Ignoring my brother, I stood over Joe, leveling the gun at his head as all my fear and rage boiled over. “What was that you said about bitches, Joe? Where do you keep them again? In your bed?” I dropped my aim and shot him in the crotch.
God it felt good.
“Fuckin’ crazy bitch!” Joe spat, groaning as he tried to cover his groin.
“Naomi,” Link warned again. “You don’t want to do this.”
My brother had never been more wrong in his life. Not only did I want to do this, I needed it. If I didn’t end this asshole, I’d see him in my nightmares for the rest of my life. I wasn’t giving him that kind of power over me.
“In the kitchen?” I shot him in the stomach.
Joe groaned again.
“What’s wrong, you piece of shit? You don’t like my cooking?”
Havoc’s arms came around me, trapping the gun against my chest.
“Let me finish!” I snapped, trying to wiggle free.
“You don’t want to do this, Naomi,” he said. I turned to face him, and he let me go, settling his hands on my shoulders. “Let us handle it.”
“Don’t you presume to know what I want, Havoc. You have no idea what he did to me. He punched me in the fucking stomach,” I replied. Tears heated my eyes and raced down my cheeks. “I need to do this.” I needed to regain control. I needed to know that I could take care of myself. That I could protect my child and destroy any threat that would come between us. I searched Havoc’s gaze, willing him to understand, but he held firm.
“Let her go, Havoc,” Eagle said.
His voice soothed my spirit like a healing balm. Looking past Havoc, I sought him out. He jogged toward us with a big black case sticking up from his back.
“Let her go. Now,” he repeated.
Havoc’s hands dropped to his side.
Eagle stopped in front of me, anger tightening his jaw as he looked me over. “We need to get you to the hospital, sweetheart.”
“I’m not finished,” I replied.
Eagle stared at me for a beat, and then nodded. “You do what you gotta do. I’ve got your six.”
In that moment, I knew I loved him because unlike the rest of the men in my life, Eagle really understood me. He didn’t try to hold me down or tell me what I needed. He would try to protect me and let me do what I needed to do.
I spun around, aimed the Glock at Joe’s chest and said, “You’re at my fucking feet now, bitch.” Then I squeezed the trigger, sending the last bullet through his heart, and Joe straight to hell.
“Why did you do that?” Link asked.
Thinking he was talking to me or Eagle, I spun around, prepared to let him have it, but he was standing over Brass.
Brass, who had stepped in front of Joe’s shot.
Brass had taken a bullet for my brother. I’d been too consumed with rage to realize what had happened, but now that my head was clear I hurried over to see if we could save him. But I took one look at him and knew we were too late. There were no sirens heading this way. This didn’t look like the type of neighborhood where people called the cops, and even if they did, we were far enough from any neighboring apartment complexes for anyone to hear the shots.
Even if Brass could hold on until an ambulance arrived, there’d be no saving him. There was too much blood, too much damage done to his stomach. His coloring was ashen and his breathing was labored.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” Link asked again, this time sounding angry and confused.
“Because… I never stopped… believing in the cause, Prez. I lost faith in myself.”
“Goddammit, Brass. You shouldn’t have—”
“Keep… marching forward. Brother.”
