Chapter 27
Damien
The Next Day
‘Circle With Me’ - Spiritbox
Viking is a big motherfucker. He barely fits in the back seat, and it was almost comical watching him crawl in after Grease. I could’ve let him sit in the front, but there was no way I was making my twenty-eight-week pregnant wife struggle to get in and out of our car.
But she has to do this, doesn’t she?
This plan still pisses me off.
Carter and Zeke are ahead of us, and Alex is pulling up from behind.
That way, if anyone is watching the cameras, they’ll be looking at Alex as he comes in the entry gate, while Ashia and the guys get out to walk through the front.
When Carter checked the cameras earlier, mostly everyone was in the training area.
So, it should be smooth sailing for her as long as she gets inside without Satori noticing.
Grease and Viking are just for protection.
I would’ve paid Grease to do it, because he’s already done enough for us, but Viking?
That motherfucker owes us.
The bulletproof vest Zeke had for Ashia is too small to fit over her belly, and that makes me even more nervous.
There’s no way I’ll let anyone get close enough to her with a gun to make us miss it, anyway, but she can always use more protection.
If it were up to me, I’d walk her in surrounded by a bulletproof glass bubble, but apparently they don’t make those.
We also can’t call the ‘First Lady’ protocol prior to our arrival like we normally do, otherwise, it would alert Satori.
So, she knows that the moment she steps into the Batcave to lock it and fucking stay there.
But I also know how stubborn my wife is.
That’s exactly why Grease and I had our own little talk before we left the house.
I don’t believe he would let anything happen to my wife regardless, but I had to make sure he understood.
Somehow, he and Ashia got close while I was away, and I’m shocked by how much more I respect Grease because of it.
Viking? Not so much.
My heart rate spikes the moment we pull up to the entry gate behind Zeke and Carter.
I adjust my hold on my wife’s stomach, practically creating another seatbelt with my arm, and take a deep breath to try and settle my nerves.
My gaze moves over to her, and the worry on her face is like a gunshot to the chest.
“You don’t have to do this. I can just walk right in there and shoot him in the face.”
That makes her giggle, but I’m sure she knows that I’m completely fucking serious.
“The moment you step inside looking all angry, Damien, he’s going to know something is up.
It’s okay. We can’t let him do anything that would jeopardize the men’s safety.
I’m just worried about you. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you got hurt.
” She rakes her nails on the back of my hand in random patterns and looks down to watch herself.
I grip her chin in my hand and force her gaze back to me, not willing to let her hide from me.
“I’ll be okay. Nothing is going to keep me from you ever again. You got that?” I stare deeply into her eyes, feeling a piece of me crack the moment she nods back. “Maybe I should give you a gun…”
“They’ve each got one, if not two, and…” She moves her sweater to the side to unveil the strapped knife on her thigh—the same one I gave her a few months ago for the Dust party. “Small but deadly, remember?” She fucking winks at me, and I think that one look just healed whatever tried to break.
“Fuck, I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She reaches across the middle console to kiss me in soft, yet urgent affection, like she’s been wanting to do it then entire ride over.
I mentally curse myself when I have to pull back to keep driving, but I also swear that will not be the last time I kiss her.
That will not be the last time I tell her I love her.
We will make it out of this on the other side, and then she’ll do nothing but spend her days with her feet propped up and watching movies until her perfect little body can’t hold our little girl anymore.
When we pull just far away enough from Alex entering the gate, I stop the car and kiss her another time, desperate to feel her again before she ultimately gets out of the car.
She steps out, already looking much stronger than me.
Even at only five-foot-four, she looks so tall and sure standing off to the side, waiting for her bodyguards to exit the car.
“Keep your fucking phone on you,” I demand, realizing how damn dumb that sounds. Of course she’s going to keep her phone on her. I can’t help but say it anyway, knowing I’ll have no other way to keep tabs on her.
“You got it, babe.” She blows me a soft kiss and turns to walk inside.
I punch the steering wheel and keep going, absolutely despising this plan.
My vote went to either sniping the motherfucker or dragging him down into one of the black rooms, but no, we had to worry about his insane followers.
