Walker felt a familiar rush as they moved toward the back entrance of the strip club Ashleigh had told them about. He’d been right when he’d calculated that Ace, Carter and Ronan would still be in town after their visit to Randall’s grave and as luck would have it, they’d been at a bar nearby.

There were two burly bouncers guarding the entrance, but all was quiet in the alley and Walker felt secure in the plan that the six of them had come up with in the space of minutes with Ashleigh’s help surrounding the layout of the club.

Even Walker had to admit that Sawyer, Colt, Ace, Carter, Ronan and himself made a formidable team.

Sawyer and Colt may have never met the guys from his old unit before, but it already felt like they were moving like a well-oiled machine.

They performed a last check of their weapons and then moved stealthily toward the brawny bouncers, communicating only by hand signals now.

Colt and Ace each took down one of the bouncers so fast and with such precision that Walker almost felt sorry for the men. Almost, but not quite.

They worked for a slimeball coward who wanted to sell Ashleigh to a sheikh over some bullshit debt that wasn’t even real, and who had kept her enslaved in places like this for almost a decade. They deserved whatever injuries the boys may have inflicted, and probably a hell of a lot more as far as he was concerned.

Walker took point and Sawyer and Carter flanked him, the others bringing up the rear after hurriedly stashing the bouncers’ unconscious bodies behind a dumpster.

Walker kicked in the heavy door, rage and adrenaline coursing through his veins as he signaled the others inside after a perfunctory check that the coast was clear.

They moved soundlessly down the hallway to the right, toward where Ashleigh had explained Solokov’s office was.

Electronic music pounded in their ears, but none of them even seemed to notice the entrancing music.

They encountered several more bouncers standing guard outside private rooms off the hallway just as Ashleigh had warned them there would be, and they took them down almost as efficiently as they had the first two.

One prick had managed to reach his gun as they approached, but Walker had him pinned to the ground, writhing in pain as a bone in his arm audibly snapped before he could even think about taking aim or squeezing the trigger.

Ronan gave the guy a swift kick to a strategic place on his head, rendering him unconscious as they dragged his hulking form into a closet off the main hallway.

Finally, they reached the hallway that led to the outer doors of Solokov’s office and the bodyguards stationed there.

Given as it was a straight hallway with nowhere to hide as they approached, they regrouped before rounding the corner.

So far, all of Ashleigh’s information had proven correct and Walker’s heart swelled with pride at his observant girl, even if it had been years since she’d worked at this particular club.

They’d been worried about cameras at first, but she’d assured them that Solokov kept the cameras trained at where cash was exchanged and where the girls were supposed to be -- monitoring their every movement, and trusting his men to take care of the hallways and landings.

There were, however, cameras on the exits, which was why it had been so important to disable the bouncers and get in the door as quickly as possible.

He was fairly certain that whoever was watching the cameras had missed the seconds it had taken them to get inside, judging by the lack of men bearing down on them.

Likely, Ashleigh had told them, it would be one of the lowly foot soldiers who would either be ogling the girls he was meant to be monitoring, or jerking off to what was happening in the private rooms that the goons had been guarding.

Solokov had maintained this stronghold for years and since no one had messed with him in ages, his cash and the girls who generated it took priority over the exits. He was more concerned with one of his girls leaving than with any outsider threats.

Walker could smell the stench of stale cigarette smoke mixed with the fresh smoke that was wafting to his nose. The carpet under his feet had at least a decade’s worth of dirt caked on it, and there was a pungent scent of vomit and alcohol that permeated the place.

His heart wrenched at a young Ashleigh who had been trapped here for years, being exposed to this god-awful club on a daily basis.

It was no wonder her self-esteem had been so low when he met her, that she still struggled to believe that she was free…

He didn’t have time to dwell on that thought though and he turned to focus on his unit, the men who were helping him ensure that she would be free forever.

He pointed toward his own chest and to Ace’s. Ace nodded and got into position, followed by Carter and Ronan and finally by Sawyer and Colt.

Walker and Ace rolled into the hallway, sprung to their feet and charged at the confounded bodyguards who fumbled to get their firearms out of their holsters and were even more surprised when Carter and Ronan followed suit, zigzagging behind Walker and Ace.

