Chapter 17 #3
When we arrive home, Viktor winks at me, and Kit gives me a thumbs up.
They all know I got some on the way here, and I can’t help but puff up like a peacock as I walk toward the house.
Georgiy is mine, and he’s wearing my ring.
And in turn, I’m wearing his cum. It sits in my belly and is sticking to my skin.
Le sigh.
Everything is so good, despite some of the recent findings about my past and how nonexistent it is, life is good.
Nothing can go wrong. Nothing. Not when I have Georgiy by my side and my dick in his hand.
I’m in the shower while Georgiy meets with Anthony, giving him the update on what we found out, when things go sideways. As I turn off the shower, I hear it. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Gunshots in quick succession.
My heart rate picks up, and I rush out of the bathroom, throwing on a pair of boxers that are lying discarded on the floor.
I don’t know whose they are. But I don’t care.
The sounds of the gunshots continue, and I suddenly worry for everyone.
For Georgiy, Anthony, and Agatha. Oh fuck. Where are they? Are they safe?
I grab a knife from one of my hiding spots behind a hallway picture, toppling it to the ground, glass shattering as it goes. No time to care, I just charge forward. In the distance, behind the landing leading to the stairs, I see Jax crouching down, his gun out. He sees me and waves me over.
“What’s going on?” I ask, skidding to a stop near him.
“I don’t know! Shit,” he murmurs as he lifts up and unloads his clip. “They just ambushed us out of nowhere.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, Bane.” He’s annoyed with me. I’m annoyed with me. But I have questions.
“Is it the Sirens, you think?”
“Fuck if I know. Probably.”
“Where is Georgiy?”
“I don’t know. Fuck. Where is Kit?” He sounds slightly panicked, and I glance over and launch my knife at a man trying to sneak up behind us through the window.
It lands right in his eye socket, and I squeal, clapping my hands together as he topples over.
But my excitement dissipates when I realize that we’re in the middle of an attack.
That any of my friends and family could be hurt.
That Georgiy could be as well.
“I need a gun,” I tell Jax as I rush over to the man and pull the knife out of his head. It comes out with an audible schlick.
“There’s one right over there,” he says as I wipe the bloody blade on my boxers. “But be careful. I don’t know where the fuck any of them are. And I don’t know how many.”
I don’t listen to anything else. I just crouch low and make my way to the hidden passageway in the wall.
Jax is right behind me, I can feel him breathing on my neck.
My hand slides into his, and I squeeze, leading him through the dark tunnel to Anthony’s office.
When we get to the opening, Jax stops right behind me, his chest pressed to my back.
“Can you hear anything?” he asks.
“No, it’s too loud.” I pull the lever, and the door opens an inch. I peer through, unable to see anything past the bookshelves.
I slide through, moving in the shadows, Jax behind me, his gun out and swiveling around.
As we inch our way toward the seating area of his office and the place Anthony usually sits behind his desk, we hear it. A quiet sob.
That makes something ugly curl in my chest.
They’re hurting them. Someone I love is hurting.
My vision narrows as I slink forward ahead of Jax.
It’s then I see Anthony on his knees, a gun to his head, Tatum pushed down on the desk, a man standing behind him, a knife held to his throat.
Both are bleeding, but I can see that it’s Tatum who is crying.
Anthony is stoic. Fury pulses off him. The men holding them hostage are going to die a slow and painful death.
I don’t even hesitate. I refuse to wait and let Tatum be hurt again.
With a twist of my wrist my knife flicks out at the man holding a gun on Anthony, and it lands satisfyingly in his neck.
His arm reaches up, grabbing his fatal wound in shock.
The gun drops to the floor. It’s all Anthony needs to surge forward, the gun swooped up and drawn.
The man holding Tatum widens his eyes, his arm jerking as if to stab him, but suddenly he’s slumped backward, his head nothing but matter splattered across the office wall.
Anthony rushes to Tatum, picking him up and cradling him.
“Where’s Georgiy? Agatha?” I ask.
“And Kit,” Jax croaks.
“Find them,” he bites out, pulling Tatum toward the secret wall panel. I know he’s going to get him to safety and then take care of everything else. He couldn’t stand it if Tatum were injured again.
They disappear, and I grab my knife before Jax and I move toward the office door, listening as more gunshots are fired in quick succession. It’s amazing the police haven’t shown up yet, but it is a remote location. There’s a reason Anthony has gotten away with so much for so long.
Jax flings the door open and peers out, moving in front of me, clearing the space as we make our way toward the kitchen.