Keeping her close, but out of the way, is the best way to ensure her safety.
The Batcave has an extensive locking system. She’ll be okay once she’s there.
We pull in one after another, and we’re all out and standing before I can take another breath.
There’s a heaviness in the air that should be like any other late November morning, but it’s as if the forest around us knows what’s about to happen.
The cold breeze swipes over the back of my neck, prickling bumps along my skin.
All four of us fall into step the moment the last car door shuts, ready to get this shit started. Satori is not making it out of here alive, but the show is necessary. Not only to keep him from doing anything with the system or exposing us, but to tell everyone else what he’s done.
I burst through the doors without another thought, already gearing up for the fight. My eyes find him almost instantly. He’s on the other side of the training area, standing with a group of his men with a smug smile on his face.
“Macher!” I yell, grabbing everyone’s attention.
The moment his eyes meet mine, the animosity between us explodes.
Whatever heaviness that was in the air is now thick with anger, coating everyone and everything in this place.
We keep our momentum and storm towards him.
Because he’s a confident, arrogant son of a bitch, he smirks and crosses his arms, standing in his spot and making us come to him.
“What’s got your panties in a twist, Hartley?
” His smirk only grows, stoking the fire in my chest. The instant I step close enough to him, I throw my fist out and connect with his jaw.
I take in the sting through my arm like an old friend.
He falls back, and I move to follow him, but his men around us shove me back, keeping me away.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” He turns to cut his eyes at me, getting up on his knees.
“Do your men know what you’ve been up to?! What you’ve done?!”
When he stands again, any amusement is gone. His face has hardened to stone, and just like we thought, he immediately looks over to the side of the room, no doubt at Kade.
“The only thing I’ve been up to is covering your ass! I really hoped your time away would help you get your mind straight, but it’s clear there isn’t much that can help you!”
“Don’t start spewing your bullshit, Satori!” Zeke screams and steps up beside me. “You’re done!”
“We know what you did, and what you’re trying to do here. If you think you’re getting away with it, you’re mistaken.” I match Zeke’s tone.
“And what is it you think I’ve done? Hm?” Satori throws his hands out and jerks his head forward. “Besides fixing your messes, what have I done?!”
“We know you’re working with Avery. We know you tried to get Damien killed so you could take over Devil’s Hands,” Carter interjects, stepping up to my other side.
Satori just laughs. It makes the vein in my neck throb.
“Do you now?” He spins and looks at everyone as they come closer.
I don’t know if they realize it or not, but people are already choosing sides, either gravitating towards me or him.
I’m shocked when some of his men step towards us, but it just fuels the energy charging in the room.
Even the dogs prance up behind me, and I can tell by the rattling of their collars.
“And I’m sure there’s some long, drawn-out plan to go with this?
Where’s your proof? If you’re so sure I’ve done something of that magnitude, prove it!
” He crosses his arms once again and stares me down.
“You have nothing on me,” he says smugly.
He starts to walk around, circling us as he addresses the men. The breaths I take in and out of my nose shake with the rest of my body from barely contained rage.
“Who has been here the entire time?” he yells, eyeing each of the men one at a time. “Who has held this place down while he was seeing ghosts?”
“You told Hugo who our moles were!” Alex screams, trying to step past me, but I plant my hand on his shoulder to keep him back. “You’re the reason Jeromy, Bradley, and Darren are dead! Ezra died because of you!” Their names gut me, sending flashes of their decaying bodies across my vision.
“Who?” Satori acts dumbfounded, as if he’s never heard their names…
like they never mattered. I almost gag. “I wasn’t even around before you finished Dust!
Do you hear yourself?” He makes his way back in front of us, snarling his lip.
“You three are so committed to Damien that you’re falling into his delusions! ”
“Nothing about what has happened to us is a delusion!” Carter yells.
“But who led you there?!” Satori yells back, striking my heart. “Who has made all of this happen?!”
“You,” I seethe. He takes his eyes off of Carter and moves over to me. He snarls again in a humorous sneer.