Page 42 of Devil's Own: Roughneck

“I get it.”

My laugh comes humorlessly. “I know. You get everything about me, about the life. I hate that you came in the middle of all this.”

“I don’t. Because I have my boy and my brother close again—and I have you now. If showing up in the middle of this mess means I get to have you, I’ll make the same choice every time.”

“Dammit, woman, you can’t say that shit when I have to leave.”

“It’s exactly the time to tell you because now you can remember why you’re fighting and that there’s something worth coming home for. This means you won’t take stupid chances because you have to come back to me.”

I lean in to press one last kiss to her lips, memorizing the feel of her skin and the scent of her. Vanilla. And the scent of us. Sex. This right here will be the memory that’ll keep me going in the coming days.

She pushes up out of bed to dress quickly as I dress. I meet her at the end of the bed, where we walk back out to the common holding hands. Gee kisses me once more.

“Love you, Rough,” she whispers.

“Fuck,” I whisper back, closing my eyes, pressing my forehead to hers, and squeezing her waist. She knows. She knows the words I’m having a hard time saying out loud.

“Go,” she whispers next, pushing me away.

“Waite,” I clip. He finds me from where he’s at across the room. I hold his stare. He nods.Keep my woman safe.

The brothers and I make our way behind the garage to ride out. Rather than take the bikes, we pile into an old, rusted white van that the club owns. It blends in. It’s quiet. For a hit like this, we need the element of surprise. When we reach Bentley, we turn in the direction of Thornbriar. Vlad made it known to the other brothers that we’re heading for Thornbriar. We’renotheaded for Thornbriar.

Hitting the highway, we go full throttle for Sarasota, Florida.

After twelve hours on the road, we finally make it to the city, and it’s late. Given that this isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with these fuckers, we know exactly where their clubhouse is located. We stop at the turn on the road that ends with the Death Bringers.

“Still all in?” Vlad asks.

“In,” Sarge says.

“In,” Dark replies.

“In,” Reaper answers.

“In,” Cutter agrees.

“In,” Green grunts.

“In.” I’m the last of us to give my approval. We’re going to war. Only this time, we’re the opposition, not the defense. One last check to make sure I have a full clip in each of my guns, I nod to Vlad that I’m ready.

With Vlad in the lead—behind the wheel—Sarge at his place to Vlad’s right, Dark and Reap, me and Cut, Green in the very back, we drive into the night. The men on the gate don’t know what hit them. We parked a bit up the road and walked the small distance. With the night as our cover, their lack of lights hurt them. A surprise attack. The two guards drop to the ground bleeding out, dead, before either one can pull a weapon or call up to the clubhouse.

Reap opens the gate and together, we enter the compound, forcing our way in guns blazing. We start popping off shots from the moment our boots meet the floor. Because of the time, most of the brothers are passed out. Cut and Reap break off with me to take the men out in their damn beds.

Although we have the upper hand at first, the bastards scramble. A firefight breaks out. Bullets whip past my head. We duck, and hide, and shoot. I watch in horror as Cut gets hit and not thinking, run to get him out of the line of fire.

That’s when I feel the burn rip through me, pain radiating from my gut. Blood spreads fast over my shirt. The pain is immeasurable, but I have to push through it to get Cut to safety. I catch another in my shoulder and one in my thigh.

Cut and I lean on each other to keep either of us from going down. There’s blood everywhere. I’m in so much pain, I can hardly breathe and every step is a struggle. Reap and Dark jump in taking some of our weight to help us out while Sarge, Green, and Vlad keep firing to cover our asses.

By the time we reach the van, I’m ready to pass out. Sarge pulls his phone from his front jeans pocket. “Got brothers down,” he barks into the receiver. “Ready for extraction.” The guy must give a place because Sarge gives a location to Vlad, and our president maneuvers the van like a NASCAR driver through the streets as Sarge continues to give our ETA into the receiver.

It makes me wonder when they had time to plan this. Did Vlad and Sarge give up time fucking their wives to make this happen?Fuck. At least I got one more time with Gee. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment to swallow back the pain then look down at my wound. Gee deserves better than this, to lose me when we just found each other.

We turn into an empty parking lot that’s been abandoned for a while, judging by the height of the grass growing up from the cracks in the pavement. The van stops and Dark slides open the door. He helps Cut out while Reap takes my arm. Sarge’s Raider team rolled in legit stealth on the ground in a black helicopter. Men spill out, guns up as protection, while we’re loaded aboard. One of the men runs to the van.

“What’s he doing?” Dark asks.

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