18. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Merrick
“ A lpha team,” I grumbled, my boots smacking against the worn, varnished hardwood planks. Wrapping my arm around Giana’s shoulders, I pulled her into my side, grateful she’d already disposed of the blood-soaked wig and looked like herself again.
She’d changed when we got back to the van, pulling on a thick sweater and yoga pants instead of the scrap of fabric she was wearing before. I wasn’t sure if I’d have been able to hold myself back if one of these guys had stared at her. And, honestly, I wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to hold herself back from making good on cutting off the other piece of anatomy she’d wanted to if anyone leered at her right now.
“We followed them out as soon as they got the call, and all six targets were taken care of.”
I nodded. “Beta team.”
We already knew all the teams had been successful, but if there was anything we could glean from their encounters, I’d take it if it helped keep Giana safe.
“Our group wasn’t in the bar—they were out back—but we were able to stake out their position before the call came in and took out all four of them successfully.”
It went on like that until we reached the last team, the leader grimacing as my gaze landed on him.
“We—uh, we had to move in early.”
“Explain.”
“The three we were tasked with left the bar early.” He frowned, his gaze flicking to Giana tucked under my arm before locking eyes with me. “They were about to follow one of the girls home from the bar.”
Giana stiffened, her body language shifting so subtly, only the three of us would have noticed, as she didn’t reveal any other sign of her anger.
Kellan was about to reach for her hand, but I jerked my head, stopping him. He was so tuned in to her that he knew exactly what she needed, but this time, she needed to feel it, to let the others see that fire within her and how brightly it burned.
My arm fell to my side as she stepped forward, commanding the room’s attention with one simple stride.
“You did the right thing.” She nodded to the final team, and my lips twitched as she stole the words from my lips. “Tonight was a success, not only because we took out some crucial members of the Barones organization.” She strode into the middle of the room, making sure every eye was on her. “Whether you witnessed it or not, we helped countless people today. She wasn’t the only one they’ve tried to prey upon or tried to break for fun.”
My hands clenched at my side, my jaw tensing as anger seared through my veins. I wished I could be her shadow, silently following her and decimating everyone who tried to take a piece of her light.
“Tonight was a huge win, one that will send Angelo and Tommaso spiraling, but it isn’t the end. They will retaliate. We just have to keep hitting them before they do, slowly chipping away at their exterior until they start to fold, and then we can take them out once and for all.”
Cheers sounded from around the bar, everyone’s spirits lifting with the acknowledgement. She was exactly what they needed—what we all needed. She was born to lead, born to put us on this path. My anger ratcheted up at the reminder that Tommaso had kept her hidden away for so long, clipping her wings so she couldn’t fly away from him.
Giana was meant for so much, and there was no way I could ever hold her back from that, despite how terrified I was to lose her. I’d worried that fear was turning me into Tommaso, but after tonight, I knew that would never happen.
But I loved her more than words could ever convey. I could let go. I would loosen my reins on my control for her because she was more than capable on her own. Hell, she’d only been with us for a few weeks now, and she was already falling into a leadership role. And after tonight, after seeing the coordination and carnage she was able to bring, I could see that every single person in this bar respected her.
I would never take away her light. I would never be like Tommaso and try to lock her in a cage.
My gaze was glued to her as she went to Nicolas and sat down at his table, the rest of the bar launching into excited discussions on what would happen on the next strike. I couldn’t help but be drawn toward her, my feet moving on their own accord with each step I took, pulled in by her magnetism.
“We made sure she got home okay,” Nicolas confirmed, regret softening his features as he undoubtedly remembered the night when Mike had drugged Giana. “We weren’t sure if they had slipped her anything in the bar.”
“You did the right thing,” Giana assured him again, clasping his shoulder. Despite the warmth in her tone, her eyes had gone distant, as though she, too, had been transported back to that night.
I swallowed thickly against the bile rising in my throat, the only sign of emotion I’d show until I could get her away from the prying eyes of these men. “Can I speak with you, little devil?”
I gave Nicolas a nod of respect as I wrapped my arm around my girl, instantly feeling her relax into my touch. “Of course.”
She spared the group a quick goodbye before I led her back to my office.
“Is everything okay?” she asked the moment I closed the door, shuttering the rest of the bar from us. Her tone revealed that she already suspected something was wrong.
“Everything is fine.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and hoisted her up so that she was perched on my desk.
I yearned to wash away that worry, to make her realize that not everything was a battle or a crisis, that amid all the chaos, I was her rock. There was always time for her to unwind, to let me take some of the burden of stress off her shoulders. Kellan was so attuned to her needs, I almost thought that he could read her mind at times, but I wanted to be that person she could lean on. We would battle through the tough shit together, side by side as partners. Sometimes she needed to get that shit off her chest, and I was here to listen to every single word.
