Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
"You need to follow me. Something's wrong." Gina turned from the doorway of Rose's room, walking briskly down the hallway.
"I'll be right back," I announced to the room, then followed Gina to a room filled with shelves of bandages, gloves, gauze, and other medical supplies.
"You need to see this," she thrust her phone at me.
Pushing play, I watched a shaky video of the ground, black heels walking through a crowd of other feet. Impatient, I forwarded the video until it panned upwards, showing the back of several heads, until finally, it landed on one of the King's clubs.
My stomach sunk in horror as orange and black ate through the walls, with black plumes pouring from the top. It was on fire . Police were setting up a perimeter, yelling at the gathered crowd to 'Get Back!'
Shit, shit .
Dread filled my chest as the video continued. The camerawoman moved through the crowd, making me almost nauseous at the shaky quality as she jerked from the back of heads, to the burning building, to the ground.
Finally, she made it to her destination--the front doors.
There was a large, blurry spot leaning against it.
She zoomed in on it, until you could recognize it as a body, rail thin, his black hair a stark contrast against his ashen, pale face. Benny.
It was clear that he was dead. There was a sign in his lap that read, Verquenza ya viene .
Vengeance is coming.
I felt sick inside.
Somehow, they'd either found Carlos' body or at least knew that he was dead. It had to be that. Probably because of his girlfriend. She would've been looking for him. I cursed the fact that I'd kept my promise to allow her to live. "Fuck."
A firefighter ran towards Benny's dead body, quickly followed by a second one. They grabbed the back of his shirt and drug him away from the burning building. Then the police filled the screen, blocking my view of Benny, pushing the crowd back to make way for the fire truck.
"That's not all," Gina said. "The police are here."
"In the hospital?"
"They're looking for Coulter," she said. Coulter, whose name was on the registration for the club, now burning.
"What did you tell them?" I asked.
"I said I didn't know who that was, but they'll find him eventually."
"Can I keep this?" I held up her phone. At her nod, I shoved it in my pocket, then marched out of the storage closet.
Fuck my life.
This was all my fault. I'd acted against Bourbon's direct order not to retaliate. And now, chaos was happening, just as Rose was having her baby.
Just as my mother predicted, I'd acted selfishly, and now I didn't even have Tatiana by my side for it.
I was going to have to fix this, and, I knew that in order to solve this, I would have to go back to the beginning.
To my past.
To the reason my family was killed.
To the enemies of my grandfather.
"What the hell is going on, man?" As soon as I entered the room, Coulter was by my side, whispering low so no one else could hear.
I passed over the phone, making sure to turn the volume all the way down. Coulter's face changed from concerned cautiousness to a glowering, angry ball of fury. The temperature in the room turned to a sudden frigidness, sending goosebumps up my arm. He looked like he wanted to murder someone.
"This is my fault," I said, the guilt returning.
"This is the cartel's fault," Coulter growled, his eyes lit up with his fury. Grabbing my arm, he pulled me so that we were facing away from the proud couple and Aster. "Remember, I told you something like this would happen?"
"But I'm the one who--"
"I don't give a shit," Coulter protested. "they would've done something regardless."
"But they probably would've waited if I hadn't killed one of their men."
"Fuck that," Coulter cursed. "They betrayed me right after they made a peace agreement with me. It didn't matter that I upheld our agreement before, and it doesn't matter now."
"Then why were you so pissed?"
He straightened, a surprised look on his face. "I was mad because you didn't tell me about it. You needed my help but you didn't come to me."
"I am fully capable of killing a man on my own. You have no idea the things--"
Coulter held up a hand, cutting me off. "I don't care what you've done in the past, or what you will do in the future. We're a family, and family helps each other, whether or not we need it," he pointed a finger at me, "you understand me?"
I nodded, a knot lodged in my throat. "Yes."
"Except... I don't know how Bourbon will react. Not now," he gestured towards the bed, where Rose was cuddling with the new baby, looking adorably exhausted. "Not when he's finding out after the fact."
"I know."
"Okay." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "For now, we need to figure out how to handle this. We've got to keep it from him, at least for a few days. I've got men prepared but we need to know who exactly--" He was cut off by Gina's voice at the door.
"Sir, I think you can wait."
She was talking to a police officer, standing between him and the entrance to our room. Romeo had her back, completely blocking the doorway.
"Ma'am, Sir," He gave them both a stern look. "I need you both to move."
"And you need to get out of this area," Gina thundered. "You're posing a security risk."
Bourbon was still looking at Rose and the baby, but I could sense that his attention was focused on the door.
"Ma'am, I'm not going to ask you again." His eyes glinted darkly, his finely trimmed mustache quivering as he reached for the radio at his shoulder.
"There's no need to call for backup," Romeo grunted. "There's no problem here."
"Except for you," Gina sassed. "If you dare take a step into the room, I'm going to call your supervisor." She cocked her head, her hand still on the doorframe, keeping him out. "Dave Rbuercheck? He lives near my ex-husband, and our kids go to school together."
This was one of the reasons we'd picked Gina, not only did she have a Vagina of Steel, she was also friends with the local police captain."
They had a stare off, and I kept shifting my attention from Aster cooing over the baby nervously, Rose's tired appearance, and the nurses trying to ignore the commotion at the door.
Everyone else was silent, on alert.
"Ma'am, if you don't step away from the door, I'm going to have to arrest you." He suddenly moved, shoving her into Romeo.
Romeo caught Gina, but they both fell to the ground.
The policeman's gun came out.
He pointed it towards Rose.
I only had a moment to react.
I jumped.
The gun went off.
Leaping across Rose's bed, fire blazed through my shoulder. I fell onto her legs, just as Coulter and Bourbon tackled the man to the floor. Torian grabbed the cops legs.
