I yanked the passenger door of the Escape closed behind me and sat back against the seat. The engine started with a growl. Then we were moving, pulling away from the warehouse and leaving Nick behind. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the steel door of the warehouse as it rolled shut. He’d be fine, as long as he didn’t open his goddamn mouth. He better…Ryth’s life depended on it.
Sideways looks came from the driver beside me. I said nothing, just watched the side mirror as we picked up our escort along the way.
“You’re backup, got that?” The asshole behind the wheel reached across me, punched the button for the glove compartment, pulled out a Glock, and tossed it to me.
I held the thing. No doubt the numbers were filed and there was blood on the sight. There always was when it came to Amo.
Ryth’s face stayed with me as we slowed. Waiting for one of the guys on the bikes to grab the gate, we hit the asphalt and accelerated. I didn’t ask questions. This wasn’t a fucking job interview. This was a test. One I needed to pass.
We drove through Penance, heading to some shithole that looked all the fucking same. Memories of Laz swam in the background of my mind. We’d spent nights just like this, driving, working, handling Rossi shit.
But that was a lifetime ago, before everything went downhill.
Now it was just us. Family. Not the blood kind, either.
I clenched my fist around the grip of the Glock as my father’s face rose in my memory. That fucker’s time was coming. The bikes pulled out beside us, flanking either side as we headed toward the nicer side of the city, where nightclubs and bars lined the streets.
Finally, we pulled into an alley that ran alongside The Viper Bar. I didn’t know why we were here, didn’t know who the mark was. Short of pulling a gun on my brothers, I didn’t give a fuck. We pulled up behind the bikes and killed the engine. I climbed out, tucked the gun in the small of my back, and tugged out my shirt.
“We good?”
I looked across the car and nodded.
“You go with Dion to the back of the bar and wait for me there.”
“Sure.” I glanced at the guy on the bike who’d slid off his helmet. “Whatever.”
The gun wore at my back. I followed Dion along the alley to where the back door of the club was normally closed. Only tonight, it wasn’t. The hinges were silent as we pushed the door open and stepped inside. It seemed I was to be the muscle. That was fine by me. My rage was honed by every second I was away from her.
Bring her back to me!
My own screams rang in my head, muffled by the throb of music that spilled through the darkened hallway. Dion stepped up to a door and checked the handle. It was locked. He motioned further along the hall. I followed to the back area bar as we took seats.
The club was part restaurant and part strip joint, the expensive kind. I scanned the place, spotting Jackson standing at the back. He gave a nod, but it wasn’t to me. From one of the tables, a guy rose as though on cue. He laughed, bellowed at some schmuck next to him, and motioned to the back area.
The guy next to him wiped his mouth with his napkin, then threw it on the table before rising. He was obviously the mark. Why? I didn’t really care. I turned away, focusing on the bar in front of me as they passed, waiting on Dion.
But when he rose from his seat, I glanced behind me once more. Two men sat across from where the mark and his buddy had sat. One watched the mark walk toward the rear of the bar before he turned back to his meal.
I followed the guys further into the bar, lowered my gaze, and moved in. By the time we hit the hallway heading to a lap dance room, I’d dragged the gun from behind my back. Dion stepped into the room. I followed and closed the door behind me.
But there were no dancers.
There was nothing.
Just us.
“What the fuck?” The mark turned and stopped.
“Henderson.” Dion stepped forward and withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket, along with a pen.
The mark glanced from Dion to me, then to his buddy at his side. “Peter, what the fuck is this?”
“They want the contract.” His buddy took a step away, leaving the mark standing all alone in the middle of the darkened room. “Just sign it, James. Sign it and we can all make a fuckload of money from this. It’s the only way. The only way they’re ever going to leave us alone.”
But Henderson flinched at the words, his dark eyes growing even darker. The guy wasn’t used to being told what to do, that was easy to see. “And you what? Thought you’d come here with your thugs and force me to sign over my entire company’s future?” He looked at me when he said that.
“Put it this way.” Dion raised his gun. “Mr. Kendry has tried to negotiate with you. We’re past that now. You either sign the contract, or there is no future…not one with you in it.” He lifted the paper in one hand, and the gun in the other.
The mark clenched his jaw, not once looking at the paper in Dion’s hand. I’d dealt with enough Rossi bullshit to know when a man would fold…and when he’d tell you to jam it up your ass—my hand tightened around the gun—and this guy…yeah, he wasn’t bending.
“Fuck you,” the mark snarled, then glared at his buddy. “And fuck you, too, Peter.”
Dion let out a chuckle, one that sent a chill down my spine, before he charged forward, lips curled, lifting the gun to the mark’s forehead. “Last fucking chance before I blow your goddamn brains all over this fucking floor.”
“Do it!” the mark roared. “DO IT, AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!” Bad fucking move…
I sensed the movement before I saw it. Instinct kicked in, making me raise the gun and step to the side as the two beefy dudes from the table opposite the mark rushed in. Everything happened so fast. Gunshots went off. Dion was hit…someone screamed, and it was that sound that triggered me.
