Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
NOAH
My vision clears, Robert's ugly fucking face coming into view, and the gun pointed between my eyes coming into sharp focus.
My heart stops in my chest, Summer's small gasp from inside the car sending pain running through me.
I need her to leave. But I know she's not going to. I can see it in her eyes when I quickly glance at her before looking away again.
Robert chuckles and presses a foot to my chest, shoving my back down to the ground. "Throw the gun."
My hand tightens around the gun, but his foot moves to my wrist.
Without another thought, I drop it, sending it under the car and hoping it's close enough to the edge for Summer to grab. While she's already got a gun, I know the one I keep in the car barely has any bullets.
Robert doesn't notice the way she creeps out of the car behind him, leaning down and reaching under the car until her hand wraps around the metal.
I do my best not to pay attention to her either. I don't want him seeing what she's doing.
"Gonna kill me?" I smirk up at him as his foot leaves my wrist. I tuck my hands behind my head. "I thought you'd never have it in you. Good to see that, after all these years, you finally grew some balls."
"Fuck you. You don't know the first thing about what I've been doing these last few years."
I spare a quick glance at the car only to see Summer's not there.
My chest clenches, each breath harder and harder to drag in.
Where did she go? Robert's men are still crawling all over the area.
I move to get up, not caring about the consequences until a gun whips across the side of my face, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. I cough and spit it out, rolling onto my side.
Robert scowls down at me. "Try that again, fucker. Your death is going to be painful and slow, fitting after all you've done to our people in the name of revenge. Maybe I'll let everyone you've wronged have a go at you."
"You think they're going to follow you now?" I laugh and shake my head, getting comfortable again, my entire body tense.
The only thing keeping me from doing something stupid is knowing Aiden's entire family is swarming the area. They've got to be all over the place, but at the very least, I know Royce is here with him. The pair of them will make sure they get to Summer before anyone else has the chance to.
That's the only saving grace in this entire mess.
"You're pathetic." I toss the same words at him that our uncle and our father used to when they were training us.
"You're never going to be what I am, and you know it.
You're never going to be able to handle what needs to be done because you've always been too weak.
Too scared to make the tough choices in life. "
He adjusts his grip on the gun, finger pulling tighter like he's about to pull the trigger.
Before he gets the chance, Summer comes lunging out of nowhere, slamming into his side and taking him to the ground.
His finger twitches on the trigger, a shot firing, but it misses me.
I'm on my feet in a second, grabbing the gun and kicking it across the ground, far out of his reach.
Summer hands me back my gun, looking up at me with a wild look in her eyes. She's damn near feral.
My cock strains against my jeans. The things I'm going to do to her when we get out of here are going to make sure she's not able to walk properly for a week.
And then she's going to be punished for not getting away from this shit while she had the chance.
"Get off him." I glance at Summer, making sure she hasn't been hurt in the fight. There's not a scratch on her.
She gets up and pulls out her own gun, standing to the side.
My momentary distraction is enough for Robert.
He kicks my knees out from under me.
My head cracks against the ground again, vision getting blurry. I don't have time to try and blink it clear, though. Not when he's on top of me in a second, fist colliding with the place he already hit me.
Though it hurts like a motherfucker, I try to react as little as possible, keeping my hold on my gun.
This fucker is going to be dead the second I get a good shot. He's never going to get the chance to get to Summer again.
Her breathing is heavy, a small noise coming out of her when I take another hit to the face.
I slam my fist into the side of Robert's throat, sending him to the side.
He coughs and sputters, trying to get his breath.
I grab him by the collar and slam him down on the ground twice, his head bouncing off the concrete over and over again.
Stupid fucker. Thinking he could overtake me.
His knee comes up hard, driving into the base of my spine. Pain erupts. He shoves me off him, more fists flying even as I try to block them.
"Enough!" Aiden shouts, appearing in front of us.
"Aiden," Summer says, her voice breaking, the gun never faltering. "You have to leave. You and everyone else need to get out of here. It's not safe."
I slam Robert into the ground again, punching him hard in the ribs, hearing one of the bones crunch beneath my fist.
"Summer, go get your ass in the car. I don't have time for this right now."
"Robert's a traitor." The desperation in her voice nearly gets me to look at her, but Robert is fighting like hell not to die.
I think this might be the most fight I've ever seen in him. And he does have something worth fighting for, but if he thinks he's going to make it out of this alive, he's wrong. That isn't happening. It's time to start ending this, beginning with his sorry ass.
