8. Andre
ANDRE
G one.
They fucking got away. By the time we’d reached the portion of the building that housed the boxes of product, the bay door was open and squealing tires echoed back to us. I took a chance and shot toward them, but they were gone, and my aim was shit.
What the fuck, man. I was normally an expert shooter. I had personally trained with some of our guards on sniper tactics and should have gotten one tire, at least.
“ Argh! ” I screamed into the high room of the dusty warehouse.
If it weren’t for the men who would be running around the side of the building at any second, I’d have unloaded my clip to release some of my pent-up frustration. Damn it.
It took two minutes before the first man trickled in.
“The outside is clear.” He was soaked in sweat, his shirt clinging to his body, but his voice was calm, unbothered. Like it wasn’t almost a hundred degrees and an extremely tense situation.
Another man ducked in. Then another.
“Clear the building, check for the two guards upstairs. Then meet us at the front entrance. The family that operates this place has to be here somewhere. They wouldn’t have left the building unattended.” I waved a hand to release them, then I turned.
Parker stood by the door, gripping his M-4 in his hands. His jaw worked as he stared at me. He was aching to throw in his opinion. In fact, it was probably killing him that he wasn’t running the show. But he fucked up.
And I wouldn’t let him forget it.
I brushed past him, checking his shoulder on my way. He cursed and followed behind me.
The entire walk back, I scanned the hallway and checked the offices.
The lights were out, but the windows made up for it.
Papers were scattered everywhere, and there were a few holes in the plaster here and there, most likely from this fight.
It wasn’t like this family was violent. From what I knew, they were quiet, kind people whose only evil deeds were producing drugs.
Other than that, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
This warehouse was one of the more well-run ones.
Which surprised me that this was the one Vicente decided to ransack.
Of all the operations he’d put out of commission, why the most profitable one? It didn’t make any sense. Unless he was just losing it. He’d always been unstable, demanded unreasonable outcomes, and when they weren’t delivered, it was never his fault for expecting too much.
My fury had dropped to a low simmer by the time we’d reached the lobby where Amorette and Lafe had been held.
It only took one look, and I was ready to blow shit up all over again.
Grey was braced by the front doors keeping watch, but when he looked at me over his shoulder, his lips peeled back from his teeth, and his body was strung so tight with rage, he vibrated.
He was about to lose it. That he hadn’t already was a miracle.
I stomped over to Lafe and Amorette standing over some pendejo like they weren’t captives of our psychopath father minutes ago.
As I got closer, I recognized him–or what was left of him.
He’d been sliced and diced and left for a bloody mess.
Manuel. He’d be a guard for about five years.
He wasn’t great, though he wasn’t terrible either, which was the reason Vicente kept him around.
“What the fuck do you think you were doing?” I shouted at Lafe as I shoved him back with both hands. “You could have gotten yourself killed.” I shoved him again, and he stumbled back a few steps. “You could have gotten all of our asses killed!”
His top lip curled and his body strained like he was gearing up for a fight. Suddenly, Amorette inserted herself in between us. Facing me like I was the enemy.
“Leave him alone. Don’t you assholes have any idea how dysfunctional you are?
” She pressed her fingers into her hair and grimaced like it actually hurt her.
“He’s your fucking brother! You all should be helping him.
Getting him clean. Counseling. Instead, you’re starting a fight! What the fuck is wrong with you!”
I hesitated. The tears in her eyes that refused to fall, even though there were tracks down her face, held me mesmerized.
Then her words penetrated. Holstering my weapon, I walked forward until my chest met hers, and she had to tip up her face to see me.
I caught her arm so she couldn’t escape me and used my other hand to cup the side of her jaw, my thumb running over her cheek.
When I spoke, I kept my voice low. “I came to save him. Grey came to save him. Even Parker came.” Parker made an irritated sound behind me.
“That’s what brothers do. We have each other’s backs when we need to, and we call each other on our shit.
What he did, coming here, was a bullshit call.
He knows it. We know it. What you did…” I brought my face closer until my mouth was at her temple.
I glared at Lafe behind her. He met my stare with mutiny.
“If we were back at the compound, I’d take you to my place, turn you over my knee, and spank that pretty ass until it was red with my handprint,” I whispered just for her.
