Fourteen
Avianna
My body shakes with fear as he points the gun at me.
Hawk angles his body in a way that he’s almost standing in front of me, and that’s what frightens me the most.
I know he would take a bullet for me. Uncle Jamie doesn’t look good; he's lost weight as his clothes look baggy on him and his eyes keep darting around the clubhouse.
I feel my family shift behind me, and that’s the push I need to keep the fear at bay.
He has taken too much from me already. It's time I stood up to him.
I move my body so that he can see me better. “Uncle Jamie, why don’t you put the gun down and we can talk about this.”
His laugh is manic. “Yeah, I don’t think so. This is my insurance that your thugs don’t try anything stupid, and if they do, you're dead. Either way, I’m walking away with the money, so you have five minutes to make up your mind and sign the paperwork, or I start shooting.”
That’s when he throws a folder down on the table.
Hawk’s body stiffens, and I grab his shirt before he can charge at him, as I can feel him vibrating with so much anger.
“What do you think you're going to do surrounded by so many people? By the time you even get a shot off, you will be dead. You're surrounded, fucker, so you might want to just turn around and forget all about Avianna and walk out of here on your own,
or you're going to find out real quick what it means coming on our territory and going after one of our own.”
He waves his gun around, and the way he’s holding it, I don’t think he’s ever shot anyone before. “You fuckers think you run shit, but guess what? I have this place surrounded, and it will only take one phone call and all you scum will be dead.”
I know for a fact that he’s alone. Hawk told me that already, so I know my uncle is calling his bluff.
At this point, I can see the guys surrounding Uncle Jamie trying to keep him from bolting.
“Uncle Jamie, why are you doing this? Please, just put the gun down before you get hurt. I will sign whatever you want, just please don’t hurt anybody.”
“I’m doing this because you owe me, you ungrateful little brat. I was drowning in debt and turned to my brother for help, but the idiot cut me off and told me to solve my own problems. If I didn’t pay back all that money, I was as good as dead.
Then I met a man who mentioned something curious about your mother: that there had once been a contract on her life back in Ireland. At first, I laughed it off. To me, she was nothing more than a quiet housewife. But I paid someone to investigate her past,
and it turned out she had ties to her family’s criminal organization and the bounty on her head had never truly disappeared. That’s when I saw my opportunity. I knew your parents were going out that night, and with the rain coming down, the roads would be dangerous enough already.
Cutting the brakes was almost too easy. Five million for the hit, plus whatever inheritance followed, meant every problem I had would finally disappear. My plan was simple: take the money and send you away once everything settled, or kill you. Either way, I would be rich again.
But then they read the will. My brother made certain that every cent would go to you and only you once you turned twenty-one. So I had no choice but to wait.”
He’s talking as if he’s reciting a grocery list with zero emotion. Each word is like a knife to my heart.
I knew he was evil, but hearing him say it out loud hurts so damn much.
Killing my parents all for money because he didn’t know how to stop gambling.
A resolve settles over me as I look at the man who I thought loved me as a child, but I’m just looking at the devil himself.
He doesn’t deserve to rot in a cell. Oh no, he will not be leaving this clubhouse alive, even if I have to do it myself.
Without thought, I take a step forward, anger fueling me now.
Hawk keeps step with me as everyone shifts around me.
I pick up the paper that awaits my signature to sign over all the money.
Everything that is left of my parents. I look at my uncle feeling nothing and tear the paper in two, smiling in satisfaction at the look of horror on his face.
“You killed my parents for your own greed, and now it’s time you paid the price for it.”
“No, no, no! What have you done?” He picks up the torn paper, looking at it as if he can magically put the pieces back together, and in his manic state, he places the gun on the table.
That was his second mistake. His first was coming in here thinking he could demand things from me.
My days of being that scared little girl are over.
Before anyone can move, I pick it up and point it at him.
My aim is steady as if I’ve held a gun a million times before.
God, he’s so stupid. He thought he could really come in here and take something that belongs to me, something that belonged to my parents, the same parents he killed for money.
He looks at me in shock that I would point a gun at him.
“You move and I'll shoot. The choice is yours, Uncle Jamie.”
“Now Avianna, put that gun down and we can talk about this.”
Lifting his hands, he backs up slowly but runs right into Nolan, who grabs him by the shoulders, holding on tightly.
And that’s when Declan walks from the shadows and stands right next to me.
The color drains from his face, seeing who’s standing there.
Declan takes his time picking imaginary lint off his suit jacket until he raises his head and looks at Jamie. “Do you know who I am?” His voice is void of any emotion and talks with a deadly calmness to him.
