Chapter Ten #3
The guy snarled and swung the blade at me.
I felt it slice into my chest and hissed at the sting of pain.
He grinned like a maniac before roaring and coming at me once more.
My foot hit the leg of a chair and I nearly went down.
It gave the man just enough of an edge to get the upper hand.
His arm pressed against my throat as he took me to the ground.
I slammed my fist into the side of his head once. Twice. A third time. He backed off again. I managed to break free and stand. The man came at me, trying to take me out at the knees. I kicked out, catching him in the chin with my boot.
He smiled, blood coating his teeth. “Dirty move.”
“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?”
I backed up and he made it all of four steps before Anatoly took him out.
A bullet to the head and the man collapsed, bleeding all over my damn floors.
I growled, wanting to end the bastard myself.
I didn’t get a chance to yell at Anatoly.
I heard a slow clap from the doorway and glanced that way. My gaze narrowed at the intruder.
“Now you show up? Seriously?” I demanded, glaring at Dakota’s older brother.
“Had to make sure Dakota was all right,” he said, coming into the clubhouse.
“I’m not speaking to you,” she yelled out from behind Anatoly.
Specter’s eye twitched. “Really? How old are you, Dakota? Two?”
My wife leaned around Anatoly to stick her tongue out at her brother, proving his point. I bit my lip so I wouldn’t laugh. Sometimes she was too damn cute.
“If you wanted me to handle this shit, you should have just said so.” I folded my arms and stared at him. “My wife has been hiding for months, waiting for you to do something. If you hadn’t told me you needed more time, or that you were working on it, I’d have never waited this long. Fucker!”
He smiled. “Welcome to the family.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck the hell out, but he came at me so fast I didn’t have a chance. His fist connected with my mouth and split my lip. He followed it up with an uppercut to my chin, knocking me off my damn feet.
“Specter!” my wife screamed at her brother, and I heard her rushing toward us.
I snarled at my brother-in-law, shifted to my feet, and launched myself at him. I tackled him to the floor and landed a blow to his nose, breaking it.
“Let them work it out,” Anatoly told her, and I hoped like hell he was holding her back.
“Family has each other’s back,” I said, punching the bastard again. “They keep their women and children safe. Their brothers… Because of you, we lost good men!”
I clipped his jaw with my fist. Specter bucked me off and caught me in the ribs, right where the fucking Cartel guy had hit me. I gasped and had a feeling I’d be bruised all to hell by morning. Specter landed another blow before Anatoly hauled him off me.
“Enough! The two of you are upsetting Dakota.”
I groaned as I got to my feet. My woman threw herself at me, and despite the pain, I held her close. She cried, burying her face in my chest. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I’m fine,” I assured her.
“I’m okay too,” Specter said. “In case anyone cared.”
“We don’t,” Anatoly said.
Specter flipped him off. “I’m rethinking your Bratva ties, Charming. I’d hoped you’d tap into them and use your connections to save my sister. If I’d known your friend was such an asshole, I’d have handled the matter myself.”
“Why didn’t you?” Dakota asked. “Do you have any idea how scared I’ve been? How awful it was to be locked away like a dirty secret? I couldn’t even go to the doctor!”
Specter winced. “Sorry, little sister. That wasn’t my intention.
I guess you being stuck inside didn’t seem all that bad.
At least I knew you were safe. I needed to know your husband could take care of you.
My life is always going to be filled with danger.
Sometimes that’s going to spill over to you, and by extension, Charming’s club.
If he couldn’t handle this lot, then I knew he wasn’t the right man to stand by your side. ”
“You don’t get a say in who I’m married to,” she said. “I thought I made that clear when I ran after you told me about my arranged marriage to one of your associates.”
He shrugged. “At least you’d have been protected.”
“Dakota is where she belongs,” I said. “With me. Next time your shit comes to my doorstep, you get here fast enough to lend a hand. Otherwise, family or not, I’ll make you disappear. You aren’t my priority.”
He gave a nod. “Good. That’s the way it should be.”
“You staying for dinner?” I asked.
“How can you think about food right now?” Dakota demanded, looking up at me.
“I’m a guy. I got in a fight. Twice. Now I want food and beer.” I winked at her. “And other things that require us to be alone.”
That and I needed to keep busy. If I thought about the loss of Cobra and Philly, I might fall apart. Cobra had been a friend, and an officer of my club, for more than a decade. Losing him was a pain I’d deal with later. When I was alone. My club needed me to be strong right now, and so did my wife.
