11. MASON
MASON
We’re all still sittingaround in the living room, talking, and munching on the snacks Cole’s housekeeper brought for us as we wait for Carter and the guys to arrive. I’m getting antsy just sitting here and waiting but I know it can’t be helped since I have no experience with this type of shit, and the guys all do.
Wehave the assassins, the Mafia boss, and the president of a MC club with Mafia and assassin ties.
Fuck. Me.
When did I cross over to the wrong side of the law? Oh yeah, when they fucked with my girl and took her away from me.
It’sexactly half an hour later when Cole walks back into the room after having stepped out to go check on Addison and the kids a while ago. Carter, Maxcen, Blaze, Silas, Daemon and the twins Declan and Cage are all following behind him. There’s also about twenty or so more guys with them. The room instantly goes silent as me and my guys wait to see what’s going to happen next since we’re the inexperienced ones here.
Theguys are all wearing tactical gear from head to toe. Black pants and shirts, bulletproof vests, and combat boots along with helmets to complete the outfit. They look like they’re part of a goddamn SWAT team and they might as well be with all the assault and sniper rifles; they’re carrying with them.
Themen they brought with them are all dressed the same. They look like they mean business and are ready for a freaking war. WhichI guess is true because that’s what this is.
War…
Carterand the guys all greet everyone as they move to take a seat on the empty chairs left in the room.
“Addison and the kids are upstairs and she won’t be coming back down. So, we can get started,” Cole says to the room a moment later.
“Congratulations on the twins, man,” Carter tells him and the guys all follow with their own congrats.
“Thanks.”
“Can we go get my girl already?” I grumble to the room.
“We’re getting there Romeo. There are some things we need to discuss first,” Maxcen tells me and I reluctantly nod my head.
“Are we ready to get down to business then since lover boy here seems to be impatient?” Cole asks, chuckling.
“You guys are assholes!” I grumble under my breath.
“Ready to put your brother-in-law out of his misery?” Carter asks Hunter and I just roll my eyes at these dicks.I’m so glad they can fucking joke at my expense.
“Yeah, he looks like he’s about to cry over there,” Hunter the ass says and everyone laughs.
“Right, so we finally found what we were looking for. These assholes have a huge trafficking ring and just like us they know how to hide themselves and all the shit they do, but obviously we’re better than them and we found what we needed to plus more,” Silas says with a smirk.
“Their operation is worldwide and bigger than the one you disbanded in NewYork,” Blaze says next.
“Anyway, that’s beside the point. We’ll be dealing with that shit in the near future. Your girl is being kept in a mansion about forty-five minutes from here. The place is literally in the middle of the woods,” Carter says.
“We brought some of our men with us. The few here and there are some outside and Cole has also brought some of his men.” Maxcen says, looking at me as I take it all in. “The plan is to surround the place and then kill whatever men they have outside as quietly as we can, before we make our way inside and kill everyone in there. Well, everyone who needs to be killed, keep an eye out in case they have more prisoners there.”
Itake in everything they’re saying as they plan the logistics of the upcoming attack and absolutely feel out of my element here. I don’t want to mess anything up and put her life in any kind of danger but I also need to do this for her. I have to be there for her and take care of her once we find her. I get lost in my own thoughts for a while and only tune back into the conversation still going on around me when I hear the name Antonio being mentioned.
“What?” I ask and they all stop to look over at me. “What did you just say?”
“A man by the name of AntonioBandini took her at the request of one EmiliaCrowne and AlisterKing,” Daemon answers, looking me dead in the eye as he delivers that news to me.
“What the fuck? Are you being serious right now?” I question, starting to feel sick to my stomach.
“One hundred percent,” Cage drawls.
“I’m going to fucking kill that asshole and that fucking cunt as well as my fucking father!” I growl into the room.
“Get in line bro,” Hunter grumbles.
“What the actual fuck? Our father?” I hear Grayson question with disbelief in his voice. I look over at him and the pain on his face mirrors my own.
“I-I didn’t know,” I whisper, feeling my chest ache something fierce.
“Chill bro. We know. Otherwise, you’d be dead already,” Carter tells me. “We all care about her because she’s family now.”
“She might be your family now because of Hunter but she’s fucking mine!” I snap, looking him right in the face. I’m getting really tired of these assholes threatening me. Then again, I’m glad she has people that care for her. A wide and downright predatory smile crosses his face.
“We’ll see,” is all he says.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means we’ll see how things go. I’m sure my brother already explained shit to you,” he smirks. I swear these assholes are getting a kick out of my misery. I know it’s not like I don’t deserve it, but sheesh! The least they could do is have some damn sympathy.