Something snapped…
Shattering into a million shards that all cut me from the inside.
Nick! NICK! SOMEONE HELP ME! Caleb’s desperate screams crashed through my head, mingling with my own as I spun and opened fire.
But it wasn’t the beefy bodyguard I saw…it was him…my father. The bastard who’d done all of this.
Betrayed my mother.
Took Ryth from us.
Almost killed my brother.
“Fuck you!” I screamed and lunged. It was my father’s shirt I fisted. My father’s head that cracked back as he hit the wall. My father’s eyes that widened in fear…and that’s all I’d been waiting for.
“You fucking piece of shit!” I crashed out my fist, catching him in the nose. Blood came…and it never stopped.
The guard…
My father…
It didn’t matter.
“GIVE HER BACK TO ME!” I howled. “GIVE HER BACK TO ME NOW!”
Darkness had me in a chokehold, driving my own demons down my throat. I swung…and kept on swinging. My knuckles crunched into his face as I hit him in sharp, short punches, knocking him down. He hit the floor on one knee and lifted his gun.
Crack! The shot rang out, my muscles howling with the movement. All the sprints, all the weights, all the fuel. They needed an outlet, and I was done running away. I drove my fingers into his eyes, grinding until the guy screamed. But I couldn’t stop. Not even when the door slammed open and more men rushed in.
Two…three more bouncers. Someone grabbed me from behind. I cracked my head backwards and spun. “YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!”
I drove my fist into a face, and it didn’t really matter who it was…not anymore.
I hit again, and again…over and over until I was nothing more than vengeance.
“Tobias!”
My name was screamed.
“BANKS!”
I stopped and lifted my head. My hands were wrapped around some guy’s neck. A guy I didn’t know…but I knew he was close to death. A stench like gasoline crammed the room. The carnage came into focus…I looked around…and froze.
“You fucking killed him,” Dion gasped as he gripped his side. “You fucking killed them all.” His shirt was covered in blood, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at me like I was some kind of monster.
He licked his lips, his hand wrapped around his gun. The muzzle lifted, pointing at me. “Should’ve stayed away, Banks. You made a mistake coming to Amo.”
I sucked in a hard breath. “A mistake?”
“Yeah, a mistake.” Jackson’s deep growl came from behind me. The hard metal bite of a gun barrel pressed against my head.
You’re just backup…
Go with Dion…
The words rolled through my head. Silence settled inside me as I looked at Dion’s gun. “There’s no way into the Order, is there?”
“For you?” Jackson answered. “No.”
There wasn’t…
There never was.
I settled my gaze on Dion.
“Jack Castlemaine.” Jackson pressed the gun harder against my head. “Where is he?”
Confusion moved in. “Castlemaine?”
Dion’s eyes widened, fixed on Jackson behind me. The stench of blood filled my every breath.
“Yeah.” Jackson moved closer. “Where the fuck is he? Our employer wants to know.”
My mind was a blur, trying to piece it all together as my phone started to ring. The vibration danced against my thigh.
“See, we were coming for you anyway,” Jackson murmured. “You and your brothers. But you…you stupid motherfucker, walked right into our lap.”
They were after Ryth’s dad. They were after us, too…
But not my father, right? No…not him or Elle.
They were the reason Ryth was in that place.
I didn’t move, just stared at Dion. Laughter spilled out of me, even though I didn’t feel it. The sound rumbled, spewing out. Dion flinched at the sound and jerked his panic-filled gaze to Jackson.
The movement was all I needed. I jerked my head to the side and spun, grabbed his wrist, and shoved the gun wide. “You fucking take her from me?” I lashed out, punched the guy in the face, and grabbed the gun.
But instead of tearing the weapon from his hold, I squeezed his fingers. The gun went off beside me with a boom! The sound was deafening, but it didn’t matter, because all I heard was Ryth’s screams. TOBIAS! I saw her the night Nick’s fucking ex had come for her. I saw what they’d done…
Boom!
The gun went off again, and this time Dion screamed. I twisted the gun. Jackson fought, unloading a punch to the side of my head. The blow hit me like a shotgun blast. I stumbled, then righted, curled my lips, and lunged. I snapped my head forward, hitting him in the nose. The blur of rage faded. I felt every blow this time. I hit him one blow after another until I squeezed the trigger.
Crack!
Jackson froze, hard breaths rising from his chest…that bloomed with blood.
“You?” he whispered as he crumbled. “You stupid piece of shit. You think you can take on the Order? You’re fucking nothing. You hear me? NOTHING!” Laughter spilled out of him. “The bitch is fucking gone. Sold and fucked by a hundred different men by now. You’ll never get her back…you’ll never—”
He froze, his words dying on his lying lips.
I stood over him, his gun in my hand, his blood on my knuckles. I lifted the gun once more. “You can’t take her…she was never yours to take.” My finger curled around the trigger. “Because she’s mine.”
