“Levi, get Skylar and Emerald up with the girls and stay with them. Lock the fucking door until one of us comes to it and tells you it’s safe,” Op demanded as he rounded up the members, orders flying left right and center as Levi guided us to the staircase.

I looked up, seeing Sugar standing at the top with a sad smile. “Come on,” she waved us forward. “We need to be safe so they can focus.”

Tears still streaked my cheeks as I bounded up the stairs, ducking into her waiting arms.

Emerald followed us quietly down to Op and Chelsea’s room where Rose was rocking one of the babies while Harlyn, Jayla, and Macy were playing some kind of board game on Chelsea’s bed, oblivious to what was going on downstairs.

Levi closed the door behind us and locked it before leaning back against it and folding his arms. Levi was young, but he was a serious kid. He didn’t joke around or banter with the other guys, he just did his jobs, listened quietly and got on with it. It didn’t make him the funniest person to be around, but it actually did make me feel a little safer with someone who took shit that seriously.

I wanted to go to the window, knowing that it looked out over the yard, but instead I forced myself over to the sofa where Chelsea was sitting with Jack. She tried to give me a supportive smile, but we were all tense.

I could hear gunshots, and people shouting, but I couldn’t figure out if those people were our people or not. Clenching the blanket in my hands, I tried to focus on something else, I needed to not think about the fact that these people were here to take me, or kill me or do whatever in order to hurt the people I cared about and make me pay for leaving the Colony.

Hadley stepped out of the bathroom and quickly scanned the room. “Does anyone have a weapon?” she asked. Levi nodded, but the rest of us shook our heads. “Damn, I wonder if I could get back to our room—”

“No, Op said no one leaves,” Levi argued firmly, standing his ground. I was pretty sure none of us were getting out of here anytime soon.

“Op keeps a gun in his side drawer, and there’s a .22 locked in the closet. The code is 1225, the boy’s birthday.” Hadley went straight to the side table and pulled open the drawer, checking the gun was loaded before she clicked on the safety and tucked it into her pants.

Just as she was about to head for the closet, we both froze, hearing tapping above us. Hadley’s eyes widened, and I felt like my stomach sank to the floor.

Levi was the only one able to move, and he quickly rushed forward. “Chelsea, Rose, take the kids to the bathroom and lock the door,” he whispered, his words coming out in urgency as he ran to the bed and picked up Macy and Jayla around the waist and ran to the bathroom.

Chelsea grabbed Harlyn’s hand, pulling her along as she cradled one of her sons in her other arm. Rose was right behind her, running for the bathroom door and slipping inside before Levi pulled it shut and drew his weapon, standing in front of it with his shoulders back like a true soldier ready to protect.

Sugar gathered Emerald and threw the closet door open, herding her inside. I could see the fear on my sister’s face.

“It’ll be okay, Em. Just stay there and don’t make a sound, no matter what you hear,” I ordered, trying not to get choked up as she blinked and tears dripped down her cheeks. She stepped back, and Sugar closed the door.

“They’re on the roof,” Hadley said, looking upward, her body tense like they might drop through the ceiling at any moment. “Sugar go… get in the bathroom,” she said pleadingly.

Sugar shook her head but didn’t have time to argue because, within seconds, the windows were exploding. Sugar and I both hit the floor as glass rained down around us, covering our heads.

I could feel it skim past my bare skin, the sharp jagged edges instantly slicing at my body.

One, two, three men landed on the floor of the bedroom.

Gunshots went off, one after the other, shaking my body and filling my head with noise and confusion. The first man through instantly fell to the ground, limp and lifeless, as both Levi and Hadley stood firm, releasing round after round into the invaders.

One managed to draw his weapon and fire back.

I screamed as Levi took two shots, one to the leg and the other to the stomach, throwing him back against the bathroom door, the gun falling from his hand.

Hadley froze when the same man turned his gun on Sugar and me, while the third pointed his at her. I could see that she wanted to keep fighting, but when she looked at us, realization flashed over her, and she held up her hands in surrender.

Two more men climbed through the window. I didn’t recognize any of them. Were they from the Colony? I knew they trained well there, but this was some kind of next level. They had bulletproof vests on and were handling their weapons like professionals, not just some guys who practiced out the back shooting rounds at targets in their backyard.

“You must be Sapphire,” one of them said walking toward me with a cocky grin that I would love to shoot off his damn face. As he got closer, I recognized him, and it took me a second to click just from where.

I sneered. “Brock Obrien,” I spat as I tried to climb off the floor, fighting past the pain I was feeling from the glass that had attacked me. Sugar stood with me, her back straight, her face a mask of indifference.

We all refused to show these guys that they had us scared.

We knew that the boys who were downstairs would have heard the commotion already, I had to have faith that it wouldn’t be too long before they came up here, but the problem was, how many more people would get hurt if this turned into a gunfight.

“Normally I don’t like to bust in this way, but I have to give credit to the club, they really do have this place locked down,” he said seeming almost impressed. “But my men are better.”

“What the hell do you want?” I snapped, pushing my shoulders back and lifting my chin. It was obvious he didn’t have time for a strong woman because he instantly stepped forward in response, his hand jumping out and grabbing a handful of my hair, wrenching me forward.

His face was just inches from mine, his thick dark brows were pulled together as he narrowed his eyes angrily. “Where is Emerald?”

“She’s. Not. Here,” I growled back, trying not to let my eyes water from how much pain was resonating through my scalp.

“You want to play, fine,” he huffed, yanking on my hair and sending me sprawling across his body, where he slammed the side of my head into the nightstand beside the bed before letting me go.

I crumbled to the floor, my forehead pressed to the carpet as I tried to fight through the pain and dizziness.

