Things were not going well. Vince and Nico were trapped on a roof. The only thing separating them from the bad guys was a locked door, and the dirtbags were trying awfully hard to bang it down. Vince watched the rest of the team on the move and knew they were at least five minutes out.

“Suggestions?”

Nico smiled and pulled both knives out of his belt. “Rush them.”

“Oh, I knew there was a reason we got along.” Vince winked. “On my mark.”

They stood on either side of the door, and Vince nodded to Nico to unlock it. He smashed the lock and the door flew open. Nico was on them in a split second, and he made good use of both knives. Vince was impressed by the way he moved; Nico was just as vicious as he was.

They had taken most of them out when another large man came through the door. A loud shot went off, and Vince shielded his eyes and looked around the surrounding buildings. Tyler waved at him.

“Wow, that guy was huge.” Tyler chuckled into the radio.

“Nice of you to join us.”

“I like to make an entrance.”

“Get off the roof,” Lorenzo ordered over the radio. “You are clear.”

The rest of the day was spent dodging sniper rounds as they traveled through a series of small alleys. Lorenzo had stationed Tyler and Greg on rooftops on opposite sides of the street with the rest of the sniper teams. Nico got situated with his rifle when he was caught by surprise. The man had him from behind, but Nico twisted out of his grip. They circled each other and Nico smiled. “Big mistake.”

A shot echoed, and hit Nico in the shoulder, knocking him on his ass. The man jumped on top of him, the knife coming closer and closer to him. Nico pushed his arm back harder. He planted his feet on the ground and bucked his hips, sending the man flying. He jumped on him, and finished him off. He scrambled for cover and got on the radio. “I’m hit!”

“What?” Tyler’s panicked voice came through the radio.

“In the shoulder.” Nico pulled off his shirt.

“I’m on my way,” Reece’s voice came through.

Lorenzo checked his men. “Give them cover, now.”

“Oh, we’re on it.” Stefan came around the corner with Jordan.

“Stefano?” Lorenzo was surprised.

“One and the same, my friend.” Stefan grasped his shoulders.

“You are covered in blood.” Lorenzo cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh, it’s not mine, big guy.” Stefan winked. “Where’s my grandson?”

“Hey, Grandpa.” Nico waved from his position.

“On our way.” Jordan pulled his gun out. “Antonio and Marco are in the other structure.”

Stefan and Jordan headed to Nico’s location, watching not only the street, but the buildings above. There were two men in front of the building Nico was on.

“You got jackass one?” Stefan chuckled into the radio.

Stefan smiled from his position. “Yeah, Grandpa. Just so you know, two more just went up.”

“Ready?” Jordan waggled his eyebrows.

“God, you are so sexy.”

Nico marveled as he watched them. It never ceased to amaze him what his grandfathers were capable of when their loved ones were in trouble. His brother Stefan was a badass too; he took two out at once. A strong push knocked him onto his back. Once again he had a knife in his face.

“Son of a bitch!” Nico growled. The pain in his shoulder was making it hard for him to fight back. Tanner’s face flashed in front of him.

“Surprise, motherfucker!” Stefan had grabbed the guy from behind and dragged him off.

Nico watched his grandfathers take out the men out who had snuck up on the roof. Reece had finally arrived, escorted by Mason and Dominic. Reece dropped down next to Nico and inspected him closely. “We need to get him out of here.”

“What is it?” Stefan called out.

“The bullet is still in there. We need a chopper.”

“But I feel fine,” Nico protested.

“Now, maybe. But we have no idea where the bullet is, and the more you move around, the more it does. That increases tissue damage.”

Stefan called for the chopper. Tyler watched it land on the roof. He looked over at Roman and they both nodded. Justin was setting up the explosive charges on one side of the meeting place of the men they were there to wipe out, while Lorenzo did the other.

“We must leave!” Lorenzo called out.

“And we have the blast to make our way out. You done on your side?”

“Yes, and Mason has finished.” Lorenzo spotted more men arriving. “Come on!”

“Fuck!” Dominic’s voice came over the radio. “They made you!”

Lorenzo grabbed Justin and they ran. “Mason! Meet us at the rendezvous! We have to blow it early!”

“On my way!”

Stefan ran and fell into step with them. They spotted the Hummer and ran faster, spurred by the shots behind them. All were shooting as they ran, and a bullet whizzed by Stefan. “Jesus!”

Tyler and Greg dove into the vehicle along with Roman and Alex, and they high-tailed their asses out of the blast zone. Alex positioned himself on the main gun of the Hummer, shooting the men chasing Lorenzo, Justin, and Stefan. Dimitri was driving.

“Come on!” Tyler put his hand out.

He hauled them men onto the vehicle and then the blast went off. Lorenzo yelled, “Hang on to something!”

The force of the blast pushed the Hummer forward, almost knocking it over. Dimitri slammed the accelerator to the floor.

“Faster!” Lorenzo shouted.

“Shit! Stop! It’s Mason!”

The brakes screeched as Dimitri slowed down long enough for Roman to haul Mason inside. “Hit it, Dimitri!”

“Holy fuckballs!” Justin watched as half the town evaporated. “We got the good guys out, right?”

