Chapter 43
ASHER
Isit up with a gasp, air rushing into my lungs as the darkness clears from my vision.
She fucking knocked me out!
Again!
That little… My thoughts die as I take in the chaos around me.
Yelling. Screaming. Utter carnage that’s painted in blood.
I recognise this.
The Crimson Angel is here.
Staggering to my feet, I sway a little as I assess what I need to do. The cage is open, the gate hanging on a single hinge, so I dart for it, needing to get free.
As I step out, nearly slipping in a pool of blood, I spot a gun on the ground and pick it up, checking the clip.
Fuck, yes! It’s nearly full.
I don’t know who is friend and who is foe, but since most of the crowd were here to see us kill each other, I’m going to assume most of these fuckers are our enemies.
Aside from the obvious gang members, there are men here dressed in all black. Tactical looking fuckers.
Is AJ here? Are these his men?
Fucked if I know, but since they are fighting all the tatted-up drug fucked gangbangers, I’m gonna assume they are on my side.
Quickly moving through the chaos, I shoot any fucker that looks like a gangster, my eyes scanning the space to try and find my woman and take down three fuckers before my eyes finally land on her.
The Crimson Angel.
My Angel.
Wearing nothing but a black bra and knickers, her normally creamy skin is painted in the blood of others as she kills with precision, wielding a blade and a gun, going from one Black Taipans’ member to the next, ending their lives.
To her left, her cousin Barrett fights with deadly intent, his fist like a sledgehammer as he slays his victims, occasionally using his gun to finish his opponents off before moving to the next.
There are other big guys fighting the Taipans around Lily, and for a moment I wonder if they are Barrett’s clones.
Gunfire sounds all around me as people get desperate to survive, and my eyes fall to Lily the exact moment a bullet draws blood from her arm.
Fuck! No!
I bolt, needing to get to her, my gun raised and firing at anything in my fucking path.
“Lily,” I hiss as I slam into her, taking her to the floor as more gunfire slices through the crowd.
We crash down with an umph, and I roll us so I’m on top of her, protecting her from any stray bullets.
“Asher.” She breathes, her nose running along my neck as her fingers dig into my shoulders, holding me to her.
Oh shit… she’s grinding her pussy against me.
How could I forget? Killing turns my Angel on.
“Fuck, Angel,” I rasp in her ear. “Now’s not the time. Later. I promise. We will fuck in their blood if that’s what you want.”
“Yes.” She grinds against me again, and my cock grows painfully hard.
“Damn it, woman. Now I have to fight with a stiffy.”
“Fuck me now,” she purrs, wrapping her legs around me as she nips at my ear.
“Killing really does turn you on, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, especially when you’re here with me.” She bites harder on my lobe, and fuck, I hiss at the sting of pain. “I want to skin them all alive for what they’ve done to you.”
Rising up, I look down into her nearly blown eyes, her pupils so black from the high she’s on.
“Let’s skin them all alive then, Angel.”
She grins wickedly before slamming her lips into mine, and I momentarily wonder if I can’t just give her what she wants and fuck her right here, right now, while the war is exploding around us.
“Would you two quit it?” Barrett’s harsh tone bursts our bubble as he kicks my foot, breaking our kiss.
When I rear back, Lily and I grin at each other, and she giggles.
“Whoops.” She scrunches up her nose like she’s embarrassed that we just got told off by her cousin, and it’s so fucking cute. “Let’s do this.”
She wags her brows, and I chuckle, rising off her to pull her up.
Most of the gunfire has died down now. Those left standing now use knives or fists, so we turn to face our enemies, fighting side by side until we make it to the door leading into the front of the warehouse.
As we go, the Barrett clones fight alongside us, with the man himself on our heels, but by the time we get down the metal stairs, Barrett tumbles to the floor, a trail of blood running from his leg.
“He’s shot,” I hiss, grabbing his arm as Lily grabs his other.
“Jesus, Barrett, I’m shot, too, but you don’t see me falling to the ground dramatically.”
Lily’s teasing has Barrett chuckling, but when he opens his mouth to speak, his eyes roll into the back of his head.
“Over there.” I bob my head to the side where there’s a little nook in the shadows, and we drag Barrett there, setting him down against the wall as Lily rips off his belt and secures it above the bullet wound on his leg.
“He okay, Lil?” one of the Barrett clones calls out, and she stiffens, not looking at him, but nodding.
“He will be, but we need to get him patched up.”
I glance at the guy who looks older than Barrett, and realise that although he looks like Lily’s cousin, there are some notable differences.
This guy looks evil as fuck. Like the Devil himself.
“Barrett, wake up,” Lily snaps, slapping his cheek, and I take in his pale skin.
Shit. This isn’t good.
A shadow looms behind us, and Lily quickly turns, her gun raised, ready to shoot.
“Shit, Rose. I nearly shot you.” Lily’s shoulders drop in relief, her eyes falling to mine. “This is Rose, a fellow… consultant.”
I peer back at a small framed woman. Blonde hair, probably in her early thirties.
I get Lily’s meaning immediately. Consultant… Rose is an assassin.
“Rose?” Barrett mumbles, his eyes still closed.
“Shhh. Don’t speak,” Lily orders him, and he mumbles something incoherent as Lily turns back to her friend. “Thanks for coming to help. I guess Barrett called you?”
Rose’s silence is what makes me turn, eyeing her as she slowly lifts her gun and aims it at Lily.
“What are you doing?” Lily asks, shock evident in her tone.
“Don’t take it personally, Lily,” she sneers with a thick French accent. “I need the money, and since you get all the fucking jobs around here, I’m a little short. This will give me a boost and ensure I get all the future work.”
