38. Bye, Bye Marc
CHAPTER 38
BYE, BYE MARC
Leo
I'm flying like the hounds of hell are on my ass.
It should take us all of twelve minutes to get through the winding road that leads straight to the Hands of Hell compound, but I'm moving so fast I can see the building in less than five.
I can hear the rest of the guys shouting something behind me, but I'm not about to stop and find out what they're saying.
I've got one destination, and that's where Nisa is.
Breaking hard, I pull up to the main road that leads to the entrance of the clubhouse and see Tella trying to flag us down. I'm sure someone behind will stop and pick him up. I can't stop. Not now. Not when I don't know if something horrible is happening to my woman.
It's my fucking fault for letting her go through with this asinine plan in the first place. I don't care what Phoenix said or what she thought was best, I knew deep down that this was the wrong fucking thing to do.
To my surprise, when I get to the front gate and hop off my bike so do the rest of my club. They kept up with me.
They all know what's about to happen, I don't need to warn them.
"Weapons up, no body shoots until we get Nisa." I issue one last order before I push open the double doors that lead into the enemy clubhouse.
I want to move slowly but my feet are moving at their own pace. I'm practically running inside. I'm not checking my corners, not looking for members of the HOH to just start shooting. I've got one thing on my mind. My woman.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." A voice calls out as I make my way into the main space of the clubhouse.
We're outnumbered and outgunned by a lot.
I don't bother to count, my eyes are locked straight forward. Locked on Nisa who is bruised and fighting to get out of Marc's grasp.
He's going to pay for hurting her. He's going to pay for all the times he hurt her.
"Leo, you have to go." Nisa hisses out, but ends on a cry when Marc yanks her against him hard.
"No, no, no, the party has only just begun. You can't leave now." Marc smiles at me and I lower my weapon. I don't have a clean shot. I'll wind up shooting Nisa before he gets hit. I can't chance that.
"Leo, we're fucked. There's no way through." I hear Rumble behind me. He's breathing hard, but I know he's not going to back down without a fight.
"Get Nisa out of here. I don't care what happens to me, if they want a trade, we're taking it." I whisper back to him and hear him grunt as if he wants to go against my word.
Not here. Not now.
"You want me? I'm here. Just let her go. She's got nothing to do with any of this." I pull my gun to the side so it's no longer pointed at Marc.
"Ah, you see, that's where you're wrong. It's no use just taking you. There has to be a lesson in all this. Others have to know not to fuck with me. They all have to see." Marc's voice carries over the crowd.
"You can make a point all you want with me but I promise you if you hurt my ol' lady, you're going to have bigger problems on your hands." I take a step forward wanting to get as close to Nisa as I can. Maybe there's some way I can strong-arm her away from him.
"Your ol' lady?" Marc pulls Nisa back and looks down at her. "Well you move fast don't you. Who would've thought you had such lofty dreams. Too bad." He shrugs and focuses on me again.
"Let her go. She's mine." I growl.
"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong." Marc pushes Nisa to the side and my hand twitches on my gun. I could get a shot off right here and now, but that would cause everyone else to start shooting. She's not safe yet. I listen as Marc continues. "She doesn't belong to you. Turns out Alex here has a thing for fresh ass. I've already traded her to the Hands of Hell. Who knows, maybe you can buy her back from them. Though I'm not sure you're going to want to after what they've got planned for her. From what I've heard, they're quite ruthless with their ladies."
"You piece of shit. When I get my hands on you..."
"What? What are you going to do? Nothing Leo. You should've played ball with me when you had the chance now there's going to be nothing left of your woman or your little club. I'm the alpha dog around these parts. You can't outsmart me. You can't trick me. You've got nothing." He spits in my direction and as fucked up as it is I know it's the truth.
No matter how many of my men are willing to go down for me right now, I know we're not going to win. Marc basically has us all by the balls.
"You are a smart one." Alex finally opens up and says something. His break from silence so sudden that everyone turns to look at him. "I have to give you that? When you told me how you managed to sneak a rat into the Chrome Creed compound, I was impressed. But then... that got me thinking..." Alex snaps his fingers and the door to the back of the clubhouse opens. Two men come out yanking someone between them. The person has a hood on, so I can't see their face, but from the looks of their clothing it seems like they've been put through the wringer. Blood and other bodily fluids are caked all over them.
"If you're so hard up to take the Chrome Creed's territory, what's to stop you from wanting to take mine?" Alex shoots Marc a deadly gaze, and hope starts to blossom in my chest.
I stay quiet as Alex continues, "turns out that you're smart, but you're not too creative. Using the same trick twice in a row. Come on, you could've made it a little harder for me." He reaches back and pulls the hood off the person in the center of the two men.
