Page 1 of Damaged & Deadly

Prologue

“Let’s go,” I holler, before striding out the door. Today’s the day vengeance is finally meted out. The day the Antonellis meet their maker and can no longer loom over the people of Black Creek like omnipotent Gods, ready to strike at any moment over the slightest grievance. It’s the day Cain finally gets his revenge. The day he can finally put the guilt he carries regarding his sister to bed. Hopefully, after today, he will be able to move on with his life and find happiness. Our revenge couldn’t come at a better time. Now that we have Trouble in our lives, it’s time for us to wipe the board clean and start anew… with her.

She’ll finally be able to come home with us today, and although I haven’t spoken to Cain about it, I’m sure he will be fully on board with convincing her to move in here—permanently. We’ve all come a long way from when he all but demanded she move in with us for her own protection. Now, we just want her close. I know that I want to wake up to her in my bed, eat breakfast with her, and have her curl up beside me at the end of the day. Despite Cain’s orneriness, I have no doubts that he wants the same. He’s finally done keeping her at arm's length. Everything we’ve been through has forced him to accept that he’s in fucking love with her. Same as me. Hearing those sweet words spill from her lips, even if they were said under the guise of her talking to her brother, hit me right in the chest. Somehow, I knew she wasn’t just saying them. Like Cain, she needed that push to confront her feelings, but when she finally got there, it was the best fucking thing. Except she wasn’t fucking here. I couldn’t do any of the things I wanted to do, and I still haven’t had any decent alone time with her. But all of that changes today. Red is coming home, and tonight she’ll be in my bed, screaming my name.

We all pile into the cars, and Cain climbs into the front passenger seat beside me, a determined set to his jaw and a fire burning in his eyes. “Time to get our girl back.”

Damn fucking right it is.

We’ve been planning this for weeks. Every minute detail, every possible scenario. We have it all worked out. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, will stand in our way. We’ve cased the church, we’ve got C4 already in place around the perimeter of the building, and a whole fucking army of men ready to kick in the doors and rain down hellfire. We just need to provide enough of a distraction for Red to get out, then get the fuck out of there ourselves, andboom. Goodbye motherfuckers.

Adrenaline and excitement course through me, making me jittery and ready to get the fuck on with it as I turn onto the road the church is on. I pull up to the curb a safe distance away, and the two of us watch as dolled-up guests walk up the sidewalk and head inside. We have no idea who any of them are, and we don’t give a fuck. They’re Antonellis, or people associated with them—which is just as bad—and that means they have to go. The whole fucking lot of them.

Grabbing the case with the Bluetooth earpieces, I hand one to Cain and put the other in my ear. I can’t hear any sound on the other end, so Red must not have hers in yet. As we sit and wait, I occasionally notice a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye as our men get into place around the building, although they do move unnoticed for the most part.

I can feel the tension radiating off Cain and can tell by the straightening of his spine and the way his shoulders are pushed back that he’s as primed as I am. We take these precious few moments to get our heads in the game and go over the plan until I hear Red’s sweet voice in my ear.

“You there?”

“We’re here, Trouble,” I confirm.

“Everyone’s in position.” Cain’s voice is tight and gruff with emotion as he gets directly to the point. He’s in fullleader of the Rejectsmode right now, which is precisely what we need. There can’t be any space for emotions in situations like this, even though I imagine he’s battling to keep them at bay inside.

There’s a quiet mumble on the other end before Red murmurs, “Now or never.” Despite the fact I know the wedding isn’t going to happen, nerves flutter in my chest at the thought of her walking down the aisle to meet someone other than me or Cain. Marriage is not something I’ve ever considered before, and definitely not a pretentious church wedding like this one. However, it still doesn’t sit right that she’s even pretending to marry this asshole.

Cain doesn’t seem to have the same concerns as he stares sightlessly out the window, his expression an impassive mask. Mimicking him, I push all those concerns out of my mind as we get out of the car. With practiced ease, we slink around to the back of the church. While our men are going to burst through the front door and shoot up the whole motherfucking congregation, we’re going to sneak in the back door and ensure Sawyer gets out. The second she’s free and clear, Cain will give the signal and Marcus, who is heading up the other group, will let us know when they’re all out so then we can blow the church to Kingdom Come.

The whole time, I can hear Red’s rapid breathing down the line over the sound of the fucking “Wedding March,” giving away how freaked out she is. I think it’s terrible from out here, but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to play her part. Cain and I duck under windows, and I deliberately don’t chance a look inside, not needing the mental image that I’m sure I’ll be accosted with. Just picturing it in my mind's eye is bothersome enough.

“Just get to the end of the aisle, Trouble. We’ll do the rest.” I can only hope my words and having my voice in her ear offers some sort of reassurance as Cain and I reach the back door and he soundlessly pulls it open.

Just before he can slip inside, a gasped “oh my god,” comes over the earpiece, and we both freeze.

“What’s wrong?” Cain barks. I can already see the wheels churning in his head as he tries to work out a solution to whatever problem has arisen.

“Luc.”

Cain frowns while I try to figure out why she’s mentioning her brother at such a critical time.

“What about him?” Cain’s impatient tone rings out, and I momentarily want to wallop him over the head. “He’s fine, Red. You can see him later. Just focus.”

“No,” the strain in her voice has the breath stalling in my chest. Something is wrong.Seriously fucking wrong. “He’s here.”

Cain and I share a confused and shocked glance. “What?!” we both snap at the same time. How the fuck can he be there? He’s at school with Tank and Rampage.

“G-Giovanni has him. He’s standing right in front of me, beaten to hell.”

My mind whirs as I try to work out how the fuck that happened. And more importantly, how the fuck we deal with it. Out of all our fucking planning, this wasn’t one of the scenarios we ever pictured happening. The kids know to keep an eye on him. Especially today, not that we had even anticipated Giovanni going after Luc. We didn’t even know he knew about Luc.

“Fuck,” Cain snarls angrily, keeping his voice low. “What the hell do we do?”

He looks at me, desperation and frustration clear to see on his face. I’m still trying to work out the answer to that. “We can just grab him when we get Red,” I state. “Giovanni and his men will be preoccupied protecting themselves from our men. He won’t even notice Luc’s gone.”

Cain thinks it over for a second before nodding in agreement, and he steps through the door, but before I can follow him inside, Red’s pained and broken-sounding voice in my ear once again has us both pausing. “Abort.” We both tense. “Abort,” she repeats.

My face scrunches as I try to decide what to do, but there’s no fucking way she would tell us to stop unless it was absolutely the only choice she had. Cain must realize it too as his face falls, and in an instant, he looks completely fucking shattered.

“Will do,” I sigh dejectedly.

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