by Levine, Nina
The sound of gunfire filled the room, mine leading the way. There had to be twenty guys in here, some cutting coke, some counting cash, some watching over the operation. That they only had four guards on the building—the two where we’d entered, and two more at other points—told me whoever Romano had left in charge didn’t know his ass from his elbow. With this kind of shit going on in here, I would have blanketed the building with protection.
We were thirty to their twenty, and we had the element of surprise. But while I didn’t think much of whoever was running this show, I had to give it to them—they were ready enough for an invasion like this. Guns swiftly appeared, and we had to react fast to avoid bullets. That only sparked my mania.
My mind disconnected from everything but the task at hand.
Kill.
Annihilate.
Ruin.
The carnage surrounding me stoked the fire of hate burning deep inside me.
Romano had kept me down for long enough; I was back on my fucking feet now.
Give me all you’ve got, motherfuckers.
“King!”
My gaze sliced to where Kick pointed, and I roared with rage as I eyed one of our men going down. A moment later, I had my arm hooked around the neck of Romano’s guy who was about to bring his blade down on my man.
Squeezing tight, I snarled, “You ever felt the cut of a knife, cunt?”
He thrashed against my body trying to break free of my hold. “Fuck you, asshole!”
I jerked him against me again, making sure I choked some of the life from him. “It hurts for sure, but I’m not here just to deliver some fucking hurt. I’m going to sink that blade into your body and twist and dig the fuck out of your insides until your screams are burned into my brain. And until you’re eyeballs roll back and you’re dreaming of hell because even it’d be better than meeting me.”
“Do your fucking best,” he managed to get out as I shoved him to the ground.
Dropping my gun, I ripped the knife from his hand as our eyes locked. I bent over him and sliced his shirt down the middle. I needed to see the blood drain from his body. Needed that seared into my brain. Romano wasn’t here, but I would take what I required from this motherfucker. And what I fucking required was to channel every ounce of my fury and pain into making someone else hurt like I did.
I plunged the blade into his chest. The kind of rush a junkie would do anything for surged through me. But it wasn’t enough.
The second thrust of the blade sparked a disconnect between my mind and my humanity.
I detached myself from everything with the third.
Almost there.
I floated outside of myself as I stabbed him the fourth time.
Now I was chasing pure darkness.
Succumbing to the needs I’d forced to the far edges of my soul.
Running like a madman towards the evil that infected the parts of me I could never eradicate.
His blood was my blood.
I fucking bled the same pain he did.
His cries were my cries.
And finally, when he took his last breath, he was as dead as I was.
My frenzy finished when blood and guts lay sprawled out before me, a feast for my black heart.
I stood and dropped the knife on his dead body. Blood covered every inch of my skin. I barely noticed it, though. The high buzzing my veins stole my attention. Every single last speck of it.
I was just getting started.
Tonight we would blaze chaos through this city.
Anarchy was the only answer to Romano’s deeds.
Hyde stepped in front of me and snatched up the knife. “It’s done, brother.”
My eyes cut to his briefly before glancing around at the slaughter. Death surrounded us. It filled my senses in exactly the way I needed it to. But my wrath still raged, and I knew it wouldn’t be sated until I had Romano’s blood on my hands.
I looked at Hyde. “Everyone?”
He nodded.
I picked up my gun. “Light the fucking match.”
Sweeping my gaze over the room one last time, I stalked out, my mind already shifting to the next stop on tonight’s death train. My men followed, Hyde and Devil torching the joint, leaving Romano’s empire in a state of destruction. Next stop, his allies. If they didn’t agree to our terms for how we would conduct business going forward, they would suffer my wrath, too.
Chapter Two
King
The headache I’d had for days sank its claws deeper into me. Nothing I took came close to easing it. Not even the shit Lily had given me.
Fuck.
I exited the clubhouse bar and headed to my office. Shutting myself in, door closed, I dumped my phone on the desk, switched the lamp on, and reached for the bottle of whisky that had become my saviour. I guzzled a mouthful, hardly noticing the burn as it slid down my throat.
Sitting, I rested my head back against the top of the chair and took another swig of whisky. I couldn’t get this shit into me fast enough. My only goal tonight was to knock myself the fuck out and silence the thoughts and feelings slowly killing me.
Last night we’d cut a path through Melbourne, making it very fucking clear Romano no longer held any power in that city. Blood had been spilt. Fuck, for some, it had flowed. But in the end, I’d made every last motherfucker understand that Storm now ran Melbourne. And they’d spread that news around today. I’d taken a lot of fucking calls when we’d arrived back late this afternoon. We’d stepped on a lot of toes, pissed a lot of people off. I couldn’t have cared less. I’d already told Winter to pack his bags and prepare to move to Melbourne. He’d be heading up our operation down there. I’d never been interested in that city; now I’d take it over.
A knock sounded at the door, and Axe stepped inside. His gaze landed on the whisky in front of me, and he frowned. “You okay, brother?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
He moved further into the office, a look of concern on his face. “Just got word from my guy. He’s been able to confirm that Romano is working with the feds. They turned him.”
