Page 2 of Antonio Miles

“Yes, sir.” I moved to stand beside my father, both of us looking out at the grounds beyond the glass. “The network?”

“Yours to dismantle,” Seth said. “But carefully. We don’t want collateral damage.”

“Knuckles has the compound secured. The women are safe.”

“Good.” Seth’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, a brief pressure. “Then we’re done here.”

The trafficking network that had operated under Iron’s protection was finished. By morning, every player would know exactly what happened to men who crossed the Miles family. Then the hunt would begin. Neither I nor my father would allow our city to be used in such a way. I didn’t care who the offenders were. If they had any part in this network, their lives as they knew it were now over.

Deeper in Nashville, a young woman named Tessa Garrison would sleep safely behind the walls of Haven, her sister at her side, her personal nightmare finally over, but her journey to recovery only beginning. I’d watch over her. Make sure she got the care she needed. She would want for nothing for the rest of her life… and then, I’d put her completely out of my mind.

Chapter One

Tessa

I awoke gasping, trying to get my breath. The sheets were twisted around my legs. My heart pounded and sweat dampened my skin and my pillow. I couldn’t remember the dream, but I thought there’d been some kind of explosion…

Then the sound came again. This time, I was decidedly awake. The building shuddered hard enough to jostle me as I lay in bed. Another heavy thud sounded like something slamming into the lower level of Haven with significant force. My apartment was on the third floor and sat directly over the front entrance to Haven. I’d requested the room when I’d found it because I wanted to see shit coming at me before it got me.

My water glass rattled off the nightstand and shattered on the hardwood. The chime of the alarm kicked in a half-second later. Safety lights flooded the doorways.

I bolted from the bed, trying to get my bearings… and promptly tripped on my shoes and fell to the floor with a jarring thud.

After taking a deep breath and shaking my head to clear it of sleep, I shoved my feet into my shoes, snagged a sweater to go over my pajamas, and ran for the door. The security lights lining the hallway gave off a soft glow. I looked down the hall as another door opened and a woman stepped out.

“What is that?” she asked. “What’s happening?” I saw the same fear in her eyes I felt in my chest.

Before I could answer, heavy boots pounded up the stairwell from the other end of the hall. Three men from Kiss of Death hurried in our direction. The one in front, a guy named Tiny, who was built like a refrigerator with a shaved head and a beard that reached his chest, beckoned us in his direction.

“Safe room,” he barked. “Now. Everyone to the safe room.”

Two more doors opened. Another woman with a baby clutched to her chest and a teenage girl who’d come alone to Haven. We all stood frozen for a moment, still slightly stunned.

The building shuddered again. Somewhere below us, metal screamed against metal, the impact worse this time…

Silence…

The world exploded in a deafening boom and a shower of glass and debris. The concussion tossed me down the hall and knocked the breath out of me. My ears rang and everything seemed to come from deep inside a well.

“Move!” Tiny picked up a kid in each arm as he yelled. Each man with Tiny helped one of the women. Through the smoke and dust, I didn’t recognize the man who came to help me, but I waved him off anyway.

“Help the children. I’m good. I’m good.”

I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up on one elbow. My head swam. Something warm trickled down my temple. When I wiped at it, my fingers came away red. The cut was shallow, but blood had already matted my hair above my ear. The hallway was thick with dust and a sharp, acrid, biting scent.

The teenage girl from down the hall appeared through the dust cloud, her face streaked with tears. She grabbed my arm. “Which way?”

I pointed down the hall. “That way. Follow Tiny.”

She didn’t move. “I can’t -- I don’t --”

“Go,” I said, giving her a gentle shove. “Tiny will keep you safe. Run. Now.”

She nodded, then turned and obeyed. The woman with the baby was already gone, carried by one of the MC guys. The third woman from my floor was nowhere in sight but the one thing I knew about these guys was they’d make sure everyone got to safety.

The building groaned. Not an explosion, but another impact from below sent a vibration through the floor that I felt in my teeth. More glass shattered somewhere.

I’d made it to the first floor and moved toward the safe room but paused when I heard terrified sobbing. I stopped, listening for the sound again. It was hard to get a direction because of the ringing in my ears from the blast. The farther toward the common room I went, the louder the crying. My shoes crunched on the broken glass in the hallway with each step as I made my way to the back of the room.