Page 24 of Seizing Control: Part Two

A nest of vipers in the midst of a functioning brotherhood.

Once it’s time to depart, Silver works his magic. He separates the vermin from the rest of his club, and deftly keeps them from contacting the Mavericks and the Maddisons to warn them of our approach. Upon our arrival at the docks, the traitors remain chained in the Shamrocks van with my enforcers watching over them while the trustworthy brothers from their chapter arm themselves for the annihilation we’re here to dish out. After his cousin, Ronni, rings to tell me that she has the curia’s snipers in place, I signal to Silver to get things started.

“Let’s do this.” Raising his fist, he gestures for the first line of his men to advance. As bullets rings out, Silver turns to me. His gaze gleams with enjoyment at the sound of our enemies being mowed down when he tells me, “Have your enforcers set the rats free—they can herd them into the alleyway to our left.”

“Will do.” Without Cub to properly deck us out with communication equipment, I’m forced to rely on my phone to pass on my orders. Clutching the device to my ear as I walk forward with the other club’s members, I spray bullets left and right until the call connects. “Let ’em out... trap ’em to the first alleyway.”

“Done,” Meeyal shouts over the din.

The call ends.

I shove my phone back in my pocket.

With my eye firmly fixed on the job ahead, I am ruthless as I take out the Mavericks guarding the ship. The vessel was loaded earlier in the day under the watchful eye of the Maddison scum set to profit on the suffering of women. It’s a criminal activity that the Shamrocks will never involve themselves in, and the very idea that men who consider themselves my equal would stop so low kicks my Saviour complex into hyperdrive.

No human deserves to be captured and use for the sick pleasure of another.

All around me, heads burst like overripe tomatoes from the snipers’ direct hits. My brothers take out the rival bikers that try to fight their way past us. Knees explode. Torsos turn to mince when my enforcers light up the dock with machine gun fire. Enemy after enemy hits the ground, each body desecrated with a further two bullets to the chest and one to the forehead before we step over them to mow down the next line of defence.

Gore sprays over my face when I get too close to my prey.

The soles of my boots squelch in the puddles of blood that flood the asphalt.

It's an adrenaline-charged scene.

Exhilarating.

And lonely...

This is the first time I’ve stain my hands with blood without Venom and Toker on my six.

Their absence renders me numb, leaves me joyless at the idea of spending my life like this.

My brotherhood was once the most important thing to me.

The two men I have trusted since childhood an imperative piece of that comradery.

They came second only to my devotion to my duchess.

Now, through my own actions, I might have lost all three.

A firestorm of desolation scorches my soul.

Sea brine burns my nose and makes my eyes water.

Regret floods my chest, stripping my focus in the same moment as I step out into the open. Knees buckling under the weight of my guilt, a bullet grazes my bicep second before Meeyal drags me up the gangway. My arm burns, but I hardly register the pain because it has nothing on my internal tumult.

On the deck, it’s chaos.

The bedlam diverts my focus from my mistakes to the situation at hand. Silver’s chapter are removing the victims from inside the ship. They line the females up, covering their nakedness with blankets, handing out bottles of water to the few capable of interacting with them. Below us, a shootout continues between the few remaining Mavericks and the Shamrocks who formed our rear guard.

“What the hell were you thinkin’, Slash?”

I shake free of Meeyal’s grip. “Dunno what you’re talkin’ about?”

“You stepped into the line of fire,” he shouts after me. “Took a fuckin’ bullet for no reason.”

Ignoring my watchman, pretending that I’m not as big of a lost cause as he is beginning to suspect, I huddle with Silver to take stock of the situation. He gestures for me to follow him. Inside the wheelhouse, his vice president slides bag after bad toward me. I stop the first one with my foot, kneeling on the rough carpet to unzip it.

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