Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
SNIPER
She holds everything about me in her hands.
I know she probably doesn’t mean it, and it’s just the drugs talking, but her words still hit me like a punch to the gut. I don’t move for a minute, but I know I can’t stay in here. I need to leave her with Medic, who will make sure she’s fine. I turn and see Rose looking at me past Medic’s shoulder. “We’ll take good care of her,” she promises me.
“That shot was through and through,” Medic tells me absently. “I need to sew her up and pump her full of antibiotics and she’ll be fine. Now get out of my space and deal with shit. I’ll have your woman patched up in no time.”
I hesitate, everything in me screaming to stay with her, but finally, I force myself to turn away from her after I press a kiss to her forehead. When I turn back, I ask Medic briskly, “What happened to Crypt?”
“He saved me,” Rose says tightly. “He and Thea were getting the rest of us pinned down behind the rock wall. Shadow and Viper got their families inside first. But someone popped up just as I was about to get inside, and I was in the direct line of fire. Crypt threw himself in front of the bullet, and Thea killed the other guy.” Her voice shakes, and I can see just how upset she is at the knowledge of what she just faced down.
“Will he make it?” I ask Medic bluntly.
“If I have anything to say about it,” Medic answers grimly. “But this isn’t the most sterile environment, so the biggest thing is going to be fighting the infection. I got the bullet out, and we’ve sewn the internal stuff back up and I think we’ve saved him from any permanent damage.”
“Good.” Relief fills me. We haven’t lost a single man, yet, and I want to keep it that way.
“Any other injuries?” Medic asks.
“Just scrapes and bruises, and a couple of grazes, but they can wait. Focus on saving Crypt and fixing up Thea. Who is guarding the women?”
“Last I saw, it was Stone with the dogs, but that was only because he was the only one in here when the shots started.”
I nod. I head outside, and I find that the clean-up has already started. I tell Bullet what Medic told me and Bullet nods, face grim. “It looks like they came up through Syn’s land to get here,” Bullet explains. “We’re fucking lucky Thea and Crypt were out here, brother.”
I nod, my gut clenching tightly at the thought. “But we managed to get them all, and any we missed we’ll round up. Now we need to clean this mess up.”
“We’re burying the bodies, because we need to get rid of them as fast as possible,” Arson says as he comes up. “You leave that to us and see to your women.” He claps Bullet on the shoulder and then he starts barking orders calling out for people to grab equipment and get to work.
I guess having the equipment from when Rose and Bullet’s house was being built is about to come in handy. Now we just have to hope that no one heard this battle and called the cops. We haven’t heard any sirens, so maybe Cryos was able to prevent the calls from going through, but time will tell.
By the time we get ourselves settled, and everyone checked on, it’s well into the night. We don’t bother to go into the Church room, now that the women and kids are all asleep, including Thea, who still hasn’t woken up from whatever Medic gave her earlier. He and Rose got her sutured up, but kept her in the med bay to monitor her. Rose refused to leave either of them, not even when Bullet went in and tried to threaten her.
The look she gave him had even me backing up a step. Yeah, probably good she wasn’t in the Forces or she’d be running the whole damn country. But it wasn’t long before she was fast asleep in the chair by Crypt’s bed, and Bullet took her to bed. I’ll be doing the same to my woman as soon as Medic clears her. Though, I already saw Theo sitting in with them both so that Medic could come out to talk to the rest of us. Exhaustion lines his face, and blood covers his clothes, but he doesn’t seem to care.
“How are the kids?” Bullet asks Shadow and Viper when they finally come down.
“Macy was freaked out,” Shadow answers tightly. “But she settled once she realized we are all okay. I’m sending her and Quinn to Quinn’s parents in the morning. Quinn can’t take this kind of stress with the pregnancy and I’m not letting Macy be around this, not for another second.”
“Eden and Archer are going with them,” Viper adds with a grim determination. “This is the second time they have gone after Archer, and I’m not letting them have a third.”
Bullet nods and I know I agree that’s the right course of action. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“I think all the women should go,” Stone adds grimly. “Syn is going to fight me on it, but I can’t risk her and the baby either. The only reason she wasn’t out there was because she was so fucking tired. I’ll see if I can convince her to go stay with the Lanes. At least there she’ll have the cops to look after her.”
“Sage isn’t going to want to go, but she has those jobs coming up so she could possibly move them up,” King agrees. “She might even be willing to take Izzy with her, and we can ask the Phantom Kings to watch over them since it’s out their way again. And if they get done before things clear up, they can go to the Lanes as well. Dale and Alice won’t turn them away.”
