by Lynn Hagen
“All of you shut the fuck up.” Max cocked his head to the side. I strained to listen, and that was when I heard the footsteps. The enemy was trying to be quiet, but I heard the slight echo of their approach.
“Take cover,” Max whispered. “Be careful of innocent bystanders who might be trying to get to their cars.”
I slipped behind a van and watched through the windshield as one of the men moved past a sports car. With careful aim, I fired, and he went down.
After that, gunfire erupted. The shootout was loud, hurting my ears as I ran from one vehicle to the next for cover. I saw another goon drop. Lucas had killed him.
That left one guy. He wasn’t so quick to reveal himself, and now we were in a cat-and-mouse game. I dropped to my hands and knees and looked under the parked cars.
After searching for a good forty seconds, I spotted him. He was two cars away, on the opposite side. I fired and hit his ankle. The guy shouted and fell to the ground. When I saw his head, I fired again.
I got to my feet, angrier than I had been before.
“Where’re you going?” Max shouted my way as I rushed toward the exit.
“To kill Robert.” My mission hadn’t changed. I wanted him dead. I wanted it so badly I had a hard-on for it. I knew my friends would make their way there, but I couldn’t wait for them. Not when vengeance was pumping through my veins.
That was the third time Robert had tried to have me killed. I wanted to pay him back in kind.
Once back on the street, I stuffed my gun into the back of my waistband and hailed a taxi. “Take me to the Brighter Building.”
“I know where that’s at,” the cabbie said.
My phone rang as the cabbie drew closer to my destination. I started not to answer it, but I knew Gabe would blow it up until I did. “What, Mother?”
The driver looked at me with a frown through his rearview mirror. I guess he didn’t like people snapping at their parents.
“Don’t you dare start the dance without us,” Gabe warned. “You don’t know the situation you’re walking into.”
“Any other useless advice, Mom?”
The cabbie clenched his jaw.
“Kid around all you want, hardhead. You heard those twats. We have contracts on our heads. Depending on how much it pays out, we could be gunned down on sight. Take the threat seriously, Reese. You have someone to go home to. If you make me tell Danni you were killed because you were too hotheaded to wait, I’ll bring you back from the dead and kill you myself.”
“Love you, too, Mom.” I winked at the cabbie as I hung up. “She spoils me rotten.”
“You should have a little more respect when speaking to her,” he said. “You only got one mom, and you’ll miss her when she’s gone.”
I wasn’t going to explain that it hadn’t been my mother. I had other things on my mind. If the guy only knew that my mom had already passed away and that I still missed her every single fucking day.
As much as it irritated me, Gabe was right. For all I knew, finding out where Robert was could’ve been a setup.
I wanted the bastard dead but not enough to risk my own life. I had Danni to consider, and damn right I planned on returning to him.
The driver, after I’d instructed him, dropped me off two blocks from my destination. I slipped into an alcove and checked my weapon then patted my pocket where I’d put an extra magazine when we’d left the hotel.
Five minutes later another cab pulled up and my friends joined me. They knew me too well.
“Glad you waited, son.” Gabe grinned.
“You wish you had a kid as awesome as me.” I looked past the alcove. “I haven’t assessed the situation yet. I don’t know how many we’re dealing with or where they’re positioned.”
“I made a phone call on the way over here,” Max said. “Backup is on the way. Men we trust.”
“They better be loyal to a fault,” I said. “We don’t know the price on our heads, and that could be tempting to even the extreme loyalists.”
“Fifty grand a piece.” Max squinted as he looked around.
“That’s it?” I asked. “Damn, I feel cheap.”
“There’re a lot of people who would sell out their own mother for two hundred grand.” Gabe narrowed his eyes. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not really your mom.”
I cracked a smile. He knew there was no amount that could tempt me to betray any of them. I winked. “You could be if the price is right.”
“Remind me to kick your ass later,” Gabe groused.
We’d waited a good ten minutes before two SUVs parked at the curb. Eight pack members exited, four from each vehicle. They were dressed in black and carried assault weapons.
