We all turn to look at Lena, her say is what counts here. Her brow is furrowed as she debates our plan internally. We don’t have much time, we all know that we need to act fast before it’s too late. Slowly, she nods.
“Alright, let’s do it, let’s blow these assholes sky high.”
There’s my girl, I think.
We waste no more time getting to work and letting the others know the plan, using the pilfered mobiles we took from the guards. Our men confirm that the guards have all been neutralized and the house cleared. Some of the men ran when they realized, some surrendered, and others paid with theirlives. Spike, Zeke’s VP, wasn’t here and is nowhere to be seen. Neither are the two guards that we interacted with. But we’ll deal with them eventually.
“Get out, get to safety, we’ll be out soon and meet you at the hospital,” I tell them.
“Lena, we’ll take care of the body, wash as much of the blood off as you can, and get dressed,” I tell her. She nods numbly and does as I say.
Watching her walk away, so small and vulnerable in her bloodstained bra and panties, I feel a fresh surge of anger against Zeke. There’s only one reason why Lena is wearing lingerie. If that bastard laid a finger on him, I’d kill him all over again if I could. I hope for Lena’s sake he didn’t. But if he did, if he took what wasn’t given and wasn’t his to take, it won’t change my feelings for Lena. I’ll do whatever I can to help her move past it and to prove that there are still some good men left in the world.
***
“Alright, it’s showtime,” Doc says, the remote detonator in his hand.
We’re outside of the complex, standing a safe distance away, ready to watch and see if our plan has worked. If it hasn’t, we’re screwed. If this doesn’t work, I don’t care what the others say —I’m taking Lena and Mia, and we’re moving to Mexico, or someplace safe without extradition. Whatever it takes to keep them safe and together. Even if it means leaving the Soaring Eagles and my brothers behind.
They’re welcome to come, and I think they might; they can’t give Lena up any more than I can, and I know it would break her heart to lose them, too. But I won’t ask it of them, nor will I judge if they choose to be bigger men than me andremain with our loyal men and women. However, I’ve made up my mind. Lena and Mia come first. They will always come first.
“Press it,” I tell Doc, ready to face whatever fate has in store for us.
Doc presses the detonator, and there’s a collective intake of breath as we all brace ourselves for the explosion, followed by a moment of sheer panic when nothing happens. But then, like fireworks on the fourth of July, the blast rips through the building, setting off a chain of other explosions as the old gas pipes blow, engulfing the mansion in a fiery inferno.
I look at Lena, watching her face as the flames dance in her eyes. I see the steely determination, the fiercely independent woman, full of vulnerabilities and contradictions, who stole my heart and holds it still, and I know that she’s going to be alright, that she’s strong enough to not only survive this, but to thrive and grow because of it. She pulls her cardigan close around her, and I move closer to wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me. She snuggles into my chest for comfort as we watch Zeke’s false empire burn. We should go. I know she’s desperate to see Mia and Cole. But for a moment, we bask in the flames of our victory, safe in the knowledge that everything will be okay.
We survived. We made it out stronger and closer than ever before.
Nothing can stop us now.
Chapter 33
Lena
The persistent, steady sound of beeping is the only thing that penetrates the silence of Cole’s hospital room. That, and the sound of my heart hammering in my chest, and the shallow breaths I take as I approach his bedside. Wires snake around him like vines as he lies motionless. Today is the first time I’ve been allowed to visit since he was admitted two days ago. His condition wasn’t stable enough until now. After hours of surgery to fix the crack in his skull and to help with the swelling on his brain, the doctors put him into a coma, one they say he will wake from soon. Most likely today.
Rex, Doc, and Judge are also in the hospital. They had various injuries from Zeke’s sadistic torture. They were also severely dehydrated, so the hospital decided to hold them all for a couple of days, much to their annoyance. The doctors are planning on discharging them today. I imagine they’ll come straight here to see Cole, too. We’ve all been worried sick about him, but the doctor assures us he’ll make a full recovery. However, he’s got a long road ahead of him. Luckily for him, he’s got a big family ready to ride every mile by his side.
I’ll be forever grateful that Mia was left unharmed, but I know the experience was traumatic for her. I’ve left her fast asleep in her stroller in Rex’s room, it’s the first time I’ve let her out of my sight since I got her back. Rex has recovered enough to take care of her, and he wants to get to know her. I don’t want Mia to be afraid of men because of Zeke. My once-independent, bossy two-year-old is now clingy and fearful, and it breaks myheart. But it’s good for her to be without me, even if only for an hour. It’s good for me, too, I don’t want to leave her any more than she wants me to go. Thankfully, the doctors and therapists assure me that once she feels secure and safe again, she will grow out of it, and that the memories will soon fade. I wish I could say the same for myself.
The hospital almost immediately discharged me that first night as I walked away with only some bruises from Zeke’s attack on my final night. Other than that, he didn’t harm me, not physically anyway. However, I’ll bear the mental scars for life.
Thankfully, the police seem to be buying into our version of events. That the compound blew up by accident and we were lucky enough to escape alive, as we were on the basement levels in a separate wing, far away from the blasts and fire. Apart from the deaths of Zeke and his men, we told the truth, so it made it easier to believe. If they suspect there’s more to the story, they aren’t pursuing it. It also helps that there’s plenty of evidence to support our story. After all, there’s footage of my kidnapping and dozens of witnesses to the explosion at the Soaring Eagles clubhouse, and of men coming to take Judge and Doc. They also found Mary Beth and her sister’s bodies in shallow graves on the property. I was saddened to learn that Mary Beth’s sister was my old colleague, Trish, and to hear how her life turned out because of the Iron Vultures. Had the Soaring Eagles not turned up that day, her fate could have been mine.
I shake myself from my memories. Zeke has taken enough from me and I refuse to let him take anything further by thinking about the past now. For my own sanity, I have to move forward. While the memory of killing him is ingrained in me forever, like a carving on a tree, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again if it had the same result. The people I love are safe and never have to fear him again.
With that in mind, I turn my focus back to one of those people—the one who the Iron Vultures harmed the worst, the one they tried to break, wanted to break the most, as he’s their leader, but couldn’t.
They weaned him off sedation yesterday and Cole no longer has the breathing apparatus attached and is breathing by himself, which is a good sign. The doctors said it could take anything from a few hours to a few days for him to fully wake. I walk over to his side, taking his warm hand in mine, and sit beside him, watching the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest, like the constant ripples of the ocean. I tell myself he’s coming back to me, a sailor returned from a long, dangerous voyage.
“Hi Cole, it’s me, Lena,” I tell him, keeping my voice to a low whisper since I’m not convinced he can hear me anyway.
If I thought shouting would bring him back to me, I would. But I’ve heard that you should talk to coma patients like normal, it can help wake them up. I know that he’s going to wake up anyway, but I’m impatient to have that confirmed, to see his blue eyes, bright like a summer’s day, like a calm, cool ocean you sink into.
I tell him what I know he’d want to know, how the guys and Mia are, how the Soaring Eagles are doing. “Tank has pulled through from his injury and is staying positive even though the doctors amputated his leg. He told Amanda, who has been a rock to all of us, that he couldn’t get down on one knee now, but would she marry him? She said yes. So you have to get well enough for the wedding.” I don’t mention those we lost. He can find that out later.
A wave of hopelessness washes over me. I don’t know what I expected. That I would say hello, and Cole wouldimmediately wake from his coma and say hi back, bright-eyed and the same as he was before? This isn’t the movies.