“We could also reach out to Zeb and ask if he could house them for a bit,” Torque suggests. “He’s got a shop there and a good set up.”
“Sending them to different places is a good idea,” Arson says. “All of them together is a big target, whereas spread out and surrounded by people that can protect them will be helpful.”
“I don’t know if we have any allies where Quinn’s family is, but I’m sure we can find someone,” Shadow says grimly.
“What about Sadie?” Bowie asks tightly. “She’s associated with us.”
“Will she go with Eden?” Viper asks.
“I don’t know, but I can ask. And if she can’t, then we’ll have to come up with another plan for her,” Bowie says firmly. There’s something in his eyes that I can’t quite place, but it looks like there’s a bit more going on between those two than we figured. That will be interesting to see play out.
“I have a place she can go if needed,” Frost offers. He shares a look with Bowie, who frowns at that. “I need to make a few calls, but I have someone who can watch over her.”
“We’ll figure that out when the time comes,” Bullet agrees. “But I already know that Rose is going to put up a fight.”
“So will Thea,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll have to ask Theo where it’s best to hide her.”
“You’re crazy if you think she’s going to go,” Theo’s voice suddenly says as he comes out of the med bay. “And before you say anything, you’re in the common room where I can hear every damn word so this doesn’t count as a Church conversation. But after today, Thea isn’t going to budge. She’s a soldier through and through, and you don’t run from a fight.”
“That’s right,” she rasps, and I’m up and moving the moment she appears behind her brother. “I’m not going anywhere,” she says tiredly, but there is a conviction in her voice as she leans on her brother. Theo props her up, wrapping his arm around her waist to hold her steady. “Besides,” she adds, looking at Bullet. “You need me. I need to decode those journals.”
“And that doesn’t require you to physically be here,” Bullet reminds her firmly. “Thea, you have no idea how grateful I am to you today, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back and let you stay here, in harm’s way. You’re in a sling for goodness’s sake.”
I reach her, and Theo reluctantly steps back, letting me pick her up into my arms, cradling her to my chest. She looks up at me for a brief moment, before she looks back at Bullet. “And I’m not going to run and hide because of it.” Then she gets an odd look on her face. “And besides, if you make me go, you’re sending me right into their clutches,” she adds after a second.
“What?” I demand, confused and panicked at that.
“One of the men that cornered us, he said that the other women and kids were to die, but I was to be kept alive. Their boss wanted me alive because he has plans for me,” she answers.
Fear slices through me at what that statement is implying. “And they said you specifically?” I ask her, needing the clarification.
She nods. “He pointed right at me when he said it, so yeah, I’m certain.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. “Cryos!”
“Already on it,” Cryos calls as he heads for his office.
“Did you hear anything else, Thea?” Bullet asks her.
She shakes her head. “No. Most of the rest of the time they were all dying. Bullet, I’m not leaving, and I’m not hiding away. This isn’t the first time someone wanted me dead, and it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with the Russians either. In fact…” She trails off, and I feel her stiffen as her eyes clear a bit. Then her head lifts to mine. “Wait, remember how I said how I thought I knew that name you told me?” I nod. “I remember now. About five years ago, a message came in from an informant that was very close to the Pakhan who is running shit through the western states and as far east as Texas. I managed to decode it and shut down their pipeline with the information, we also managed to arrest a good forty high up men in the chain and managed to almost get enough evidence to get a warrant for the Pakhan. It was one of the biggest seizures in the United States’ history at the time.”
“That was you?” Shadow suddenly asks, eyes wide when I look over at him. “Shit, that was big enough that even I heard about it. No one would tell who it was though.”
“No one wanted it to get out, but I’m sure they figured it out. But one of the men that managed to escape capture was named Nikolai Egorov. He escaped back to Russia,” Thea explains.
And there clicks one more puzzle piece. “Fuck,” I grit out. “He’s probably the one who figured out you are and told Vlad.”
“But why would Vlad want her alive?” Arson demands. “It’s more likely he wants her dead so that she can’t spill secrets.”
“Or, he wants to use her to keep all the secrets,” Hulk suggests solemnly. “I mean, if she can decode them, she could code things for them too, right? And she has knowledge of the US and their ports and things due to her job that would mean she would be able to help them avoid detection.”
“Or, another possibility is that Vlad is planning on giving her up to the Pakhan, since she was the one who ruined the operation in their mind,” Viper says, the implication heavy. Just the thought of it makes me want to whisk Thea away, but I manage to stay still.
