Kendra gives Ryker a questioning look, obviously asking if she should speak freely in front of me. Ryker gives it right back, then glances at me. “It’s your decision.”
I shake my head, leaning forward. “I’m tired of ducking out. Guys, I need to hear it. Good, bad, or ugly. I’ve come to accept that the man I love is a criminal. I don’t care what the law sees him as, and what you guys are doing right now . . . it might be against the law, but it’s not wrong.”
Ryker’s eyes glow with warmth and love, and Kendra looks impressed as she gives me another evaluating look.
“Joe did his recon and then went into action last night,” Kendra says as she leans forward. “Dezzie and Sam were taken out at their hangouts in typical Joe style.”
“What, exactly, does that mean?” I ask curiously.
“He’s our wet work guy. They were barely in the morgue before the word got out on the streets. This morning, the rats are scattering. Even our guys are pledging loyalty again, just in case, so that they don’t meet Joe.”
Marcus speaks up for the first time. “Yeah, I’ve been soothing scared big-ass dudes all damn morning. But really, the overall effect is what we expected. Jacob’s network, other than Viktor, is one hundred percent dismantled. Our grip on the city is stronger than ever, and everyone knows we’ll go full-throttle if needed. Even some of the holdout neutrals like Jacob’s cops have reached out through their own channels to make it very clear they don’t want to piss us off.”
“Tell Chief Matthews we appreciate the gesture of friendship,” I reply after a moment. I lean back, dark hilarity bubbling up through me as I start to laugh. Ryker reaches over, taking my hand, worried I might be pushed too far by this.
“Sarah, honey, it had to be done. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t the life you want, but I had to do this. Please understand.”
I realize he thinks I’m upset about the two deaths, some meek mouse cowering from the scary world around her. I understand, really. The past three nights, I’ve averaged about four hours of sleep per night, and not a lot of it being very restful. But I’m strong too, and I steel my gaze at him.
“Ryker, fuck that. I’m not upset you had those men killed. There’s just one more thing. Kendra said Dezzie and Sam, but what about Viktor? The job’s not done yet.”
Ryker’s eyes burn as my meaning soaks through his surprise, and he nods. “Are you sure?”
I reach across, grabbing his hand. “He could’ve killed me, and if I’d been physically able to, I would’ve killed him myself. Because he’s more than just a threat to me, but a threat to you, to your brother, and to the people I care about. There’s a saying I learned back when I was acting, and I always felt silly repeating it. But it makes sense now. Ride or die. And I know you live by that. So thank you. Thank you for doing what I couldn’t do and keeping not just me safe, but the whole city.”
I move in to kiss Ryker, and I can feel his relief as he covers my mouth with his. In an instant, the fire ignites and I’m nearly straddling his waist when I hear someone loudly clearing their throat. I turn, blushing when I see Kendra and Marcus watching us, Kendra looking amused and Marcus looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in the world right this second. Pulling back, I grin sheepishly. “Sorry, guys, got a little carried away.”
Marcus laughs, shrugging. “Quite all right, although I could do without seeing my ugly as hell brother like that. Not again.”
The boys grin at each other, and I catch a glimpse of what they were probably like as kids, always mischievous and getting into trouble. “Yeah, well,” Ryker says, patting my hip, “I think Sarah and Kendra have a visit to make?”
“We do,” Kendra says, bouncing to her feet. “Don’t worry, she’ll be safe.”
I give Ryker a quick goodbye peck on the lips to avoid any more temptation or awkwardness before grabbing my purse and getting in the elevator with Kendra. The doors close, and she gives me a grin. “So . . . ride or die?”
I giggle. The way she says it makes me laugh, and I nod. “Um, yeah. Hey, got a question. Who’s Joe?”
For the rest of the ride down the elevator, I’m in awe as Kendra tells me about the junior high school teacher-slash-hitman, thinking surely, she’s joking, but apparently, he’s the most incognito scary dude in the city.
