Chapter 31 – Dominic
Faint wisps of sunrise lit up the night sky as we gathered our forces in a parking garage a few blocks from Gilded.
We’d decided to hit the Aces early in the morning, when most people had finally passed out from partying. Nate said that dawn still had some stragglers awake, but they were half in the bag and unlikely to be much of a defense. The men Cash had at Gilded would be different, but at least the other teams would have an easier route to success.
Mari greeted Victor before moving to do the same to Christian. Their low conversations couldn’t be heard, but I knew Mari. She was checking on her girls. She wouldn’t be able to focus if she wasn’t sure they were okay.
Kosas settled quietly next to where I leaned on one of the SUVs. “Are you sure you want to stay with us? We’ll have a target bigger than the state on our backs.”
It was a risk to have us all together, but it was one we’d had time to accept. Mari had taken some convincing, but she knew we wouldn’t back down.
She’d go into this fight with all of us at her back, or she wouldn’t go in at all.
After that was settled, we spent our time focusing on contingencies to keep ourselves safe. The four of us were a bigger target when we weren’t spread out, so we needed to mitigate the increased danger. Weeks of late-night talks had finally led us right back to the beginning.
Separating into smaller groups meant the others could be used as bait. We couldn’t afford to stretch our resources even further for a hostage rescue. So, we’d stay together, end Cash, and get out alive.
It was almost strange that the day was finally here, but I was ready.
Ready to wake up tomorrow to a Cash-free world. Ready to watch the stress of his existence wash off my woman’s and my brother’s backs. Ready to begin our fucking lives together—the family we’d lived, breathed, and bled for.
Today would be filled with carnage so tomorrow could be brighter.
I couldn’t fucking wait.
Kosas grunted, which I took as a yes to my question. As I looked at him, it was almost hard to see the man he’d been a month ago. His cheeks were hollow, his eyes dead. There was some life to them, a pit of vengeance buried and waiting to burst out, but it was fleeting. There was no more righteous anger, no more jokes, no more laughter. He was empty, and my stomach sank with the realization that, for him, this was probably a one-way ticket to the afterlife.
He had no one to come home to. Nothing to fight for. He was going into Gilded with us, but I knew in my soul he wasn’t coming out. Standing taller, I held out a hand to him. “May this balance the scales.”
Pain trickled through his gaze. “They’ll never be balanced.”
He left without another word, but it wasn’t long before someone else took his place.
“You look good in black, Killer.”
The kid rolled his eyes, but I meant it. He looked like he was meant to be in tactical gear. A general in the making. Once he’d gotten out of jail, he’d thrown himself into work with a zest for life that I couldn’t believe, and every day he got better. If he kept it up, I could see him leading his own family or maybe even taking over ours when we were ready to retire.
Not that I’d told Mari yet.
“Are you ready for this, kid?”
“Absolutely. Anything for the family.” I looked him over, trying to pick out a chink in his armor, but I found none. He believed every word he said, not because it’d been drilled into his brain but because he was loyal. Indoctrination could only get you so far, but faith like this—in Mari and our family? That shit would take us to the moon.
Just like I did with Kosas, I held out my hand. “We appreciate having you with us, Killer.”
He stared for a moment before finally taking it, giving me a hearty shake. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
I believed him.
Mari waved him over, and he nodded one last time before he entered the circle of generals. They’d all been briefed already, but Mari wanted to make sure everyone knew their individual parts. We’d gone over ours in the car, so I took my time watching her in her element.
Hair braided down her back, black tactical gear surrounding her body, weapons absolutely everywhere. She looked like a wet dream, but it was the look in her eyes that made me hard.
Fierce. Determined. Ready to slaughter anything between us and our future.
Yeah, that was the good stuff.
“Are you going to eye-fuck her all morning?” Nate asked, standing on one side of me, while Grey mirrored his position on the other.
“Could you blame me if I did?”
He hummed, which was obviously a no.
“Is it done?” I breathed, not willing to let even a word get to Mari.
Nate dipped his chin. “Eagle will get her out if things go south.”
“Where?”
“Colombia. Christian has agreed to keep her out of Emmanuel’s sight if the worst happens.”
“Probably because of Shara,” Grey mused, but he seemed more relaxed knowing there was a way out for our girl if everything went wrong. Truthfully, so was I.
I wanted to stay by her side always, but I preferred she lived, even if she was alone.
The fear of what would happen to Mari if things went sideways didn’t go away just because we had an exit plan for her, but it did ease a little, knowing Eagle and his band of psychos would get her out if Cash won. Made it easier to focus on what we needed to do.
