Declan
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I grab it while pouring a drink for one of my regulars.
My heart slams against my ribs. I set the drink in front of the customer and stalk into the kitchen, plugging a finger into my ear.
“Hello?”
“It’s Mia. Meridea’s in trouble.”
My vision goes red.
My wife.
My child.
My family.
Danger is at their door.
“Where is she?” I growl, already moving.
“She’s at the register. I’m in the back room. I have my gun. I’ll be her backup.”
“No. Stay put,” I order, bursting out the back door. Snow crunches under my boots as I sprint down the alley.
Mickey will lose his shit if something happens to Billie Rae.
Behind me, Hassle shouts, “What’s going on?”
“Me and my brothers will be there. Just stay safe.” I disconnect the call and glance back.
Hassle, Bruiser, Vault, Bruno and Mouth run with me. “Earpieces,” I bark. “Meridea and Mia are in the boutique and they’re in danger.”
The second my earpiece clicks on, I press the button. “Mickey, come in.”
“I’m here, brother.”
“Meridea and Mia are in trouble.”
“Shit—what? I checked the cameras a few minutes ago. It was just Meridea behind the counter. Fuck. No, no, no. They’re on a loop.”
“Mickey, don’t go in without me.”
I pivot to my brothers.
“Declan, Bruiser, Mouth, and I will scour the streets for vehicles that look out of place,” Hassle, our Prez says. “Take Vault and Bruno.”
Hassle pats my shoulder. “We’ll get them to safety.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter trying to stay calm.
Hassle, Bruiser, and Mouth run ahead. I pound on the rear van door.
Mickey swings it open. “Grab firepower. I just overrode the system.” He points to the monitors.
My eyes narrow. “That’s Midas. A prospect from Delaware Wicked MC.”
“Motherfucker,” Vault snarls.
“You think Razor knows he’s here?” Bruno asks.
“I hear you,” Hassle says over the earpiece. “I’ll reach out to him.”
“Thanks,” I say.
My eyes meet Mickey’s. “I need you as our eyes and ears. We’ll get Mia out.”
Gunfire erupts.
“Fuck,” I roar.
“Go, go,” Mickey shouts staring at the monitors.
I bolt for the boutique’s back door, shove my key into the lock, and twist.
“On three,” I tell Vault and Bruno. My stomach threatens to cave in. I don’t know if my wife is dead or alive.
I raise three fingers… three…two… one.
I yank the door open with my Glock drawn.
We storm inside.
My eyes widen.
Meridea is on the floor behind the counter, firing around the bulletproof edge—thank fuck I had it installed. Midas stops shooting at her and turns his gun on us.
I aim and fire. Two clean shots, hitting his shoulder and thigh.
“Ah,” he screams, scrambling behind a few racks.
There’s a trail of blood on the floor leading down another row.
“Help, she shot me,” a woman cries out within the racks of clothes.
“Meridea, stay behind the counter,” I command.
Midas fires again, wild and sloppy.
“Vault, get to the back room. Check on Mia.”
“On it!”
“Midas,” I shout. “You stepped into Ravens territory for what?”
He groans, panting. “Your wife… has a price on her head.”
“Did Delaware Wicked put the price on her head?” I growl.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Abe Michaelson.”
Rage claws up my throat. “Drop your weapon.”
My gaze snaps to the woman clutching her bleeding leg. Tears streak her face.
“Bruno, zip tie her.”
“With pleasure.”
“Put your gun down,” I warn Midas, advancing. “Or the next bullet hits somewhere that’ll make you beg for death.”
His gun clatters to the floor.
I step in front of him, Glock still trained on his skull. “I wonder what Razor will say about you creeping into Ravens territory.”
“Razor and I just had a conversation. He had no idea his prospect took a solo job without permission,” Hassle reports in my ear.
“Good to know,” I reply.
“Vault, are we clear?”
“Yes. Mia’s safe.”
“Good. Zip tie Midas.”
Vault sprints over and binds his wrists with zip ties.
“Looks like we’ll have fun in the dungeon,” Vault chuckles darkly.