“The real question is, what’s going through that head of yours, beautiful?” I pressed against her, her legs widening as I stepped between them. Her beautiful amber eyes gazed up at me, twinkling, as though I was the answer to her prayers, and I vowed I always would be.
“I want to kill them all.” Her eyes hardened, the softness gone as they glinted with steel. “Not just Barones’ men. I want to kill any man who thinks he can do that, corner a woman, force her to do anything against her will. I want to do exactly what I did tonight—cut off their hands, their tongues, their dicks, anything they can use to subdue someone else to take away their willpower, to take a piece of them.”
“The world is yours, Giana.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, so I continued, letting her know I meant it. “I’ll follow you anywhere. I’ll maybe just leave the . . . dick severing to you.” I shuddered, not even wanting to imagine the pain that bastard would feel, but if it was Giana holding the blade, he undoubtedly deserved it.
“I know I can’t be everywhere, but I want to make a difference. I don’t want to live in a world where there are men who think they can do or take whatever or whoever they wish—I want to live in a world where women don’t have to be scared walking down the street at night, where they don’t have to clutch their keys between their knuckles to feel a fraction of safety or remember to bite or scratch their assailant for DNA evidence.”
I clutched her tighter. “I’m serious, Giana. I’ll follow you down any path because I know that whatever you put your mind to, you’ll accomplish, whether it’s becoming a dick-slicing vigilante or putting this town back to how it should be, eradicating corruption from the inside out.”
“I’m serious,” she huffed, frowning.
“So am I.” I tucked the soft strands of her dirty-blonde hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. “I have complete faith in you. I would follow you to the ends of the world, be the knight at your back or your support to lean on. I’m with you completely.”
Her eyes closed as she leaned into my touch, and I pressed my forehead against hers, needing to soak up her warmth, let it fill the void in my chest that had been there for too many years without her.
“I love you, Giana. I love you to the end of the world, and even the afterlife wouldn’t be enough to tear me from you.”
“You are everything I ever hoped for, Merrick. My rock and support, the fire within to keep moving, keep pushing forward when I’ve wanted to shy away or fade into the background. You’ve pushed me to do more than you know, given me your strength and taught me to defend myself and others, even though I pushed that knowledge down for years to survive.” Her head tilted up, her warm eyes meeting mine fervently. “I love you with every ounce of my soul, with every fiber of my being, and nothing could tear me away from you.”
I pressed my lips against hers, cutting off anything else she was about to say, needing to convey the depth of my emotion for her words. My heart and my soul were irrevocably hers. Not even the devil himself could pry me away. My tongue delved in desperately, caressing hers in long, languid strokes, tying us together more, if that was even possible.
My body craved her, begged to have her writhing beneath me, but I couldn’t—not here—not after the last two desperate times we’d come together. I wanted to take my time with her, worship her body the way it was meant to be.
Reluctantly, I pulled away from her, my heart thundering as lust coursed through my veins, but breathed through it, drawing in ragged pants until it was under control. Giana’s flushed cheeks and swollen lips had my cock straining against my jeans, vying for her attention. Groaning, I shifted a hand under her sweater, running my palm up her spine. My skin against hers was torture in the best way, the compromise I needed before I completely lost all sense of control.
She ran a hand over my chest, her eyes shuttering for a moment, as if she needed to feel my heartbeat beneath her palm to recenter herself.
“I’m scared that we’ll be replacing one monster with another,” she whispered, as though the thought had been on her mind for a while, but she’d been too scared to voice it. “Power corrupts, and what if it gets to our heads or to the heads of the people fighting with us?”
“It won’t.” I tilted her chin up, so her eyes met mine.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked, the incredulity in her voice making my lips twitch with amusement.
“Because we don’t want to be like them. We don’t want to run the state or have politicians in our pocket, and we don’t want to control a town, making the business owners pay us their last cent just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.” I brushed my thumb over her cheek as some of the tension drained from her muscles. “Who knows what the future will hold? Maybe in five years, we’ll have escaped to some island to live out the rest of our days. Or you’ll be a politician, or a lawyer, working as hard as you can to hold people accountable. The world is ours for the taking, but we’re still ourselves, fully and completely. You will never lose that sense of justice or your heart.”
“You always keep me grounded.” She sighed in contentment, her hand sliding around my back, clutching me close to her like she never wanted to let go.
“And I’ll never stop.” I pressed my lips to her forehead, not trusting my willpower if I kissed her again.
I would follow this woman anywhere in this life and the next, so long as I got to keep her by my side.