you do.”
“Of course,” I said quietly with a shrug, but I didn’t elaborate.
“Ah, I see what this is about,” Stone started. “It’s a plan we’re not going to like. That’s it, right?”
“It can’t be that bad. It’s just Frankie and a few guards,” Brooks tried to reason before looking to me. “Right?” Swallowing the lump that formed, I started to tell them the one piece of information I had withheld, knowing they would object to my plan.
“In a lock down, the elevator stops on the floor below Frankie’s penthouse office. Only way to get up there is by Frankie hitting a button on his desk; otherwise, the elevator won’t go to the top floor,” I explained.
“So how exactly do you plan to get up there?” Garrett took over, his eyes narrowing as if he already knew the answer.
“You guys will get off on the floor below, and I’ll go up,” I whispered. The speaker in the elevator wasn’t always on, but I didn’t want to risk him hearing. The system had an automatic switch; when someone selected his floor, Frankie got an alert and the surveillance system would turn on.