Chapter Thirty
My stomach churned at the sight of Dontell standing in front of Kavi, who was hanging down by a chain, Dontell”s chest heaving as he demanded answers. Jeremy was against the far wall by the lever the chain was suspended from, his face clouded. Dontell was also shirtless, his dark skin shining with sweat, his muscles displaying a kind of power I didn’t know he had.
Collin was nowhere I could see, but I could feel his presence within the building.
Cain tugged me inside, the door falling shut behind us with a bang as I took a look around the space, wanting to focus on anything other than Kavi.
The warehouse was old, but not as old as Oasis. There were old machines behind Kavi, and I assumed this was once a packing facility. The Dark Horse I’d driven out of Seattle was parked inside, along with the car Dontell had driven. The other three cars were left in Seattle; we had no choice but to abandon them. The idea of keeping them was a dream, and James later told us that they were taken into evidence by the local PD, that bringing the FBI into Devils Den made some pretty big waves and he, along with Agent Roosevelt, were watching the people on the Red List closely to see if they would go into hiding.
Joseph Grayson, the man who provided us with a retired C-130 plane, left the second we touched down in St. Louis. He signed James’ NDA without argument, stopped by Sullie’s for a quick bite (per Sullie), and then he was gone. Cain had told me Grayson was a bounty hunter, a friend to the cowboys at Hallow Ranch.
“We’ll be heading out in forty-eight hours.”
I turned my head to find Leon, Amara, and Mina all leaning against the wall. Mina and Amara were watching Dontell interrogate Kavi while Leon had a cellphone to his ear, looking at his feet. Cain and I walked over, and once we were two feet from them Lee said, “Oasis owes Hallow Ranch a great debt, Denver.”
Denver Langston was the eldest of the Langston brothers. I hadn’t had the chance to meet him yet, but Mina told me he was a handsome but terrifying cowboy. She also said that his wife, Valerie, was one of the sweetest people in the world.
Lee held out the phone to Cain. “Cowboy wants a word with you.”
Cain took the phone, putting it on speaker for everyone to hear. “What do you need, Denver?”
“Just giving you my condolences, Cain,” he said, his voice low.
I looked at Cain, finding his jaw tight as he looked away from us. “Appreciate it,” he muttered.
“I’m also offering my mountain to Oasis.”
All eyes snapped down the phone in Cain’s hand. Behind us, Kavi was screaming.
“What?” Mina breathed, looking at her brother.
Lee spoke up. “Denver, that isn’t necessary.”
“Oasis welcomed my wild brother with open arms when he thought he didn’t have anyone,” the cowboy clipped. “It is damn necessary. You, Jeremy, and Dontell gave Mason something in a time when I couldn’t.”
“Yeah, and you letting us use Hallow Ranch for months was enough,” Leon countered.
“Your connections in the FBI are only going to get you so far,” Denver said, the tone in his voice laced with heavy warning.
We remained silent, and I looked over my shoulder, my eyes landing on Kavi. His head was bent, his breathing ragged, his chest covered in holes and lacerations, trails of blood coming from each one. His face was also beaten bloody, and I knew in my gut that was due to Leon. That’s when it hit me.
All the boys were getting a turn, saving Cain for last.
They were giving the Cain the honor of killing the head of the Bratva.
“Do what you need to do. Get your answers. After that, bring that sorry son of bitch’s ashes to Hallow Ranch, because they’re going on the mountain,” Denver vowed before ending the call.
“When does he want us there?”
Cain and I turned to find Jeremy standing a few feet away, his eyes on the phone.
“In forty-eight hours,” Lee answered.
Jer nodded. “Good. I’ll give Mason a call later.”
“He also wants us to bring Kavi’s ashes,” Cain told him.
Jeremy jerked. “What?”
“He wants them on the mountain,” Mina explained. “What the hell does that mean?”
Jer’s brows furrowed as he looked own, lost in his own thoughts. “That fucking mountain.”
“What’s the deal with the mountain?” I asked, looking back and forth between him and Leon.
“Long story,” they said at the same time.
Cain gave me a look, holding my eyes for a while. Our stare was broken when Dontell called his name.