“We stay together. No one gets separated, and none of us dies,” Grey said. “Mari won’t survive it.”
Nate and I nodded. Grey was right. There was only so much a person could go through without losing their humanity, and Mari was already at that point. Losing us would tip her over the edge.
Our girl looked over, and even though she softened at the sight of us, her eyes glimmered with a vengeance that the world would lose her to. But that was only if we died. So, we just wouldn’t.
We’d stay alive and make Mari the happiest woman in the world.
All we had to do was defeat an army to make it happen.
No big deal.
We decided to split Black Team in two, putting our family as part of the first wave of attacks in hopes that Cash didn’t fortify himself against us more than he already had. Kosas immediately stepped up, offering himself and his men to break in, which meant it was likely going to be a lot bloodier than expected.
The second wave—with Victor and Christian—would come soon after. We also kept a third recovery team nearby to help in case of evacuation or in case Cash tried to run again. Sharpshooters, including Rafael, already lined the closest building, ready and willing to take out every Ace who stepped outside the club.
This was all going to be fast movement with heavy impact. We needed plenty of eyes to make sure no one slipped away. If they sided with Cash, they were dead. End of story.
Opening the back of the SUVs, we all armed ourselves quickly. We all had comms units in our ears so we could talk once we breached since our plan had a tighter timeline than all the other hits.
We needed to be inside—having taken out some men already—when the rest of the first wave crashed into the Aces. Cash would likely lock down the club the second he got word. If we could get to him while the rest of his forces went after the second wave, we were pretty sure we could end this quick. Or, as quick as killing a psychopath could be.
Mari looked us over, triple-checking that we had everything too but moving back to check in one last time with Christian and Victor. “Give us ten minutes, and then go.”
They nodded, and we skirted around the building.
Two minutes to get to the club. Eight to get inside.
No fucking pressure.
We stuck to the shadows and alleys as we wound our way toward Gilded, expecting to find the Aces guarding the perimeter.
Nothing.
That wasn’t suspicious at all.
“Mari…”
She glanced my way with a frown. “Tell the others.”
“Almost to the basement door. No signs of guards outside. Any movement on your end?”
I waited a second for confirmation, but none came.
“Repeat. No guards outside the basement door. Anyone have eyes on an Ace?”
Still nothing.
Mari frowned, taking over. “Black Team Two? Black Team Three? Birds? Anyone copy?”
“No signal. He’s got a jammer,” Grey said, waving his phone. Which meant the comms units were useless.
Well, fuck. That made things complicated. We had no way to tell the others what we were seeing, so we were all going in blind.
Let’s hope it’s not like this everywhere.
Pocketing the earpiece, I stayed low and forced my focus here and now. The other teams weren’t my problem. Surviving was.
“We stay together,” I said again, making sure Mari heard me. There would be no running off to kill Cash alone. We did it together, or someone else could take the fucking shot.
“Together,” she promised.
We’d intended to use the fingerprint scanners to get inside since there was no way Cash could override them, but he’d apparently found a work-around.
Security systems needed power to run. We had a generator, but since the club was typically guarded, we didn’t have it set to kick on automatically. Which meant, when Cash had cut the power, he’d gotten access to the club without a fight, and now he’d manually locked the doors.
A feat Greyson was obviously pissed about. He grumbled under his breath about what he was going to do when this was over until Mari snapped, “Fix it later. We’ve got to get in there.”
Thankfully, the basement had its own separate backup, so it still needed a fingerprint to enter. Mari laid hers down until the light glowed green. As soon as we were all in, we let the door shut. First order of business, providing an entrance for the others.
We took the stairs up quietly, only stopping to make sure the basement was secure again. When we hit the top, we angled for the back hallway where the bathrooms bracketed an emergency exit, but we’d found our first snag.
The hall had a single guard who was dozing when we cleared the top stair. The creak of our boots against the wood woke him fully, and he opened his mouth to yell out. Nate surged toward him, clapping a gloved hand over it and slipping a knife into the guy’s throat. He was too focused on suffocating to care about us anymore.
Grey opened a nearby storage room and helped Nate lay the first Ace down before hustling over to ensure the emergency exit stayed open. It took some clever work, but he got a knife wedged in there so good, we’d have to replace the whole damn door to get it out. “Let’s go.”