“Vlad put out a hit contract on all the women but Thea,” Cryos announces as he rushes down the hall. “There’s messages on the cellphones collected from the men. I also have found some chatter being sent on some of the channels that Vlad and his men like to use. He hasn’t put a public hit on them, but if any of his men see the women or kids, they are to kill them, and send proof via photos or providing a body.”
The atmosphere in the room turns deadly. “And what did they say about Thea?” I ask, my jaw clenched as I stare at him.
Cryos glances at Thea and winces slightly before answering, “She’s to be brought to Vlad, alive, but the men are allowed to do what is needed to make that happen. She just has to arrive alive but not necessarily in one piece.”
The absolute rage inside me is burning out of control. I’m going to enjoy taking this fucker apart.
“Well, don’t I just feel so special,” Thea drawls with a chuckle. Then she looks up at me. “I think that means that I’m probably safer here with you than out there where they can track me down.” I agree, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. The last thing I want is for her to be here while we’re fighting and trying keep them at bay.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Bullet says briskly, standing. “All of you with women, other than Sniper, I want you to find out how quickly we can get your women and kids to where they are safe. Then, we’re going to need to start figuring out how we’re going to transport everyone without Vlad being able to track them. Then, we need to figure out our next move here. But we’ll discuss that in Church.”
“I’m going to call Talon Cross,” Viper announces. “He’s got some connections being a former SEAL, and we might be able to charter a jet to go and make a few stops.”
“And we have the Lincolns,” Shadow adds. “We’ve used them before and if we can’t go through them, they will have someone we can.”
Bullet nods. “Get to it, and let me know. I’m going to work on convincing Rose, but that will come once we know everyone is gone. She won’t leave until she knows they’re all safe.” Then he looks at me holding Thea. “Sniper, take your woman up and let her get some sleep. Theo, you’re guarding her until we’re finished.” When Thea opens her mouth to argue, I tighten my grip on her in warning and she shuts it, but sends me a cross look. Theo nods and steps forward. “In the meantime, get your asses in Church in an hour so we can figure shit out.” Then he heads toward the med bay, no doubt to check on Crypt who is still sedated and probably will be for a bit yet.
I turn and head up the steps, but stop when I reach the top of the stairs and look at Theo. “Give me an hour, Theo, then come up,” I tell him calmly. He looks a bit unsure, but then he nods and turns to walk away. I continue down the hallway, set Thea on her feet—but still holding her steady because she instantly starts swaying—and quickly open the door, scooping her back up to carry her inside and laying her on the bed.
Thea groans and closes her eyes. “This really is a much better bed than that one in the med bay. Pretty sure I have a bruise on my back from the metal of the gurney.” I just stare down at her, so many different emotions swirling inside me I don’t know what to say first, or how to react. She opens her eyes and stares up at me, her face going serious as we just look at each other. “If you want to yell at me, go ahead,” she finally offers. “I know you’re pissed.”
“Pissed isn’t even the right word, Athena,” I tell her starkly, deciding it’s probably best to get that out right now. “I know you were outside, and I’m not pissed about that, but I am pissed you fucking put yourself in harm’s way. You protecting the women, I get that, that was your job, but the coming back out instead of following orders to go into the safe room, you’re fucking right I’m pissed about that.”
“I wasn’t going to stand by and watch everyone get shot at,” she says in a far calmer voice than I expect. Her eyes are glazed over with temper, pain, and frustration. “That is not what I’m trained to do, and you know it.”
“I know that,” I yell, unable to contain the anger anymore. “Do you not think I don’t fucking know that, Thea? I was fucking terrified the entire time because I had no idea where you were. I couldn’t see you and bullets were flying everywhere. The only reason I wasn’t losing my mind was because Viper yelled out that he saw you with the women and the kids. But that doesn’t change the fact that I watched you throw yourself into Bullet and take that fucking bullet.” I end that on a roar. My chest heaves with each breath as I stare at her. “Do you know the terror I felt in that moment, Thea? No, of course you don’t, but I swear to God my heart stopped. I thought after everything, I lost you. I’ve seen countless people die and I’ve never felt this before.” I move so that I brace both fists on the bed and lean over her. “I saw the blood, Thea, and I swear to God I thought you were fucking dead.”
Her face softens and she eases up onto one good elbow, before sitting up. I ease away to give her room, but not by much. With her good hand, she cups my face in her hand. “Grayson,” she whispers, eyes searching mine. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I wasn’t going to let him die. But I’m here, and other than a gunshot wound that aches like a son of a bitch, I’m okay. I’m alive, and it’s going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me. I promise.” She leans forward and presses her lips to mine, and I force myself to hold back and not clutch her close like I want to.
