Chapter 28
28
ZARINA
I stabbed him.
I’d never stabbed a person before.
Right in the dick too, I hoped.
Willie grabbed a fistful of my hair, bringing me forward and throwing me to the ground. I felt my shoulder crunch as I landed and slid across the hard concrete, and that’s when the bullets began to sound.
Ashe was at the corner of my vision, and I realised those bullets were meant for him. But then he was right there, ripping Willie away from me and taking the gun out of his hands in one swift movement, pressing the barrel at his temples.
“Drop your fucking weapons or I shoot,” he barked at the young men who looked very nervous to be holding guns in the first place.
“Drop them!” Willie’s voice wobbled with fear.
I chuckled, hoisting myself off the ground but wincing in pain.
“Still a fucking pussy,” I shook my head.
“Shut up, slut!”
Ashe chuckled, smacking Willie in the side of the mouth with the heel of his gun. Then he ripped him back up by the hair and returned the barrel to his temple.
“That wasn’t nice,” Ashe purred. “Say sorry to my girl.”
“No fucking way,” Willie was panting.
“Say sorry!” Ashe dug the steel in deeper, crinkling his skin under the pressure of it.
The door burst open, and I felt myself relax immediately.
Redliners, at least a dozen of them, filed into the warehouse. Some with guns drawn, and some with curled fists and looks of murderous rage on their faces. Livie was among them, quickly rounding the chairs and slicing at the duct tape that held my siblings, until the inexperienced crew hired by The EA started to fire.
I’d never heard the sound of gunshots up this close before, and the emptiness of the warehouse seemed to increase the volume. The sound echoed off the walls and reverberated until my ears rang.
But I felt Ashe fold himself over me, his body jerking every now and again as he fired a shot.
I only got glimpses of the chaos that happened around us. Ashe and I were in the dead centre of the warehouse floor, in the middle of the firing grounds.
Every now and then I’d catch movement in my peripherals, of legs moving past us or of a whole body dropping to the floor.
I alternated between squeezing my eyes shut and forcing them open to see what was happening. I was sick of not knowing what was happening. Sick of sitting at home and wondering. Sick of waiting around for bad news.
But I wasn’t so sure that this was any better.
Especially as I saw Prince tackle Toni to the ground, only just in time for a bullet to whirr past that spot. They shared a quick understanding nod before they were on their feet again, standing side by side as they took shot after shot.
I pressed my eyes shut after that, and wondered if perhaps I did belong at home. Maybe I should’ve been happy, grateful to be the clueless princess. But I opened my eyes again and could see for myself that all of my family was still standing.
I didn’t have to wait for a phone call, didn’t have to count heads as they walked in the door. When the sound of gunfire slowed and then stopped, I let out a tense breath that I had held for so long that my lungs hurt.
As quickly as it began, it was finished.
I let myself look up. All the hired boys were down and out, splayed and bloody across the concrete.
I tried not to stare.
“You four, on your fucking knees,” Prince’s voice boomed. He and Freddie held Willie, Theo, Josh, and Dean at gunpoint until they scrambled up and into a line on the floor. “Hands behind your heads.”
They obeyed immediately. Trembling under the orders and heavy gazes of real outlaws. They never wanted this, I could tell from the looks on their faces. They wanted the power of it, sure, but they never wanted this .
A few of the other Redliners made the rounds, freeing the rest of the Santino associates from the chairs.
Toni strolled over, crossing his arms as he stood next to Prince, looking down at the four idiots on their knees with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Whaddya reckon, Prince? Should we kill ‘em?” Toni smirked
Prince gave a half-hearted shrug. “I kinda promised Bull he could burn the place to the ground.”
Toni pursed his lips, considering.
“Why not?” he chuckled, slapping Prince on the shoulder.
“Take their phones,” I called out, noticing Willie shifting his hand a little.
By the way he shot daggers at me with his eyes, I assumed that I was correct about what he was trying to do.
