40. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Hazen
M y fist smashes into the traitor’s nose.
A loud crack pierces through the room, and it’s like a lullaby to my ears.
Fuck these assholes.
I need to get to my father and finish this; he’s gone too far this time.
An uncontrollable fire flares to life inside me, the flames burning through my heart until I feel nothing for him or anyone who gets in my way.
After taking over The Brotherhood, I wanted to change things, to gain control of Daringhood again and make things peaceful.
Look at how well that’s turned out, all because my father doesn’t want to let go of the power.
He wants to hold on to what our ancestors created for us.
If he just allowed us to lead, then none of this would have happened.
We wouldn’t be fighting so hard with the Hood.
Our brothers wouldn’t be forced to pick sides between us and Dominic.
Lucas wouldn’t be held hostage.
Freya wouldn’t have been taken.
Everything is at the hands of the person I call my father, but he’s as good as dead to me now.
All my life, I wanted him to respect me.
I sought his approval and did everything I could to make him proud.
Pathetic, when I think about it, but I didn’t know any better.
Now I realize how much heartache he’s caused for me, for us, and I’m done being his son.
One soldier drops to the ground.
Blood pours from his unrecognizable face, and I should feel bad.
I don’t.
He deserves it for choosing Dominic over us.
We are the leaders now, and if you aren’t with us, then you’re nothing but gum to my boot.
The man lies on the ground, unconscious.
One down.
I look around the room.
Gage has killed one guy, leaving two more.
He’s fighting against one, and the other is closing in on Freya.
Oh, hell no.
I stalk toward them.
The soldier goes to punch her in the jaw, but before I can get there, she ducks and kicks her leg out, bringing him to the ground.
Warmth fills my body for a split second.
I storm up to her and claim her lips in a red-hot kiss.
I want to fuck her right here on his desk, but with so much chaos going on around us, it’ll have to wait.
Freya is pulled away from me.
The soldier has his hand wrapped around her hair.
Freya screams, and I see red.
I wrap my hand around his throat, hard.
He releases her hair, his eyes widening.
When he tries to speak, I squeeze harder until his eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
He takes his final breath before I release him, and his lifeless body falls to my feet.
Freya slides up next to me and spits.
It lands on his cheek, and the corner of my mouth lifts for a split second before I remember what’s at stake and what I have to do next.
A loud pop fills the room, and Gage keeps his gun out, aimed at the door.
All four guards are dead.
“Let’s find Dominic. He can call this off,” I say, moving toward the door.
Freya and Gage follow me out into the corridor.
I take my gun out of its holster and keep my finger on the trigger, waiting for someone to pop out of a closed door.
Voices carry from the front of the house, and the closer we get, the louder they sound.
I stop just outside the living room doors.
They are open and I peer inside.
My feet freeze to the spot.
There, with Dominic, is Ronald, one of our most trusted councilmen, and a bunch of the older soldiers.
They’re standing around Dominic like they are worshipping a god.
“We’re going to withhold the weapons from the Hood—create a war, and who will save the precious citizens of Daringville by blowing up the Hood, other than yours truly? It won’t be long before the Ville will be mine again,” Dominic says, his voice getting louder with each word.
They cheer, and I use the opportunity to move into the room.
Raising my gun to the roof, I let off one round, then another.
Silence fills the room, and all eyes are on me.
I move through the crowd, coming face to face with him.
He’s not my father.
He just fucked my mother and came inside of her and she had me.
He doesn’t deserve the title.
“You’ll have to get through us first,” I say, and Dominic throws his head back and laughs.
My hand shakes as I move the gun around in my grip.
“You’re weak. You let women sway you.” Dominic steps into my gun.
The metal presses against his dead, cold heart.
He looks behind me, his lips curving into a half smile.
“I mean, I get it, son. She’s got a nice, tight cunt. The way it—”
He doesn’t get to finish as chaos erupts around us.
Somebody shoves me forward.
I lose the grip I had on my gun, and it falls to the ground.
Gage starts fighting against Ronald, and Freya punches a guard in the face.
I grip on to Dominic’s shirt as he stumbles backward, falling to the ground, and I straddle him.
My fist smashes into his cheek, and he grins, blood staining his teeth.
“Aww, did I hurt your feelings?” he asks, pouting his bottom lip.
Everything around us disappears until it’s just us.
The guy I spent so much time trying to impress, lying beneath me, his eyes the same blue as mine.
I used to love that we had the same color eyes, but now I hate it.
“I hate you,” I spit.
He chuckles.
“I knew you’d disappoint me, eventually. I wasted too much time on a good-for-nothing little boy.”
Something smashes into my side, and I fall down, hard.
It takes me a second to get my bearings, but before I can, Dominic is on me.
He punches me in the stomach repeatedly.
My ribs burn, and I struggle to breathe.
He grabs something from the ground—my gun is in his grip.
I lunge forward, but he dodges and moves behind me, then wraps his arm around my throat, pinning my back to his front.
I slam my foot down on his, and he leans forward, but his grip doesn’t release.
He gives me just enough room to breathe.
The coolness of metal presses against my skull.
I look around the room, my gaze locking with hers.
I mouth, I love you , and she says it back.
“Even if you kill me, my brothers—they will fight,” I say, watching as Gage brings Ronald down, and he surrenders to him, raising his hands up in defeat.
Gage doesn’t finish him; he offers Ronald his hand, and he takes it.
“It’ll be worth it. You’re not my son,” Dominic whispers into my ear, and I expect to feel something, but nothing comes.
“And you’re not my father,” I yell.
Grabbing his arm, I flip him over my back, and he crashes against the floor.
He scrambles to his feet, the gun lying between us.
He looks from me to the gun, then we both move at the same time.
I dive for it, but he grabs it first.
I roll onto my side, finding my feet again.
He holds up the gun, aiming it right at Freya.
My heart thuds, and I’d gladly step in front of her to save her.
She’s got so much more life to live—this can’t be it for her.
I won’t allow it.
My gaze locks with Gage’s.
He throws his gun to me.
As it sails through the air, Gage runs, tackling Freya to the ground.
A gunshot goes off as my fingers wrap around the Glock.
I aim it at Dominic and pull the trigger.
The bullet hits him in the heart.
He looks down as blood oozes through his shirt.
He drops to the ground, and his head hits the floor with a loud thud.
His heart will stop any second now.
He’s gone, and I don’t feel any remorse.
My family is who I’ve chosen—not him.
Footsteps slap against the ground.
A familiar mop of blond hair moves into the room.
“What’d I miss?” Lucas asks, and I ignore him, moving to Freya and Gage.
If she’s dead, that’s it for me.
Fuck The Brotherhood and fuck everything else.
Without her, there’s nothing left.
Gage is crouched over her.
I pull him away, and Freya looks up at me with her bright-blue eyes and smiles.
“Is he dead?”
I nod.
“He can’t hurt you anymore,” I say, and she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me to the ground.
Her lips clash against mine, and a wave of relief washes through my veins.
It’s done.
Now it’s time to reunite our men and prevent a war.