“Don’t you ever put yourself in that kind of situation again, Thea,” I warn her. “It’s my job to protect you, not?—”
“Uh-uh, nope,” she interrupts, dropping her hand and glaring at me. “No, we’re not doing this I-man-you-woman bullshit. I already told you, that isn’t me, and you either accept me for who I am or you don’t. If we were in a situation where I needed you to watch my back, fine, but this time, I was watching yours, and by extension, your President’s. There is no one person running the show in this relationship, Sniper. It’s partners or nothing. I’ve done the whole thing where I am told what to do and forgotten as I’m part of the team, and I’m not doing it with you. I get that I can’t help with MC stuff, and I’m not going to ask to, but when it comes to moments like what happened today, where I’m in a position I can help, then damn straight I’m going to help. I am not a run-of-the-mill civilian. I am trained by some of the best, including you, once upon a time, and that means that what happened today, is exactly what I’ve trained and dealt with before in the past. You don’t get to cheapen that because of some macho-bullshit. Because if you’re going to do that, then we will be over before we really started.”
The seriousness in her gaze has a sliver of panic sliding down my spine, but I ignore it. “I can’t lose you, Thea,” I tell her fiercely. “Do you not understand that you hold my heart and everything about me in your hands? If I lose you, I will become the exact man that I don’t want to be anymore. I will be cold, and I will annihilate anyone and anything in my path that dared to hurt you, that dared to fail you.”
Some of the anger in her eyes disappears. “Grayson, I’m not going anywhere. Do you know how hard my team tried to break me? Tried to kill me? And I’m still here. I don’t give up. I fight. And I will fight to be with you every damn day. You made me that way. You pushed me hard when we met. I hated and loved you for it. And now, you pushed me into this by making me join the security team. But, even as pissed as I was, it was the best thing I could have done. Because it showed me what a real team looks like. The kind that actually care for each other, and have each other’s back. You’ve showed me what it’s like to have women around me who care enough about me to spend time with me and not just try to use the information to best me in some way. And you showed me I don’t have to be alone. I have you, and that’s all I really need. I need you in my corner, like you have been through the years in one way or another. Even if it was just the memory of your words that pushed me harder, to push past the weak points when I wanted to give up. You say that you can’t lose me, Grayson, but I can’t lose you either.
“I felt my own fear seeing you standing there next to Bullet knowing the shooter was going to fire. I was guessing it was Bullet, but what if it wasn’t? If it wasn’t him, then you would be dead right now. Because I would not have reached you in time.” Her voice catches, and my heart sinks as her eyes fill with tears. “And I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, Grayson.”
“That will not happen, Thea,” I tell her, and damn it all to hell, I’m going to have to hurt her, but I can’t be far away from her anymore. As gently as I can, I pick her up and sit down on the bed, with her in my lap, holding her as tightly as I dare. She lets out a hiss of pain, but she doesn’t push me away. “I’m sorry, baby girl, I don’t want to hurt you, but I need to hold you right now.”
“I’m fine,” she says with a hard swallow. “The pain is easing anyway.” She lays her head on my shoulder, her good arm looped around my back and holding me.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” I murmur.
She chuckles. “No, you’re not, because that is exactly what you needed. I get it. I’m not afraid of you yelling at me, Grayson.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess not.” We lapse into silence for a moment. Something eases inside me having her in my arms, knowing she’s okay.
“Did you mean it?” she suddenly asks, softly, a small hint of hesitancy in her tone.
I ease my head back to look down at her. “Mean what?”
Her blue eyes are crystal clear as they stare into mine. “That I hold your heart in my hands?” she asks.
“Baby girl, you hold every part of me,” I reply. “I used to get so pissed every time I saw you when you were under my command because I wanted you so damn badly and I couldn’t have you. I loved your sass, your spirit. And in the middle of nowhere searching for my next target, you would creep into my mind. I would wonder what you were up to, and if you had finally decided to settle down with some regular guy and have a few babies. I hated those thoughts. Because even then I knew I wanted to be that person, I had no business wanting it at the same time. And what happens? You come charging back into my life and flip everything I thought I knew, thought I wanted, upside down and you were the same person that you were then, just a bit older, and with a grit that only gets there through hard work. And then, after all of that, I’ve almost lost you twice and both times it’s only become more clear that the whole time I’ve been living my life, I’ve been waiting for you to come back into it, Athena.”
Her mouth hangs open a little bit as she stares at me in shock. “Grayson,” she whispers after a moment.
