Page 24 of Biker's Dark Revenge

Lee reached down to wind his fingers around mine.

"You’re a badass, Liana, you know that?"

"It was just a meeting, Lee," I replied, waving my hand, dismissing the point.

"No, listen to me," he told me firmly. "You gave us vital information that could be what makes the difference for us. And I’m not going to let you play that down like it doesn’t matter because it does, okay? It really, really does."

I took a deep breath and looked up at him. I’d always had a bad habit of playing down my achievements, it always seemed easier to me to do it like that than it was to accept the kind of sweetness he was offering me right now.

"Thanks, Lee," I murmured. It felt good to have him in my corner. I knew I would still be locked away if it wasn’t for him, but it was more than just the physical help he had given me – he had been so sweet to me, giving me these little breaks from reality that allowed me to focus on myself for a moment.

"Come on, let’s go get Kara," he remarked, slipping an arm around my shoulders. There was something almost...domestic about the way he said that. As though the two of us were just a normal set of parents, picking up our little one from school, though I knew that was crazy.

I followed him through to the tattoo shop, a warm sunshine pouring through the glass window beyond.

Chapter Sixteen– Lee

"How much longer do we have to wait?" I growled as I stared at the door, waiting for something to happen.

"Not long," Jaxon muttered, from where he was leaning on his bike beside me. "We’re just waiting for the signal from Davis, then we’re in."

I drummed my fingers on the handlebars with irritation. I didn’t like standing around and doing nothing, especially not when I knew we were so damn close to getting what we wanted from Lombardi.

The last twenty-four hours had been a rush – Jaxon had reached out to a few of his old dealers, and it hadn’t taken long until we managed to locate one of the guys who was supplying Lombardi. A little cash and a little physical persuasion later, the dealer, Davis, was willing to let us in the back of Lombardi’s compound when he did his next drop-off.

Around me, Dogs lined the streets. Lombardi had no idea what was coming his way, no idea what we were ready to do to him. The place was silent now, but it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Soon, we would be raining down hell on his head – and I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when we started.

I gritted my teeth, trying to control my breathing. It had been a long time since I had been involved in something like this – something this brutal. I knew it was going to be a long, bloody battle before it was over. But we had the element of surprise on our side, and that had to count for something.

Shit, that’s what I was telling myself, anyway.

"There he is," Jaxon muttered, jabbing his finger towards the entrance – sure enough, a shifty-looking guy was stepping out, his eyes darting this way and that. He opened the gate and reached down to slip a brick in between the gate and the lock that would have shut it behind him. After that, he fled, taking off into the night – like he didn’t want to be around for what happened next.

He was right to be frightened.

"Chuck, that’s our cue," Jaxon spoke into the walkie-talkie propped up on the dashboard.

"All right, let’s move out," Chuck replied, his voice cracking down the line. Even with the bad connection, I could hear the certainty in his tone. I knew he was ready to put an end to this, once and for all, and dammit, I was right there with him.

The Dogs swarmed quietly towards the entrance – I had staked out this place the night before, and I knew that the guard who patrolled the outside of the building wouldn’t take long to notice that there had been a gate propped open for us. We didn’t have time to lose. Armed to the teeth and ready to fight, it had to happen now.

We weren’t going to get a chance like this one again.

Chuck led the way, lifting the gate to open it as quietly as possible – he held it open and gestured for the guys to rush in. A half-dozen dogs led the way, and Jaxon and I took up the rear, both of us gripping our guns like they were the only thing between us and oblivion.

There were two guards at the door of the main building, and both of them grabbed for their guns as soon as they saw us. – Jaxon lifted his weapon and let off a shot, taking out the one to the right, and one of the Dogs caught the other in a headlock and knocked him into unconsciousness.

"Keys," Chuck barked at Jaxon, and Jaxon went through the pockets of the two men – sure enough, it didn’t take long for him to come up with a couple of keys, one of which fit the lock on the door to the compound. He slipped it in, twisted it – and the door swung open.

And, inside, pure chaos was waiting for us.

"Shoot!” Lombardi yelled to his men. He must have heard the gunshot outside because he already had his goons lined up and ready to start blasting – I managed to grab Jaxon and pull him aside in the split-second before they started firing, but a couple of the other Dogs weren’t quite so lucky.

One, Dylan, took a hit straight to the chest – it knocked him off his feet, blood leaking from his lip and dripping down to the ground below.

"Shit," Chuck muttered, crawling towards him.

"Leave it," I barked at him. I knew Chuck wanted to do right by all of his men, but he would be putting himself in the line of fire if he went out there – he needed to control himself, no matter how much he wanted to help. Reluctantly, he pulled back, and the Dogs lined up on either side of the door, taking cover.

---