The man’s grip on me tightens for a beat, but Beau steps forward, voice cold and deliberate. “Let her go. That's the smart choice for both of you, or you will regret it.”
The sneer returns. “You talk tough for someone who killed our brother. Is that what you said to him before you killed him? Funny…I still can’t figure out why you’d risk your patch for your whore of a sister.”
Beau doesn’t flinch. He was ready for that. But I can feel the storm building behind his stillness.
I glance toward Jackson and Nolan just as Jackson draws a small silver pistol from his waistband. Nolan unsheathes a dagger, the sharp point glinting in the dim light of the backlot. My breath catches. They're aiming in my direction, but not at me.
One look from Jackson tells me everything. This ends now. It has to.
The moment explodes. The gunshot cracks the air as Nolan’s blade slices through the dark. The bullet finds its mark. The other man crumples to the ground, blood spraying as he hits with a sickening thud.
The one holding me jerks, barely dodging the blade, and his grip loosens around me.
“You really thought that would work?” he hisses. “You think a knife’s enough to take me down? You arrogant fuck.”
He’s cocky. Overconfident. He doesn’t even realize his hold on me has slipped.
“You might’ve gotten lucky with him,” he snarls, “but you’re not good enough to get me with a blade. Not today.”
He’s too busy talking to realize the shift in me.
“He might not have been good enough... but I am.” My voice is low, full of venom, and it cuts through the chaos like a blade of its own.
I twist hard in his grasp, pivoting on my heel, and drive my left foot into his knee with everything I’ve got. The impact is brutal. His kneecap detonates under the force, the joint snapping backward with a wet, sickening crunch. He screams, a raw, animal sound that rips through the night like a siren. He collapses instantly, clutching his ruined leg, face twisted in agony.
That’s when the guys move and hit him like a pack of wolves.
Jackson’s boot slams into his ribs with enough force to lift him off the ground, the crack of bone unmistakable beneath the fury. Beau’s already there, driving the hilt of his knife into the man’s temple with a sickening thud, then again into his jaw. Blood splatters across the pavement like paint. Nolan grabs the bastard’s arm and twists, popping the shoulder out of socket with a sharp, practiced motionthat makes the man shriek and writhe. He tries to shield himself, tries to crawl, but there’s no mercy. Not tonight.
They don’t stop until he’s a broken heap on the ground, twitching and gasping, barely conscious.
Slowly, they back off.
Jackson and Beau turn to me first, eyes scanning my body as they try to catch their breath. Jackson reaches me, pulling me into his arms with a rough grip and whispers, “You okay, baby?”
Beau’s right behind him, wrapping around both of us, his hand cradling the back of my head like he’s afraid I’ll vanish. “You’re safe now,” he says, low and fierce. “We’ve got you.”
I nod, buried between them, heart pounding against their chests. Their warmth, their fury, their presence… It’s everything right now.
But then I see Liam move.
He steps forward slowly and plants his boot on the man’s hand. The scream that erupts this time is inhuman, echoing through the alley like a death yell. Everyone turns.
“He was reaching for the fucking dagger,” Liam says, pressing harder until the broken fingers twitch and curl beneath his boot.
Jackson steps forward, crouches beside the bleeding wreck, and tilts his head with a slow, menacing grin. “Youknow what your problem is?” he says, voice low and lethal. “I figured you would’ve learned what happens when you and your boys touch the women we care about. But I guess you didn’t learn shit from how we finished your brother off in Florida.”
He stands, shaking his head as he turns to me. “Aria, you started it. Now you finish it.”
The world goes quiet.
I step forward, the sound of my boots louder than his whimpers. I kneel beside him, fingers curling around the dagger’s hilt. It’s still warm. Still sharp. He tries to speak. Tries to beg.
I don’t let him.
With one clean motion, I drive the blade through the side of his head. Bone gives way. Blood spurts. His body jerks once, then goes still.
I stand over him, chest heaving. “Now it’s finished.”