"Get out," I yelled to Rose as I tumbled onto the floor.
Aster leaped into action, helping Rose and the baby from the bed.
Bourbon, Coulter, and Torian wrangled with the cop for control of the gun, finally pulling it from his grip.
Just then, a second police officer ran into the room. His gun was already pointing towards Rose.
Pain seared through me as I tried to surge from the floor, roaring at Bourbon.
Gina jumped onto the new officer from behind, and Romeo followed suit. Dante joined them. Within seconds, Romeo and Dante had the man's face smashed into the glossed floor. The gun was still in his hand. Dante kicked it from him, then kicked him in the stomach.
Gina grabbed the gun, pointing it towards the cops now held down on the floor.
More police officers filed into the room, and chaos ensued. No one knew who was trying to kill who.
Rose had her back to the door, her crying baby clutched to her chest. Aster stood protectively between her and everyone else.
Everyone was yelling over everyone else--the new cops trying to get us to put down our weapons. Us refusing, trying to explain.
"Everyone shut up!" Gina was standing on the bed, screaming. "Benicio!" She pointed towards one of the new police officers. "You know me! Trust me when I say that you guys need to let these people explain." Several other nurses were nodding in agreement.
As the room began to calm down, my rage was boiling over.
What kind of men were these? And how fucking dare they try to kill something so innocent. So fucking pure.
What I'd done was justified--they'd kidnapped Tatiana. But them, they took their revenge out, not only on Benny and one of our clubs, but they'd tried to kill an innocent child!
I wanted to burn this hospital down to the ground, to rage and kill every fucking last one of them.
"Knight!"
Rose's voice finally captured my attention, her eyes on my hand. The two cops we'd taken down were handcuffed and being led from the room. Everyone was grouped between the cops and the Kings, with the nurses in between.
Except, Bourbon was now standing between me and Rose. Coulter had pulled Aster close, holding her hand, but they were both staring, blinking at me. In fact, everyone was looking at me. Including the cops.
"Knight," Rose didn't look afraid of me, but for me as she gestured with her head towards my hand. "Put it away."
I suddenly realized that I was the only one with a gun still in my hand.
"Shit, sorry." I quickly put it away, and the tension in the room visibly lowered.
"Bourbon, quit being a bully and move out of the way," Rose gently pushed him to the side, handing off the baby." I need to talk to Knight."
Bourbon carefully took the small form in his hands, rocking him gently, while still keeping an eye on me as he, hesitatingly, stepped aside.
The rage still filling me quickly shifted, weaving with shame. "Rose," I choked out through the knot in my throat, "I'm sorry," I began, unable to keep the pain from my voice. "I..." I didn't know how to start, what to say. The realization of what had just happened, what could have happened...
"Knight," she grabbed hold of my hand, her face pale, her fingers trembling. I clasped it, wishing I could take her fear from her. Her voice was soft, her expression kind, "You jumped in front of that bullet for me." I only now registered the pain. Glancing down, I realized that it had nicked my arm. One of the cops was pulling it from the wall.
"Of course. That's my..." I didn't finish the sentence. I was going to say, 'job', but I hadn't done it because I felt obligated to do it. I did it because I would give my life for the family . I loved these people.
"Tell me, what happened?" Rose soothed. "Where is Tatiana, really?"
"The truth is--I don't know."
"Do you think she's hurt?"
"I don't think so." I held out my hands. "But. I don't know for sure."
"Knight," Rose's voice was firm. "You need to figure this out."
"But what about you? The cartel could try again , and--"
"No," she shook her head. "Now that we know what's going on, we'll be fine. You need to go get your woman."
"We need to talk," Bourbon interrupted, his expression dark and serious. Coulter stood behind him, looking guilty. Shit. Fuck. Coulter had told him everything.
"Everyone else stay here," Bourbon led the way from the room and down the hallway. "Coulter told me what happened. What you did to that cartel guy." He was fuming. Furious. "You killed one of their men. Disobeying a direct order." For the first time in a long time, I felt very small as Bourbon dressed me down. "I don't ask for much. Especially compared to my father. Fuck, Knight! They could've killed my--" he choked on his next words, "my family!"
"I know," I admitted, shame crawling through me like an animal tearing my insides out.
"I just wanted a few months of peace. I needed Rose to not have the baby while in the middle of a war, and look at what's happened!" he roared.
"I know." I couldn't look him in the eyes.
"How could you not trust me!" He continued, not letting me answer. "We treated you like family. Took care of you. You could have come to us. You had every right to ask for retribution for what they did to Tatiana - used official means. But instead, you acted on your own, without thinking of the consequences."
He was wrong. I had thought of the consequences. I just didn't give a shit at the time.
But I hadn't thought they would come for Rose or the baby.
"You know they want Vegas. They want this war." I said.
"You think I don't know that?"
"They don't live by the old code," I insisted. "We need to--"
"No." Bourbon's face was hard. "Not we, Knight. I ."
I stilled, my insides freezing. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're no longer a part of this family."
"What?" His words felt like a punch in the gut.
"Don't make me have to punish you in front of the whole city. Because I will."
"But, I...." I was dumbfounded. He was serious, though. I could see it in his eyes.
And I didn't blame him. His wife and kid could have died today.
"Yes, sir." I nodded. There was a knot of fear in my throat.
"You have my men to get Tatiana back. After that, you will leave the city."
A rush of anger filled me. I deserved to live in this city more than he did. My blood had drowned in it, my ancestry was rooted here, centuries ago. I wanted to protest, but I bit down on my next words. "Okay."
"Go find Tatiana. Take Dante with you."
I felt like I was choking but I met his eyes, taking the consequences of my actions. "Yes, sir."