I threw some more whisky down my throat. “And his location?”
Axe shook his head. “Still nothing on that.”
I motioned my hand at him. “Get him on the phone.”
“No.”
I worked my jaw, unable to calm my rising irritation. “Axe, get him on the fucking phone.”
His eyes turned hard. “What, so you can fuck this up? I let you talk to him, we won’t have a contact in the feds anymore.”
“Fuck,” I roared, slamming the bottle down. Standing, I met him where he stood, my body tense with determination. “You’ve got skills I don’t, brother, but right now, we don’t have time to fuck around waiting for you to work this guy. It’s time for me to have a word with him.”
Deadlocked, we wasted a minute while Axe got to the realisation I wouldn’t let this go. He could be a stubborn motherfucker sometimes.
“Jesus, Zac,” he muttered, smacking his phone into my hand. “Try not to screw this up for me. I’ve used this guy for a few years now, and he knows his shit. I don’t want to lose him.”
His use of my name lightened my mood. I lifted a brow. “You only use that name when you want something.”
“I want you to tread carefully. You think you’ve got that in you? ’Cause I sure as fuck don’t.”
“No.” He was right—I didn’t have that in me. Scrolling through his phone, I said, “What’s his name?”
He rattled off the name and I dialled the guy. While I waited for him to answer, I looked at Axe. “The time for restraint has passed, brother. We’re not taking any fucking prisoners anymore.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face and turned away from me. He hadn’t been this pissed off with me for a long time, but I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck. This wasn’t anything new for us. He’d come around.
His guy answered my call, “Axe, man, it’s late.”
“Johnny
, it’s Zachary King, Axe’s brother. We need to have a talk about Tony Romano.”
Silence for a beat. “No, we don’t. I only talk to Axe.”
I gripped the phone harder, willing my impatience to take a back seat. “Not tonight you don’t. Tonight you tell me everything you know about what the fuck Romano’s doing with your friends.”
The stillness on the other end of the phone was deafening and maddening, causing my agitation to flare. “Okay, let me put this another way, Johnny. You give me what I want or I’ll come at you in ways you won’t like.”
Axe swore under his breath, pacing the office. His angry eyes met mine, but I ignored what I saw there.
I just fucking need to know where Romano is.
“Your brother there with you?” Johnny asked, his own anger bleeding through the phone.
“Yeah, but for the record, he’s not down with this request.” I could be a good brother sometimes.
“Put him on.”
“How about you listen to me, Johnny? You give me the information I want, and then you can talk to Axe for hours if that’s what you want.”
“I’ve heard a lot of shit about you, and now I’ve had the pleasure of this conversation, I’m guessing all of it was right,” he gritted out. “I’ve told Axe everything I know. They’ve got this investigation locked down tight like I’ve never seen before. Whatever shit Romano knows, it’s big.”
“I’m giving you twenty-four hours to find his location. That’s all I need at this point.”
“Fuck. It’s gonna take me longer than that. They don’t muck around when they’ve got someone in witness protection.”
I decided to take a new tack. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You speed this up, get me that information by this time tomorrow, I’ll leave you alone and throw in ten grand in cash.”
He blew out a long breath. “Forty-eight hours.”
I balled my fist. I did not want to wait another day, but I knew the truth in what he said. It could well take him that long. “The cash offer is only good until tomorrow. Hurry this the hell up.”
I ended the call and shoved Axe’s phone back at him. “Where’s Zane?”
“In the bar as far as I know.”
I stalked out there and found both him and Griff. They were going over something on Zane’s laptop. I pulled up a seat at their table. “I’ve got a job for you two. Romano’s in protection. You think you can track him down within the next twenty-four hours?”
We’d suspected they had him in witness protection, but it hadn’t been confirmed until now. It slanted this differently than if he was being held in prison. It meant that if we could locate him, we could deal with him ourselves rather than finding someone inside to do it.
Zane nodded. “Yeah. It’s possible.”
“That’s what I thought,” I said. Johnny might have been a fed, but he didn’t have the equipment and skills Zane did. There was a reason Zane was in high demand since he’d left the military.
I stood as I saw Devil enter the bar. “Keep me updated.” Leaving them, I met Devil as he found somewhere to sit. “How’d you go?”
Exhaustion lined his face. Fuck, it lined all our faces. “Her sister is still in a coma.”
“And Lily?” My gut knotted. She’d invaded my head since I’d walked away from her. I couldn’t escape her.
“She’s at the hospital. The kids are at her mother’s with their father. The boys have reported there’s been no suspicious behaviour at the house. They’re safe, King.”
“Talk to her neighbours tomorrow. Get me a description of anyone they saw at the house that day.” I wasn’t leaving it to the police to bring justice for Lily’s sister. I would deliver that myself. By my own fucking hand.
I headed back to my office, ready to finish that bottle of whisky. I hadn’t made it to the office when a text came through that made me sit the fuck up and pay attention.
Unknown Number: Sara needs to see you.
Jesus, what the fuck was Bronze doing?
Me: You’re in Sydney?
Bronze: Yes
Me: When?