“Oh, Joe did have one request for this job. He’s apparently a big fan and appreciates what you’re looking at doing with the Broken Angel Foundation. He’s weird like that, ruthless but with a soft side too. He wondered if you’d make an appearance at his school and give a talk about healthy relationships and what to do if you’re in an abusive one. He thinks it’d be a good intro for his students to hear before they start dating in high school.”
I’m in awe that someone wants to hear me talk and thinks I’d have a positive impact. I’m sure not an expert on that topic, but I do know what it’s like to be in an unhealthy relationship. I nod excitedly. “Absolutely. I’d love to.”
Kendra grins, cranking the engine on her car. “Good. I gotta tell you, though, Joe’s not the only person in the life who’s glad about your Foundation.”
Something in her tone gives me pause. “What’s your story?” I ask. “I mean, tell me to fuck off if you want. I won’t be offended. But you know, you’re like the only female friend I have. We’re supposed to share this stuff, right?”
Kendra pulls out into the street, her mouth going tight. “Someday, Sarah . . . maybe I’ll have the guts to tell you. Until then, just know I’ve been forced to stare into the abyss long enough that it knows me inside and out too.”
Chapter 24
Ryker
The night air is getting slightly nippy. We’re in that transition time of the year when the days can have you in t-shirts and your evenings in coats. It’s a good night for what I want to do.
I know I can’t trust that the fear of using Joe is going to stop everyone who opposes me, especially the cops who might be still be looking for a way to take me down. It’s always a balancing act with them. They do, technically, have the law on their side.
I thought it over obsessively, and I was tempted to take Viktor out the same way I took out Jacob. I mean, killing two men with knives in their own homes is pretty damn iconic. It’d send a message, kinda like my signature, with the kills.
But this needs something different, so I decided on this course of action. It’s not common in urban gang fights, mainly because it’s so damn difficult. Compared to the number of idiots who just want to do drive-bys and spray rounds all over the street, sniping is a relatively long-lost art.
Thankfully, I’ve learned that art. Part of it was Dad, who would get me and Marcus out of the city when he could. He’d take us up to the mountains and out into the green hills, where we’d have to fend for ourselves. This was before Mom left, so it was sort of a male bonding time for us.
I’m teaming with Marcus and borrowing a tactic used by others. Our vehicle is nondescript, a blue Tahoe that looks like just about any of a thousand others around the city. If anyone got close enough to look through the tinted windows, they’d wonder why the back seats are folded down. But nobody’s going to get that close.
While Joe was scoping out his targets, Marcus has had everyone looking for Viktor. Finally, a call from one of our cops at the airport reported that he’s been holing up at a private ‘airline’ that runs charter flights out of the city. Smart move, really. People don’t like causing shit around the airport. It gets the Feds involved.
But he has to leave the airport eventually, and we’ve been ready and waiting to get the call that he’s on the move. I know his destination because I know where he keeps his liquid funds, in the safe at a strip club a half-mile from the airport that was one of Jacob’s lesser-known ‘investments’. The Blue Room isn’t the most famous club in town, but that’s because it doesn’t advertise like its brethren. It mostly serves as a business front to launder money, but the ‘one-night shows’ of some of the most famous names in the porn industry
are the stuff of legend, and the normal girls who work there are some of the freakiest around. But the girls won’t be Viktor’s reason for going there. He’s gonna do a grab-and-go, get his cash and hustle back to the airport to get his ass out of town. He’s such a pussy, stirring up shit but unwilling to finish it. “You know, I visited here once,” Marcus says as we wait in the corner of the parking lot next to a few of the workers’ cars. “Did I ever tell you about that?”
“You know, you haven’t,” I reply as I edge myself into the backseat area before turning around. “If you had, I would have kicked your ass. When was that?”
“Three days after my eighteenth birthday,” Marcus says, checking the mirrors and the small video screen in the dash while I uncase my rifle. “Downtown Bootsy and Frankie Dawlish brought me, said they’d make sure I was inducted into manhood properly while you were kept busy. They lent me a suit and all the trimmings to make sure that I looked the part and didn’t catch the attention of management.”