But Lafe heard. And he didn’t like it. Too fucking bad .
She sucked in a sharp breath and brought her hands up to my hips. Then she shoved me away. “Help your brother get clean. Stop your father from hurting people. Shut down the Gallery. Then I’ll believe you care.”
“We’ll show you how much we care,” I threatened. “And don’t think about running to Grey. After what you did today, what Parker let you do,” I turned my rage onto him to let him know exactly what kind of hot water he was in, “he’ll help me.”
I counted to ten and turned back to Lafe. As much as I wanted to teach Amorette a lesson about running into danger, now wasn’t the time. The kind of person she was, I doubted a lesson would do more than make me feel good. Amorette would let the words go in one ear and out the other.
I sighed. “Why did you come here?”
Nothing. Not a twitch or anything to give himself away.
“You’re not stupid. You’re cautious when you need to be, a terror when the situation calls for it.
I can’t think of a single goddamn reason why you would leave the compound on your own to put yourself in Vicente’s hands.
” I crossed my arms. Some of the men gathered at the front door.
Grey shook his head, and they nodded, stepping back.
They’d guard us here until it was time to leave.
We wouldn’t take long. We couldn’t. Who knew how many of Vicente’s soldiers were stationed close by. The man Parker questioned earlier could have lied about how many were here.
Again, Lafe held his silence.
“Fuck it. We need to get back to the compound. Then we’re hashing this out,” I said as the other men filed into the lobby.
“One soldier was dead upstairs. We took care of the other. He was hiding in the supply closet.” The man snickered.
“Let’s go.” They fanned out behind us, ready to take care of any threats that came from the rest of the building.
Parker moved with them but lingered by Manuel. He studied him with his cold black eyes.
Lafe caught on and moved to Amorette. “Come on.”
But she noticed, too, and pulled out of his grip. Parker tilted his head as he glanced at Amorette then back down at the man who had clearly been tortured.
“This is the man who took you.” It wasn’t a question. He must have recognized him.
Amorette took a few steps, her hands reaching out for Parker as if to stop him. Parker didn’t need her answer. He aimed his weapon at the man and fired off a couple of rounds to the head and chest.
The shots echoed around us even with so much space in the room.
Amorette clasped her ears and doubled over.
“No. No, no, no. No!” she screamed. “He was as much of a victim as we were. He didn’t deserve to be killed.
” She could barely get the words out as those brimming tears finally started to fall.
Parker laughed as Lafe’s shoulders sagged. “There are no victims in this room. Not even you, Little Love. You’re too vicious for that.”
Her face twisted up in rage, and she launched herself at him. Lafe caught her around the waist and swung her around. Cradling her to his chest, he shushed her soothingly, then rocked from side to side.
It wasn’t long at all before her soft sniffles filled the air. Grey’s attention zeroed in on them with intense focus, and Parker shook his head in disgust. But I was confident those weren’t tears of defeat or sadness. They were tears of anger. Frustration. Maybe even failure.
If I had to guess what was going through her head right now, I’d bet that she was feeling helpless and didn’t fucking like it.
“Let’s go,” I repeated.
We continued toward the door, Lafe walking Amorette with one arm around her shoulders. He treated her like she was precious. He treated her like she was his.
Grey kept sneaking irritated glances at them, his eyes sparking every time his gaze landed on Lafe’s hand on her shoulder. I sighed. This was going to blow up in our faces, because I couldn’t keep my gaze off their intimate position either.
* * *
After an uncomfortable ride with all my brothers and Amorette, we landed back at the compound. When they tried to disperse, I whistled and pointed toward my apartment at the end of the hall.
I needed to know what happened in that room. More than that, I needed to fucking know what got Lafe there in the first place. I said it before, but it wasn’t like him to act like such an idiot.
Reluctantly, they shuffled behind me.
When I opened the door, I waited for them to all enter, then shut and locked it behind them.
A hint of paranoia swirled around me. We were home.
Safe. But this whole event rattled my bones.
Vicente had been two steps ahead of us the entire time, and I couldn’t understand why.
We needed all the facts on the table if we stood a chance of figuring it out.