Chapter Twenty-Four
“Your brother will meet you in Seattle,” Collin said.
We’d just taken our seats after spending the last few minutes having everyone congratulate us. Then, we got the run down on everything that’s happening.
Dean and Gwen’s daughter was doing well at home until this shit was done.
Ex-Mayor Gellings was sentenced to life in prison, having had a speedy trail. Watterson’s trial was still ongoing. For the last week, Amara, with Agent Roosevelt, had been bouncing back and forth between the courthouse, the hospital where Officer Bryce was, and the rehabilitation center where Carrie Hale, the mayor’s daughter, was. There was no change in Bryce’s condition, but his rock star brother hadn’t left his side in over a month, canceling tour dates and refunding tickets. Carrie Hale was the same as well, not wanting to eat or drink—not wanting to live. No one could blame her, not after the nightmare she’d lived.
Dontell had successfully transferred all of Oasis’ assets to different banks, including multiple offshore accounts. He started this process months ago after Nik’s attack and finally completed the process earlier today after leaving Ivan to die. The process had to be slow and inconspicuous for the protection of everyone here. Oasis stopped all transport of guns and drugs in January, and until this was over, business was put on hold. The assets we had in the accounts were all we had—for now.
Collin and his men were spread out all over the country, taking out various members of the Bratva. His men were on the ground and slithering their way into Kavi’s local watering holes. With Ivan out of the way, the Bratva’s ranks were scrambling. According to the Mafia leader, we had thirty Bratvas in some brothel in Moscow, waiting the kill order.
James and Haley were currently at Quantico, getting a team ready in case shit went south at Devils Den.
“Xander stays out of this,” Cain said from beside me.
Collin’s head ticked to the side. “Xander is my man. I’ll tell him where he needs to go.”
I felt Cain tense beside me, and my hand went to his thigh. The last thing we fucking needed was him fighting the fucking Mafia boss.
“Tell us what you know about Devils Den,” Collin ordered, the rest of the table silent.
Cain leaned way from me to get something out of his bag. When he rose up, he had an iPad in one hand, his other one working the screen. My eyes never left his face, watching his pale blue eyes dance over whatever he was working on. A few seconds later, he set the device on the table and slide it across.
“There’s the layout,” he said simply.
“How did you manage to get a layout of one of the most underground locations in America?” Sullie boomed. “You hack into it?”
Cain looked at the bar owner. “I drew that from memory.”
“But you haven’t been there in over ten years,” Mina noted in disbelief.
Cain looked to her. “Good memory.”
“Indeed,” Collin muttered, studying the layout. After a moment, he handed the device to Jer, who was sitting on the other side of Kay.
“Right,” Cain began. “Nik and I are leaving tomorrow morning—”
“We,” Leon cut him off.
“What?” I breathed.
“We are leaving tomorrow morning,” Dontell said, his voice firm.
My eyes bounced back and forth between the two street racers. “What do you mean?”
Lee’s eyes met mine. “We’re coming with you.”
I couldn’t find the words; my heart had leaped into my throat.
We’re coming with you.
“We can’t—”
“Did you honestly think we were going to let you walk into the fire alone, Cain?” This came from Mina who was sitting between her brother and Dontell, her forearms braced on the table, her eyes fierce.
“What about Oasis?” I asked, looking back to Jer. “Who”s going to protect our home while we’re gone?”
It wasn’t until after my words were hanging in the air that I realized the gravity of them, the sheer force. My throat thickened as I tried to swallow as the rest of the group stared at me. Slowly, I felt Cain’s large, warm hand slide over mine, his fingers wrapping around mine, comforting me.
“You leave that to us,” Kay chimed in, her sweet voice fluttering around the table. My eyes met hers as she looked over to Dean. “We can handle it,” she promised.
The ex-baseball player smirked at her before he looked over to Sullie and Dom. “That we can.”
Mina had told me their story a few weeks ago, and honestly, I was still blown away that they all made it out alive.
Jeremy stood, bracing his fists on the table as he looked at Dontell, Leon, and then Cain. “I’ll be staying here,” he announced. He looked down to Casey, studying her and the hand on her swollen belly for a moment before looking back up. “I have no choice, guys.”