Her cheeks turned pink, but she smiled at me. “Love you, Charming.”
“Love you too, sweetheart. Think I better get cleaned up.”
Anatoly placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll watch your wife and help get the clubhouse back into order.”
“You only lost two men,” Specter said, “in case you were wondering. Although one wasn’t technically yours.
Hades Abyss is down a member. The Cartel has been handled.
The ones they didn’t kill I took care of on my way in.
If there’s retaliation later, let me know.
You took out two of their bigger players, so they’ll need time to regroup.
A few of your other men took a bullet, but they’ll heal. ”
Clarity, Jordan, and Janessa rushed into the clubhouse. Each scanned the room and winced. “Damn, Pres. The place is wrecked,” Clarity said.
“So is my husband,” Jordan muttered.
I looked around and realized she was right.
We’d knocked over furniture without me even knowing it.
Anatoly started cleaning up and the old ladies went to help.
I clapped Specter on the back. “Come on, brother. Let’s head to my house.
You can use the guest shower to wash up and we’ll come back so you can visit with Dakota. ”
“I’m ordering pizzas,” Jordan shouted as we walked outside. I waved my hand so she’d know I heard her.
Checking the area, I saw Hunter back on his feet.
It looked like Guardian had taken a bullet to the shoulder.
Havoc’s shirt had torn from a bullet creasing his side, but the damage seemed minimal.
Gator limped by and I saw his thigh had been tied off, his pant leg soaked in blood.
All in all, things could have been a lot worse.
My gaze strayed to Cobra and Philly, laid out side by side. My throat burned and my heart ached. I paused a moment and walked over, kneeling next to Cobra. Someone had shut his eyes, and he looked peaceful.
“Rest easy, brother,” I said, my voice sounding like I’d gargled with gravel. “Thank you for protecting our club and my family. You’ll never be forgotten.”
I glanced at Philly and saw Smoke kneeling next to him. I gave the man a nod and stood. We’d suffered a tragedy, but we’d heal in time. I’d leave Cobra’s spot open for a bit. Only seemed right.
Specter grabbed his bag from his vehicle, and we walked to my house. I showed him to the guest bath before heading for the master bedroom. I pulled my shirt over my head and checked my wounds. They’d already started to crust over and didn’t seem to need stitches.
I scrubbed quickly and put on clean clothes.
When I went back to the hall, Specter had finished, and the bathroom light was out.
I found him in the living room, checking out the pictures Dakota had put around the room.
We might not have been able to leave the house, but she’d taken a selfie with me every day she’d been here.
I’d printed off a few for her and she’d framed them.
“She looks happy,” Specter said.
“She is. More so now that she can leave the house.”
“Keep it that way. She’s the only family I have left, Charming. If anything happens to her, I may lose what’s left of my humanity. I’ve been walking on the dark side for so long. She’s been the light in my world since I found out about her.”
“She’s not all you have,” I said. “You have a nephew or niece on the way, and now the Devil’s Boneyard is also part of your family.”
He smiled faintly.
I heard a shriek from outside and went to investigate. A petite Asian woman struggled against Magnus.
“Found this one skulking around, Pres,” he said, shoving her toward me.
She crumbled at the foot of the steps and stumbled as she tried to stand. Her gaze landed on Specter right before she burst into tears.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
My brother-in-law sighed and pushed me out of the way, going to the woman.
“Cho, what are you doing here?” Specter asked. “I sent you back to your family.”
She wiped at the tears streaking her cheeks. “They’re gone. All of them.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“Fire. It took out half the town. Everyone died.”
“Specter, do you want to take her inside?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. We’ll go to the clubhouse. Is there a room we can use while I get to the bottom of this?”
“Sure.” I eyed the woman. “But first… How did you know where he was?”
She looked away. Yeah, that one was hiding something. And for whatever reason, Specter hadn’t thought to question her. I looked from one to the other, wondering what the hell was going on.
I moved closer, making sure I had her attention. “If you bring trouble here, it won’t go well for you.”
“Jesus, Charming. Back off.” Specter shoved me, but I didn’t budge.
“No. Think with your head and not your dick. She found you here. How? And why is she here? Dakota and our child are finally safe. If she’s here to cause problems, I want her gone. Now.”
He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I’ll handle it.”
“Visit your sister first. Don’t just disappear.” I walked off, not giving him a chance to say anything else. He might be feared throughout the world, but right now, he was on my turf. I was the king here. Not him.
Fucker better not forget it either.