Page 68 of Lukas

“Well, then tell me, and I’ll be sure to relay it.”

“You are the message, Rinaldi. I’m going to kill you to let your brothers know we’re taking over the Baton Rouge turf and to stay the hell out.” He passed the knife from hand to hand.

Lukas didn’t even try to keep from rolling his eyes. “Well then, you better be pretty damn good with that knife, because you’re not going to get more than one chance with me. You want to make sure you kill me? You probably should’ve brought a better weapon.”

“I didn’t need to.”

Lukas shook his head. “Over confident and cocky. Just like your cousin. That’s what got him in trouble too.”

Simon just smiled. “I didn’t need to bring a better weapon because Nicky brought one.”

Lukas heard the sound of a gun cocking at a distance behind him. Fuck.

“Will your dead body with a note saying to stay out of Baton Rouge be too subtle, do you think?” Simon asked, grinning.

Lukas didn’t want to die at the hands of this hipster wannabe, but at least he knew Reina was safe. That was enough.

His brothers bursting through the side door of the warehouse almost seemed to be in slow motion. They immediately took out Simon with their own weapons, but Lukas knew they’d be too late to get Nicky behind him in the dark. He heard a shot fire from that direction and waited for the burn of the bullet as it hit him.

But it didn’t come. Instead, something even worse did: a higher-pitched moan.

Reina.

Lukas turned and ran towards the darkness, his brothers on his heel. Nicky turned his gun on them and was dead at Roman and Dominic’s hand a split second later before he could get another shot off.

“Reina!” He saw her lying on the ground and scooped her up in his arms. “Princess, oh God, are you okay?”

“He was going to shoot you.” Her voice was hoarse. Weak.

Wetness leaked onto his fingers around her waist. Jesus, she’d been shot. “Just hang on, princess, okay?” He tried to find the wound so he could put pressure on it. Her eyes began rolling up in her head.

“Reina! Stay with me.”

“Don’t be mad,” she whispered.

“I will be. Do you hear me? I’m going to be so damn mad if you leave me here all alone.” Her eyes closed. “You stay with me, you got that?”

“Or you’ll spank me?” her voice was getting weaker.

Dominic’s hand fell on his shoulder. “911 is on the way.”

Lukas leaned down closer so he wouldn’t jostle her. “That’s not a good punishment. You like it too much. You stay with me and I’ll spank you every day. Be inside you every day. Spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you, princess. You’ve been so strong. Don’t safe word on me now.”

But her eyes were already closed.

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