A single bullet bursts through the Slav’s head. Blood and brain matter splatter all over me. I scrunch my face up in disgust as the Slav topples to the ground, no life left in him.
I widen my eyes at Ethan.
This is his first kill not on the job.
And it was to save me.
I swipe the asshole’s blood away from my face. “You didn’t need to do that.”
Ethan rolls his shoulders. “Yeah, I did. He was aiming at the bedrooms. You and I both know who’s up there and what it could mean.”
I grip Ethan’s shoulder, then peer over mine. This fight is nowhere near finished. “Thanks, brother, now let’s end this!”
Ethan nods, and we take off in opposite directions. Everyone’s putting up the fight of their lives. Neon and Texas are in a head-to-head with four mercenaries, but they can handle themselves. I pass Wraith sitting on the back of a Slav, breaking his neck with his bare hands while Zero’s fighting like hell to get to the Baron. I slide in next to Ax and Slick, who are each struggling with mercenaries, so I walk up behind them both, shooting them one after the other in the back. They both topple to the ground, gasping for air as Ax and Slick pull out their guns, finishing them off.
“Cheers, brother. These fuckers know how to fight,” Ax grunts.
“Tell me about it!”
“Shit!” Slick groans as I peer over my shoulder.
Dammit all to hell! There are a lot more men heading through the gates, but it’s not just mercenaries and Slavs but others as well. We’re heavily outnumbered. Three to one—they take a stand at the entrance to the clubhouse blocking any way for us to exit.
Everything slows into a motion so still it captures my breath.
It’s as if all the fighting stops just like that—everyone in the club knows there’s no fucking way we can win this war.
We’re totally fucked.
KEVLAR
Rushed footsteps and panicked squeals echo from behind me, so I turn. The women of the club are ushered toward us. I just have to hope that because the club girls aren’t out here, it means they have my kids safe somewhere. Jovie’s tear-filled eyes meet mine. I want to run to her, tell her it’s all going to be fine, but her eyes shift from me to the man gripping her arm forcefully, and instantly I know something is wrong.
She knows him.
This isn’t just the Baron and Damir’s men.
Then, it hits me like a ton of fucking bricks. It slams me square in the stomach, making me gasp for air. The reason those men are familiar, it’s not because I know them, it’s because they look like Jovie.
The other men here are the fucking Slavers.
And they’re here for Jovie.
I start moving, faster than my feet can carry me, rushing toward Jovie and the man dragging her out. He directs his gun at me as Jovie lets out a whimper. “No! River, stop, please. Don’t shoot him,” she calls out.
River turns the gun from me back to Jovie, aiming it at her head. I stop, raising my arms, fear sweeping through me as I stare him down. “You hurt her, I swear to God, I will fuck you up!"
River chuckles and continues walking her away. But a sudden rush of fighting brothers and men swarm between us, blocking my path.
I can’t fucking get to her.
I turn, frantically trying to swarm through the fray, and that’s when the Baron places a gun against Zero’s head. But Zero’s quick, knocking the gun from the Baron’s hold and turning his anger on him. I tense, watching the Baron and Zero attack each other in an all-out fistfight. I spin, trying to find Wraith, but he drops to his knees with a Slav holding him down, then Damir kicks into Wraith’s side harshly. Dammit! He’s completely outnumbered.
Prinie’s standing by the clubhouse door crying with Cherry holding her back.
Suddenly, Koda rushes out of the clubhouse, gun in hand on a fucking mission.
My eyes widen, but I don’t have time to react before he fires off a round toward Damir.
A mercenary shoots back at Koda—it all happens so fucking fast.
Prinie screams as Koda drops like a lead weight to the ground. Blood pools out of his leg, and Prinie drops to his side, pressing on his wound frantically.
This shit’s fucking chaos.
We’re overrun.
We are outnumbered.
There’s no way we’re all coming out of this alive.
I pick up the machine gun, hoping like hell there are some bullets left. Quickly locking it into place, I start mowing down the fucking mercenaries. The shudder of the weapon has the adrenaline surging through my veins as I wipe those fuckers out one by one in rapid succession.
A slam to my back has me gasping for air. The gun falls from my grasp, my body colliding with an oil barrel. I try to take in a deep breath, but I can’t catch it from the heavy punch to the ribs. My eyes shift, taking in the biggest asshole I’ve ever laid my eyes on in my life.
The Slav grins, then pulls out his gun aiming it right at my chest. “Bye, little pig.”
I tense.
Right at that precise second, a huge roar of gunfire blasts from the front of the compound.
We both turn as the frontline of mercenaries is being mowed down, their bodies disintegrating with the fast rate of bullets plowing into their bodies. Blood and sinew fly across the yard like some sort of scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie.
I have no clue who’s on the other side, but they’re coming in hot and from every possible angle.
I stand taller, taking the moment while the Slav is distracted and reach out, yanking his gun from him. He jerks in surprise as I spin it, shooting him three times. He stumbles backward, falling over another dead body while I finally take in a deep breath.
I need to get to Jovie.
Rushing through the fray, I notice the men coming to our aid are wearing cuts.
Not just any cuts.
Defiance cuts.
Everything is moving too fast for me to see who they are, but I’m sure after this, we will be thanking them. Our brother chapters have come in, we’re evenly matched now, and with the men our club has already taken out, I’d say we’re actually taking the lead.
Zero finds his inner strength dropping the Baron to the ground. Wraith and Damir are in a one-on-one fistfight that Wraith is not winning.
I have to get to Jovie.
I take off as one of her brothers steps in front of me. He appears to be the older one. She told me his name was Lennox. I grit my teeth while the older burned man drags Jovie off toward a van. I shake my head. “Lennox, right?”
“You think you know us from what Jovie’s told you. Well, I will tell you now, Kevlar, you don’t know shit. Just let her go. She belongs with us.”
“I’m not letting you take her.”
Lennox cracks his neck to the side. “Then you’re gonna have to go through me to get to her.”
Rolling my shoulders. “Fine by me.”
Immediately, I bring my leg up, kicking him in his thigh. His leg gives way making him drop to his knees, and my fist connects with his jaw on the way through. His body flies back, letting out a heavy groan.
He wants to see how protective of Jovie I can be, then I’m coming out fucking swinging.
Panting for breath, I shake out my hand, then move to walk past him to get my girl when out of the corner of my eye, something shiny grabs my attention.