Mari and I took point, rounding the corner quickly, which meant we got a face full of knuckles when we ran into a duo of guards who were far more alert than the last. I ducked out of the way, but Mari took a fist to the cheek. Her quiet oof pissed me off, and I grabbed my guard by the throat, plunging the blade into the same place Nate had. I wanted him dead so I could take my time with the other guy, but when I turned, Mari had his mouth pinned closed with her own knife.
“You shouldn’t have touched me.”
The Ace dropped to her feet, and she stepped over him, letting Nate and Grey drag the bodies to the closet again. We weren’t trying to hide our entrance; we just wanted to get closer before Cash found us. A person only had so much energy, and if we used all of ours before then, we’d be dead.
We took out six more Aces by the time my watch vibrated with a warning. I lifted one finger into the air.
One minute until the second wave.
We had to find Cash before we lost him in the mayhem.
The main room was littered with dozens of Aces. They sat around the tables smoking, drinking all the second-tier booze—probably because the top-shelf shit was gone—and playing cards. Most of them looked half smashed, and the others were openly snoring in their seats.
How the fuck was this the army that had nearly taken Seattle?
“Jesus,” Mari whispered, and I just knew she was thinking the same thing.
Nate winced. “They’re better when they’re sober.”
Didn’t we all know it.
The reminder of what had happened at the compound stole my breath, but I kept my focus. “Let’s check the office.”
We crept down the side hallway, clearing the storage rooms as we went, but we found no one else.
An eerie feeling prickled through me, and I strained my ears for the noise from the main room again.
It was so goddamned quiet.
The hair on my neck stood up, and my gut rolled with the need to run. Get the fuck out of here.
I tried to tell everyone to back up, but I had no chance before the wall exploded inward.
The explosion was small, so while it took us off our feet, it didn’t do much else beyond spraying us with a shit-ton of debris. At least, I thought it didn’t.
The floor rumbled, and I shoved Mari into Nate, pushing them to the edges of the room. With her safe, I reached for Greyson, but I was too late. The floor gave way as the fabric of his shirt slipped through my fingers. “No!”
“Greyson!” Mari yelled his name, desperation ringing through my ears even over the sound of gunfire.
The cavalry had arrived. Thank fuck.
We still didn’t know where Cash was, but we’d figure it out. He wasn’t getting out of here alive.
More gunshots fired, and I realized that the “sleeping” men probably hadn’t been sleeping at all.
Definitely a trap, which means the floor situation is too.
“Stay back,” I ordered, happy to see Nate holding Mari back. “I’ll get him.”
I felt her eyes on me as I climbed down the fucking landslide, but as long as she stayed there, I was fine with it. I wasn’t going to let her fall into the pit and be lost herself.
The floor looked to have collapsed about one story down, to the storage part of Gilded’s basement. The debris had made a slope we could use to climb, thanks to part of the floor staying mostly intact. The rubble was from the rest of the floor crumbling. Thankfully, Grey had fallen onto the rubble and not the other way around, so it was easy to see him. Not as easy to get to him and probably a bitch to get him out, but we’d manage.
He was on his back, panting at the ceiling when I finally got to his level. “Up you go, big boy.”
“That’s what she said,” he huffed, rolling to his side so he could get back on his feet. His teeth were gritted, but I didn’t see any glaring injuries.
“You good?”
“Perfect. Get me up there.”
I went first, stopping often to make sure he was still behind me. Our palms were scraped, blood oozing between the small cuts, but we kept pushing. The higher we got, the slower I went, making sure I was there in case his hands slipped. I’d push the guy with a hand on the ass if it meant we got out of the hole sooner.
Gunshots were still ringing out, people screaming, but the hallway was quiet. Maybe because they knew there was no exit over here.
I didn’t breathe as I climbed out of the hole and threw a hand down for him. It took Grey a second to shift his hand so he wouldn’t fall when he let go, but eventually, he tossed himself forward and grabbed me. Greyson’s grip was strong as I hauled him out of the rubble, breathing heavily once we were on mostly solid ground. When he finally stood, it was with one arm wrapped around his ribs. I hoped his body didn’t have any serious damage. We were shit out of luck if so.
Broken ribs, we could handle. Punctured lungs, not so much.
“Quit it, mother hen.”
“Jesus, I’m just making sure you’re not dying.”
“Aw, I knew you loved me.” He pushed my hovering body away from him, giving me a shit-eating grin.
Should’ve left him in the rubble. No good deed goes unpunished. “Mari would’ve been sad without you, that’s all.”
“Sure, sure.” His smile didn’t fall as he dug his spare gun out of its holster. “Let’s get back to our girl.”
Only, when we turned around, we found nothing but dust.
No Mari. No Nate.
Fuck.