It's a woman.
I don't know her, but it's clear that she knows Marc. She looks over to him and cries for him. "Marc, please, help me. I'm sorry." She begs.
Did he really try to overthrow the Hands of Hell in the same way he tried to do me?
"What the hell is this?" Marc takes a step back, his eyes jumping from Alex to the woman.
"This is our answer to your little arraignment. Money may be big with us, but loyalty and family is everything. You tried to break mine. Now I have to break you." Alex grabs hold of Nisa and pulls her behind him.
It angers me, but I'm trying to have a little faith that this is going to go the way I think it is.
We might have just caught a break.
Maybe these HOH bastards aren't as uncivilized as I thought.
"Prez." Lash snaps behind me.
We can all feel the tension in the room rising. Shit is about to pop off...right now.
"Just Marc and his men, Not Hands of Hell."
All at once, gunfire and screams erupt from the large crowd. It seems like Alex gave his men the same directive I gave mine because the only people shooting at us are Marc and the group he came with. What started as us being completely outnumbered became Marc being surrounded by the enemy.
Gunfire shreds through the night, a storm of bullets and rage. The air is thick with the scent of burning oil and gunpowder, the sharp metallic tang of blood mixing with the acrid smoke curling from the wreckage around us.
I don’t think. I don’t hesitate. I move.
Marc’s men are everywhere, shadows with teeth, spitting bullets from behind crates, tables, anything that can take cover. But we’re cutting them down. Fast.
I duck low, sliding behind a counter, my heart hammering. My clip is almost empty, but there’s no time to reload. One of Marc’s men rounds the corner, gun raised.
Too late.
I squeeze the trigger. Click. Shit.
The bastard grins, but I’m already moving. I lunge, grabbing his wrist and twisting until I hear the pop of his bones. He howls, but I don’t stop. My fist slams into his ribs, then his jaw. He stumbles, but I don’t let him hit the ground. I need him to suffer.
I grab the back of his head and drive my knee into his face, feeling the crunch of cartilage as blood splatters across my jeans. His body goes limp, but I don’t let go. I slam him into the side of the truck, then again. And again.
When he finally crumples to the dirt, unmoving, I barely register the cheers from one of my brothers. My vision tunnels. I turn my head, searching—Nisa.
Alex is still with her. He’s holding his own, keeping her behind cover, keeping her safe.
For now.
I don’t trust him. I don’t trust any of these bastards. But right now, the war is bigger than us.
I force myself back into the fight, dodging through the chaos. One by one, Marc’s men fall, their screams lost in the night. And then, finally?—
Marc is the only one left.
He stands in the center of the battlefield, his gun raised, his face streaked with blood and sweat. He breathes heavy, chest heaving, eyes wild.
He knows it’s over.
Rumble steps up beside me, flipping a gun in his hand before tossing it to me. I catch it without a word.
Across from me, Alex does the same.
For a moment, we just look at each other.
And then...we fire.
The first shot catches Marc in the chest, making him stumble back. The second buries itself in his gut. The third, the fourth, the fifth...
We don’t stop.
By the time the clips empty, Marc is on his knees, his mouth open, a hollow rasp escaping his lips. His body sways, then drops.
It’s over.
Part of me wishes I could've made the bastard suffer longer but I can't stay focused on that. We might have finally gotten rid of Marc, but my woman is still in the hands of my enemy.
"What do you want?" I seethe in Alex's direction.
"Want? I want you off my fucking territory." His words are vicious but his tone is indifferent.
"No, I want to know what you want for my ol' lady."
Alex looks behind himself, Nisa is still there huddled low almost waiting for the bullets to start flying again. So am I honestly.
"Shit, I don't want her. Don't get me wrong, she looks like a good piece of ass but I mean what I said." He reaches back and grabs hold of her before pushing her in my direction. "Family and loyalty mean everything here. Make sure you take care of yours." He nods once as Nisa stumbles into my arms.
At once, I feel my muscles relax.
"Now hurry up and do as I said, get you and your people off my territory."
I nod back at him once. No need to give him thanks. He knows. He's a president too. He knows what this means to me. I grab hold of Nisa, lift her up into my arms and make my way to the door. "Creed, we're out."
"Leo." Alex's voice booms out and I turn back to look at him. "Don't think because we came together to get rid of this common enemy that it means I won't shoot you down in the street if it benefits me."
I don't bother to reply. There's no need. I feel the same about him.
For now, the hatred between the Hands of Hell and Chrome Creed is dulled but I know it's only going to take one burning match to spark the fire between our groups again.
I'll be ready for it.
Ready with my woman at my side.