It was time.
Darkness swirled in Cain’s light eyes, a shadow coating his features as the thirst for vengeance took over.
He looked over to Kavi and then back to me. “Part of me doesn’t want you seeing this,” he muttered, brushing his knuckle across my cheek. “But the other part wants you to see what happens to anyone who hurts you or our family.”
My hand wrapped around his wrist as everything we’d been through and overcome flashed before me—memories of us as children, giggling and reading in my room at night, riding the bus, me sneaking him food from my kitchen in the middle of the night because he was so hungry, those memories shifted to us as teenagers, of me watching the quiet blonde boy grow into an angry young man, his beauty beyond words, then to the first time I realized I was in love with him, working on his Jeep in the backyard. He’d given me the biggest smile when he realized I was back from the short trip Dad and I had taken. I fell for him then, and I hadn’t stopped falling since.
“I love you,” I croaked, my thumb rubbing his wrist.
The last few months flashed through my mind, reminding me of all the pain I’d healed from, the precious moments he’d given me, the way he’d loved me and watched over me when I didn’t even watch him to. Earlier in his office should’ve scared me. Having a tiny tracker inside my neck should’ve scared me, but it didn’t.
I mattered to him.
He mattered to me.
There was nothing that could ever come between us again.
Cain didn’t respond, his eyes sharp and intense as he waited for my reassurance before I murmured, “Make it hurt.”
A slow, wicked smile spread across his face. Then, he was turning on his heel, walking to Kavi as the rest of us stayed back and watched. In the middle of Kavi’s agony, Mina stood beside me, holding my hand.
My eyes never left Cain.
This went on for over an hour and when Kavi was barely holding on, his life hanging by a thread, Collin appeared from the shadows, but he wasn’t alone.
James Garner was on his left, Dean Connors on his right.
The FBI agent was dressed in plain clothes, the ex-baseball player with a barbed-wire baseball bat leaning on his shoulder.
“Hope we aren’t too late for the finale,” Dean greeted Cain, who was covered in Kavi’s blood. His hair was wild, his eyes shining with madness as he grinned from ear to ear.
The sight of my street racer like that should’ve scared me, but it didn’t.
He pointed to the bat on Dean’s shoulder. “You bring me a present, Connors?”
Dean smirked then, saying nothing.
“Before we get to that,” James interrupted, looking over to us and curling his finger, beckoning us to join him. Once we were all in front of Kavi, standing in a semi-circle, James pulled out a file from the Bureau.
By some twisted fucking miracle, Kavi”s eyes were on us as he panted. He still hadn’t given into the pain, still very aware of where he was—who he was.
“Before I let Mr. Donovan get away with murder, Mr. Kavi, I just wanted to go over a few things with you,” James began. “Firstly, your offshore bank accounts, including the ones in Russia, have been closed. Your assets, or what’s left of them, are considered evidence. As for the drugs and guns…those will be handed to a more…qualified party.”
The men around me and Mina as we shared a look.
Holy shit, Oasis was getting it.
“As for the remaining members of the Bratva, they will be spending the rest of their lives in a Russian prison,” James continued, slapping the folder closed and taking a step towards the broken man. “And as for the women and children you were trafficking…” He trailed off, dropping the file onto the floor. It landed in a pool of Kavi’s blood, and when I looked back up, I found James gripping Kavi by the throat. “They’re all safe.”
Kavi’s eyes widened as he struggled to breathe.
James grinned. “I love watching bastards like you lose,” he said, releasing Kavi’s neck.
Kavi gasped for air as Cain held out his hand to Dean. Once the bat was in Cain’s hands, he tested its weight for a moment. “I can see the appeal.”
“Certainly gets the job done,” Collin hummed, clearly enjoying every second of this.
“Quickly too,” Dean added.
Cain looked at me, his eyes taking in every inch of me as he raised the bat over his shoulder. “You still want me to make it hurt, clover?”
I didn’t miss a fucking beat. “Absolutely.”
Before Cain swung the bat, he gave me that beautiful smile, and I knew we were going to be okay.
Revenge was served.
Oasis was safe.
Our family was mostly whole.
Yeah, we’d be okay.