“Look,” I growl. “We don’t want any trouble. Let’s talk this out, and you can let her go.” I’m trying desperately to keep my cool right now.
“Ah, Kane De Luca, nice to see you again. Pity we never got that rematch,” Blake says sarcastically. “I would have loved to give you another beatin’.”
I tighten my fists by my sides, trying to hold back from giving him the beating of his life, but the scene before me, Hazel crying, her eyes pleading with me to stay quiet, stops me. My hands itch to grab my gun from behind my back but I don’t want to take the risk; I don’t doubt that he’ll hurt her.
As if reading my mind, Blake yells, “Robby! Derek! Frisk them for guns.” Two of his men walk toward us, smiling wide, and one grabs an empty crate from the floor. One by one they confiscate our guns and place them in the crate, then walk them back over to Blake.
Blake looks in the crate, his face showing his approval. He looks back at Charity then at me. “Charity, get your fuckin’ ass here now! Don’t make me tell you again, or I will shoot her,” he threatens, his finger sliding over the trigger of his gun.
I look over my shoulder at Charity, who starts to walk slowly toward him. My eyes narrow, and I glare at her as she passes me. Her eyes shine bright with unshed tears, and my heart constricts at the raw fear evident on her face. I grind my jaw, pissed as hell, but not at her—she’s only trying to save her friend, my sister. My gaze bores into hers. “Don’t do it,” I say beneath my breath.
Tears start to roll down her cheeks, and I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I have to.” Then she rips my heart out by saying, “I love you, Kane.”
I move forward, grabbing her by her arms, keeping her still. “Don’t do it,” I repeat. Emotions I never knew existed fill me, and I’m torn between letting her go and keeping her here, but the thing is, Blake has a gun to Hazel’s head, and I can’t gamble with her life.
Suddenly a gunshot echoes throughout the room, and we all duck at the ear-piercing sound. I look up quickly, trying to gauge if anyone’s been hurt, and see Blake with his gun pointed in the air. “Touch her again and I will shoot your sister. Don’t fucking test me, Kane.”
A hand reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. I look back and see Quill, his face set in stone. “Don’t, brother, let her go, I promise we’ll get her back.”
“Yeah, Kane, listen to your friend,” Blake spits out, his entourage laughing along with him.
“Let me go, Kane,” Charity pleads.
I glance between Hazel and Charity, and my hands fall by my sides, letting her go. I promised to protect her and look after her, and here I am, doing exactly the opposite. “I will get you back, that’s a promise,” I say hoarsely, never taking my eyes off her.
She doesn’t say anything, just nods her head and turns to face Blake, then takes small steps to toward him. As soon as Charity is a few feet away from Blake, he looks at Zeek and lifts his chin. Zeek grabs Charity and pulls her arms behind her back, then turns her to face me, all the while my heart aching for her, my fists clenching and unclenching beside me. But she doesn’t look at me; her gaze is fixed on the ground.
“Let Hazel go, you have Charity,” I demand, my boys walking over to stand by my side. Blake walks backward, dragging Hazel with him, gun still pointed to her head.
“Don’t be stupid, Reynolds, let her go. You have what you came here for!” Quill shouts.
Blake looks from Quill to Hazel and runs the tip of his gun down her cheek. Hazel cries uncontrollably, and I growl, “Let her go, Reynolds.”
Still looking down at Hazel, he says, “I might just keep her, I’ve always thought she was sexy as fuck.”
I take a step toward them, anger consuming all my thoughts. He switches the gun from Hazel to me, and I come to a halt. “Don’t be stupid, Kane. I will end you.” He starts to walk backward again, dragging Hazel with him. My eyes flick between her and Charity; I’ve never felt so helpless before in my life.
As they exit the clubhouse door, we start to walk toward it. I don’t want to lose sight of them.
“Quick!” Quill yells, “get the guns from out the back.” All the boys run out to the back of the clubhouse to grab them, but I can’t, I need to see my girls. I exit the clubhouse, to see Blake still dragging Hazel along, his hand around her mouth to cover her screams. Charity’s not saying a thing, just letting the man holding her pull her back toward their black SUV, her face void of any emotion. I look around, and with the outside lights illuminating the clubhouse’s parking lot, I make out two bodies on the ground—Rhyder and Torch. I panic, wondering if they’re dead, but I make out Rhyder moving to get on his feet. I glance back at Blake, who’s now opening the door to his car, and just as he pushes Hazel into the back seat, bullets are fired.
Running for cover, I duck behind our bikes, quickly looking around for where they’re coming from. I find Blaze, Hawke, and Gunner on the clubhouse roof, shooting down at the men. I yell for them to stop, praying like hell they don’t hit Hazel or Charity. The man holding Charity is shot in the shoulder, screaming in pain as he lets go of her and falls to the ground. I look over at over at Charity, praying that she’s not been hurt, but sigh in relief when she starts crawling for cover.
And then everything happens so quickly. Blake starts shooting back, and then jumps in the car and puts his foot down, revving the hell out of it. His men follow, but another gets shot in the leg just as he makes it inside the car.