Uncle Jamie swallows hard and nods his head. “Yes.” He whispers as sweat beads on his forehead, knowing his end is coming.
“You actually believed you could walk in here, threaten my family, press a gun into her face, and leave here breathing. You didn’t just threaten one life, Jamie; you declared war on everyone under this roof. But even that pales beside what you’ve already done. You took someone from us.
Someone whose blood and name ran deep through the O’Feeney family. That debt cannot be repaid with apologies, courts, or prison walls. There will be no mercy for you. No judgement. No jury. No clean ending. What awaits you now is far worse: slow,
deliberate suffering drawn out until you beg for an end that will never come quickly enough, and even that won’t be enough for what you have done. You had one chance to walk away while you still could. Now? Your life rests in our hands. And just so you know, God won’t have mercy on your soul.”
Hawk moves forward, stepping right into Jamie's face.
“You thought you could come into The Lost Saints territory and take what’s mine and leave with your life. Your soul is mine to take. When I’m done with you, you will beg ?me to kill you.
I might just keep you alive for years just so I could torture you every day of your miserable life for what you did to Avianna. Hell, after I’m done, I might ship you off to Ireland so they could have a go at you. How does that sound?”
With that, Hawk pulls back and punches him right in the face, knocking him out completely. “Prospects take him to the basement.”
I watch in cold detachment as the prospects rush over, dragging an unconscious Jamie with them. Hawk rushes over, takes the gun from my hands that I didn’t know I was still holding, and pulls me to his chest. “I’ve got you, Avianna. It’s over.”
His words are my undoing as I let the fear and grief hit me hard, as gut-wrenching sobs leave my body.
The pain of losing my parents and how they died, my uncle trying to kill me and my family all comes at me at once.
The fear of possibly losing my life today or Hawk’s scared the hell out of me.
I just started a life with him, and he could have taken it all away from me in an instant, all over money.
My sobs slowly die down until all I want to do is sleep.
I'm so drained. I pull back and look at Hawk, who has a worried expression on his face.
He wipes the last of the remaining tears and kisses my forehead.
“Are you okay, darlin? Fuck you scared the hell out of me when you grabbed his gun don’t do that shit again.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Trust me, I never intend to do that again. Is it really ?over?”
“Yeah, darlin it is. He can’t hurt you ever again. No more looking over your shoulder; we can live our lives how we want.”
I smile for the first time, feeling lighter than I had in a long while. “Thank you for being there for me when I needed it. Even when the crazy literally showed up at your door. I love you, Daniel, with everything in me.”
“I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love you, Avianna.”
My heart is still racing; the echoes of adrenaline fading into a quiet hum inside me.
He looks at me with that same gentle intensity, as if I were the only thing that mattered in the world.
The way he held himself, calm and steady, made me feel safe, even after everything we’d been through.
I knew the entire time he was right by my side, ready to intervene, but he knew I needed that moment to confront my past, and I love him all the more for it.
My eyes search his as I take a slow breath, and I see the vulnerability there: an unspoken promise, a trust that has grown between us.
I lean into him until our bodies are touching and nothing separates us.
I need him, need this to help me ground myself, to know everything was truly okay.
Our lips meet in a gentle, lingering kiss, one that speaks of relief, hope, and a love that has only deepened through the storm.
His lips are warm and reassuring, pressing against mine with a tenderness that makes everything else melt away.
I press my hands against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart, anchoring me even more.
Knowing that we are both alive and will be okay in the end and that Uncle Jamie can no longer hurt me or my family.
Everything around me falls silent. The clubhouse isn’t packed with my family and friends; my uncle isn’t getting tied up in the basement waiting for his judgment.
It is just us, two souls in the quiet aftermath of chaos, finding peace in each other’s embrace.
I know without a doubt that whatever comes next, we’ll face it together, stronger, closer, forever bound by this moment.
We pull back, our foreheads touching as my stomach growling breaks the quiet, making my face turn red. Hawk softly laughs while his eyes shine brightly with happiness. “Who knew a little violence would make you hungry.”
I slap his arm, laughing along with him, feeling lighter than I ever have. “Yeah, well, he interrupted cake time, and I, for one, want a piece of that chocolate cake.”
Hawk puts his arm around me as we walk towards our family. “Come on, darlin, let's go cut your birthday cake.”
A gentle smile touches my lips as I think about the future.
The unknown doesn’t scare me anymore; it excites me.
My dreams I want to chase, along with the places I want to see, and I can do all that now.
I take a deep breath, feeling the promise of tomorrow settle inside me.
No matter what happens next, I know I won’t be alone.