PROLOGUE
GABE
“Hawk,” I call, scrubbing a hand down my face. It’s been a long ass week, and I need to get church over with and get some fucking sleep. I’m exhausted and overeverything. “What happened on the island and who were all those men Matteo was with at the docks?”
Rescuing Sadie didn’t go exactly as we had planned, but with multiple crews involved and everyone doing their part while fighting over who’s actually in charge, it was a clusterfuck that ended in our favor out of pure fucking luck.
Hawk runs through the story, telling everything from the moment Matteo’s man shot him at the party to the island blowing up in their wake. When he talks about Sadie killing three people and how she’s still trying to make peace with the fact that she feels no guilt or remorse, everyone in the room goes silent. We all know what it feels like to take a life. We’ve all don’t it in similar situations to Sadie’s, but most of us were trained to protect our own. Others it comes by instinct. But no one is ever ready for the aftermath. The emotional turmoil is something nobodycanprepare you for. Eventually, you learn to compartmentalize everything and come to the realization thatit was you or them. Sadie will come to that conclusion soon enough. But until then, we’ll all be here to help her when she needs us.
“I get that Kayce and his men were on the island, and Parisi’s two cousins, but who were the men on the docks? Do you know?” Mack asks Hawk.
“Not really. Enzo said it was their friends. But I didn’t meet any of them. When we touched down, I got Sadie and Nora as far away from that shit as possible.” Everyone shares a strange look. None of us understand what the hell happened out there, and it appears Hawk doesn’t know anything about it either, which makes it even crazier.
Not liking being left in the dark, Hawk asks, annoyed. “What am I missing? What happened on the docks?”
“That’s just it,” I answer honestly, shrugging. “We don’t know.”
“What?”
Ghost jumps in to add, “Something weird happened at that warehouse down there, brother. We’re just trying to figure out what it was.”
“Weird, how?”
“All the dead bodies of the Devils …” Ghost starts but pauses so Mack picks up where he left off.
“There were very few gunshot wounds, and most of them weren’t deadly injuries. They were all dead, but …” It’s Mack’s turn to pause. Everyone keeps looking around at one another. No one wants to say it out loud because then that makes this shit real.
“But what? Someone tell me what the fuck happened?” Hawk shouts, getting frustrated at all the tension in the room.
“It’s like their souls left their bodies,” Caleb says. “Their eyes were black as coal. The entire eyeball. It was like some shit you’d see in a scary movie—only it was real,” he explains. “Theirbodies were there on the ground, but they didn’t bleed out, Hawk. It’s like they were just …empty.”
“What the fuck? And everyone saw the same thing?” Hawk asks. All who were there nod. “What about Parisi’s men? Were they the same way?”
“That’s what was strange about it,” Ghost adds. “Parisi’s men that were hit, bled out, but their eyes and shit were normal. It’s the weirdest fucking thing, man. Gave me the creeps.”
There’s a knock on the door, which isn’t supposed to happen when we’re in church, so that can only mean one thing. Trevor opens the door and proves my theory right.
“I’m sorry, Pres, but Mr. Parisi insists on seeing you now. He’s out there with Sadie and the other women, getting them all riled up.”
“The fuck you meangetting them riled up?” Ethan’s on his feet, ready to move. He’s been on edge for months, since the day he found out he was having a kid and even more so since Emily was born.
“He better not be messing with Skyler. Emily hasn’t been sleeping much, and Sky needs her rest. I only brought her with me today so the girls would take Emily for a little bit and let Sky rest while we’re in church.”
“I’m not upsetting your woman or your child, Mr. Anderson. Congratulations, she’s beautiful. I’m happy to see she looks like her mother,” Vincenzo drawls as he makes himself comfortable and sits down at the end of the table opposite me. I guess the women aren’t all he came to rile up.
“Why are you here, Vincenzo?” I ask, still pissed as shit with the asshole for allowing his man to shoot one of mine. He claims it was to save Hawk’s life, but the jury is still out on that one.
“I brought a gift, but I’m uncertain whom to give it to.” Vincenzo waves his hand in the air. “Originally, I thought ofgiving it to Sadie, but then thought perhaps Mr. Hawkins would prefer to take care of it for her.”
“Whatgiftare you talking about?” Hawk asks hesitantly, moving to stand up, leaning his back against the wall.
“Asha Volkrov.” Vincenzo lights a cigarette, then leans back, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke out in front of himself.
“The trainer who drugged her,” Hawk explains. I glance between Hawk and Vincenzo, then back to Hawk, waiting for further explanation. When Hawk says nothing more, I know he’s waiting for my ruling.
“Your call,” I offer to Hawk. We don’t kill women or children, but I can understand Hawk’s hesitation. If it hadn’t been for the bitch trainer, Sadie never would’ve been on that island in the first place and maybe not have had to kill people. She would’ve left all of that to us instead of having nightmares of her own.
“I’d prefer you dispose of the problem yourself. After all, she was in your employ when she fucked over my woman. She’s your problem to fix,” Hawk decides. It’s the right call.