I look to my left, spying Bear, a gun in hand. “Give me a fucking gun!” I shout over the noise. Bear looks over at me and throws me another one, pulled from the back of his jeans. I quickly grab it and get up off the ground, and like a mad man I shoot at the windshield of the SUV. Blake ducks behind the glass, then revs the engine harder, and the car begins to move forward. As it travels along, a door opens and Hazel is thrown out, rolling on the rough gravel until she comes to a stop not far away from me. I run to her and check she’s okay, sighing in relief when she tries to get up. She has a few scratches on her, but other than that, I think she’s fine. I look around to find Charity but hear a sound I will never forget instead—it’s a scream, and then the car’s tires screech on the packed-down gravel as it brakes suddenly.
A body goes flying over the bonnet. No! Please don’t be Charity! My heart jumps into my throat, and I’m barely aware the SUV is burning rubber again, tires kicking up stones everywhere as it flies through the open gates, and around the corner out of sight.
I look over at the body slumped on the ground, and wince when I realize my nightmare has come true—it’s Charity lying there. My body stills and my heart hammers when I see she’s not moving. With a lump in my throat, I slowly get up off the ground and walk toward her, dropping my gun on the way. I sink to my knees and grab her face between my hands. Blood drips from her nose, and her forehead and face have scratches all over them.
I lean down and place my ear to her mouth. Warm breath—she’s breathing. I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand, and whisper in her ear, “Charity, baby, wake up. Wake up.”
I place my lips to her temple, and her eyes slowly flutter open. “Kane?” she says in a low, husky voice.
“Shush, baby, you’re going to be okay,” I assure her, then yell over my shoulder, “Call a fucking ambulance!”
Bear grabs his cell phone out of his pocket and begins dialing, and I turn back to Charity.
“Charity? Charity! Oh my God, please let her be okay,” Hazel cries out from beside me.
I look up at my sister, my tears now flowing freely down my face. “She’s going to be all right, she has to be. If it’s the last thing I ever promise, she will be okay.”
“Oh, Kane. What have we done?” Hazel begins to sob, and wipes Charity’s forehead gently with her fingertips.
“Kane? I’m so cold,” Charity whispers, her body starting to tremble. I quickly take my cut off and place it over her.
“Stay with me, baby, you’re going to be okay. The ambulance is on its way.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears, and she suddenly cries out “The baby!” The compound’s floodlights are all switched on now, and I look down her body and see blood on the ground between her thighs.
All the air leaves my lungs, and I lean down and hug her gently. “You’re going to be all right, baby. Shush, save your energy.” I don’t know what else to say to her right now.
The sound of sirens not too far away is like music to my ears. The ambulance flies through the gates, stopping just near us. Two male medics get out, and one runs toward us while the other heads to the back of the vehicle.
“Move back, we’ll take it from here.”
“No fucking chance, man,” I growl at him.
“Kane, please, let them help her,” Hazel says, pulling on my shoulder to get me to step back.
The medic looks at me. “I promise we’ll take good care of her.”
Not wanting to let her go, I hesitate, but then do as he says. The medic starts asking all kinds of questions—what happened? Is there any type of medication she’s on? How old is she?—and for the life of me I can’t answer any of them. Luckily Hazel is next to me, because she reminds them that Charity is pregnant. The medic raises his eyes to look at Hazel and me, then glances down at the blood between Charity’s legs and begins to check her vitals. Prez and the rest of the boys come to my side at that point, and I feel hands on my shoulders.
Letting the medics take over, I watch them in action, not able to respond to any of my boys as they try to get my attention. The medics finally place her on the stretcher and push her toward the back of their ambulance. I follow, my boys and Hazel not too far behind me. They slide her into the back, and I place my foot on the step, ready to get up inside there too.
“Whoa, hold up, buddy, you’re going to have to meet us there.”
“But…? I’m her….”
“Look, there’s no time to argue, we gotta leave. She’s in a critical condition, and I need room back here, and to be able to focus.”
“Trigg, let them take her, we’ll follow,” Quill says, pity clear in his eyes. He knows how I’m feeling, it wasn’t that long ago that Jasmine and Luisa were rushed to the hospital in a critical condition as well.
I nod at the medic, still not happy but not wanting to hold things up any further. “Take care of her,” I say, tears burning in my eyes again.
The medic replies, “We’ll do our best.”
Hesitantly I step back, and the other medic quickly shuts both doors then runs toward the driver’s seat. My hand stays on the back of the ambulance doors, then falls away when it takes off.
Stepping out of my dreamlike state, I rush to my bike and start it up. My brothers follow, with Quill in front.
“I’m coming with you, Kane.” Hazel looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Get on,” I reply, not willing to waste any time arguing. “We should get you checked out too.”
“I’m fine,” she says, waving it off. She sits on the back of my bike, and I quickly hand her a helmet, not bothering to put one on myself. I start my bike, and floor it out of the compound and onto the street. Hazel holds on tight, and I pass Prez as I speed on by, following the ambulance to the hospital.