Page 111 of Claimed By the Biker Brothers

“Shut the fuck up, Marlo!” he yells. “I’m the one calling the shots, not you!”

A split second later, all the goons in the house come charging into the living room, weapons raised, locked, and loaded and ready to blow Calvin to smithereens. I chuckle again, if only to keep the chaos level at an eleven. I need the chaos and the distraction if I’m to get anywhere near Robyn.

“Boy, you done fucked up,” I tell Calvin.

“I’ll be with you in a second, you piece of shit,” he says, but he doesn’t lower his gun. He can see that he’s surrounded, that there are plenty of bullets waiting to obliterate him. There’s a glimmer of doubt and confusion in his eyes too. “What is this, Marlo? Are you really gonna play me like that?”

“I’m not the one playing,” Marlo replies. “More than once, I’ve told you: Don’t confuse me with Robyn or any other bitch in your life. I’m Marlo fucking Hughes. I own this town. I ownyou.”

“This isn’t right,” he mutters.

“Marlo, calm down,” Spalding says as he tries to intervene.

“I’m done,” Calvin hisses and squeezes the trigger.

I’m about to jump, no matter the consequences. The springs in my knees light up.

But a shot comes whizzing through one of the windows.

The bullet zaps across the room and pierces Spalding’s neck.

Robyn screams.

“Robyn, get down!” I shout.

A fraction of a moment passes as Spalding gives me a confused, downright terrified look, blood gurgling and flowing from his gaping mouth. He brings a hand up, but it’s too late. That’s arterial blood spraying out of him as he collapses in a crimson puddle. I can almost hear his heart stopping, one tired beat at a time.

BOOM!

The front door is blown apart.

Splinters fly out everywhere.

I jump and cover a frozen Robyn with my own body while Knox tackles Calvin and Diesel manages to free himself from his captors. I hold Robyn close and watch as hell itself unravels in the room.

“DEA! Hands up! Don’t move!” Ellie shouts as she storms in, M4 loaded and pointed at every single moving target. “DON’T MOVE!”

The goons start shooting.

She fires back. POP-POP-POP.

Calvin shoots back. A bullet hits him in the shoulder.

Marlo falls on the ground, completely stunned by the unexpected. Ellie didn’t come alone either. She’s got six more men with her, armed to the teeth. One at a time, Marlo’s men drop like flies.

A DEA tactical agent is gunned down.

I smell the blood and the smoke of discharged weapons.

I smell war all over again as I hold Robyn tightly in my arms and shield her from the gunfire. My shoulder burns with another graze. For fuck’s sake, I’m going to be Swiss cheese by the time this is over.

POP-POP.

“Ah, fuck!” I cry out, my Kevlar absorbing most of the shock.

It still hurts like a motherfucker, like taking a steel-toed boot right to the ribs. I can barely breathe, but I keep my arms wrapped around my woman. I keep my head down. I try to live long enough for Robyn to survive.

“You fucking—” Calvin’s about to turn his gun on us. He’s got a clear shot.

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