Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dagger
“Fuckin’ idiot, you know that,” Gunner growls, storming in my direction. “You are a goddamn idiot. I’m kicking your ass when this is over with.”
“He’s mine to deal with, Gunner,” I tell him, looking past him to see the rest of my brothers stalking in my direction.
“You think you’re gonna face this bastard alone, think again,” Hammer seethes. “We’re brothers, and we do this shit together.”
“It’s me he wants.”
“He’s not getting you alone,” Malice states, ice dripping from his words. “I don’t give a damn if he wants you, he’s not getting you alone.”
I clench my jaw, feeling the weight of my brothers’ protective fury. They’re right, of course. We’ve been through hell together, stood back-to-back against enemies that would have torn us apart individually. But this is different.
We’re going against a man I grew up with. A man I shared blood with. Vin was no longer anything to me. None of them were. I’d turn my back on that part of my life a long time ago. I just didn’t know I’d have to kill the past to keep my present and future from being harmed.
I won’t let Vin get away with threatening my woman and unborn child.
“You coming alone is exactly what he wants. You think he is?”
“I know he’s not,” I answer Hammer’s question.
“We do this together.” Axe snarls, shoving at me. “You’re not about to be an idiot and let him win.”
“You think we didn’t know you were planning something of your own while we sat in church all damn day planning this shit out?
” Gunner demands. “We know you, brother. Just as you know us. Sneaking out after we stated we’d head out after dinner was a dumbass move.
Did you even tell Katrina bye? Don’t answer that because we all know you didn’t. ”
“I’m protecting her. Her and my kid.”
“You think he won’t keep going for Katrina with you out of the way?” Malice bites out. “He’s smart enough to hide who he is for a long damn time. He has to know who she is and what she’s worth. He’d come after her for the money alone.”
My VP’s right and I know it. I don’t like it, and I was going to have to make sure that Vin never got close to her. I knew what I was going to have to do, and I didn’t have any issues doing it.
“Grinder and the others from Colorado are at the clubhouse. They’ve got it covered there. We stick to our plan. Stand a united front,” Hammer states, his gaze never wavering from mine.
I swallow the best I can, seeing that my brothers would see past my stubbornness and help me when I want to refuse it. This is what makes them my brothers. Their loyalty and support. “Then let's get this over with.”
It was nearing midnight. I’d already parked my bike off a side road hidden from the old mill Vin wanted to meet at.
The moon hangs low in the sky, casting just enough light to see the outline of the abandoned mill.
I check my weapon for the third time, feeling the cold weight of the steel against my palm.
My brothers fan out around me, moving with the silent precision we’ve honed through years of dangerous situations.
“If anything happens to me, take care of Katrina and our baby,” I tell Gunner as we make our way forward.
“Nothing’s gonna happen to you,” he grunts, slapping a hand over my shoulder. “We’ve got you.”
“Just promise me.” I needed that promise.
“I promise,” he grumbles.
I nod and stay quiet the rest of the way there. I spot a dark-colored car already parked near the old building, the lights off, but running.
I step forward with my brothers following.
The back of the car opens, and Vin steps out.
“I thought I told you to come alone,” he sneers, looking directly at me.
“You didn’t,” I point out.
“True enough, but this was my meeting, my rules.”
“I’ve never gone by your rules, and you know it.” My brother hated that I refused to cower to him when we were kids. I never did what he told me. Not even when it was to steal money from a gas station, I wouldn’t do it.
My club might have blood on its hands, but we had a code we lived by. Vin didn’t.
Vin’s face contorts with that same hatred I remember from our childhood. The moonlight catches the scar running down his cheek, one I gave him when we were teenagers. That was when he’d gone too far, and I stepped in to stop him from raping a girl from down the street.
“Always the righteous one,” he spits, looking at me as if I were a bug to be squashed. “You and your little club think you can stop me?”
“They’re my family.” I shrug, watching him closely as I step even closer, arms behind my back, hands wrapped around the hilts of both my daggers. “You might not understand the concept of what the word means. Or have you figured it out yet?”
Vin laughs, the sound echoing off the abandoned mill’s walls. “Family? You think these men are your family? Please. You abandoned your blood, the ones who are your family a long time ago for what . . . these bikers?” He spits the word like it’s poison.
“You lost the right to call yourself my blood a long time ago, Vin. You definitely don’t have the right to do so when you threatened my woman and child.”
A figure emerges from the shadows behind Vin—then another, and another. I count six men, all armed, all with that same dead-eyed look I’ve seen in hired guns before. My brothers shift position instinctively, forming a protective half-circle around me.
The tension in the air thickens as Vin’s men spread out, their movements calculated and predatory. I feel my brothers tense beside me, their breathing controlled, ready for whatever comes next.
“Always the showman,” I say, keeping my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through my veins. “You couldn’t just meet me man to man, could you?”
Vin’s smile is all teeth, no warmth. “Why would I? You’ve got your dogs. I’ve got mine.” He gestures to the men flanking him. “Though mine are better trained.”
“You sure about that?” I know Vin’s not stupid, but he wasn’t smart either. He might have been able to do a lot of things, but I know him. I know he can’t handle doing some things on his own. Nor could he calculate a situation like my brothers could.
I don’t take my eyes off Vin as I calculate my surroundings.
Done with the games, I close the distance between Vin and myself. “Let’s cut the bullshit, Vin. You wanted this meeting.”
“So you could die, and I still get what I want,” he says in a rush and draws a gun.
I’m already moving before the words leave his mouth. My body drops low as I lunge forward, both daggers flashing in the moonlight. The gun goes off, the bullet whizzing past my ear as I drive my blades deep into Vin’s sides. He screams, the weapon clattering to the ground.
“Wrong move, brother,” I hiss, yanking my daggers out.
Chaos erupts around us. Gunshots crack through the night as my brothers engage Vin’s men. I hear Gunner’s distinctive roar as he tackles one of the hired guns, while Malice moves with deadly precision, his own knife finding its mark.
Vin snarls, using his free hand to swing at me. I dodge, feeling his knuckles graze my cheek. He’s always been predictable—all brute force, no strategy. I drive my knee into his gut, and he doubles over, gasping.
“You’ll pay for this. I think I’ll kill the woman and child slowly.”
The mention of him killing Katrina has my vision turning red. I don’t see the gun he pulls from behind him. All I’m focused on his killing him.
Moving, I bring both daggers up, taking him to the ground. The gun goes off, a hot burning pain hits my middle, but I’m already plunging my daggers into the intended targets—Vin’s eyes.
Letting the handles go, I fall to the side, hitting my head on a large rock as I go. My world turns black, but I allow it, knowing my woman and child are safe.