Dylan POV
I woke up and snuck out like a coward. I know it’s pathetic, but facing Blaze when he’s so fucking set on making me give up my place within my family isn’t something I can handle right now.
Walking into my father’s house, it’s quiet. I go straight into the office and he looks up at me.
“Where have you been?”
“Just seeing what I can find out about the West Crew and spending time with Allana.”
He hums. “How is that going? Allana. Trying for a baby?”
“No idea. I agreed and we’re trying, but I don’t know how it’s actually going. You should probably ask her.” Like I know anything about it. We’ve fucked once, and I know I can’t put it off every time.
“Okay. So these weapons, we’re going to get them, intercept them and bring them back here. Possibly sell them on or use them.”
Echo was right. My father won’t keep them off the streets. I understand the club, Echo is focused on ensuring the town is safe. My father doesn’t care about the locals unless they are in his pocket.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to let the club deal with it? There’s no fall back on us then. We had nothing to do with it.”
“No. We can’t let them get more weapons. We’re not in alliance with them, and never will be, so that means they're the enemy.”
“They aren’t bad. Siren lives there. It’s her family.”
“Siren?”
“Davina,” I explain.
“Well, that’s good for Davina, but we’re not in the business of making friends, Dylan. We make connections. I know that club enough to know they won’t want ties to us.”
Maybe they would. With me and Blaze fucking, maybe they would. But I can’t say that because he has no fucking idea.
“Stay here tonight. We leave early. I want you there for a meeting.”
“About what?” I need to know.
“Your brother and what part he’s going to take.”
Of course it is. “And what are you thinking he should do?”
“There’s a few things, but as I said we’ll discuss it more in the morning. Right now I have a few meetings to attend which you can join.”
Of course he does. For the next six hours I sit in these meetings. It’s people who know who I am, those closest to him. Several times he looks distracted by his phone but he keeps his composure.
I can’t help but wonder what it is. By the time we finish and get back it’s past midnight and I climb into bed. I don’t get along with my brother and I know tomorrow will be hard.
It’s past lunch and my father keeps delaying this meeting with my brother. He’s been in and out, insisting I need to wait for him to be free, but it’s getting annoying now.
My phone buzzes and I pull it out, seeing Siren’s name, I answer and hold the phone to my ear. “Hey Siren.”
“Dylan, can you call into the club? I really need to speak with you.”
Sighing, I look around. My father is clearly too fucking busy. “Sure, I’ll come now.” Hanging up, I go out and ask a driver to take me. A short distance away I get out and walk the rest of the way.
Walking into the club it’s hectic. I look for Siren or Blaze but can’t see them.
“Church,” a voice snaps and I turn to see Echo.
“What?”
“Just fucking follow me,” he snarls and stomps forward. Moving, I follow and I wonder if this is to do with Blaze? The fact we’re constantly fighting?
Stepping in the room is full. Everyone turns and stares at me, but then I realise something. “Where’s Blaze?”
Is this some weird bullshit where they make me fucking admit the truth?
“Do you know this guy?” Glitch says, placing down a phone. I lean over and tense.
“No.” I do, but I can’t fucking tell them that.
“No?” Echo tilts his head.
“I said no. How would I know someone like that?”
“Everyone fucking knows who you are, Dylan. I told them when Blaze went missing yesterday.”
“W-w-w-what?” My eyes scan the room as if that will make Blaze suddenly appear. No, Blaze isn’t fucking gone.
“We’ve got Grim. He sent that picture and said he made a deal with him to set us up, which had Blaze taken. Now who is it?”
My head shakes. “I s-s-s-swear I don’t know.” I can’t let them go after Sebastian. This is on me.
“Fine. Get out. But if I find you’re lying I don’t give a shit who you are, I’ll fucking shoot you.”
Nodding, I step out, my body shaking. That’s what had my father so tense yesterday. The question is, does he know about me and Blaze?
I send a message for a car and the moment it arrives I get in it and head back to my father’s.
Walking in I go straight through to his office.
“Not now,” he snaps, not even looking up from his desk.
“Y-y-yes now. Have you had contact with Sebastian?”
“Sebastian is none of your business.”
“That’s not an a-a-answer!” I stutter, my voice cracking with frustration.
Sighing, he slides the phone over and my heart stops. Blaze. The picture on the screen shows him tied up, beaten, blood on his face. “Fucking agree!” I snap.
“I’m not about to hand over half of our territory for some guy who came from Davina’s club. We don’t save friends. We save assets.”
“If you don’t I f-f-f-fucking will.”
He leans back in his chair, studying me with cold eyes. “You’re fucking him.”
I shake my head but it’s pointless. He can see right through me.
“You want me to save him?”
I nod quickly, my chest tight.
“Then let’s make a deal.”
“A fucking deal?” I snap, my hands shaking at my sides.
“Yes, Dylan. I’ll save him, but you stay the hell away from him. You marry Allana sooner. No waiting. That also means no going to that club. We go, save him, you see he’s saved, and you never have contact with him again.”
“Fine. But I come.”
“Okay. Give me twenty minutes to get a team together.”
“You know where they are?” He fucking knew?
“Of course I do. The first message was confusing. I assumed they grabbed the wrong person. Then the messages made it clear you were fucking him, so I found out where, in case I had to go finish their job.”
Of course that was his plan.
I stand there, my stomach twisting. I just agreed to give up Blaze completely. To cut him out of my life for good. To marry Allana sooner and start trying for a child like the perfect heir I’m supposed to be.
