Owen
OWEN
Tate gave me an ultimatum. If he didn’t hear from me within an hour of my arrival, he would call for reinforcements.
Knowing the reach of the Carrera family left me no choice but to meet his demands. There’s no way I’m putting my wife and son in danger to save my ass. Azrael needs the memory card from me, and I can only imagine it’s for leverage. The fact he wants no one else involved confirms it. He wants a swift exchange, and I’m willing to give it to him. I’d give him anything, and he knows it.
I press harder on the accelerator as I make my way toward the abandoned warehouse complex just outside of the city center, and I can only assume he chose this location for the fact it’s home to numerous buildings, all deserted. All more than likely hiding his men.
When my SUV approaches the metal gates, trepidation sweeps through me. There’s a good chance I won’t come back from this, but I refuse to go down without a fight. This is essentially suicide, yet I don’t have it in me to care. All I can think about is my girl being scared and needing me to comfort her, and hoping with all hope that she has Romeo in her arms.
My phone beeps, alerting me to the fact I’m within proximity to Laya’s phone, so I pull up outside one of the buildings, not missing the snipers on the roof who aren’t even trying to hide. I brush a hand over my jaw as I contemplate tucking a gun into my boot, but the thought of them discovering it and harming Laya as punishment makes the decision easy, and I decide against it.
Instead, I slip out of the SUV unarmed.
The door to one of the warehouses on my right opens, and a man armed with a machine gun steps out.
I feign confidence and pull my shoulders back, giving him the perfect view of my full height and power as I stride toward him.
“Where are they?” I spit out, eyeing the piece of shit with disgust.
He nods, and an onslaught of bullets whizz through the air.
“Son of a bitch!” I clamp my jaw shut as pain slices through my thigh, one then the other, my shoulder too, and as quick as the bullets started, they stop.
It was a test.
To disarm me if necessary and check if backup would arrive.
Of course, I pass with flying fucking colors. I did exactly what the prick asked. Now he needs to follow through too.
“Bring him in,” the guy grunts, and men appear from nowhere behind me.
Just how many of these fuckers are there? I don’t know whether to be concerned about their presence or proud that he felt the need to gather an army against me. Maybe my reputation has proceeded me too. With that knowledge, I raise my head and ignore the way my legs feel like collapsing under the damage of the bullets.
The man at the door steps aside, allowing me to walk past him, and when my eyes lock on the scene before me, it takes everything inside me to remain standing.