There we find Agatha on the ground, hunched over, with Nova, Casey, and Ellery guarding the entrance. Nova has a shotgun, and Ellery is standing there with a butcher knife dripping with blood.
“Is everyone all right?”
“It happened so quickly. Fuck,” Nova says, eyeing Agatha, who has a cut on her forehead.
“You hurt?” I ask, rushing toward her, my chest constricting in concern. She’s like a mother to me, the only one I’ve ever known.
“I’m fine, little bug. Just a scratch.”
I still let my hands roam across her body, making sure. She wasn’t lying. The only place she’s injured is her forehead, which I’ll get patched up as soon as every motherfucker who infiltrated this place is dead.
“You keep watch over her,” I tell Casey, and then grab onto Ellery’s hand. I know they’re new, but I feel a kindred spirit with them.
“Come on. You can throw that, right?”
Ellery nods. “I sure can. I’ve got great aim as well. Never done it in real life until today, but I can feel I was made for this.”
“Jesus,” Jax murmurs, but I let it go. I believe what Ellery is saying, and honestly, I want Casey to stay behind to keep Agatha safe.
“We need to find everyone else,” I tell Ellery and Nova.
They nod as Jax leads the way through the rest of the house.
We move past some guest rooms and into the conservatory, where Mikhail and Angel are surrounded by dead bodies.
Blood is splattered everywhere. Plants have been blown to bits, leaves and dirt still fluttering in the air.
It’s destroyed, as if someone came at them with a machine gun.
“Who’s there?” Angel calls out, his voice angry and full of ire.
I mean, anyone who knows him knows not to go after his plants. It’s a death sentence.
“Bane! Don’t shoot,” I call out and proceed forward with Jax, Ellery, and Nova.
Angel is standing in the middle of it all with a machine gun in his arms, smoke still coming from it. Ah, so it was he who blasted through it all. He had a good reason.
“I killed them all,” he says softly as Mikhail steps toward him, his own gun in his right hand.
He grins wickedly. “You did.”
“They were trying to get you, and Jake and Teddy,” he says, and Mikhail touches his lips before pulling him in for a kiss. They look like they’re about to fuck right here in the midst of the chaos.
“No time for kisses. Have you guys seen Kit or Georgiy? Luca or Viktor?”
They shake their heads as Teddy comes out from behind a large pot, Jake shoved behind him. I see Jake’s frightened eyes, a shovel clutched in his hands. He’s trembling.
“You okay?” I ask and sign at the same time.
Jake nods and then shakes his head, allowing Teddy to reach around and pull him into his side.
“We’ll find out who’s behind this,” I murmur and then continue forward, needing to find Georgiy. Needing to touch him, to make sure he’s alive and unhurt.
If he isn’t, I will burn the world down.
We leave Mikhail and Angel with Jake and Teddy, knowing they can take care of themselves, and move outside.
It’s there that we see the guards who work for Anthony hunkered down behind whatever they can throughout the property.
They’re behind benches, the fountain, and a few large vases Angel had imported from Italy.
And most seem okay. But there are several who are dead. I can tell just from looking at them. Their eyes are unseeing, blood seeping from between their lips.
Hell and damnation. Georgiy better not be hurt. If he’s bleeding, I will tear everyone apart. I will make sure they hurt for weeks. Months even. I’ll keep them alive so they can suffer.
My eyes blink, and behind a large statue is Doc. He’s hovering over an injured soldier, his hand pressed on a man’s leg, blood seeping out.
“Who’s that?” Jax asks, his voice low and angry. “Oh fuck, it’s Apollo.”
Someone recently hired, it seems.
“You know him?” I ask Jax.
He swallows and then nods. “I recommended him for the job.”
“He’ll be in good hands with Doc. He won’t let him die.”
Suddenly, Ellery twists around and launches their butcher knife at a bush. A grunt meets my ears, and a man falls over, the blade sticking out from his chest.
“Fucking nice one,” Jax murmurs, and Ellery grins for a moment before it turns into a frown.
“I’m impressed I landed it. It was a long shot.” Their accent slips slightly, and for a moment, they sound less Bostonian and more Irish.
“You did well,” I tell them, and then point at it. “Better go get it before someone else does.”
Ellery hunches down and crawls forward to retrieve it. They reach out and stomp their boot on the man’s chest before yanking. The blade comes out with a crack, and Jax winces.
“Fuck. That’s nasty. I prefer bullets.”
“I prefer knives and saws,” I say.
“Diablo should be here,” Jax says.
“Right? It would be such fun.”