“And it’s the right thing to do,” Dontell said softly, his eyes on Casey. Then, he lifted his chin to the Oasis leader. “Just make sure we have a home to come back to.”
“Okay, having four people changes things,” Cain noted, pulling the tablet back to him. He let go of my hand and began working both on the screen, expanding the 3D layout.
“Five,” a female voice said.
We both looked up at Mina. “Five people, Cain.”
“No,” Cain clipped. He looked at Dontell, then to Leon. “No.”
“My sister can handle herself,” Leon assured calmly leaning back into his chair.
“Damn right about that,” Dontell drawled, looking at her profile. Geez, that man was in love.
I spoke up. “What about Cleo?”
Mina looked over to Dean. “She’s staying with the Connors. Aiden misses his best friend.”
Dean gave her a smile. “He sure does, Mina.”
“And Amara?” Cain pressed. “How does she feel about this?”
Leon’s eyes flashed. “She’s the one who suggested it.”
My brows shot up, and then Mina shot me wink. I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing damn well that this was a group effort.
Cain had fallen silent beside me. I looked at him to find his brow pinched as he ran his finger over his lips, his eyes on the screen.
“Cain?”
He shook his head. “This isn’t going to work.”
“It will,” Dontell urged.
Cain looked up. “Not that. This,” he said, gesturing to the iPad. He looked at me. “I need a bigger screen.”
Casey piped up. “How big?”
His eyes met hers. “You got something for me, genius?”
She smiled, her honey eyes gleaming behind her glasses. “For you, Tony Stark? Oh yeah.”
Mina and I shared a look. She mouthed, “I’ll explain later.”
An hour later, the sun had set, and for the first time this week, the Oasis lot was quiet as we all stood in a half circle, looking up at a projector screen.
Cain was standing behind the table, his laptop in front of him as he bent down, bracing a hand on the table, the other typing on the keyboard. A lock of his blonde hair fell in front of his forehead, but that wasn’t the source of my distraction. It was his glasses.
Cain was wearing fucking glasses.
And I was losing my mind.
Mina was beside me as I felt her shift. Then, she let out a low hum. “Beauty and brains, huh?”
I looked at her, my lips twitching. “You would know more about that than me,” I told her, referring to Dontell.
She looked over to her man. “None of these men are just pretty,” she murmured. “Including my brother. These men are lethal.”
I looked back to Cain, putting my hands into the pockets of the jacket he’d given me a few minutes ago. When he was done typing, the projector screen, which was hanging down from the high ceiling by two thin chains, lit up. Everyone’s attention was captured then as we stared at the 3D layout of Devils Den Cain created.
A second later, I felt his heat behind me.
“How did you do this?” I asked softly, my eyes scanning over the entryways and overlaying grid of a chunk of Seattle as the others around us started talking. Leon and Collin leaned in, Lee pointing to the screen, Dontell, Mina, and Casey looking at the grid of the city.
“It”s pretty easy, baby,” he muttered, his voice just as soft.
I twisted my neck, my eyes meeting his. “I didn’t know you wore glasses,” I whispered.
His lips twitched. “Helps with the headaches.”
“Headaches?”
He jerked his head to the screen. “From the screens.”
“Tony Stark,” Casey called.
We both turned to find her gawking at the images on the screen. “What program is this?”
“Mine,” he said firmly.
The tech genius blinked. “Yours?”
“I do more than build engines,” he told her, amusement in his voice.
She nodded. “I’m impressed. I’ll make sure James doesn’t find about that brain of yours.”
“Yeah, the last thing pretty boy needs is a fucking badge,” Dontell added, rolling his eyes.
“As if his ego needed to get any bigger,” Mina laughed.
Cain shook his head. “Both of you shut up and pay attention,” he ordered with a smile on his face. The sight made my heart warm. Even though we were about to dive into some pretty bad shit, the people around us still managed to make us smile.
“This entry was sealed six months ago,” Collin shared, grabbing Cain’s attention. “So we can eliminate that.”
“Noted,” Cain muttered. His hand dropped to my mine, bringing it up to his chest. “Look at me,” he called softly.
I turned away from the group, meeting his pale blue eyes.
“You with me?” he whispered.
Nerves were eating at me, but nevertheless, I nodded. Of course I was with him. I’d be with him until the end. “Yes.”
