Chapter 25 Ryker
RYKER
“I knew you had something up your sleeve.”
I put my earpiece back in long enough to hear Lars growl. Gunshots rang out as I grabbed Alex, yanking him across the street. He fought me before bullets whizzed by us. Knox sat on the roof, popping off shots while Grave held the door open for us.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do now!?” Alex roared.
“I’ve lost him,” Brewer said.
“Keep an eye out, boys! We’ve lost Diesel on the video!” Rock exclaimed.
I positioned Alex at a window down on his knees.
Then, I motioned for him to start firing.
The prospects ran around the building, their guns drawn as cars rushed by.
People stopped to gawk. Women and children cried out as they clung to their husbands.
Their fathers. Their protectors. Grave rushed out onto the sidewalk and started ushering people away from the firefight.
Away from the stray bullets that pierced windows and went flying into other, unassuming buildings.
Shit had officially hit the fan.
“Diesel! Can you hear me?” I asked.
But only static came through my earpiece.
“Saint, you got eyes on him?” Brewer asked.
“Nope,” he said.
“Bear?”
“Not here, either.”
“Toxin, tell me you’ve got something.”
“Neither him nor me have anything. I’ve got no clue where they’ve gone,” Cage said.
I looked sharply at Alex. “Tell me about this building.”
He popped off shots at men coming out of the building. Men dressed in tailored suits like the one I’d once seen him in. I stuck my gun out the window and pulled the trigger, not even bothering to look as I landed shots left and right.
And after Alex was done gawking at me, he sighed.
“There’s a basement to that building. There might be an exit down that way,” he said.
“Fuck,” I growled.
“What is it now?” Toxin spat.
“There’s a basement. We have to assume Lars is taking Diesel there,” I said.
“On it,” Bear said.
I watched Bear and Saint run into the building. They kept chattering in our ear as gunshots rang out. I dipped down, nestled beside Alex as he breathed slowly and tried to control the shaking of his body. I felt bad for the boy. But he needed to step up. He needed to help us.
It was too late, though.
“They’ve got Diesel! Lars has Diesel!” Bear exclaimed.
“Well, can you get him away from Lars?” Brewer asked.
“Not without hurting our president,” Saint said.
“Where are they now?” Grave asked.
“I don’t see them from the rooftop,” Knox said.
Then, we all heard sirens in the distance.
“Shit,” Brewer hissed.
“We have to get out of here,” Alex said.
“Not without Diesel. We have to get him out, too,” I said.
“Fall back,” Bear said.
“Excuse me?” Rock asked.
“He said, fall back,” Saint said.
Brewer paused. “He gave you the signal, didn’t he?”
Everything came to a dead standstill before Bear’s voice filled our ears.
“He did. Fall back, everyone.”
“What’s happening?” Alex asked.
I yanked him off the floor. “Diesel’s sacrificing himself.”
It all happened so fast I wasn’t sure how to process it.
We all packed up and rushed to our bikes.
And as we sped away with Alex on the back of mine, a black SUV pulled up.
I looked in my rearview mirror long enough to see Lars shove Diesel into the blacked-out car.
And part of me wanted to turn around. Follow that damn thing until they ran out of gas.
But I kept onward. Hoping and praying Diesel had a plan that didn’t end in his death.
We all rode in a daze back to the clubhouse.
Thankfully, no one had been hurt. But we’d never left a scene while leaving someone behind.
And none of us knew how to feel about it.
Our engines roared as we raced into the parking lot.
We parked our bikes, with the roar of the engines filling the space around us.
Then, Alex threw himself off the back of my bike.
“Kaylynn!”
He yelled for his sister as he stumbled toward the porch steps.
“Kaylynn! Are you here!?”
I turned off my bike as the front door was thrown open.
And soon, Kaylynn appeared. She cried out with happiness and threw herself into her brother’s arms. Sobbing into him as he held her close.
The guys came up and patted me on the back, tossing me some disgusting looks in the process.
But, nonetheless, they silently congratulated me for the reunion.
I knew it wouldn’t last long, though.
We all trudged up to the lodge and Kaylynn pulled away from her brother. She wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing my cheek and my jawline. I fisted her hair softly. I captured her lips before all hell broke loose again.
“Are you okay?” Kaylynn whispered.
And just as I went to respond, a blood-curdling scream filled the air.
“Nooooo!”
My eyes closed and my heart shattered in my chest. Brynn’s sobs encapsulated the room, obliterating any hope of a reunion we had with our families. I turned my head, watching her collapse into Grave’s arms as his own eyes welled with tears.
I kissed the top of Kaylynn’s head as her brother rubbed her back. It was the oddest of reunions, but I cherished it.
Mostly, because any of us could’ve left our women in the state Brynn was currently in.
“What happened?” Kaylynn whispered.
I swallowed hard. “Diesel couldn't get out of the meeting we had planned with Lars. He sacrificed himself to get us all out of there.”
She paused. “He’s…?”
“No. But he’ll be close to it if we don’t come up with a plan,” Alex said.
“Will you guys get him back?” Kaylynn asked.
I kissed her head again. “You bet your ass we will.”
She sniffled. “Is it bad I’m glad it wasn’t you?”
I crooked my finger underneath her chin and tilted her eyes up to mine.
“No. It’s not bad. Because I love you too, Kaylynn.”
She drew in a shuddered breath. “I love you so much, Ryker. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but—”
I captured her lips, but not before shooting her brother a look.
I didn’t want him ruining any shred of this moment for his sister.
But he didn’t look as angry or disgusted as I figured he would.
The kiss was soft. Tender. Fraught with gratefulness and filled with need.
I slid my fingers through her hair, then pulled away softly.
And as our forehead fell together, I felt all eyes on us.
The guys stared with knowing looks on their faces.
“Hate to break up the party, but we need to start talking. Now,” Knox said.
I kissed the tip of Kaylynn’s nose. “Time to go to work.”
“What do you guys want me to do?” Alex asked.
But before we could answer, Grave’s phone rang.
We all looked at him with wary glances as he pulled away from Brynn.
I watched the girls come up and pull her off to the side, brushing her tears away and tucking her hair behind her ear.
Kaylynn kissed my cheek before she walked off, at the ready to help in any way she needed with them.
It was the sweetest thing, watching her bond with them.
Watching her help console Brynn through this trying time.
She’d fit in just fine with this growing family of ours.
“It’s him,” Grave said.
We all snapped to attention and I grabbed Alex.
I pulled him over, placing him beside Rock so we all knew he wouldn't go anywhere.
He put the phone on speaker as we gathered around it, hoping our bodies and muscles buffered the sound of the phone call.
Because the last thing Brynn needed to hear was whatever threat was about to come our way.
“We want to hear his voice,” Grave finally said.
“You’ll get nothing of the sort because you don’t get to make demands. I held up my end of the bargain. But your president didn’t hold up his,” Lars growled.
“Did you really expect him to come unaccompanied when you didn’t come unaccompanied?”
“Not my problem your president doesn’t understand how to negotiate terms like that. So, here are the new terms. I found the mic. I know you guys were listening. Which means you’re familiar with my terms.”
Grave nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. Saves me some time. I get what I want, or I start sending Diesel back in pieces. Got it?”
“Now hold on just a second. We can figure out a way to—”
“I get what I’ve asked for, or you get nothing. Except a piece of your fucking president every week for the next year. Understood?”
And before Grave could say anything, Lars hung up the phone call. Leaving us all standing around with our dicks between our legs and Brynn’s sobs flooding our ears from the hallway.