“Ready to get this party started?” Franco asked. “Never did like Robert. Balls are bigger than his brains.”
I knew each of the men, but in the back of my mind, I wondered if any of them could or would betray us. All joking aside, the bounty would be tempting to anyone.
Max must have read my mind. “One hundred grand to each of you for helping us clean house,” Max said.
Franco shook his head. “Thanks, but you don’t have to worry where our loyalties lie. We hand the council over and Ridgeview turns to shit. But I’ll gladly take what you’re offering.”
The others nodded in agreement. I was glad to have that settled. Coming off two hundred grand—the money split evenly between us to pay them—was pennies compared to losing my life, and I was grateful for the peace of mind knowing they wouldn’t turn on us.
“The loft is only three stories high,” Max said. “Edward, James, and Paul, I want you guys to take the back. Make sure you clear it then climb to the roof. Once you give the signal, two will enter through the rear, and the others will come with us as we take the front. Make sure whoever you take down is part of the Malkovich pack. I don’t want any innocent casualties.”
“We go in quiet and quickly,” I said. “We take them down with stealth. We don’t need a shootout if we can avoid it.” I looked at them as I added, “Robert is mine.”
It didn’t take long for the three pack members to climb to the roof and give the all-clear signal.
Two men broke off and hurried toward the back of the building. The three remained on the roof as lookouts. Franco and two others went with us through the front.
I checked for cameras as Franco and Max took down the two men stationed by the door. We entered through a second door in the foyer and split off.
Max and the others took the freight elevator. I had Lucas and Franco with me. We took the stairs. I had to clear my mind and get into my own quiet headspace, but images of Danni kept popping into my head.
I wouldn’t have been here at all if Robert hadn’t kept trying to kill me. I would’ve rather been back at my hotel room lying in bed with the man I loved, making love to him, watching movies, ordering room service, and just enjoying him.
We reached the third floor. I opened the stairwell door, and we took out the three men lingering in the hallway. Quick and quiet, just like I’d wanted it.
I was glad to have Lucas and Franco with me. The two made one lethal ass team.
“We should wait for the others,” Franco whispered. “We have no idea how many guys are in there.”
I wasn’t waiting. This was personal. The vengeance inside of me demanded Robert die. Demanded that I show that cowardly son of a bitch why I was on a council seat and he was still trying to rally men to his side.
Without warning the men with me what I was about to do, I stormed into the room, shot the man on my right, swung around and took down the guy on my left.
Another guy dropped, and I knew either Lucas or Franco had handled it.
Robert’s eyes widened as he hurried behind a big, wooden desk. He wasn’t so tough when he didn’t have a crowd around him, but I was still cautious. He could’ve gone to the desk for a weapon.
I fired, hitting him in his shoulder. Fired again and struck him in his gut. He stumbled backw
ard, away from the desk.
“You want to send men after me?” I snarled. “You want to kill me? Have the balls to do it yourself.”
The last shot ended Robert’s life.
The room filled with my friends and the other pack members as I curled my lip and stared down at Robert’s lifeless body.
“He couldn’t wait,” Lucas said from behind me. “Remind me never to piss Reese off.”
“Sweep the building,” Max said.
I was done there. I had my sweetheart to get back to, my beautiful, the guy I would kill to protect, because he was deep in my heart, in my very soul. We still had Antonio to deal with, but sooner or later, the weasel would come out of hiding, and when he did, he would meet the same fate Robert had.
When it came to Danni’s safety and happiness and our future together, I wasn’t playing around.
I hurried back to the hotel, leaving the others to call a clean-up crew, and swept Danni into my arms, holding him close. Danni peppered my face with kisses, and I saw the worry in his eyes.
“Don’t you ever leave me with babysitters again. Do you know how worried I was about you?”
My heart swelled at his words. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, beautiful.”
“Is it over?”
“For now.” There were still a lot of things the council had to do in order to rid Ridgeview of the Malkovich pack, but until then, I was right where I belonged.
THE END
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