Bull barged over, shoving his big hands into their pockets and emptying them. He looked at Willie’s phone, a frown on his face.
“Your phone background is a Playboy cover? How fucking old are you?” Bull cringed outwardly at Willie, who looked a little embarrassed despite quivering with rage. Everyone enjoyed the moment of bonding, passing around William’s phone so each of them could scoff at his direction and poke fun.
Bull eventually came over to show me the screen as well.
“Well, she is gorgeous,” I shrugged.
“Yeah, but it’s still cringe,” Bull frowned, dropping the phone to the concrete floor and stomping it with his boot.
I heard it smash and crunch under his weight, and watched as Will’s face grew redder.
Eventually, I moved out of the way to hover by the sidelines, watching on with folded arms for a while as everybody else seemed to fall into a well-practiced cleanup routine. The whole warehouse buzzed with an energy of light-hearted determination.
Toni headed over after a while, holding out his arms for a hug. I went to him, leaning into my brother and letting out a deep breath of relief.
“You did good, kid,” he said with a smile in his voice.
I chuckled. “Thanks.”
“But if you ever pull something like this again,” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “I will lock you in a room to rot for the rest of your fucking life.”
He dropped from the hug, shaking his head at me, looking at me like I was a bit of a stranger. Like he couldn’t quite believe that I was his baby sister standing in front of him.
Maybe that was an issue for older siblings in general. Maybe it was hard to come to terms with the fact that your dumb kid sister wasn’t actually a dumb kid anymore.
But he turned anyway, and I watched Ashe stiffen a little bit as Toni held out a hand.
Ashe took it, shaking it and nodding.
“Thank you. All of you,” Toni turned to address all the Redliners in the room. “I,” he shook his head. “I cannot believe that you did this for my family. I owe you one.”
“You owe us nothing,” Prince folded his arms over himself. “I told you. I’m nothing like King. I have no personal issues with the Santinos, and I never have.”
Antoni nodded once, and so did Sammy and the rest of my family.
“Besides, Zarina is a part of my family now too. She came to us for help. And we help our family.”
Toni’s mouth ticked upwards into a smile. “I guess we’re not that different then.”
“I guess not.”
I pressed my fingers to my lips to hide my little smile of gratification. From the beginning I had been the one to say that all of these problems could be fixed with a conversation. And now, I was vindicated.
I loved always being right.
“We should have a sit down. Soon?” Toni arched a brow.
Prince nodded again.
“Ha, a man of few words. I like that.”
Prince actually smiled then, hiking a thumb over his shoulder. “Well, you should meet my Vice President.”
Freddie held up a hand to identify himself, and then went back to gagging Theo with a ball of some rotten looking material.
“Aw,” I clasped my hands together. “One big happy family.”
“Don’t fucking push it,” Toni pointed a finger at me before draping an arm over Rome and pulling her close. She leaned into him, letting out a breath and letting the tension in her shoulders drop.
I could only imagine what she’d been through over the past few hours, watching Toni in that position and not being able to do anything. But they were together now, and I watched it finally sink in for her at that moment.
“Whatever.”
“That’s the Zarina I know and love,” Toni shot me a finger gun. “The normal one. Not the ‘I’ll stab you in the dick’ one.”
“I can be two things,” I narrowed my eyes at him.
Rome nodded solemnly, like she agreed whole-heartedly and passionately about the dick-stabbing thing. Toni rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he dragged Rome along with him towards the exit.
Everyone started to file out, except for the few people who had eagerly volunteered to deal with the bodies and what was left of The EA.
“Do me a favour though and put a bullet in their heads before you burn the place down?” Toni said over his shoulder while ushering Rome outside. “Just for peace of mind.”
“Don’t fuckin’ mind if I do,” Ashe smacked me on the ass and guided me out the door, shutting it slightly so I couldn’t see as he turned and fired his gun four times.