“Yes.” Lorenzo smacked him upside the head.

“Are you okay?” Dominic asked Mason.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Mason leaned against a seat and tried to catch his breath.

“Everyone accounted for?” Justin spoke into the radio.

“Yup,” Vince’s voice replied. “Any word on Nico?”

“Not yet. I suggest we all go to the hospital,” Lorenzo said.

Stefan and Jordan were in the waiting room when they finally arrived. Stefan counted heads. “So, it went well?”

“It went, that’s for sure,” Roman offered. “How’s Nico?”

Reece came out just then. “We found the bullet. He’s just fine.”

Stefan let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

“May I see him?” Lorenzo asked.

“Of course. Heath and Caleb are in there with him.” Reece kissed his husband. “Glad to see you alive.”

“I am a badass.” Lorenzo winked.

“Yes, you are.” Reece patted his ass.

Dimitri’s cell rang and heads swiveled in his direction. “It has been more than two hours. I am not surprised.” Dimitri answered the phone, “Hello, my love.”

“Are you okay? Is everyone all right?” Chris asked.

“We are all right. Why?”

“Tanner had a really bad feeling come over him.” Chris held Tanner close to him.

“Nico is fine. He took a bullet to the shoulder, but he is just fine.”

“He what?” Tanner grabbed the phone.

Tyler motioned for Dimitri to give him his phone. “Tanner, Nico is fine, baby. We will be back there in a few hours, all right?”

“I wanna talk to him.”

“He is in with his dads right now. When he gets a chance, I will tell him to call you. I love you and we will see you soon.” Tyler handed the phone back to Dimitri.

“Babe?”

“Yes.”

“I love you, Dimitri.”

“I love you, Christophe.”

Tanner paced the house like a crazy man. He couldn’t sit still. He was worried to death about Nico. His dad took his hand.

“He’s going to be fine.”

“That’s what they said about Uncle Tanner after he was shot, and we all know what happened! HE DIED!”

“Tanner.” Damon grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “He will be fine.”

Tanner’s cell phone rang and he snatched it up. “Hello?”

“Hey.”

“Nico! Oh, thank God.” Tanner dropped to the couch and cried.

“Hey, I’m okay. Tanner, please stop crying. I’m coming back in a few hours.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. I love you, Tanner.”

“I love you too, Nico.”

“ ’Bye.”

“ ’Bye.” Tanner hung up the phone and put his face in his hands. “I don’t know how Uncle Josh survived when Uncle Tanner died.”

“He had Jason.”

“I’m so glad they had each other.”

“Good. Now let’s go shower and eat. You smell,” Damon teased.

“Hey!”

Stefan and Jordan, along with Lorenzo, Antonio, Marco, and Vince, walked into the building where their meeting with a senate leader in Pakistan was being held. Stefan and Jordan entered the room first. Stefan took the guard out to his right in one movement while Jordan quickly dispatched the other. Stefan wiped his knife blade on the dead guy’s shirt, then straightened.

“Now that I have your attention.”

“This was to be a friendly meeting!”

“I am friendly. I killed him quickly. Now sit down and shut the fuck up before you join him.”

Lorenzo and the rest of the team stood behind Stefan and Jordan, their weapons by their sides. The man they were meeting was very influential in the country they had just fought in, and he was not playing by the rules.

“I’m sure by now you have heard what we did to a little town south of here.” Stefan sat down and crossed one leg casually over his knee. “The townspeople called us for help. Apparently, drugs, prostitution, and other nasty things were going on there. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

The official squirmed a little. “No, I was not made aware —”

“Bullshit,” Jordan interrupted smoothly. “There are surveillance photos of you making deals with these drug- and human-trafficking assholes.”

“I hear there’s a man who wants to take your place — a good, honest man. So, you will give up your position to him,” Stefan informed him.

“I will do no such thing!”

Stefan motioned to Vince. “Do it.”

Vince shot him in the leg. “I have a lot more rounds in this gun.”

“Son of a bitch! You’d kill me?”

“I can fillet you if you’d like.” Stefan took his knife back out. “I have no qualms taking you apart piece by piece.”

Lorenzo handed the man a piece of paper. “Sign these. It is a letter of resignation and a press release announcing your resignation, and it names the man taking your place.”

“I don’t care how you spin it,” Stefan sighed. “You want more time with your family, you need a vacation, you’re devoting your life to saving stray kittens. Whatever excuse you want to make is fine by me, but you will leave this post and never come back.” Stefan stood.

Jordan added, “If you step one foot back in this country or try to have your cronies overthrow the government, we’ll know. And that gunshot in your leg will be nothing compared to what we do to you then.”

The man shook his head. Stefan brought his fist down on the desk hard. “Sign them!”

Everyone watched as he signed with a shaky hand. Stefan handed the papers to Antonio, who motioned the others out of the room, leaving Stefan and Jordan alone with him.

“Don’t make us regret keeping you alive, Manuel.” Jordan leaned over. “It would be my pleasure to watch you take your last breath.”

“Oh, and one more thing.” Stefan paused. “Every man you ever made a deal with is dead. I saw to it myself. Get out, and don’t ever come back.”