Since they had no element of surprise as they made their way down the hallway other than their sudden appearance, they had decided to play said appearance for all it was worth, hopefully keeping the guards occupied for the seconds it would take Walker and Ace to reach them and disable their weapons.

Colt ambled into the hallway next, calling attention to himself with a low whistle while Sawyer stayed put, ready to cover them if anyone came up from behind.

He had not been happy with that plan, but he knew it was important that someone take that angle as it was likely that one of the bouncers would be discovered at any moment, and Solokov’s army would move to protect their boss.

The last thing they needed was to be mowed down from behind while they tried to move on the bodyguards, but Sawyer had complained loudly about not being in the front with Walker.

Walker had insisted though; he wasn’t going to risk Shiloh and Harper growing up without their daddy any more than he already was.

He was worried enough as it was about Sawyer staying behind alone, even if it was only a few seconds until they had the first set of bodyguards disabled.

The distraction worked and the men had barely leaped to their feet before Ace and Walker were on them, followed by Carter and Ronan. The fight was quick and brutal with the tough Russians refusing to go down without giving it their all.

Their all, however, only lasted a minute or so under the onslaught of the SEALs and Colt gave a lazy smile, feigning the filing of his nails just after delivering a knockout blow to the last bodyguard at the outer doors to Solokov’s office.

Sawyer stalked up to them and gave Colt a glare that snapped him back to the task at hand, but Walker saw him roll his eyes at Colt before doing so.

Just as they stopped to regroup before taking Solokov’s inner office, gunshots rang out and bullets started raining down around them without warning or the chance to find cover.

Walker sprang to action in an instant and threw his body straight into the line of fire to shield his brothers without hesitation.

He felt a bullet rip through his abdomen, but it didn’t slow him down. He took cover behind the newly broken down doors and chairs with the rest of his unit.

Dimitri Solokov and his bodyguards were visible through the doorway, and more men were streaming into the room from a doorway behind the desk where Solokov was taking cover.

Colt, Sawyer and Ronan had already taken down the bodyguards who had started firing at them initially and Walker, Ace and Carter were focused on the new arrivals who were shouting at one another in Russian.

Walker and Carter had a rudimentary understanding of the language, thanks to an assignment in the country several years ago -- incidentally, it had been this same assignment that had helped him piece together Ashleigh’s situation on their first day together.

Ronan and Ace hadn’t picked up on the language as much, but he saw Ronan wink at Carter, knowing that he and Walker could in all likelihood understand at least some of the plan being formulated.

Carter’s eyes glinted as he listened to the commands being yelled in the brief ceasefire. Some of the men were disappearing back through the door in Solokov’s office that they had come in through, while the rest reloaded their weapons and took cover behind the furniture strewn around the office and the corners that were hidden from Walker and the rest of the guys.

Walker quickly highlighted the simple plan to Sawyer, Colt, Ronan and Ace and then watched as his old SEAL buddies slunk back to the hallway they had come from to cut off the Russians who would appear there in minutes.

The Roman brothers would focus on getting to Solokov in the office and Ace, Carter and Ronan would cover their rear and prevent them from having to fight an attack from both sides and being boxed in, as the Russians had planned.

He heard gunfire start up behind him just as the Russians in the office started taking aim at the Romans. Sawyer and Colt were systematically picking off the men that were popping out of their hiding places to fire at them, like a sinister and deadly game of Whac-A-Mole.

Walker was losing more blood than he cared to admit, but the adrenaline flowing through his body kept him going. He wasn’t leaving here without knowing that Ashleigh would be safe, even if it killed him.

He took aim at the chest of the man who was covering Dimitri Solokov himself and fired. His aim was dead on as always, and the man dropped.

Solokov’s eyes were wild as the man dropped beside him. He tried to make for the door behind him but Walker roared and leaped out, darting between the few remaining Russians with Sawyer and Colt covering him.

Walker reached Solokov just as he reached the door that would provide his escape. He barreled his shoulder into Solokov’s pudgy waist and crashed him against the wall of his office. Solokov kicked out in an attempt to get away from Walker, but he wasn’t budging. He caught Solokov’s meaty fist as he dodged the man’s uppercut and swung his own fist into Solokov’s jaw.

