“The letters on his chest were pretty fucking bad, and he had some broken ribs.” Ghost shrugs. “He said he’ll be fine.” He levels her with a look. “And he told me to tell you it wasn’t your fault.”
I know she’s blaming herself too, but Caden never will. He’s always felt like he owes her for saving his life.
“I can’t thank you guys enough,” Les says softly. “You’ve had my back, no questions.”
“The way I look at it, you could have wiped the Vipers off the map because of Xander. You didn’t. I backed you; I’m not changing my mind now. Caden won’t either.”
“Either way, thank you,” she says, then turns to me. “You have point with Zane and Dex.”
“Are you sure,Il mio sole?” I ask.
She nods. “I am. Come up with a plan, and I’ll follow your lead.”
After we have a plan,we all meet back at Ghost’s pool hall. Les, me, and the guys are going to walk up, and everyone else is going todrive, parking at the house Ghost stashed his men. I’m a ball of fucking nerves. Les is staring off into space, and Zane hasn’t said a word for the ten minutes we’ve been here. Neither one has stepped back in Ghost’s place since they ran to him that night.
“Are they going to be okay?” Holden asks, coming to sit beside me.
“I think so,” I answer honestly. Zane and Les went through hell together and came out even stronger because of it. They came out with each other too. Ghost gives me a nod, signaling the rest of his guys are in place. “Alright,” I say and stand up. “Let’s go over this one more time. Les, Dex, Gage, Leo, Zane, and Holden, you’re with me going for the element of surprise. Once we’re close, Gage will give the signal. Ghost, Alexey, and Dmitri, you go in with team one through the front; stealth is gone at this point, so fuck shit up. Mateo and team two, you have the perimeter.” I look around at everyone, more than ready for this fucker to die. “He doesn’t leave that property alive. Do you understand?” Everyone nods. “Good. Give me the room with my family.”
Once everyone else is gone, we meet in the middle of the room in a circle, arms locked around each other. “This is it.” I can feel it a hundred times more now that we’re closer. We have no idea what we’re walking into, and I can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go very wrong. “I love you guys,” I say simply. We aren’t the praying type; higher power stopped listening to us long ago.
We each kiss Les, savoring the moment, hoping it won’t be our last. They start walking away, and Zane grabs my arm before I can follow. He lets them get through the door. “I’m proud of you, Love.” I don’t even need to ask what for; I already know. He grabs my face. “I never thought we would get to this point, but I’m glad that you’re in my life.” I can feel my eyes widen, my heart beating erratically. Something in his eyes has me on edge. “I wouldn’t change anything, not even the bad shit, because I don’t think we would have the relationship we have now if it didn’t happen.”
“Is that what we have? A relationship?” It’s been implied but never said out loud until now.
“I said you were mine, Ryder. I meant that. You’ve grown so much over such a small amount of time. Becoming the man I knew you could be, even all those years ago.” He takes a deep breath. “I love you, Ryder.” My heart sinks to my feet, my hands getting sweaty. “And I’m not just saying that because we’re walking into fuck knows what. You, those guys out there, Les, are my family, mylifenow.” He pecks my lips. “I love you.”
I feel strengthened by his words, ready to take on the fucking world. I have the love of amazing people, people who will do anything for each other. “I love you too, Sir.”
Zane slants his mouth over mine in a quick, hot kiss. “Let’s end this. Then we can take our girl home and show her how much we love her.” He kisses me again. “Then I’m going to show you how much I love you,” he smiles, “and Holden.”
I smile at that too. “Have you told Holden?”
“I did this morning.” I can only imagine how damn happy that made Holden. We might all be in this relationship together, but Holden, Zane, and I have a different one of our own. I can’t wait to find out how that plays out in the future because we have one together, a long one.
“Good.” I peck his lips. “Time to kill something.”
Zane grins, showing he’s more than ready. We walk out into the pool hall, where everyone is gathered. I breathe it all in. “You know what to do.”
With a nod from Ghost, they all scatter, leaving us to wait until they’re in place. No one says anything, just letting the adrenaline build, so hopefully, when it hits its peak, Jay’s face is in front of us.
Ghost gives the signal five minutes later, and we take off out of the door. Walking through Concrete Row in all black, with automatic rifles strapped to our backs, no one even bats an eye.
We hit the hill that will take us to the tree line, and I sneak a look at the rest of them. Everyone has their mouth set in hard, determined lines, even Holden. Les and Zane will have the hardest time walking through these woods again. It isn’t a memory I’m sure they want to relive, but they’re here, which shows how damn strong they are.
As soon as we step through the trees, I hear Les suck in a breath. I stop to turn around to check on her, and she shakes her head in warning. The guys and I made a pact before we left the house, which is going to piss Les off. If shit goes sideways, whoever is closest to her will grab her and run by any means necessary.
We fan out, walking quietly through the woods, occasionally stopping to listen for any commotion. It’s about a fifteen-minute walk from this way, a much shorter walk than what Zane and Les ran the other way. The closer we get to the house, the nervous feeling intensifies, almost to the point that I’m already ready to grab Les and get the fuck out of here.
I see the break in the trees and hold my hand up in the signal to stop. Les wanted to make a statement, so we slide our black masks over our faces, flipping up our hoods. She knows he’ll know who we are, but she said he doesn’t deserve to see her face, and we all agreed.
When Jay goes out, he’s going to go out Les’ way. The Black Demon way.
I count to three on my fingers. Gage gives the signal of a howling wolf, and we take off at a dead sprint, breaking through the trees. Team one knows that means they have a fifteen-second pause before they swarm the front. We storm up the back porch, checking as quickly as possible for explosives. Not finding any, Dex doesn’t hesitate to lift his boot and kick it in. It shatters around the hinges, and we know our stealth is gone.
Sweeping every open door on the way through, we break into the living room. Right on time, Ghost and his team bust in the front. We search the downstairs rooms one by one, leaving that damn room with all the monitors for last. When we get there, I see Les steel her spine, throw her shoulders back, and shove the double swinging doors open.
“Is that my Precious?” My head whips up at the sound of Jay’s voice. “Why the mask? I’d love to see those pouty lips.”
