Chapter 40 Briar
brIAR
Bang.
Roman shoots Callum beneath his jaw, and blood spurts from the top of his head. My heart pounds so hard that I don’t know if the underworld boss says anything. If he does, I don’t hear it.
Callum’s body falls into the dark water.
My body shakes from shock and the cold.
Gale freed himself with the knife Roman threw into that man’s neck and finishes cutting Taylor and Bensen free. The only two remaining Sub-Rosa guards stand at the edge of the boat, looking uncertain about how to proceed now that Callum is dead.
Roman’s eyes instantly search for and lock on once he finds me.
The boss laughs. “I guess we’d better get back before he jumps in to come after you.” I hesitantly look at him and nod. It’s weird; he doesn’t seem bothered at all by this. By his own men being slaughtered. He almost seems more…entertained.
Doesn’t he care?
Roman doesn’t let his intense gaze lift from us until the boat is touching theirs. I quickly climb up and take his hand. I stare up at his face with my heart in my throat. His forehead has a small gash where the bullet ricocheted off. His face is covered in blood, his own and Callum’s.
I choke on my tears. I’m so fucking relieved that he’s okay.
Roman’s eyes soften, and a weak grin moves over his lips as he sinks to his knees with me in his arms. I wrap my arms around him tightly, intending to never let go.
“I guess we don’t have to worry about your ex showing up at the grocery store,” Roman says cruelly with a raspy laugh that puts a terrible grin on my lips.
“You’re sick.” I laugh, bringing my face to his.
He flinches and pulls back. “Briar, I’m covered in blood. I don’t want—”
I kiss the words from his lips. “I don’t care,” I whisper and gently press my hand to his cheek.
Roman’s brows knit and he leans in, kissing me softly. “I’m sorry for what I am, Briar. I’m sorry that I let you hurt when you needed me to believe in you.” Tears drip from his chin and stain my wrists.
My lower lip trembles with his heartfelt words.
“I don’t want to alter any of the scars I get when they’re for you.” He looks up at me, weariness and hope moving through him like a sickness.
A broken smile that makes me feel whole again.
“I wouldn’t dare rewrite our scars,” I murmur back.
We share another kiss, and for a moment there’s no one else around. It’s just us and the quiet lake as the snow falls slowly.
“Jesus fucking Christ, just say you love each other like normal people,” Taylor snaps, and it makes us both jolt.
They’re all watching us. Gale and Bensen have the Sub-Rosa men tied up, with the exception of the boss who stands at the edge of the boat, staring down at Callum’s floating body.
Roman chuckles and slowly stands, helping me up and keeping my body pressed close to his. It makes my cheeks warm knowing that he doesn’t want to let go of me either.
“I guess Callum won’t be meeting with the general tomorrow,” Bensen says smugly. The man with the cane slowly turns and regards all of us.
“Nolan didn’t care to meet with Callum. It’s me he wanted to speak with, and Nolan always gets his way. He’s waiting at the docks,” he says as his eyes move to the shore.
I stare into the dark, unable to see anything that far off. How can he see that far?
“Who are you?” I askas I take in his slight limp as he walks over to the steering wheel and adjusts it so we’re aiming for the shore.
He grins at me. “The king of the underworld, some say.”
Roman narrows his eyes at him distrustfully. “You were…one of us. How else would you know Nolan?”
The man laughs. “Not so surprising, is it? Let’s see what Nolan wants so we can be done with this senseless fight. I’m not interested in letting Bane Falls sink just because of that evil old man. It’s taken almost a decade to have this town in my grasp.”
We sit in silence as the boat moves toward the docks. Gale wraps Roman’s neck with some cloth he tears from the guard’s shirts and cleans most of the blood from his face.
I stare at each of them, grateful that they’re not too hurt. My throat tightens when I think of John, tears brim in my eyes, and I have to rein in my emotions for now. There will be time to grieve John, but I need to know why all of this has happened.
Just as the man said, Nolan is waiting on the dock, dressed in tactical gear with a rifle slung behind his back. He’s smoking a cigar and doesn’t have any expression when we pull up to the dock.
“Icarus, head to the base,” Nolan says without even looking in our direction.
“General, we’re not leaving until we get answers,” Roman fires back, although it’s evident he’s exhausted, cold, and weak. I’m sure everyone else is feeling the same way because I sure as hell am.
Nolan looks at him, sparing me a slight look before letting his eyes move back to Roman.
“You will get them, Syxx. Take Briar back and patch yourself up… Pick up Bishop too. I’ll return in the morning.”
Roman holds his hostile gaze for a few moments before taking a deep breath and resigning. “All right.”
The five of us stand around the table where we placed John. We each said our goodbyes, mine shorter than the rest because I didn’t know him nearly as well. But my heart hurts all the same.
Gale and Taylor cry over his body. Bensen looks like he’s about to pass out from holding in his tears.
But Roman stands there and stares down at his friend and squadmate, something deeply altering inside his mind from the loss.
I can see it in the way his jaw feathers and his eyes fill with disdain.
The darkness inside him craves to be let out. Callum wasn’t enough. None of it was.
I head downstairs to shower while the squad wraps John’s body in sheets and puts him somewhere cold until he can be properly buried.
I think about that for a long time while I wash the dirt and blood from my skin. I know exactly what it’s like to be buried, and the idea of bright, beautiful John being alone in the ground hurts.
Roman returns after a half hour and showers much faster than I did. He doesn’t do well when he’s left alone with his thoughts, his scar-altering habit is evidence of that. I watch him wrap his neck and put a new dressing on his forehead before he shuts off the lights and crawls into bed behind me.
Light is already seeping in from the windows, morning is nearly here, but I’m so tired even five minutes of rest would do.
Roman pulls me close and buries his face in the back of my head. We don’t share any words. We don’t have to. His warmth seeps into me and mine into him.