“We will.” I smile. “I’ll let Razor into our territory so he can chat with you before we kill you.”
When I look to my right, Meridea and Mia are clinging to each other.
“Meridea,” I choke out.
She releases Mia and runs into my arms. I haul her against my chest.
“Were you hit?”
“No.”
Mickey enters through the back now that the coast is clear. Mia spins and collapses into him. His lips twitch upward.
Someone’s catching feelings for Billie Rae.
Meridea’s fingers glide over my arm. “You were shot. Again.”
I was so intent on getting Meridea and Mia to safety that I didn’t even notice when I was shot. A sharp pain pulses through my arm.
“I don’t care. As long as you two are safe.” I caress her belly.
“We are,” she whispers. “Let’s go home.”
∞
Once my wife was examined and I knew she and our baby were safe, there was only one thing left to do.
Make every last person who threatened her, pay.
Laura and Midas came to the boutique to kidnap my wife. All because Abe wanted his “trophies.”
So I handled him the way Ravens handle enemies.
I cut Midas’s fingers off a piece at a time over three days. That was for shooting at my woman.
As for Abe, he begged for his life in the Ravens’ dungeon. My brothers and I made sure he suffered for every child he ever looked at. By the time he took his final breath, he wished he’d never looked at a child.
When the senators involved in the trafficking ring were handled, Hassle, Vault, Mouth, and Bruiser headed back to Portland. Bruno and Mickey stayed in Blue Haven. Mickey might deny it, but he’s here for more than club business—he’s here for Billie Rae.
And those senators?
Let’s just say they turned up dead across the country in creative ways. I’m certain the Magarelli mafia family enjoyed every second of taking out those vile bastards.
Now it’s time for the Ravens’ Blue Haven chapter to grow. We’re bringing in the right prospects. Men who understand loyalty, blood, and the cost of protecting what’s ours.
Meridea snuggles into me on the bed, her warmth sinking into my side. “You need to rest that arm if you want it to heal properly.”
I kiss her soft plump lips. “Now that the bad seeds are taken care of…” for now “…I’ll rest my arm.”
Her eyes brighten with mischief. “Good. I plan to take very good care of you, Brutal.” She winks, brushing her lips along my neck.
A year ago, if someone told me I’d be married—expecting a child—I would’ve called them insane. Now I can’t imagine a life that doesn’t have Meridea King in it.
“You’re in control tonight,” I murmur.
She purrs against my neck, voice thick with promise. “Yes. I am.”
MERIDEA
I’m thankful the Ravens MC stormed in when they did. Mia shot Laura in one leg, and I put a bullet in the other.
Girl power at its finest.
Later, the mafia wives and I gathered in Sierra’s torture chamber and handled Laura ourselves. She was sick. Anyone who harms innocent children deserves whatever darkness finds them.
Declan and his brothers tracked down Laura’s father, Clint Danaver. He’d been beaten within an inch of his life. He died when a meth lab exploded around him.
A fitting end.
Samantha paid a visit to Laura’s mother, Marjorie. Her death was staged to look like the cartel her husband worked with tortured her—burned hands, money stuffed in her mouth, and THIEF carved into her forehead.
I won’t lie—it felt good knowing those monsters finally paid for what they’d done.
Mickey rerouted the Danaver fortune into offshore accounts under my mother’s name. After everything she endured, she deserved that peace.
I rest a hand over my growing belly as I stand at the end of the bar, watching my husband work, pouring cocktails, handing out beers, moving behind the counter with that effortless control that made me fall for him in the first place.
I wish my dad were here to see the woman I’ve become.
To see the family I’m building.
I know he’s watching from beyond. I hope he’ll keep an eye on his grandchild too.
Declan walks over and pulls me into his arms. “What’s on your mind, darlin’?”
“Just thinking about how lucky I was to walk into this bar and meet you.”
His mouth finds mine. Deep, hungry, claiming.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” he murmurs against my lips. “I have a beautiful wife, and soon we’ll welcome our child into the world. You’re my world, Meridea King.”
I cup his face and kiss him softly. “And you are mine, Declan King.”
THE END