Bronze: Now
Me: Give me 30
I stalked out of the clubhouse. Bronze was about to incur some of my wrath. I hadn’t set him up just so he could come back and fuck himself in the ass.
* * *
“You should be a million fucking miles from here, Bronze.” I’d arrived at the café before him and had sat for the past five minutes growing increasingly pissed off. “This was not the fucking plan.”
He returned my scowl as he sat across from me. “You know me better than that, King. I did exactly what you would have done in the same situation.”
I ground my teeth together as I ran my gaze over his face. “You look like shit.” He looked a hell of a lot worse than shit. It had been ten days since I’d seen him, but it looked like he hadn’t slept in a month.
“Yeah, you too, asshole.”
I leaned back in my seat, trying to shake the wild energy coursing through me. I was fucking hyped up from everything going on and everything I still had to get done. It was a high I would crash and burn from eventually. Usually I’d screw my way through it, but the only warmth I craved was the one I wouldn’t seek.
Huffing out a breath, I demanded, “So, what gives?”
“I’ve been doing some digging on Romano and his crew. One of his guys seems to be his main choice for getting shit done, so I dug deeper on him than the others. Turns out he changed his name years ago, and when I followed that, I found his history of violent crime including multiple counts of murder. I figure he’s probably the guy Tony sent to take care of Jen—”
“Romano’s crew has been taken care of, Bronze. This information isn’t useful anymore.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “When? Because I had a buddy track this guy’s credit cards, and he used one a few hours ago.”
I frowned. “Where?”
“Here. Sydney.” When I didn’t respond, he asked, “You found Romano yet?”
I shook my head.
He slid a piece of paper across the table. “We find this guy, he might lead us to him.”
I glanced down at the paper.
Fuck.
Brant.
“He’s in Sydney?”
“Yeah.”
“Fucking hell.”
We’d taken him off our radar after Romano was arrested.
And we’d bought into the story he’d fed us about why he’d shown up on our doorstep.
For Ivy.
I yanked my phone out as a thought slammed into my head. To Bronze, I said, “What else do you know about this guy?”
“Not much, but it seems he’s a loner with a taste for stalking women. He fixates on them until they become an obsession. Two of them took restraining orders out on him. One of them ended up dead three months later. I talked to the first one, and she gave me a rundown of his history with this. Turns out he’s done it a few times. Somehow he escaped a murder charge and later, changed his name.”
When Axe picked up, I said, “Pull Zane off tracking Romano. I need him to find Brant.”
“Why?”
I gripped the phone harder. “I think he has Ivy.” I paused. “And I think he’s a sick fuck who will do God knows what to her.”
With everything going on, we’d been distracted and taken our eyes off the motherfucking ball.
Ending the call, I said to Bronze, “You hear that Ryland’s off the case now?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, Bronze, you trust whoever’s giving you information? That their goal isn’t to draw you in so they can arrest you?”
“I’m taking precautions.”
I leant forward. “Why? Why would you risk everything to help us? Your debt to me was repaid a long fucking time ago.”
He stared at me for a long time. Silent. Like he was trying to figure that shit out, too. “For Hailee. You guys go down, she goes down, and I refuse to let that happen.”
&nb
sp; I didn’t buy that for one moment.
Not fully.
Bronze had crossed a line somewhere along the way. A line in his soul. I’d watched it happen. He’d let stuff slide, had turned away when he’d seen me get my hands dirty. He may have given the impression he wasn’t on board with a lot of my shit, but not once had he truly challenged me.
Bronze was caught between worlds, and his actions told me he had more than one foot in mine.
I stood. “You got somewhere safe to stay?”
His mouth curled at the ends. “Why? You gonna put me up at your place?”
My brows lifted, waiting for an answer.
He jerked his chin at the door. “I’m good, King. Go take care of business.”
Chapter Three
Lily
“I can pick the kids up from school this afternoon,” Linc said, distracting me from staring out the kitchen window. From thinking about Brynn.
“Huh?” I’d heard him, but for the life of me, I couldn’t connect dots in my head. Why’s he offering to pick the kids up?
He moved close to me, concern in his eyes. “Did you get any sleep last night, baby?” He stroked my hair, and I let him. I knew I shouldn’t. God, I was letting him do a lot of things I knew I shouldn’t, but my sister had been shot three days ago and I had no idea if she’d ever wake up from the coma she was in, so all the right things had flown out the window.
And the one man I wanted to do the right things for me? He’d walked out of my life without a backwards glance.
I shivered as I remembered the way he’d looked at me before he left. Cold. Colder than I’d ever had anyone look at me.
He’d told me we didn’t belong in the same worlds.
Told me we were done.
We’d made no promises to each other, but I hadn’t expected him to cut and run in my hour of need.
That was cruel.
Heartless.
“Lil,” Linc said, his hands curling around my biceps. “Did you hear me?”
I blinked and pushed my thoughts of King away. They weren’t productive. I was best to forget him as fast as he had me. “I got a couple of hours of sleep.” A slight exaggeration. Either way, it didn’t make much difference whether it was one hour or two. It didn’t change the fact my sister was in a coma.