But if it means saving him… I’ll do it. Even if it destroys me.
Twenty minutes later the cars are pulling out of the drive, but suddenly they stop. My father glances at his phone and then at me.
“Sort it. His friends are here.”
“What?” I look out the window and see bikes blocking us. “I… they won’t leave until they get Blaze.”
“Sort it, or he’s left to die.”
Fuck! Getting out, I walk to the bikes. Ghost glares at me, and I glance between them. “What are you doing?”
“Come on Dylan, you fucking knew him. We saw the way you reacted. So where is he?” Echo says.
“It’s sorted. Just go back.”
“No. You either tell us and let us deal with it, or we follow and still deal with it.”
“My father's sorting it.”
“He’s part of the fucking club,” Echo snarls. “If you give a shit about Blaze, help.”
“Fine. Follow us. Just stay out of my father’s way.”
Walking back to the car I get in and the bikes move. I watch as they follow us, my father just stares at me.
“I put too much trust in you.”
“What?” I stare at him.
“I said I put too much trust in you. Yes I had you watched sometimes, but I should have had someone watching you more closely. My main enemy found out you were fucking a guy before I knew.”
I look away from him.
“I won’t let you take over while ever you’re fucking a guy. Make the decision now.”
“I’ve made it,” I snap. “I agreed. We save him and I leave. I stay the hell away from him. I marry Allana. Taking over is more important.”
That’s a lie. It’s not. But to save Blaze it is.
“Good. You’re moving into the main house now. There’s no need for the apartment if people are finding out about you.”
All I can do is nod. Soon the cars slow, and my father looks at me. “Keep a gun in hand, but stay behind everyone.”
“You don’t trust me?” I scoff.
“I don’t believe you can protect yourself, so stay behind.”
He gets out and I follow, but he glares at me as the guards move in front of me. Of fucking course. The guys from the club walk past me and I can hear arguing but getting past the guards is useless.
I’m basically being treated like a fucking woman who needs protecting. He may as well have told me to stay in the fucking car.
The team moves forward through the building like a well-oiled machine. My father’s men take the lead, guns raised, moving with the kind of precision that comes from years of doing this.
The Fallen Gods guys fan out behind them, Echo and Ghost in front, Titan somewhere to the side. I try to push forward to see what’s happening but the guards immediately close ranks around me, keeping me firmly in the middle like I’m some fragile package that needs protecting.
Gunshots erupt ahead.
I flinch as the sound cracks through the hallway. Someone shouts, then more shots ring out. I catch a glimpse of one of my father’s men returning fire before a guard shoves me back harder against the wall.
“Stay behind us,” he barks.
I try to look around him but another guard steps in the way. All I can see are their backs and the flashes of light from the gunfire further down the corridor. There's more shouting. A body hits the floor with a heavy thud. I don’t know whose it is.
Another burst of gunfire. This one closer. Someone from the Fallen Gods side yells something I can’t make out, then the sound of fighting, fists, grunts, bodies slamming into walls. I hear Titan laugh somewhere in the chaos, dark and wild, followed by more shots.
My heart is hammering. I keep trying to push forward but the guards won’t let me. Every time I move, one of them grabs my arm or shoulder and forces me back into position.
“Stay put,” one of them growls.
I catch a flash of movement, Echo taking down one of Sebastian’s men with a brutal punch before firing. Then more gunfire, the sound echoing off the walls, making it impossible to tell how many people are shooting. A scream cuts off abruptly. Someone else hits the ground.
The fighting moves further ahead. I hear doors being kicked open, more shots, the sound of glass shattering. I try to move again but the guards close in tighter, almost carrying me now as they move forward with the group.
Then everything goes quiet.
No more gunfire. No more shouting. No more bodies hitting the floor. Just heavy breathing and the low murmur of voices up ahead.
I strain to see past the wall of guards surrounding me but they won’t let me through. I can’t see anything. I can’t see Blaze. I can’t see what happened.
The silence stretches on, thick and heavy, and all I can do is stand there, trapped behind them, heart still racing, waiting.
“Clear!” My father’s voice rings out and the guards around me finally relax.
Shoving past them I scan the room we’re in and my body goes cold when I see Blaze. He’s tied to a chair, head slumped forward, blood on his face. I rush forward and grasp his face with both hands but he doesn’t respond.
Fuck.
“He’s alive,” Doc mutters while checking him and Knox unties him from the chair.
“Dylan, now.”
My father’s voice has me turning.
“Can I not stay with him until I know he’s okay?”
“We had a deal. We leave now.”
I know we did but I thought I could talk to him, say something, anything. But he’s not responding. He’s completely out.
“Last warning, or I finish it.” His words are cold and I nod and step back. He’ll be fine. He has to be fucking fine. I move and step away but a hand grabs my arm.
“Dylan,” Echo says, but a gun is pressed to his head.
“Release my son, or I waste a bullet on someone unimportant,” my father orders.
I look at my father.
“Then fucking shoot,” Echo laughs and looks at me. “You fucking walk away, that’s it. After this don’t you dare come near the club again.”
“He won’t be, don’t worry,” my father says.
“Just tell him I’m sorry,” I whisper and walk away from Echo toward my father. He guides me back out to the car and I glance back at the building as we leave.
“We’ll plan the wedding for this weekend.”
“That’s four days.” I snap.
“Quick is needed,” he says then he looks at his phone like the conversation is over. I guess it is.