Page 83 of Brightness

“Not on my watch,” Void calls out from behind a tree, drawing his gun, and aiming it at his father.

As fast as a blink, Wyatt reaches out and pulls me in front of him as a shield.

Void’s alive!

Suddenly, bullets start firing as the women scream out in fear. Everyone runs off, trying to take shelter as hellfire rains down upon us all.

Wyatt’s grip on me tightens as my eyes snap around, trying to figure out where the hell all the shooting is coming from. It takes me a second, but then I see Mafia soldiers in their flawlessly tailored suits racing around, shooting anything in a ridiculous ram mask.

Void sprints across the perfectly manicured lawns toward me, Dash flanked at his side. My eyes widen when I realize they’re working together as they gun down disciples on their way to me. Ram-head masks splinter, shattering apart as they shoot them in the face. Blood runs down their white shirts as they flop to the grass, dead.

Wyatt grips hold of me tighter, keeping me as leverage as we stand in the water, watching everything unfold in front of us.

The disciples had no hope.

Tony pulls out a semi-automatic and mows a bunch of them down, their stomachs exploding apart.

And here I stand, covered in their blood.

I revel in their destruction.

I want to be a part of it.

I need to take a stand.

So, I reach up, grab Wyatt’s arm, and bite down as hard as I fucking can, ripping to take out a big chunk of flesh. He yelps in pain as I spit, then elbow him in the stomach. This forces the asshole to let me go. So, I turn, bring my leg up through the water, and knee him as hard as possible in the balls.

The asshole hunches over, his eyes nearly bursting out of his head as he glares at me. “I thought you were sweet, innocent…”

My laugh is mocking. I can’t help it. I say, “You don’t know shit, coño!” then tighten my left fist and sucker punch him right in the kisser. The asshole falls backward into the water, then floats to the top, completely knocked out.

I take a deep breath, glance down, and try to fix my dress as best I can. I don’t need Dash or Tony and his men witnessing my breast on full display—that would be enough for Void to have a coronary.

I manage to put myself away as Void surges forward in the water. Once he reaches me, he assesses me all over. His eyes tell a thousand stories, and right now, all I want to do is kiss the living hell out of him.

“I thought you were dead!” Tears well in my eyes, but I blink them away as best I can.

“I’m fine. A little smoke inhalation…” He runs his hands over me, as though assessing for any damage, or making sure I am really here. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now you’re here.” My trembling body would disagree, but I know we’ll be okay. “I just want you to hold me.”

He looks me up and down again. “Let’s get this shit off you first, then I’m never letting you go.”

With a teary chuckle, I reply, “Gladly.”

Void moves in and turns me into a gripping hold. His front is to my back as I dip down under the water, using my hands to wash all the fucking blood off me. I gasp as I come back up, but his hands never leave me as I wipe my face, the water around us going crimson in color.

“This is disgusting… get me out of here.”

Dash jumps into the water and grabs Wyatt, dragging him ashore. I smile at Dash, and he dips his chin at me, then I turn to Void as the roaring of gunfire slows down. I’m fucking freezing, my body shivering as Tony’s men head over to us. I have to admit, I’m a little shocked to see Tony and his soldiers here, including Matteo, but I’m happy Void and Dash had backup.

Everyone congregates around us.

“H-how did you find me?” I ask.

Void runs his hands up and down my arms to try and keep me warm. “Dash called Tony, like you told him to, if the club ever needed help. Because the DeLucas were in Panama on business, they were real fucking close, and we all know Tony has resources.”

Dash takes a step closer. “I figured Tony might have an idea where to start looking. With Tony’s tech guru on the hunt and Void knowing they would want a farm with a lake or some kind of body of water, we were able to narrow the search down pretty easy. This was the only hit, so we took it.”

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