Page 106 of Bloom: Part 2

A chill washed over me. “And you came from New York to warn me?”

“If I’d stood up to your father years ago, maybe none of this would have happened. I can’t stand aside and watch another attempt on your life.”

“But, Uncle—” Emil whined.

“Enough, Emil.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get it. Joel said you introduced him to Pop. He went back to New York to see you, Emil. Aren’t you supposed to be working with my father?”

“Joel works for our father. I don’t.”

I frowned. “And you question my loyalty?”

Emil’s nostrils flared, and he grabbed the lapels of my shirt. “I am loyal to the family, to the people who took care of me, and that’s Uncle Mickey. Or did you forget how our old man only doted on you? If not for Uncle, none of you would have given a shit about me.”

“Let him go now!”

Bloom burst into the warehouse, followed by a swarm of bikers, weapons drawn.

Shit.

31

BLOOM

It’d been Ben’s idea to fall back and act as if we’d lost the van. I would never forget the moment of terror that had filled me when the owner of the store had raised the alarm that someone with a gun had abducted Logan. The woman had tried to stop me when I ran out of the store still wearing my favorite of the wedding outfits, but I hadn’t spared her a second glance.

Ben, who had been sitting outside the café, had been quick to respond. It hadn’t been difficult to figure out the van barreling up the street was the one holding Logan. We’d trailed them for a while before Ben decided to fall back despite me yelling at him not to lose sight of the van.

If they knew we were following them, they would only be vigilant. If they thought they’d lost us, they would be careless. We’d fallen back, and Ben had called on the Reapers and Blood Hounds to meet us while I tracked Logan’s cell phone.

A dozen of us burst into the warehouse with guns. I zeroed in on the man who had Logan by the collar. The son of a bitch.

I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill them all.

“Bloom, stay back!” Crowe growled at me.

Ignoring him, I stepped forward, my gun drawn. “Let him go now.”

The man wearing an eye patch drew his gun and aimed it at me.

“You let them follow you here?” the old man, dressed as if he was on his way to a funeral, cried.

“I thought I lost them,” eye patch replied.

“Well, you thought wrong, you motherfucker. Let him go now or Imma drop you right where you are.”

“Not before I shoot you,” eye patch said.

“Do not shoot him!” Logan shoved the man who’d collared him away. “This is all a misunderstanding. Lower your guns. All of you before someone gets hurt.”

Like hell I would do any such thing.

“What the hell’s going on here, Doc?” Crowe came up to my side. He hadn’t lowered his gun either. “Aren’t these the people who kidnapped you? Why are you still standing there after we came for you?”

“It’s not what you think. They’re not here to hurt me.”

Even though the words came from Logan, I didn’t trust them. I knew him too well. He would say anything if he thought it would keep me out of danger.

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