Kane

Sitting at my desk, cleaning my weapon, I picture the dago bitch dying a painful death, her eyes filled with tears, her skin pale with pain. Her voice is pitiful as she begs me to stop hurting her. I smile, rubbing the Magnum, the smell of gun oil sweet perfume in my nostrils.

She will be the one to die an excruciating death.

Jackson steps into the doorway. “They’re here. The Lucianos and Jolene. They’re ready to make the trade.”

I stand, my chair scraping the stone floor as my heart rate picks up. “Are the men ready?” I reassemble my weapon and check that it’s loaded.

“Yes, sir.” Jackson’s dark eyes are bright, his lean body tense with excitement. Jackson doesn’t usually show much emotion—he’s not womanly that way. But he loves a good battle and a well-laid trap.

Jackson falls in step with me as I move through the corridors toward the entrance.

Five of my best men will go around and encircle the Lucianos and when the time is right, open fire.

They think they’re so special, the saviors of North Fork, the heroes of Grimesville? Nothing but a clan of WOPs hiding out underground. They’ll get what’s coming to them.

Our booted feet echo down the dim corridor. The thunk of my boots against the stone grounds me as we move towards the light, where the trees are backlit by sunset sky as we exit.

The sandbags around the entrance are splattered with blood from that stupid redskin’s attack, but over the barricades I can see Jolene.

My bitch sister.

She flaunts herself in tight jeans, standing between her lover, Cash, and his brother, JT. I’ve watched the family and identified each of the Lucianos on surveillance video my men made. They parade around the area like they own it. Not for much longer.

They look upset now—the men’s faces are grim, and Jolene’s eyes look puffy, like she’s been crying. The Luciano girl’s finger really got to them. Good.

I need to be careful, though. They’re not stupid or cowardly; they’re fearless out-of-control mutts in need of being put down.

I can’t help the smile that twists my lips as I look at Jolene standing there in the dusk. Her hair is growing out, a halo of blonde curls framing that angelic face of hers. Those wide turquoise eyes glance fearfully at me. She should be scared.

“Hello, sister.” I don’t bother yelling. I let the quiet carry my voice to where they stand, fifty yards away at the tree line.

“I agreed to this, Dwight,” Jolene raises her voice. “That’s the only reason I’m here.”

“Bring Lucy out,” JT demands, his voice low and taut. “Let’s get this over with.”

I ignore him. “I’m surprised you’re willing to give up your woman, Cash.”

“Family is blood,” Cash says. “She’s your sister, and Lucy is mine. She wants to come back to you.”

I don’t believe him. He wants them both.

Well, so do I.

The one thing that’s not going to happen: they hand over Jolene and I return Lucy and we all go our separate ways and live merrily ever after. “Jolene, come over now. When you get here, my men will bring Lucy up.”

Cash turns sharply, a movement so quick it’s a blur. His arm flashes and I hear a gurgling sound. Jackson stiffens next to me as a crash in the woods announces the death of one of my men. Cash pivots, whipping his arm, circling, making that movement again, and I see another shadow in the woods, hear the sounds of death.

JT isn’t even trying to keep the grin off his face as more Lucianos, positioned in the woods, take out my men. I should have demanded to see them—three of the brothers, plus the redskin, are missing. Dammit!

I swallow, forcing a smile onto my face. No worries. We have more men, more guns, an armed shelter, and their sister. They can’t get in here.

The weight of my bulletproof vest feels solid and safe, along with Jackson’s presence next to me. There are over thirty men in my compound—no way can this family win.

JT raises his voice. “Enough games. Bring Lucy out. This is your last chance.”

“Send Jolene over. This is your last chance.”

A flash to my left—a blurred movement. That redskin boyfriend of the dago girl is running toward me, his long hair streaming. His animal hide clothing is a brown between the bark of the trees and the peach of the sky, making him hard to see. I raise my gun, but he’s thrown something and I feel a burst of fire in my arm, a blow that spins me to the side. I look down to see a tomahawk embedded in my bicep.

My gun hand hangs useless, almost severed. “Son of a bitch!”

Warm blood gushes from the wound, splattering the ground around me. Pain zips through me like wildfire, overtaking thought and movement. Thunderous noise explodes all around me as both sides open fire.

I reach for my other weapon with my good hand, but a yell draws my gaze up.

“Kane! You’re mine!” Cash is standing just on the other side of the berm. His arm flashes. A knife is coming at me, the blade catching the dying light of day on each rotation.

I’m mesmerized, watching it twirl through the air so fast… Time slows down, sound stops, and the light fades as the knife finds me.

Death has arrived, and the girl was right. It’s painful as hell.