“What I did—what I had to do for the Bratva—that wasn’t me,” he stressed, the rest of the world falling away around us.
“I know that,” I whispered.
Worry flickered in his eyes. “Nik, I—”
I put my hand to his face, my thumb stroking his sharp cheekbone. “I love you, Cain. That will never change, no matter what you say to me.”
He nodded, turning his head to kiss my palm. “Just got you back,” he huffed, laughing to himself. My heart stopped. “It’d be a fucking shame if I lost you now.”
I shook my head. “Wherever you go, I go,” I promised.
“Fuck, they’re cute.”
Slowly, we both turned our heads to find our family staring at us with warmth in their eyes. Leon and Jer were smirking, Dean and Dontell flat out grinning, Sullie and Dom were nodding, Collin wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were warm as he pulled Kay next to him. Casey looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Oh hell,” she cried as her tears began falling. She turned to Jer. “Look at them!”
He came to her. “I see them, honey.”
“How sweet is that?” she asked, blubbering.
Cain pressed a kiss to my temple. “Let’s get this over with, yeah?”
Our eyes met. “Yeah.”
For the last two hours, Cain had gone over everything he’d seen and heard that last time he was in Devils Den.
He also warned us that this model was ten years old, and it was very likely the owners had expanded it, but the Bratva had a private sector in a bar of sorts. Cain also explained that Devils Den was physically under the city of Seattle.
“So it’s a part of the Seattle Underground?” I asked. The Seattle Underground was a section of Seattle caused by Great Seattle Fire in 1889. It became the underground when the new city was re-built on top of it. Now, the public could tour these tunnels.
Cain looked at me. “That is just a small portion of Devils Den; they own it.”
“It’s a front,” Dom stated.
Cain nodded. “The rest of the Seattle Underground was declared unsafe by the city decades ago,” he explained. “That’s what the public thinks, and no once questions it.”
“Who owns Devils Den?” Mina asked, shifting on her feet beside me.
“No one knows,” Collin answered, his eyes on the screen.
“You sure it wasn’t Romano?” Dean pressed.
Romano was the former head of the Italian Mafia. Collin killed him over a year ago and took over. The man chuckled, shooting Dean a look. “Romano was powerful, but not that powerful.”
“But it’s not Kavi?” Leon asked, lifting his chin to Cain.
“Kavi’s too stupid,” Cain and Collin said that the same time.
My brows raised as the men looked at each other.
Cain cleared his throat. “Kavi only wants the rewards that power gives him, but he isn’t willing to work for it. That’s why he has other people do his dirty work.”
“Don’t underestimate him,” Mina warned. “He’s the man who had Cleo kidnapped because he saw Leon as a threat.”
Dontell and Leon looked at her, a chill settling over the space.
“He also killed Tiggy in front of me—after ambushing me not even a mile from here,” she added.
“Mina, he did that because he had all the cards in his hand,” Jer said. His eyes landed on me. “We’ve stripped his hand. He has nothing now.”
“That’s not true,” I countered, my eyes flicking up to the screen. “He has a damn good hiding spot.”
“Which is why we won’t be together,” Cain declared. All eyes went back to him. “Groups are suspicious. You don’t go to Devils Den for a party. You go to Devils Den to sell you fucking soul. It’s not a field trip.” His cold gaze slammed into me. “You will have a target on your back.”
I nodded. I knew the stakes. I knew how dangerous it was, but none of that was going to stop me.
I had something to fight for. I had people to fight for. I had a fucking family to fight for.
I had a home to fight for.
“It”s been awhile since I’ve stepped foot in there, but I will be recognized,” Cain said, turning to face us. He folded his arms over his chest. “But I’m something Kavi wants, so I can work with that.”
“And how do you plan on convincing him you want to switch sides?” Dontell asked. “To not put a bullet in your head the second he sees you?”
Cain’s eyes met mine once more, and my breath caught.
“I’ll be distraught and angry that the love of my life is dead—all because Oasis didn’t surrender when they had the chance.”
He was going to blame Oasis for my death.
Dean stepped forward. “You sure you can handle that?”
“I can handle whatever it takes to kill that fucking bastard,” Cain said, walking over to me. He gripped my chin, forcing me to hold his intense stare. “You’re the element of surprise, clover. You’re going to be the last thing he’d ever expect.”
