Chapter 25
We were five minutes out from the meetup spot when the first tire blew.
This feels like déjà vu.
When the second and third blew too, I knew we’d found our way into the trap. Immediately, I spotted the vacant warehouse nearby with almost all its bay doors closed. Every instinct I had was screaming Danger! Danger!
“Gee, I wonder where he wants us to go,” Dominic said, pulling his gun just as I palmed my own.
I took stock of the area and frowned. Our numbers were about even, so when the Vipers came, we’d easily outnumber the Aces. Hell, even if Joaquin and his crew made it soon, we’d have no problem squashing them.
With that in mind, I handed out orders. “Dominic, call Joaquin and get him here. Even with the river on one side, they’re going to box us in and gun us down if we aren’t smart about it. Grey, get Two-Bit and the Vipers here.”
“Already on it. ETA is five minutes for both.” Grey traded his phone for a gun with a tense smile, but I wasn’t worried. We could survive five minutes just by staying in the car.
Or we could have, if they hadn’t started throwing shit.
Something flew, and I had a moment to think that’s a fucking grenade before Grey yanked me out of the car. Across the street, the bay doors opened, and men poured out with guns raised. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were.
Aces.
A quick count gave me a dozen men, and I knew right then that Cash wasn’t with them. It was an ambush, but it wasn’t a full-blown assault. He was toying with us, with me. Asshole.
“Fuck this,” Dominic cursed. Grey dropped me to my feet just as my first shot rang out. It wasn’t perfect, but we’d practiced shooting under any conditions. Being toted around like a sack of potatoes wasn’t even the weirdest thing we’d done.
“Everyone good?” I asked. They grunted what I took to be agreements, and I looked around at the loading dock full of open space. The rest of the men in Tennessee’s and Moore’s SUVs were hidden behind large containers or even cars, but we were too close to the middle to be anything but sitting ducks. “We need to find cover.”
Grey shot an Ace hiding behind a cracked bay door in the leg, then took him out completely when he fell to his side. “I checked the satellite photos on the way. There’s a side door near here that we can use to get inside. If we can sneak up behind everyone, we’ve got a good chance.”
“Get us there.”
Trusting the boys to keep me running in the right direction, I peeked back to see Moore carrying an unconscious Geneva, with Tennessee covering them. Guilt was a sharp ache in my chest as I realized we’d left her in the car. Two seconds into the battle and I’d already left one of my people to die.
“I pulled her out after you,” Dominic promised. “Moore snarled at me to stay with you and snatched her out of my arms the second he could.”
“Thank you.”
I couldn’t tell if she was hit or just knocked out, so I sent up a prayer to any deity that would answer. Let us get out of this alive.
I was pretty sure none of them listened to a kingpin, but I was going to try anyway.
The door slammed behind us, and chaos erupted as we startled an entire group of men.
“The second string,” Grey guessed.
“No shit.” I pulled my gun up and huffed in frustration. Though we’d instinctively spread out as much as we could to gain more ground, we were all too close to shoot unless we had to. Even then, we risked deafening ourselves in the empty space, and any loss of our senses could be dangerous. Best to stick to our fists.
“Guns up unless you have to,” I hissed, putting mine away just in time for the first Ace to come at me. He was uncoordinated and clearly unused to actually trying to hit someone, because it was almost comically easy to deliver a swift kick to the knee and a knife to the eye. Before he’d even landed fully at my feet, another Ace caught me with a meaty fist to the cheek and sent me to the ground. I grimaced at the blazing trail of pain that covered that half of my face before grinning like a lunatic.
“That was a mistake.” Grey’s eyes were dark with menace as he ripped the Ace away from me and sent him careening to the floor with a wicked right hook that I was going to reward later. Watching Grey help me slay my enemies was hot as fuck. Dominic was too as he ripped his way through a boatload of Aces, breaking noses and fingers and legs as he went, but I refused to admit it.
Obviously, he had some aggression to work out. My condolences to the Aces who ran into him.
Between the four of us—though Moore helped once he found a safe place to lay Geneva—we cleared the room in no time. The more men we took out, the more concrete my assumption became that Grey was right, but it didn’t matter. As long as we won, I was happy.
I knelt beside one of the unconscious bodies and dug around the pockets but found nothing. “No phone to tattle to daddy and tell them they did a good job.”
Brushing off my knees, I stood and looked around for cameras. If Cash wasn’t reachable by phone, it meant he was probably watching the whole fight go down. It also meant that he was likely to have more nasty tricks waiting for us. I saw no obvious domes or cameras, but I knew he was watching. I could feel it.
Fuck it. Let him watch.
I was about to round us all up and head back outside when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was only a flash of black, but instinct had me pulling my gun.
A final Ace had his gun up and aimed but not at me. At Dominic.