Robert's head slams into my face, my nose crunching, more stars in my vision.
I think I'm going to be sick, and as blackness starts to creep into my sight, it's all I can do to hold on.
I swallow hard and punch him again, finally getting the upper hand.
Until I'm hauled off him and thrown to the side, Royce standing over me with a gun in my face.
Robert starts laughing and wheezing, blood dripping from his face, his hand clasped to his ribs.
I hold up my hands, not moving an inch.
A rock collides with the side of Royce's head, Summer standing there and turning her gun on her own brother the second he looks at her, Aiden gaping at the pair of them.
Aiden starts toward her, stopping when she points it at him too.
"Summer, this is ridiculous. We have a chance to end this now. We kill both of them, and then you come home with us. It's done. You don't have to worry about anything ever again."
"Touch him, and I shoot you myself." Her tone is dark, and the look in her eyes is dangerous. "Robert's a traitor, and he needs to be dealt with. The rest of you can swing your tiny dicks later."
Royce sighs. "We killed the rest of their men. You don't have to worry anymore. You don't have to protect him. We can leave. It's done, Summer."
Her voice drips venom. "It's not fucking done. And if you so much as think about pulling the trigger, I will shoot you. I don't give a flying fuck right now, Royce, and don't even think about trying to tell me what to do, either."
Aiden presses his lips into a thin line, looking like he's seconds away from losing his cool. "You don't understand what's going on."
Summer's glower is filled with a fury hot enough to melt metal. "Shut the fuck up and leave!"
Robert laughs and shakes his head, his chest rattling with the damage that's been done to him. "You really should listen to her. It's the best chance you're going to get."
Aiden can see the gears turning in his head as he looks between us. He's hedging his bets on who he thinks is going to win and who he's going to have to kill later.
I hope it's me.
I hope he chooses to let me live, even if it's just for one more day. I need to say goodbye to Summer. I need to make sure that she gets back to her family and that she's going to be safe from anyone who would even think about hurting her.
She can't be left with Robert, and if Aiden lets me live, he's not going to regret it.
Summer will be safe.
She'll be back with him.
I'll step out of her life and make sure she can live it however she wants.
Robert shakes his head, hesitant as he looks around like he's going to try running away.
I should've broken his ankle or his knee, so I'd have a good chance at him without having to chase him down.
More darkness creeps into the edges of my vision.
I let out a wavering breath, trying to get some sense of control even though it's not working. If they don't shoot me, I'm not going to be conscious for much longer. I can feel it.
Aiden hesitates for a moment before nodding to Royce. "This isn't our fight today."
More like he needs time to figure out how to get Summer back on his side.
I never thought there was going to be a world where she picked me, but here she is, ready to shoot her brothers if they try anything.
She's not joking around either. The gun is aimed at Royce's head, the safety off, her finger wrapped around the trigger.
I don't know how it's possible to get harder when I'm looking at her like this.
Royce glares at me, nothing but hate in his eyes, before he lowers the gun and takes a step back. He and Aiden take off running, disappearing into the fog.
As soon as they're out of sight, Summer starts for me.
"No!" I shout, but it's too late.
Robert lunges for her, but I scramble to my feet first.
I catch him around the waist, driving my shoulder into his already broken rib. I hope it punctures a lung.
We fall to the ground, and I pin him down, my hands going around his throat.
What I don't account for is how close we are to his gun. Not until it's in my face, and his finger is around the trigger.
His sick smile is going to be the last thing I see before I die.
This can't be the way it ends.
I glance at Summer, hoping she can see that I don't regret anything, but there are some things I'd change if I were given a chance.
Robert slams the butt of the gun into the side of my head, thankfully just missing my temple. "You think you're going to be the one to win this?"
Everything is getting darker.
A hard blow to my ribs.
It's hard to breathe.
Summer screams something, but I can't make out the words.
It feels like I'm underwater.
I can't even see her anymore. My vision is too blurry. Too dark.
I reach out for her, but I don't know where she is. I don't know how to beg her to come to me one last time, to hear the last thing I have to say to her.
Robert laughs, warm droplets of what I can only assume is either spit or blood hitting my face.
His words aren't clear, but I don't think it matters. He's going to kill me now. This is the chance he's been waiting for. This is everything he's been leading up to, and now it's finally in his reach.
The cool metal of the gun presses against my head.
The last thing I hear is the shot.