Solokov howled and spat blood at Walker, but he didn’t give up. He kicked and punched and even sank his teeth into Walker’s shoulder, none of which he even felt as anger clouded his vision and his fists kept pummeling into Solokov’s body, not stopping until the man went down.

He trained his weapon on the coward at his feet and took perverse pleasure in seeing the bloody, beaten-up Russian staring up the barrel of his gun. The gunshots around him had quieted down, and he did a quick count of his men.

His head was starting to swim and the blood loss seemed to be catching up to him quickly now as blackness blurred the edges of his vision. Colt appeared next to him and trained his own gun on Solokov, but he gave Walker a worried once-over and nodded to Sawyer behind him.

Ace, Ronan and Carter had returned from the hallway and while all the men looked like they had gone a few rounds, none of them appeared seriously injured.

Having completed his quick assessment, he turned his attention back to Solokov.

“Ashleigh Walsh,” he said, his breathing ragged and deep, “is released permanently and completely with immediate effect. No coming for her, not for anything, ever. Whatever bullshit debt you believe she owes you, is written off. If I so much as think I see you or anyone associated with you, I will go after anything, everything and anyone you have ever even considered feeling anything for.”

Carter ambled over to Solokov and trained his gun on his head as well, for good measure.

Walker hated to admit it, but he saw no fear in the man’s eyes, only resignation.

“Agree or I blow your head off, no skin off my back,” Carter snarled. “I might do it for entertainment value anyway. SEALs are known for their fucked up senses of humor, right Colt?”

Colt’s eyes shot to Walker’s before he howled with mocking, sadistic laughter. “Right you are, brother. It’s now or never.”

“You release her and every dollar of imaginary debt she supposedly has and forget she ever existed, and we might consider letting you wake up in one piece,” Walker growled at him, the pain in his abdomen threatening to take over with every word he spoke and every movement he made.

Solokov laughed manically as Walker swayed. Colt rammed his gun against Solokov’s head, and the laughter was replaced with a shout of pain.

“I believe you have approximately ten seconds to answer the man. My finger is starting to feel mighty twitchy on this trigger,” Colt growled as Sawyer led Walker to a nearby chair.

He lifted Walker’s shirt to inspect the damage and hissed at the wound that he found.

“Fuck, Walker. How are you still standing?” Sawyer breathed and started making makeshift bandages from the t-shirt he had ripped off his back.

Solokov let out a groan as Carter clocked him again. “You don’t want to test our patience any longer,” he ordered and pressed the barrel of his gun against Solokov’s temple for added effect.

Finally, Solokov slowly put up his hands in defeat and relented.

“I want to hear those words come out of your mouth or I pull this god damn trigger,” Colt spat at the bleeding Russian.

“You can have your whore. She’s not worth the trouble you’ve gone through to secure her release.”

Carter and Colt both growled at Solokov’s phrasing and decked the man with their guns practically in unison, knocking him out from the force of their strikes.

The only sound in the office as they stumbled into the hallway they had come from earlier was that of the injured Russians’ groans.

Walker was propped up between Colt and Sawyer when they reached the street where Ashleigh and the girls waited for the police and an ambulance to arrive, just as they had planned.

Ashleigh’s face fell when she saw Walker practically being dragged out of the building by his brothers. Her skin paled, and she broke into a run toward him.

“Let go of me for a second,” Walker groaned. Sawyer and Colt exchanged a long look but did as he asked, taking only a couple of steps away from him, keeping close just in case they were needed.

Ashleigh stopped short as she reached him, looking like she was about to be sick to her stomach when she saw the state he was in up close. Tears started streaming from her eyes as he pulled her closer to him, her narrow shoulders heaving with sobs.

“Hey now,” he said, trying to keep his breathing as even as he could, but his voice was rough and ragged all the same. “I’m okay, Ashleigh. I’m okay, it’s over.”

He leaned his head down and pressed his mouth to her soft lips, trying to reassure her that he was here, he was alive, he was okay. He felt her come up and link her hands behind his neck carefully as she kissed him back more passionately than she ever had before.

“You’re okay,” she breathed against his lips when he broke off their kiss. “That’s all that matters. Thank God you’re okay!”

“I love you, Ashleigh Walsh. I genuinely, truly love you,” he whispered, holding her head close to his and stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers just before the blackness that had been threatening finally overwhelmed him and pulled him into its infinite depths.