Time slowed, and all I could think was He’s not wearing a vest. We’d been arguing while I put mine on, and I forgot to make sure he had his. Grey did; I’d felt it under his shirt when he grabbed me, but Dominic’s shirt was plastered to his chest.
He’s going to die because I was too pissed to make sure he was covered.
The hysterical thought propelled me forward. With a shout, I lunged at Dominic, lifted my weapon, and fired. The bang echoed in the room, and the bullet took out Dominic’s would-be reaper with a messy shot to the head, but not before he got his own shot off. The bullet landed like a sledgehammer to the gut and dropped me to the floor.
It’d been a while since I’d been shot and even longer since I’d been hit right in the vest. A few grazes here and there, a hole through my thigh when I was younger, but straight to the solar plexus? That sucked.
The impact stole the breath from my lungs, and when I cracked my head on the concrete, I had no chance of holding back the cry of pain that ripped out of me.
“Mari!” Grey covered my front, giving me a chance to fight through the initial wave of pain as I curled into myself. Holy shit, I hated getting shot in the vest, but at least I was wearing it. I’d take a few broken ribs over a hole in my stomach or a funeral any day.
Peering out from behind my hair, I checked on Dominic. He looked pissed, waving his hands and snarling, but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was he was still whole. Even if he irritated the fuck out of me, he was still mine.
“Answer us,” he barked. I hadn’t realized they’d been talking at all. My ears rang, and it was all I could do to keep my head up as the world swam. Sucking air in through my teeth, I tried like hell to get my lungs, my voice, anything to work.
“I’m good,” I croaked.
I wasn’t. My gun shook in my hand, my vision was a little blurred, and every movement hurt like hell, but that was a problem for future Mari.
“Get up.” Grey extended a hand toward me, and I let him pull me to my feet carefully. “Good?”
“Fine.” We both knew I was lying, but adrenaline would get me through until I could see Doc. I was almost looking forward to his prodding for once. And the drugs. I was going to sleep for days.
Grey looked me over quickly, grimacing at the bullet hole in the vest. “We’ll get you a new one.”
“That’s all you’re going to say? We’ll get you a new one. What the hell is wrong with you two?” Dominic yelled. I winced because, fuck, my head hurt. Did he have to yell? “You’re twisted. Both of you.”
After our chat in the gym, that cut deeper than it should have, and despite how much it hurt, I shoved him.“Fuck you, Dominic. I just saved your life, and all you can do is complain that we aren’t normal? Next time, say thank you instead of screaming at me, you emotionally stunted turnip!”
Dominic’s neck grew disturbingly red. “Thank you? Thank you?! You shouldn’t have done that in the first place. You could’ve been killed!”
“Well, too bad for you, I wasn’t. It would’ve made your life easier!” I winced at my own voice echoing and fought to lower it. A raging headache was creeping up, and I wanted to be out of there before it fully hit. “This isn’t the time for this conversation. In fact, let’s end it for good.”
“Mari—”
“Drop it, Dominic,” I growled.
“I will not.” Dominic reached out and grabbed me, reeling me in with a firm but gentle hand around my jaw. He looked me over, staring hard at the blood seeping out from under my hair. “We’re talking about this later.”
Like fuck we were.
Before he could say more, the sounds of car doors slamming, yelling, and more shots filled the air, and I shoved away. Though the world tilted uncomfortably, I stayed upright. Go, me.
Grey motioned for us to stay put and crept toward one of the bay doors. The window was coated with grime, but it was our only option to see outside. He peered out for a bit before he released a slow breath in the sudden silence.
“The cavalry’s here, and they just cleaned house.”
“Thank fuck.” With one final shitty look, Dominic stomped off. I almost hoped someone made it and he got shot in the leg. Served him right for being such an asshole.
“Nice shot, boss.” Tennessee took his place, nudging me gently with his hip. “Did you seriously call him a turnip?”
“She called him an emotionally stunted turnip. Get it right.” Moore snickered from where he’d gone back to check on Geneva.
“Shut up, both of you. My head hurts,” I groaned. It really did, and I was starting to feel every noise in the backs of my eyes.
Tennessee laughed and tucked me under his arm, his gun hanging loose on the other side. “Come on, it was funny. Right, Grey?”
Grey rolled his eyes and checked outside before holding the door for us. “I would’ve called him something much worse.”
“Either way, I’m glad you’re okay, boss.” Tennessee squeezed my shoulder once more and released me to Grey so he could get back inside for Moore and Geneva.
Grey wrapped an arm around my waist, holding some of my weight so I could give my screaming ribs a break. He pressed a soft kiss to my temple, breathing me in, and for a moment, I did the same.
We’d made it out alive. A bit bruised but nothing a little time couldn’t fix, and thankfully, we had some of that.