Thinkingback to what they said just now, I’m still pissed at what I learned. I mean, I knew my father and her—Emilia—hated her, but I didn’t think they were evil enough to arrange for a fucking trafficking asshole to kidnap her.
Ilook over to Grayson a second later and his face is pale. I’m guessing he didn’t think our father was capable of this either. Fuck! I wish I could shield him from this too but the hardheaded ass insisted on coming with me.
“I… what the fuck?” he whispers.
“Fuck! I’m sorry our dad is a major asshole, bro. I wasn’t expecting this either. Though, I guess that maybe a part of me kind of knew he was capable of this shit. And that asshole Antonio was so fucking close to her this whole time when I was being a dickhead. How the hell did I not see the true evil that he is? AndI fucking paraded her as being mine in front of him so many times. Is this somehow my fault too? Was she taken because of my actions?” I groan out in pain. My chest aching at the thought that I might be the reason he took her as well.
“It’s not your fault. He was going to take her regardless of the fact that you claimed her in front of him, since that’s the reason he was in Ravenwood in the first place,” Hunter says, but his words don’t help one bit. NowI just wish I could have seen through his mask and maybe then, none of this would be happening.
Amoment later some of the other soldier guys come into the room with more tactical gear in hand.
“Put these on, all of you. I don’t need you pretty boys getting shot,” Carter says as the men hand me and the guys our gear.
“Yeah, I don’t want you to get shot either, even though it would be fun to watch. But my sister would probably kill me if I let that happen,” Hunter jokes as we all start to put this shit on.
“Asshole!” I grumble at him.
“Oh, you know you love me!” he says, smirking at me.
Blazeand Silas walk over to where the guys and I are standing after we’ve put all the gear on and hands us each a gun that has a silencer on it. “You guys know how to shoot right?” Silas asks.
“Yes,” the guys all respond.
“Hey, how come I don’t get one of the rifles?” I ask with a pout. Hunter just looks at me and rolls his eyes.
“Have you ever used one before?”
“Well, no.”
“Then there’s your answer, dickhead. I don’t need you accidentally shooting one of us or yourself,” he deadpans.
“I resent that,” I mutter.
“Time to get this show on the road,” Cole says as he comes back into the room in full gear and an assault rifle strapped to him too. Huh? I didn’t even notice him leave the room. Well that just shows how shit my focus is.
Everyoneinstantly gets to their feet and we all follow behind Cole, Carter, and his guys. My jaw drops a little when we step outside. About fifteen SUVs are parked in front of the mansion now and all the men are loading guns and other shit in the trunks.
Itdefinitely looks like we have a small army here with us. I get into the vehicle with Carter and Hunter, while mine and Carter’s brothers split up with the others. Once everyone is in a vehicle, we start to pull off.
Theguys’ men take up position in the front and back of our convoy leaving us all in the middle. Just in case, I guess since you can never be too sure. I don’t expect any trouble since no one even knows we’re here. Or maybe they do if they’ve been watching me. And we came with Hunter’s jet, so if they were watching, they may already know that we’re here.
Ididn’t want to risk coming with ours and tipping my father off. I’m not even sure he knew my whereabouts since I’ve done everything to hide that from him. Now that I know what the asshole did though, I don’t want to ever see his face again.
Gah! So many fucking unknown variables. I’m just hoping that we still have the element of surprise on these motherfuckers. We’re about fifteen minutes into the drive when Hunter hands me an earpiece.
“Put this in your ear so that we can communicate and coordinate with everyone else, if necessary,” he tells me and I take it and place it in my ear.
“Thanks.”
“Comm check,” he says a second later and one by one I hear everyone respond with the affirmative that they can hear him.
Theride feels like it’s taking forever, but before I know it, the vehicles split up into four teams and each team is heading in a different direction.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“We’re splitting up so that each team will cover one side of the property. That way no one inside will have a chance to escape,” Carter tells me.
“Yeah, okay. That makes sense.”
Amoment later we’re turning onto one of the back roads. It’s already night so the cover of darkness will help us blend in more. The driver heads into the woods and onto a beaten path that’s hidden there.
Heshuts his lights off, before slowly driving forward a little more and then stopping. The vehicle is now hidden a bit by the trees but he still gets out and covers it with some of the branches that he picks up off the ground.
Weget our weapons ready and Hunter hands me some night vision goggles and once I put them on, I can see better in the dark. I can also see the mansion up ahead in the distance and my entire body buzzes with anticipation at what’s about to go down. I know this will be nothing less than a blood bath.