I fight back the discomfort at this conversation. I’m not a guy of words, but she makes me want to be. Makes me want to at least try. “Thea, I can’t give you a world of fancy words, but I can tell you I want you with me forever. That I will never love a woman the way I love you, and I will never want anyone the way I want you. I will work hard every day to show you that.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t need any of that, Grayson. I need you. I need this, and I need the honesty that comes with it. I don’t want fancy words. That’s for romance books and movies. I want a man who shows me every day that I matter. I thought about you a lot over the years, and I wondered where you were, what you were doing, but I couldn’t allow myself to dwell on it because it would distract me. And honestly, when I heard you were medically discharged, I thought that was it, I wouldn’t ever see you again. But here you are, and I have to think this is right.” She moves to press her mouth to mine, before she pulls away and breathes, “I love you, Grayson Hudson.”
“I love you too, Athena Sutton,” I murmur. “And I want you to be my Old Lady, and you’ll never wonder if you matter to me because I’ll happily show you all the damn time.”
“What does being your Old Lady mean?”
“You’d essentially be my wife without the legal paper. We can do it all up legal if you want though. You’ll wear a cut with my patch on it so everyone will know too.”
She gives a soft smile. “I think I’m good with that. But we’ll hold off on a wedding for now. I’d rather all of this mafia stuff get settled first.”
I press my mouth back to hers, my entire body relaxing as I kiss her. I want to do so much more; I want to show her, but we can’t. Not tonight anyway, and probably not for a little bit longer until she’s healed. But that’s okay. I just need her close to me, even with everything going on.
When I finally pull my mouth from hers, we’re both breathing heavy and her fingers are digging into my back desperately. “No more, baby girl,” I warn her. “You need to sleep, and I need to go back to Church.”
She pouts slightly at that, but she nods, and I can’t help but chuckle. “Fine, but I’d like to point out that I can still give you a hand job with my one good hand. And I heard that orgasms are great for pain and healing,” she says with a pointed look.
I groan and shake my head. “You’re going to be the death of me,” I huff as I gently move her back to the bed. “Now, let’s get you ready for bed, and then your brother can come in here and sit with you.” She opens her mouth to argue but I stop her with a shake of my head. “I know you can take care of yourself, but you’re under the influence of antibiotics and light pain meds. We want to make sure you don’t develop a raging infection, so Theo will keep you company.”
“Fine,” she huffs.
With a bit of moaning and a few yelps of pain that cut me deep, we manage to get her out of the sling and into one of my shirts before I help her into bed. She’s got a light sheen of sweat on her forehead from the exertion, and I grab a cool cloth to wipe it away. “Better?” I ask.
She nods and then gives me a tired smile. “I thought I was supposed to be playing nursemaid to you,” she murmurs. “Or is this just to give me a taste of what it’s going to be like with you in a few years?”
“You and that sassy mouth.” I chuckle, the sound a little exasperated. “Go to sleep, brat, before I have Medic come back up and knock you out.”
She gives a soft chuckle, turning her head into the pillow. “Okay, okay,” she says sleepily. “Love you.” Then she’s out.
I lean down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you too, baby girl,” I murmur. I watch her for another moment before I force myself to pull away.
I head to the door, and when I open it, I find Theo standing there, knuckles raised to knock. He lowers them and I step back to let him in. His expression eases when he sees Thea fast asleep. “She’s out,” I whisper.
Theo nods. “I’ll stay until you’re done,” he whispers back.
I clap him on the shoulder and say, “You did a damn good job today, Prospect. Thank you.”
Theo shrugs, but I feel him straighten a bit under my hand. “I did what I had to do.”
I glance at Thea and then at him. “How pissed are you at me that she got shot?” I ask him bluntly, still keeping my voice low.
His brows shoot up in surprise at my question. “I’m not,” he answers immediately. “I tried to get her to go back in, Sniper. But Thea, I know she’s not going to listen, and she’s going to do what she feels is right. I know you’ll do everything in your power to protect her, just like I will, but Thea isn’t one to stay behind and let us do it for her. She’s going to be in the fight too. I’m just glad it’s not just me anymore,” he adds with a slight smile. “I hope you know what you’re getting into.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I got that. She agreed to be my Old Lady, Theo, just so you know.”
Theo smiles. “I figured. And if you ever need any pointers, just let me know. I have a few tricks up my sleeves.”
I smile and nod. “I’ll do that. I’ll be back when we’re done.” Then I head out of the room and back downstairs.
We need to figure out our next move and fast. And then I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving to Thea just how much of a right choice she made by staying with me. Even if she does like to constantly call me an old man. I’ll just have to think of more creative punishments to doll out in retaliation.