Lily is silent for a moment before she starts laughing like a crazy woman, standing to her full five ten height.
“It was you,” Lily snaps, her lip curling as she eyes Rose. “You were the fourth one that got away at the church, weren’t you?”
I stiffen, remembering that night at the church and the ambush Lily stepped into.
There were four of them there, ready to kill Lily, and the small framed one got away.
It was fucking Rose… her so-called friend.
“The other three were bad planners.” Rose shrugs. “They deserved to die.”
Lily scoffs. “Too bad you won’t get the bounty. Even if you do kill me, you’ll never make it past my brothers and cousin.”
I stiffen as I stand, my eyes going wide at Lily’s words before I take in the three Barrett clones that are now standing behind Rose, their guns trained on her.
Her… brothers?
She just said that, right?
Rose’s eyes go wide as she glances over her shoulder, realising she’s outnumbered.
I don’t wait for her to decide if she’s going to try to take Lily out regardless. I lunge for her, smacking the gun from her grip before I slam into her, taking her down. Her gun skitters across the concrete floor as she tries to struggle, and I fight hard to keep her in place.
She may be small, but she’s skilled.
“Asher! Move!” Lily yells, and I do as she asks, rolling off Rose before the loud bang of a gun echoes through the space.
Glancing up, I see my Angel standing over Rose, the gun still pointed at her, with faint tendrils of smoke rising from the tip of the barrel.
Fuck, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
We lock eyes, and she smirks, holding her hand out to me, not even flinching at the bullet graze on her arm.
The moment I’m standing, I tug her to me, disregarding the lifeless body on the ground as I wind my arms around her.
“I fucking love you,” I rasp before claiming her lips, and she melts into me, kissing me back.
“You didn’t tell us she had a fucking toy boy,” a deep voice mutters behind us, but we don’t stop, a few deep chuckles coming from the others.
“Apparently they can’t fucking wait until they get somewhere private to reunite,” Barrett grumbles, his voice weak but holding his typical annoyance.
“Looks like it,” another voice says as I kiss Lily deeper, our tongues lashing for control.
“We have the brothers and Monty.” An unfamiliar voice speaks this time. “We can keep watch over them until you’re ready to deal with them.”
Lily breaks our kiss, and I have to fight the urge to punch whoever the fuck just spoke for interrupting us.
“Who the fuck are you?” the menacing Devil reincarnated asks, and the guy, wearing black tactical gear, shrugs.
“We are friendlies, sent in by an ally of Lily’s.”
My brows shoot up as I glance at Lily, noting everyone else does the same.
“What?” Lily looks confused as she addresses who I assume is one of her brothers. “These guys aren’t your men?”
“Not fucking ours,” he snarls, his fists balling.
The tactical guy’s phone starts ringing, and he answers it, his eyes flicking to Lily before he steps forward, holding the phone out.
“It’s for you.”
Growling, Lily takes the phone, and we all watch as she stiffens before turning to walk off, giving herself more privacy.
“Who the fuck is she talking to?” the scary brother snaps, and another one rolls his eyes.
“Calm the fuck down, Devon. She didn’t run away twenty years ago for you to step back in and try to control everything again.”
“Shut up, Warrick. No one asked you for your fucking opinion,” Devon snaps, looking like he wants to strangle Warrick.
“Hey there.” Another Barrett look-a-like steps forward, holding his hand out. “I’m Griffin. Barrett’s brother. And these moody fuckers,” he turns and bobs his head towards Devon and Warrick, “are Lily’s brothers.”
“Uh, hey,” I mutter, taking his hand with a shake, before glancing back at Barrett, who still looks fucking pale but is conscious. “I’m Asher.”
When I face them again, they’re all scrutinising me, their gazes dark, especially Devon’s.
“How fucking old are you?” he barks.
“Old enough,” I snap, standing taller and gearing up for a fucking fight if necessary.
“Back off, Devon.” Lily’s voice comes from behind me right before her hand comes to rest on the small of my back. “You don’t get to have an opinion about the man I love.”
“Love?” Devon scoffs. “Is he even older than your sons?”
I grit my fucking teeth, my fists balling at my sides before Lily steps forward, holding out the phone to the tactical guy, still waiting patiently.
“Your boss knows where to take Monty and the MacKenzie brothers,” she says, shifting to hook her arm with mine. “Burn this place to the ground. And remember, no one gets to kill the MacKenzie brothers or Monty except for me and Asher. Got it?”
“Ah, sure,” he responds, his brows raised. “You really the Crimson Angel?”
She doesn’t answer him, instead dismissing him with a wave of her hand and glaring back at the three newcomers.
Her brothers and cousin.
“Why are you here?” she snaps, and Griffin is the one to answer.
“You’ll never stop being a Marx, Lily. You can put oceans between us, but that fact won’t change. So when one of our own needs us, we fucking show up.”
I feel her relax next to me, not like she’s relieved, but more in defeat.
“You could just say thank you,” Devon snaps, and fuck, now her hold on my arm is biting as her anger flares to the surface.
“When did you become such a prick?”
“What do you mean, when?” Warrick chuckles. “This fucker has always been a prick.”
“Yeah, to you,” Lily scoffs, and Devon simply shrugs his shoulders.
“It’s just my natural fucking charm.”
Griffin snickers at his cousin before addressing Lily again.
“It’s time, Lil.”
“Time?” I ask, my gaze dancing between him and my Angel.
She glances up at me, her blue eyes glassy with unshed tears as Griffin answers.
“It’s time to come home… back to Australia.”