“Let’s go!” Carter whisper shouts and all the guys on our team begin to creep forward, fanning out to cover more space as we begin to jog through the woods and toward the mansion.
Itdoesn’t take long before we get to the back of the mansion, where the entrance is, but we stop right by the tree line and wait.
“Is everyone in position?” Carter asks and there”s a chorus of ‘yeses and we’re in position’ that comes through my earpiece.
“Let’s do this!” Hunter says, sounding bloodthirsty as hell.
Wemove forward silently. Some of our men already went over the fence and just as we get there ourselves it’s in time to see the guards show up to patrol the property. I watch as our guys come up behind them quickly and quietly, grabbing them by the back of their heads and slitting their throats in one swift movement. Holy shit! That’s badass.
I’mamazed at how seamlessly these guys work together. Once the ones outside are taken care of, their bodies being moved so that they aren’t detected, we rush through the gates still conscious of doing it stealthily. There are a lot of them out here, more than I counted but they’re all taken care of. Once the outside is cleared, we make our way to the front door while another team goes to the back.
“Sniper team are you in position?” Cole asks.
“Yes sir,” I hear them reply one after the other.
“TeamOne and Two are we ready to go?” Hunter asks, and they all reply as well. “Switch to your rifles and shoot to kill anyone you see but be careful with my sister or you’re all dead.”
“Got it sir!” comes across the com.
“Stay back for a second,” Carter says as he throws what looks like a grenade at the front door. A moment later there’s a huge explosion and I hear a similar one coming from the back. I guess quiet time is over now and we’re down to business.
Themen storm through the door and we follow along. Gunfire starts immediately after the guys cleared the front as the assholes start to pop up one by one.
Oncethose are taken care of, we continue to sweep the house looking for more people. There’s no way they don’t know that they’re under attack right now.
Wehear more gunshots echoing throughout the place as we keep moving. We finally come to a door and Carter and Hunter burst through just as our guys filter in from the other side of it and spread out around the room.
Theyhave their guns trained on the pieces of shit in here. The room is filled with old fucking men and almost all of them have their fucking pants down. This room must be soundproof if they didn’t hear all the ruckus. I’m instantly disgusted at the sight of it all. The men look scared as fuck with all the guns being pointed at them.
Awhimper catches my attention and I look up to see my baby naked and cuffed to an attachment that’s fixed to the ceiling and I’m instantly fucking pissed at the sight before me.
Theasshole who took her is standing on the stage behind her. He’s a good distance away from her and he’s not moving. NowI can see it’s because Cole is behind him with a gun to the back of his head.
Withoutthinking, I rush down the room and toward the stage. I walk right up to the asshole and punch him in the face so hard I feel my knuckles instantly begin to throb.
“And that was just the fucking beginning asshole. Bet you didn’t think she’d have an army behind her, did you? You are going to fucking pay for this!” I grit through clenched teeth right up in his face before turning my attention to Cole. “Make sure you keep him alive. I want to be the one to deal with him.”
Henods his head and with that I rush over to Winter. I see the key to the cuffs on a nearby table and grab it before quickly opening the cuffs around her wrists. As soon as they’re open she slumps down, starting to fall because her legs can’t keep her up but I catch her in time.
Hereyes are closed and as soon as she feels my arms around her, she starts to whimper and thrash around trying to get away from me and my heart fucking breaks at the sight before me.
“Shh baby. It’s me. I’ve got you! I’ve got you!” I tell her over and over again as I hold on to her tighter. When it seems like she finally registers my voice, she stops thrashing for a moment and her eyes open, looking up at me for a second. Once she sees that it’s me her entire body goes limp, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she passes out cold in my arms.
Iguess she must realize that she’s safe now and the stress is too much for her. Grayson rushes over to me with a dress and a cardigan in his hands and I quickly dress her before lifting her up in my arms and walk out of the room.
AsI make my way down the aisle, I look at all the men around the room and they look scared out of their minds. I recognize a few as wealthy politicians and I’m instantly disgusted at the sight of them before me. Some are begging for their lives and some are crying. Pathetic fucking assholes. Did any of them help her while she was crying up there? No, and they don’t deserve an ounce of my sympathy.
Istop in front of Hunter and he looks down at her in my arms with nothing but pain in his expression. He bends down and places a kiss on her forehead before standing to his full height again, with an expression so cold I know he’s going to take great pleasure in killing these assholes.
“Kill them all,” I tell him just to make sure we’re on the same page before walking out of the room with her in my arms. I only make it about five steps when the sounds of screams and then gunshots being fired is the only thing I can hear.