Switch
It feels fucking weird not having Marx barking our orders at us. Don’t get me wrong, he is still very much in charge, he’s just too injured to be yelling in the commanding way he usually does. Judging by the look on his face, he’s fucking hating that he’s sidelined, but we have no other choice. He knows it and so do we. Were Marx to go to war with us tonight, he would be a weak link.
“Men, and Ol Ladies, tonight is going to get messy. Petrov has his own men, and from intel McDonald and Thompson will have men on the ground too. One is here to save their business, the other is here for what he believes is his.” Marx looks at us one by one, “We are lucky to have so many allies. But as you can appreciate, with so many armed, we need to run a tight op, not chaos. You’ll all be split into teams and I’ve divided the propertyinto quadrants. Rhodie will lead Black team with Switch, Sniper, Sasha, Blanche and Mercy. Dex, you’re Red Team with Saint, Judge, Tank, Tav and Pops.” The men all nod, shuffling into their new teams around their captain. “Blue Team will be run by Savage. You got Judge, Fox and Nitro, Justice and Omen.”
“Fuck yeah.” Fox and Nitro fist bump each other.
“Team Zelenyy is lead by -”
“Lemme guess? Name like that, has to be Roman.” Rider smirks.
“Zelenyy is green,” Sasha offers.
“Team Z is lead by Roman,” this draws side eyes, “Gus, Mad Dog, Willa, Wire, Jules and Lovely. My Buttercup. So don’t. Fuck. Up. Roman.” Marx growls at Roman, his attention laser focused on the man as if ready to tear him a new asshole. Roman raises a hand to his chest and nods once.
“RomanandJules? That is one fucked up team,” Rider mutters and then rolls his eyes when Jules flips the bird at him.
“Gallows, you got White team, Rider, TumTum, Chef, Flack and Loyal.”
“Why are the Ol Ladies split from their men?” Vex asks, brows furrowed as his Ol Lady shuffles toward Gallows team.
“Speaking for myself I’ll be more focused if I don’t have Blanche with me,” Tav says. “If we’re in a team together I’ll be focused on her, and I know I don’t need to be. She’s more badass than me.”
“Way more badass.” Jules smirks.
“Ear pieces in, Chewy has sent your coordinates to you,” Marx says.
“We got our first movement!” Chewy says excitedly. “Places and try not to die! I’m fond of most of you.”
As soon as the words leave her mouth an almighty scream sounds out from upstairs.
“Niko!” Blanche yells ready to make a move before thundering footsteps come bounding down the hall.
We all brace for impact, waiting with guns drawn as the footsteps thunder closer.
“The kid, he’s been hit!” Damian’s voice booms and we drop our guns as soon as Damian hits the ground, Niko over his shoulder. “In the chest, through and through,” he huffs out.
“Get him down below! I’ve got all the women with medical training waiting!” Marx growls. He spins to look at us, eyes blazing. “Fuck them up,” he says cooly, calmly before spinning on his heel and following Damian and Niko downstairs.
“You fucking heard the man,” Savage says checking his coordinates before leading his team out the back.
I turn to Rhodie, waiting for his instruction. “We’re front line defence with Roman’s team as backup,” Rhodie says low, moving with purpose toward the long, winding drive, eyes scanning the area.
“Clever,” Blanche says with a grin, brows waggling.
“Why do you say that?” Mercy asks from beside her, eyes on her surroundings.
“We have Roman’s husband in our team,” Sniper says quietly, “Anything happens to Sasha and Roman will cause a bloodbath.”
Sasha grins wide and waves at Mercy who blinks slowly before shaking her head. “Hold up, isn’t Roman the bratva guy?”
“Da,” Sasha says, moving his large body like a trained assassin. Which he could be, I don’t really know much about the man.
“Well, OK then.” Mercy mutters under her breath before snapping her head over her shoulder at the sound of gunfire coming from the back of the house.
“Fan out along the drive, if they’re dumb enough to come this way we can pick them off early.” Rhodie says, using hand actions to indicate where he wants us as we break out into a jog.
I take my place along the tree line and make sure I have equal parts cover and a good sightline. Squatting low, my gaze darts to my left and I notice Blanche setting up in the same way I did. As wrong as it feels having the women out here with us, I’m glad they are. Blanche is a machine when it comes to using her gun, and I know that she has that Mama Bear thing going on. No one touches the babies, whether they’re hers or not. She’s protective and lethal and I'm honored to have her at my back.