“I want my wife back,” he snarled, standing over me.

I heard the words, but I couldn’t piece together what he was saying.

His wife?

I could feel blood dripping down the side of my head, leaking into my ear.

“You’re just as stupid as that brother of yours, fucking idiot actually thought I was here to help him, yet while his men down there did the dirty work and took all the attention of the club, I knew they’d be hiding you girls somewhere up here.”

“All this, hurting people, killing people, that innocent little girl down there on the street, just so you can have a young girl as your wife?” Hadley asked, obviously both angered and disgusted.

He chuckled lightly. “My possessions mean a lot to me, especially when I have buyers who are ready to pay upward of five hundred thousand dollars for them,” he responded looking me directly in the eye. “She was owed to me for all I’ve done for that shitty Colony. When Abel suggested marriage I thought, why not? I insured her life, she goes missing, I claim the insurance. I get twice the money.”

My body was hurting, I was struggling to fight past the pain, but when I was finally able to put the puzzle pieces together, all I could do was stare at this man in horror.

“We’re losing men fast,” one of Brock’s men murmured. “We need to move.”

I still didn’t get it. My father, he was an asshole, a bigot, a misogynistic bastard. But he still believed in the Colony and the Colony only, he believed that we were perfect because we were untouched. Why the hell would he let this man come in and taint everything he had spent his life working so hard to achieve?

“What does my dad have to say about this?” I asked, groaning as another piece of glass stabbed into my hand as I tried to push myself up off the ground.

“He doesn’t have anything to say,” Brock replied, his eyes lighting up like Christmas morning. “You don’t know,” he laughed loudly.

The men around the room chuckled, and I suddenly felt like I was missing out on some kind of meaningful joke.

“Abel killed your father months ago when he didn’t agree with how Abel wanted to help populate the Colony,” Brock laughed.

I didn’t have time to respond, or even process whether or not my father being dead was a good or bad thing because the bedroom door burst open and shots lit up the room once again.

One, two, three, direct shots, straight to the head of each of Brock’s men before they even had a chance to focus on the sudden intrusion. I gasped, looking at the door to find Jake leaning against the doorframe, breathing heavily, his gun aimed directly at Brock’s head. Of course, they never had a chance against Jake, there was a reason he was recruited into a special ops team, and they were trained to deal with situations like this every damn day.

Brock’s eyes widened in shock, and I could tell he was processing his options, trying to figure out whether he should go down fighting and be killed, or give himself up and face the shit-storm that he’d created.

“So is he dying or what?” Jake asked casually as Hadley dropped her gun and ran across the room to Levi. Sugar did the same while I continued to sit on the floor, far enough away from the asshole that if he decided to come for me, Jake would have a bullet through his skull before he could get anywhere near.

The thump, thump, thump, of footsteps coming up the stairs had me taking another painful but much-needed breath of fresh air. Optimus and Wrench both ducked into the room, scanning it quickly while Jake held his ground.

“Where is everyone?” Op asked urgently.

“In the bathroom,” Sugar confirmed as she stood and stepped straight into Wrench’s arms.

The closet door opened suddenly, and the first thing I saw poking out was the barrel of a gun, Emerald slowly emerging behind it. We all froze.

“Emerald, put the gun down,” Optimus ordered sternly, but her eyes were focused purely on Brock.

Now he was alone, I could see the fear in his face as he watched the .22 rifle come toward him.

Oh, how things had suddenly changed.

“Em,” I said quietly, trying to draw her attention to me. “Come on, leave the boys to deal with him.”

Tears streaked her cheeks, and my heart switched up a notch as I watched her flick off the safety. The way she was holding the gun was awkward, but it didn’t really matter. With her less than five feet away from him, it was all about point and fire, and there was no way she could miss.

“I will not be sold,” Emerald finally said, her normally sweet and placid voice, suddenly full of fire. “I will not be your wife. I will not let you do this to other girls. I will not let you hurt any more people. You are disgusting. I have heard stories about what you have done to women. I have been told the things that you have escaped prosecution for. No, this is your judgment day.”

We were all helpless as we watched her pull the trigger, the loud bang sending shock waves through all our bodies.

Brock’s body shook with the impact, his face one of horror and fear.

Wrench let go of Sugar and took two big steps forward, placing his hands over Emerald’s and holding her body still as she sobbed.

We were okay, though, I was a little sore, a little beaten, and I’m sure at some point the reality of the situation would hit me—the information that he shared yet to sink through into my brain. For now, though, I would take it.

“We need to get Levi downstairs, he’s still breathing, but there could be more damage,” Hadley said as she held her hand against the gunshot wound to his stomach.

“Doc is here waiting for anyone who needs help,” Blizzard said, standing at the door. “But we still have a fucking mess going on outside.”

Car tires squealed, and I sat up straight, the noise was quickly followed by a loud bang, and I instantly knew that sound. Cars crashing.

“Eagle!” I screamed.

I needed to help him.

I needed to get to him.

I didn’t wait for another second, grabbing one of the stray guns off the floor and making a run for it.

Jake was leaning against the wall outside the door, sweat dripping down his brow.

His crutches nowhere in sight. He must have pulled himself up the damn stairs in order to get to us without making any noise.

I stalled for a second, but he tipped his head to the staircase. “Go! Make sure my brother is okay.”

That kick-started my heart again and sent a new flow of adrenaline running through my veins. It was the only thing keeping me going. There was blood all over me, dripping down the side of my face from a cut that I just knew would need stitches. There was blood smeared all up and down my arms from tiny glass cuts.

I could hear the boys coming behind me, but I was faster, sprinting like a damn bat out of hell.

Please let him be okay.

Please.

I would pray if I had to.