I suppress a growl. Those assholes should know better. “Well, you can tell me about it another time. It’s go time.”
I make my final preparation, removing a piece of glass from the rear window that’ll be totally replaced by tomorrow. To the outside, it looks like just a broken window. We’ve taped a piece of clear plastic over the hole. I slide behind my rifle. It’s a modified Remington 700P. I chose it for a reason, though, because it’s the same type of weapon used by the city’s SWAT snipers. Instant courtroom reasonable doubt.
We know Viktor’s in there. One of our crew watched him go in an hour ago. What kind of asshole on the run takes an hour strip club break as he’s getting his go-funds? This guy, apparently. I hope he enjoys that BJ because it’ll be his last. Now it’s just a waiting game.
I sit, using the firing blocks we’ve set up to keep the rifle at just the right height. With no flash or sound suppressor, it’s going to be loud in the Tahoe when I fire, but it’ll be safer this way.
My spine is starting to ache as the minutes drag by. Sitting cross-legged with half my ass on the folded down seat isn’t recommended by any chiropractor. Just as I do some light twists to make sure I’m not going to be too tight, Marcus speaks up. “Door.”
I raise the rifle, looking through the scope as the front door to The Blue Room opens and three men emerge. Two of them are obviously bodyguards, typical thuggish-looking meatheads who get by more on their sheer bulk and intimidation than real skills.
In the middle, slightly behind them, is Viktor. It’s a sign both of his arrogance and of his bodyguards’ limited skills that I have a sightline on him at all. Totally unprofessional.
It’s mistakes like this that show why you could never be the King, I think as I push the safety off and take the final breath before I fire. I let it half out, waiting as everything comes into place. When it does, I stroke the sensitive trigger, and a single hollow-point round flies. I lose my view of Viktor in the blur of recoil through my scope, but when I can see again, both bodyguards look panicked and Viktor’s down.
Message sent.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 25
Ryker
The past two and a half months have felt like a whirlwind of activity, taking over our entire lives, but really, it’s just been the setup for The Broken Angel Foundation. Just helping Nikolas with everything involved in getting the gala going has been hard work, but Sarah’s also been busting her ass trying to get as much done on the shelter as possible. She’s going to make her goal, with a grand opening scheduled for December fifteenth, just in time for Christmas.
The city has settled quite nicely in the two months since we took care of Jacob’s last loyal followers. Crews are selling, girls on the street are safe, docks and airport are running, and Marcus and I have had meetings with all the major players to ease any doubts they had about our leadership. We’ve been selling it as a dual-headed leadership, and everyone seems to understand that, as brothers, we’re a package deal. They’re not gonna complain as long as everything is running smoothly anyway.
I shake my head as I think of Marcus. He’s been great in his new role, and my transition to retirement from the game has been smoother than I could have ever imagined. A lot of it, of course, has been Kendra. Now officially his Chief Lieutenant, she hasn’t let a single thing slip at the street level now that Marcus has to look at the overall scene. If anything, things have tightened up. All it took was Kendra’s kicking the one guy’s ass who thought to challenge her leadership to remind everyone that her rep is earned . . . with their blood.
I still get a vibe between them that makes me curious, although both of them swear that there’s nothing going on between them. We’ll see. Right now, I’m just happy to be the man behind the curtain.
Standing in the corner of the hotel ballroom, I can’t really believe we’ve pulled it all off. Sure, Nikolas has hired a small army to do what they can, and I’ll admit I’ve pulled a few strings myself, but the success of tonight totally rests on one woman’s shoulders. Sarah’s been a force of nature, animated by a passion that fills her to overflowing. Not that we’ve ever had a problem letting off overflowing passions.
Sarah’s flitting around the room like a six-foot-tall butterfly behind Nikolas, moving and adjusting flowers and forks, just to have Nikolas move them back. She’s nervous about tonight, but she doesn’t need to be. The gala is going to be a success, and it’ll help fund the shelter along with Sarah’s contributions. People know and love her as an actress, and the whole city knows she’s mine, so they’ll be coming out in droves tonight to show support.
