She shrugs. “I just did,” she whispers back. “I’ve known Ryder for a long damn time.”
I acknowledge that with a nod and fall into step with Leo. When the fence to the warehouse comes into view, Ryder signals to stop and duck behind another little building that looked like it used to be a guard shack. The front gate is hanging wide open. Surrounding itare at least ten guards, just from what we can see, so this is either the place or a distraction.
“We can’t go in with them that deep,” Ryder whispers. “We need a sniper.” Zane grins and slinks off toward the SUV. Ryder watches him for a second before looking at Les. “What the hell?”
She shrugs. “What do you think he used to do for Dad?”
“How did I not know that?” Ryder whispers back.
“Because no one was ever supposed to know what Zane did. That’s what made him dangerous. They didn’t know who to look for.”
Before anyone comments, Zane appears back at Ryder’s side with a sniper rifle, clicking rapidly through it, getting it ready. “Once the first guy drops, I’ll pick them off as fast as possible. You guys need to be ready to storm; I’ll drop down on the other side. Boost me up.” He looks at Ryder and Dex, nodding his head toward the security shack.
They stand, each getting one of Zane’s feet, and heave him up. Zane gets in position, and we get ready to run, guns already in front of us. We watch in slow motion as the first guy drops, then another in rapid succession.
That should not be as hot as it is.
We take off at a dead sprint, spread in single file, and open fire. There’s no way to hide now. Bodies start jerking and dropping, not ready for the hell we’re going to rain down on this place. They have Micah, which hurt my Pretty girl. They’re going to pay for that shit in blood.
When the last guard drops, Ryder holds up a fist to halt the shots. Zane runs up beside us, sniper rifle slung on his back, with his assault rifle in front of him. We wait to see if any more guards come out; when they don’t, Ryder waves us forward. He holds up three fingers, counting down. When the last finger drops, he jerks the door open, and Dex rushes in.
We step into what used to be the office, sweeping through every room and walking toward the doors leading us to the main warehouse. This is the dangerous part. Warehouses are usually big open floor plans with nowhere to take cover. We duck into the lastroom, with a huge window giving us a complete view. There are guards everywhere, more than we can handle.
“This has to be the place,” Les whispers. “Why have so many guards?”
“We can’t do this alone,” Ryder whispers back. “We need backup.”
“Is that fucking Viktor?” Leo asks, stabbing his finger toward the warehouse.
Les looks up at Ryder, and I know what she’ll say before opening her mouth. “We aren’t waiting. He dies. Today.”
“Boss, I don’t…” I start to say but snap my mouth shut when she swings her eyes to me.
“He dies. You go with me, or I go alone. Either way, I’m going.”
“Ghost is five minutes away,” Zane reasons. “We make sure Viktor doesn’t leave. We make our move if he looks like he’s going to.” She stares at him for so long I think she’s going to say no, then she jerks a nod. You hear everyone take a collective breath. There is no doubt in my mind that she would have stormed right in there to take him out.
We hunker down in the room underneath the window; five minutes on the dot, Ryder gets confirmation that Ghost is set up at all the entrances, ready to storm inside. The whole time Viktor paced the warehouse, barking orders at his guards. Ryder fires off another text, and we get into position just behind the main door. Ryder counts down from three and shoves the doors open. Viktor’s head snaps up, then tries to hightail it the other way.
“VIKTOR!” Les yells, the sound echoing off the walls. “THIS ENDS NOW!”
You can hear the fury in her voice, see it in the set of her shoulders. Viktor gives a signal, thinking it’s just us. He doesn’t realize we have a bunch of pissed-off gangbangers rushing in that he just shot at. And they are officially outnumbered now. Viktor catches sight of Ghost, with Playboy, AKA Noah, proudly at his side, creeping in on them and tries to hide behind his guards.
“Quit being a fucking coward! And FACE ME!”
God, she’s fucking amazing. It makes me want to bow at her feet.
“I have nothing to say to the Italian whore,” Viktor sneers, spitting on the ground like he’s spitting on her name. He’s full of false bravado, still half hiding.
“Where is Micah?” She takes a step closer, gun raised in front of her.
“Where’s my wife?” Viktor growls.
“Can we stop pretending you give a fuck about her?” Alexey asks, stepping out from behind Ghost.Oh shit.
“You would side with this whore over your father?!”
“You were never a father to us!” Dmitri yells, stepping out from the other side. I’ve never heard either one of them raise their voice. It’s scary as hell.