I nodded.
He looked over to Mina, Leon, and Dontell. “If Kavi’s been talking, then you’ll be recognized,” he said, shifting both of us, pulling me to his side. His arm came around my waist, hooking his thumb through a belt loop on my jeans. “Leon, the target on your back will be bigger than the other two, especially with the bridges you burned after your father went missing.”
Leon’s father didn’t go missing. Leon killed his father in cold blood after the asshole put him in prison. After Leon busted out, he made it his purpose in life to destroy the kingdom his father had built in Texas.
“Are you sure?” Mina asked. “That was over a decade ago, and it was in Houston.”
“You don’t know how far those bridges went, sis,” Leon muttered as the siblings shared a look.
“One more thing,” Cain called, getting everyone’s attention once more. “We can’t take our cars.”
“Then we’ll take Kavi’s,” Dontell declared.
Cain smirked. “You aren’t touching that Dark Horse, D.”
“Fuck the Dark Horse. I want the BMW,” he shot back.
“Fine. I’ll take the Toyota, and we can go to my garage for the girls’ cars,” Leon jumped in.
Mina looked at me, and I blurted, “I want the 350z.”
Mina rolled her eyes. “I knew you were going to want that Fairlady,” she muttered.
I grinned at her. “I called it first.”
“Fine,” she sighed and looked at her brother, pursing her lips.
“This isn’t a shopping trip,” he reminded her.
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve been waiting years to pick one of your toys.”
“Just take the Subaru,” he told her.
She scrunched up her nose. “No.”
“Give her the Evo,” Dontell offered, stroking his beard.
Lee’s head snapped to his best friend. “I just won that this week.”
“Yeah? And you were planning on giving it to Cain to strip for parts.”
I looked at Cain. His jaw was tight.
“You still have that little MX-5?” Mina asked.
Her brother looked to the ceiling.
“The purple one?” I asked, trying to remember.
She nodded, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Oh yeah.”
“You’d look hot in that,” I told her as Dontell’s face split into a grin.
We both looked at Leon as he rubbed a palm down his face. “Fine,” he grunted.
Mina grinned at him.
“We settled then?” Cain asked, his voice serious.
“Yeah,” Lee muttered.
Cain turned everyone’s attention back to the screen, moving away from me towards the laptop, and began navigating us through the layout. He explained that we’d see a lot of drug deals and trafficking. Casey jumped in then, telling us that if we saw any trafficking, to not engage.
“The objective is to get Kavi,” Collin added. ”James and Roosevelt will be on stand-by.”
“What if we see children?” Mina asked, her voice quiet.
Silence followed.
“Col,” Kay said, breaking the silence.
The Mafia King turned to his wife, a silent conversation happening between them. After a few moments, he turned back to us. “Fuck what I just said. You see any flesh trade of any kind, call it in.”
“Stevens—”
“Call. It. In.” His teeth were bared, his eyes dilated, and for the first time since I’d known him, I saw the monster lurking underneath his handsome features and tattoos. “They haven’t met the goddamn devil yet,” he continued. “Call it in. Drop the location, and I’ll send Xander in.”
Cain shook his head. “Xander cannot enter Devils Den. No one can protect him.”
Collin’s head ticked to the side. “He can handle himself. Trust me.”
Cain looked like he wanted to argue, but something in Collin’s voice stopped him. It was the same thing that had my stomach twisting into knots. My lover continued going through the layout, stopping when we came to a small structure in the middle of a tunnel with pathways on both sides. “This is where Kavi will be.”
“How do you know?” Jer asked Cain.
“Because that’s where the bosses hang out. They don’t bother dirtying themselves with everything else,” Cain explained, his upper lips curling.
“Where did you hangout when he sent you there?” Dontell asked.
Cain was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t hang out anywhere, D. I went in, got the job done, and left.”
Jer stepped to the front, his face clouded and jaw tight. “You guys are to do the exact same, understood?” He looked at each of us. “You call in the shit you see and then keep fucking moving. Don’t try to be the hero; let Collin and James’ men handle that.
All of us turned to the screen then as a heavy silence slithered in, this one different than the rest. This one held a dark promise as a sense of doom lingered in the air, the reality settling on our shoulders.
We either came out of Devils Den alive…or we didn’t at all.