CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
– MACSEN –
Lu is sitting across from me in the back of a van.
She’s fully dressed for combat, and all I want to do is roar at the top of my lungs for this mission to end.
Everything we discussed for the past two hours as we talked through this mission made sense, up to the point where we’re now about to barge into the Wilton mansion.
I know damn well she’s very capable of going on a killing spree on her own, but for fuck’s sake, that was before she was mine.
More importantly, before we both knew she was pregnant.
My fingers curl into fists at the thought of anything hurting her.
Lu reaches out and covers my fist with her hand, making our gaze collide.
“Scoot,” Lu says and stands to worm herself between me and Elric.
Leaning close to my ear, she whispers, “I’ve done this many times over the past few years.
I’ve been shot, stabbed, survived an explosion or two, and have stepped on an ice cube while barefoot.
” She chuckles. “Spur of the moment thing where I needed to kill someone on a yacht. I think the last one was the worst. Seriously, close to stepping on a Lego, only slippery.”
A bark of laughter slips from me and I know she did it on purpose.
“It’s the new situation,” I admit. “We’re both skilled, but we haven’t worked together yet. I’m sure things will change once we’ve done this a few more times.”
Thorsten snorts. “Good luck with that. It still annoys me when Livi joins us, even though she’s a trained agent and currently in the van working on computer shit with Lenz.”
Lu bumps my shoulder and muses, “We’ll get used to it.”
“We’re here,” Jocko announces when the van comes to a stop.
“Two teams,” my prez states and chuckles. “Well, three if you count Luella as a team by herself.”
This is probably also why I’m anxious to go in without being with her. On the other hand, Lu has been very clear about her preference for working alone. We can’t afford fuck-ups and it’s why we agreed to her terms.
One thing is different than the all black outfit she usually wears. We all have a Kevlar vest with the Broken Deeds patch on it. Not only bulletproof, but also instant recognition in case we’re inside and round the corner to come face-to-face with friendly fire.
“Stay connected, stay alert. We have a visual of eight men inside the house. We don’t know if the two remaining Gideons are still inside the mansion, or if they and Dudley left.
Capture if possible, kill if there’s no other option.
” Thorsten smacks his hands together. “Let’s get this shit done so I can get back to my warm and willing woman. ”
“Okay, yuck. Move so I can get out of here before you start talking about your dick and my sister,” Lu grumbles and moves past me.
A chuckle slips from me, and I follow her out of the van. It’s the middle of the night, but with a lot of cloud cover which makes it darker without the moon peeking through. I reach for Lu and place a hand on the back of her neck to pull her close and give her a quick kiss.
“Remember,” I murmur. “Kill first, ask questions later.”
She smiles against my lips. “I’m sure Thorsten phrased it a bit differently. Now, let me go because I’m also itching to get back to my warm and willing...”
“Woman,” I growl and smack her ass. “See you on the other side.”
“Right back at ya.” She winks and dashes away.
“Let’s go,” Jocko grunts.
Elric, Jocko, and Midas are with me. Thorsten, Falcon, and Mercer will take the other side. Lenz stays behind to coordinate the situation with Livi and Kenz. They keep an eye on cameras, communication, and everything else we need once we’re inside or if someone escapes.
Lu already went ahead because she’s going in through the back while we’ll take the left and right side of the mansion.
We split up and fall silent. The only communication will be through our earpieces.
We all have our weapons out and move forward as one.
I’m in the front, Jocko has my back as we approach the mansion.
“Security is down,” Lenz states through our earpiece. “Lights go out in three, two.”
The whole mansion is plunged into darkness and it’s our cue to enter.
I aim my gun with the silencer and fire off two rounds to disable the lock.
We enter and movement from my left catches my attention.
I aim my gun and squeeze the trigger. The guard goes down and I instantly hear a soft pop from my right, letting me know Jocko also popped off a round.
There are too many rooms and we each take one, kicking in the door and making sure it’s empty. Kicking a door open, I grunt as the air is ripped from my lungs. Taking a step back, I squeeze the trigger, but the gun is almost knocked out of my hands by a man kicking me.
I elbow the fucker in the face and manage to create enough room between us to kick him back so I can shoot him. His body goes slack and crumbles to the floor. Scanning the rest of the room I make sure it’s empty before I step back out.
“Clear,” Jocko rumbles and I give him a nod.
Jerking in the direction of the basement, I grunt, “Going down.”
“I got your back,” Jocko states while Midas and Elric continue down the hallway.
This is the place I recognize from the security camera, where Lu killed Gideon. I keep aiming my gun as I move toward the room. The door is open and when I glance inside there’s a load of blood on the floor.
I signal to Jocko and he nods, seeing the bloody footprint trail. We follow and it leads to the back, up the stairs, and into another room. The sound of a shower catches my attention and I glance back at Jocko.
“Check the bathroom, I got your back,” he whispers.
Moving without a sound, I place my back against the wall and quickly take a glance inside. Steam is filling up the bathroom, but the space looks empty. I glance back at Jocko and give a little shake.
He moves his gun up and down as if to signal to move forward.
The door connecting to another room catches my attention and I walk toward it.
Keeping aim, I grab the handle and open it while pointing my gun forward.
The room is dark and yet again it looks empty.
Movement to my right swings my gun in that direction and I instantly recognize Lu.
“Did you find Gideon?” I whisper.
She gives a tiny shake with her head. “Only three security guys.”
“Fuck,” Jocko grumbles. “Come on, we need to go through a few more rooms. The others haven’t given the all clear either. Those fuckers must still be here.”
“Shower’s running,” I tell her. “Blood in the basement room. They must have been busy when we entered. They couldn’t have left otherwise Lenz would have mentioned it.”
“Let’s sweep the room one more time and find the others,” Lu suggests.
I nod and step in the direction of the closet.
Glancing over my shoulder, Jocko looks ready and I nod before opening the door.
Nothing. We do it two more times with the other closets and then move toward the door.
A small rustle draws my attention and it’s then I notice a shadow in the bathroom behind the curtain.
Aiming my gun in that direction also triggers Jocko, who I’ve worked with for years. Maybe not for the government, but we’ve done a lot of shit together with our brothers. I step inside the bathroom and squeeze the trigger when the shadow becomes an arm with a weapon.
A grunt rips from the shadow, as the body takes down the shower curtain along with him. The blood mixes with the water and I lean forward to turn it off.
“It’s the old fucker, Dudley, he’s dead,” Jocko remarks.
“10-4,” Lenz grunts through our earpiece.
We stroll out and find Lu who is keeping an eye on both sides of the hallway.
“All good?” I whisper.
She shrugs and doesn’t even look at me when she whispers, “I don’t know. I thought I heard something.”
Jocko snorts from beside me. “Yeah, VP here killed Dudley.”
Lu glares at us and I see the shift in her eyes right before she swings her arm up to throw one of her throwing stars. It seems as if it’s going right for my head. The murderous look on Lu’s face catches me off guard.
It’s only a fragment of a second while time seems to go so fucking slow as I catch Jocko’s reaction from the corner of my eye.
I can see his determination while my brain is still processing Lu’s reaction.
Even if she threw the star directly at my head.
My dying thoughts would still trust her unconditionally.
And it’s why I shove Jocko’s arm to mess with his aim as he fires a bullet at my old lady.