Besides, she’s got a great lineup for the gala. I didn’t even know it, but a former co-star on her show has started up a headline-grabbing pop band, and they’re playing the gala for free in between concerts.
Still, Nikolas looks like he’s about to lose his shit, so as he and Sarah get a little closer to me, I sneak up behind her, taking her by the arm and spinning her around. She whirls, surprised. “Hey!”
“Hey yourself,” I say with a grin. “Calm down. You’re making Nikolas nervous, and everything is already perfect.”
Nikolas gives me a grateful wave of his hand as Sarah takes a deep breath, relaxing in my arms, “I know, but I don’t know what to do with myself. People will be here soon, and I just want it all to go well.”
“Come on, I have an idea,” I say as I let go of her enough to take her hand and lead her out of the ballroom and down the hall to one of the powder rooms. Glancing up and down the hall, I open the door and lead her inside, pulling her close as soon as we’re alone. I wrap a perfectly curled tendril of hair she has dangling down her cheek around my finger, looking into her eyes and smiling. “Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight? This dress is spectacular on you.”
In fact, the Vera Wang dress she’s wearing tonight has been the focus of several pointed conversations. While it looks stunning on her curves, it has a low back that shows off the scarred lines crisscrossing her spine. I think it makes her look even stronger and sends a message that’s more powerful than anything she’s going to say when she makes a speech later tonight, but she was hesitant. She was sure it was a horrendous choice, that it’d take away attention from the Foundation, but in the end, I convinced her that her scars showed that she survived. She got out.
I think it was her acceptance of her scars that has done more to help her with her PTSD than anything else. Well, maybe that and Kendra teaching her how to be a badass fighter, too. I can appreciate that, but right now, I’m holding a tender, nervous Sarah who needs comfort . . . and maybe some distraction.
“Thank you,” she says as I stroke her back. She shivers, and I can feel her nipples start to harden inside her dress. “Mmm . . . you were right. I feel exposed in a good way.”
I cover her mouth with a kiss, our tongues tangling as she relaxes in my arms. Nibbling at her ear, I lick the curve, and she tilts her head, giving me more access. “Turn around,” I half growl, half wh
isper as I assist her, my hands on her hips and helping her face the mirrored makeup counter. I dip down to sprinkle little kisses and licks down her back, and she instinctively arches for me.
“What are you doing? The gala . . .” Sarah moans breathlessly as I lick and suckle on her neck and along her spine. I kiss her deepest scar like I always do, renewing my promise to her and to myself that she’ll never, ever have to face the pain that she did before.
“Giving you exactly what you need,” I growl as my hands reach down and start to lift up the silky fabric of her dress. It’s sexy and stretchy enough that it hugs her curves but slides up her legs so easily. Kneeling down, Sarah bends over almost unconsciously as I lift her dress past the curve of her ass, kissing the dimples at the base of her spine. “You’re freaking out, so I’m helping you relax and keeping you out of Nikolas’s way. You’re mine right now. The gala can have you in a few minutes after you’re glowing from coming all over my tongue.”
I trace her inner thigh up toward the edge of her panties, slipping them to the side to find her already wet for me. Sarah gasps, trying to argue even as she bends over more, and her breath catches in her throat. “We can’t . . . shouldn’t . . . I need to . . . mmm . . . oh, God . . . lock the door, please?”
I grin, getting to my feet and quickly throwing the latch on the door before reassuming my position on my knees and sliding Sarah’s panties back to the side. I stroke over her soft lips before dipping inside her heat, coating my fingers in her honey and slipping up to her clit, slowly circling to spread her juices. I draw back, looking at the glistening moisture on my fingers, and slowly lick them clean. “Mmm, I need more of you. Spread your legs for me, Sarah. I promise you, you’re going to love this.”
She obeys, placing her forearms on the counter and pressing her hips back, opening for me. I have a close-up view of her perfect little lips, covered in her glistening need. I press against the button of her clit, tapping it gently as I bend forward, burying my face between her ass cheeks and stroking my tongue over her pussy.
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