Page 73 of Cold Cruel Hearts (London Mafia Kings)

I heard Jayden’s voice, though it sounded distant and muffled. “Dad? Dad? Oh fuck, Dad!”

Marlon had been close to the box when it had exploded. Had he survived?

I had another concern. A blast like that would get everyone nearby on their phones, calling the emergency services and posting to social media. I was sure some of the guns had been destroyed in the blast, but a good Scenes of Crime team could easily pick out enough evidence to have us locked away for a very long time. We needed to get out of here before the police showed up.

A hand caught my arm, and I jumped.

“Leo? You all right?”

It was my brother. I peered at him through the smoke. His face was bloodied, his dark hair wet with it, but he was standing, and I took that to be a good sign.

“I need help!” Jayden shouted. “My dad won’t wake up.”

Fuck.

Holding on to one another for support, Tam and I followed Jayden’s voice.

Oh shit.

I wasn’t a squeamish person, but the sight of Marlon Wynter was enough to turn the strongest stomach. The right side of his skull was missing, as was part of his right arm. He wasn’t going to wake up from that, not ever.

“Oh God, Hallie,” Tam said from beside me, clearly worrying about how he was going to break it to his new, pregnant wife that her father was dead.

I took hold of Jay’s arm, pulling him away. “Jayden, we need to go.”

“No, I can’t leave him here.”

I hesitated for a moment. He had a point. If we left the body here, the police would know immediately who the import of illegal guns belonged to. I’d be more than happy to pin the whole thing in the Wynter family, if it was just down to me, but Hallie was married to Tam, and that made her our family, too. If the police came sniffing around, questions were bound to be raised. Hallie had lost her father now. I didn’t want her to lose her brother as well if he ended up behind bars. Plus, if we didn’t protect Jayden, I was sure he’d more than happily point the finger at us.

The fire wasn’t strong enough to destroy Marlon Wynter’s remains, not without a little help.

I let go of Jay and turned back to the open warehouse doors. I felt for my weapon. There was a chance we’d be ambushed on top of the explosion, that men would burst through the doors and take down everyone who was still standing, but so far, there was no sign of anyone. Whoever was responsible must have thought the bomb would be enough.

“What are you doing?” Tam asked.

“I’ll be back.”

I moved as quickly as I could in my current state, half walking, half running with a limping, lurching gait. I got out into the fresh air, sucking in a lungful. But there wasn’t time to rest. I was surprised I couldn’t already hear the wail of sirens approaching.

I jumped up into the back of the lorry. This kind of vehicle didn’t want to run out of fuel when they hit traffic. I was sure I’d find a canister somewhere.

There, behind the portion where the driver slept, a red canister of diesel. I snatched it up and climbed out.

I carried the cannister into the warehouse. I could hardly believe I was walking back into a burning building with something even more flammable, but here I was.

Smoke engulfed me instantly, disorientating me, but I found my way to Tam and Jayden, more out of luck than anything else. Without bothering to stop and ask if they thought what I was doing was a good idea, I took the cap off the cannister and poured diesel all over Marlon’s body. I hated that we’d lost another of our number, even if he was a Wynter. At this rate, the Gilligans would have got what they wanted and weakened us enough to take over our territory.

“No!” Jayden roared.

He lunged for me, but Tam grabbed him from behind and held him back. Tam was bigger and stronger, and wasn’t as badly injured, but Jayden was wild with grief.

“Get off me, you fucker!”

Tam held fast.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jay yelled.

“Saving your arse.” I focused my attention on my brother. “Get him out of here. “

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