“Fuck. Ace is on the perimeter. I’ll let him know.”

Shane was watching my mom sleep when I threw open the door. “Get up you, lying fucking cunt.”

Shane sat up straight and gave me a look that said what the fuck. She moved groggily and I grabbed her and shook her by the shoulders. I’d never hit a woman before, but I was so damn close. “What the fuck did you do?”

“You don’t understand.”

“No? Enlighten me. How come there’s a convoy of bikers and SUVs heading this way?”

She began to cry. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Just as I was about to interrogate her further, I heard a sound I’d never forget. Charlie screamed in the distance.

“Shane,” I said about to bark orders as I ran for the door.

“Got it,” he said aiming a gun on my Mom.

“Gun,” I shouted at Reggie as I ran out. We’d already talked about in case of anything happening that he was to take care of Gun above everything else. My brothers had all started to exit their cabins with their guns raised, but what I saw made my blood boil.

Enrico-motherfucking-Santos had a gun on Charlie. Her chest was rising and falling abruptly. “Let her go,” I shouted.

He looked out of place. He was wearing a tailored suit, that even in the darkness, I could tell cost a mint, and his shoes were expensive too. What he did not look like was a man who was prepared to be in the woods in the fall. Everything was slick from an earlier rain. He spoke in his thick accent, “You know, I never intended to meet with you, but when I met Hades at the strip club, and I laid eyes on Charlotte, I knew she’d be mine. When he recognized her as someone you’d been looking for, well you see, that made everything even fucking sweeter.”

“Again, let her go, and I’ll make it quick.” I saw Lachlan move in from behind and Enrico shouted, “Tell your man, he moves again, she gets a bullet.”

“Please,” she whimpered.

“You shouldn't have come after what was mine,” Enrico said.

My girl in all her fierceness said, “I was never yours.”

He pressed the gun into her side, “I said tell him to back down.” I watched as he gripped her side. In one hand I held a gun, in the other my balled fist. I spotted my gun on the ground not far from where Charlie stood. He must’ve disarmed her. Fuck.

“Gunner, no?” My mom shouted, panic lacing her voice as she joined the party while Shane held a gun to her.

“You promised. You fucking promised, if I led you here that you’d tell me where to find her and Gunner would be safe,” she cried.

I shot her a look, and in that quick second my eyes moved from Enrico to my mom, he somehow pulled a second gun, aimed it at my mom and fired. He hit her in the stomach and she dropped at the same time, two simultaneous explosions went off in the not so far off distance. That was Ace. I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that my mom was shot, she just lied to me again, and I really couldn't say how I felt. All I knew was that I needed to get my family safe. I used the distraction from the explosion, and fired a shot at Enrico. He ducked, but in doing so let go of Charlie. She scrambled for the gun on the ground. I shot off another round, but Enrico ducked behind a large tree. Lachlan, who had been approaching shot towards Enrico and I couldn't be certain if he hit him or not.

Motorcycles roared through the trees. Ace didn't get ‘em all apparently. They began firing shots off at us, and suddenly we were in an all-out war. Bullets blazed in every direction, and all I thought about was, I had to get to Charlie. She moved like there wasn't a gun battle blazing around her. I ducked to miss a bullet. A Hades Runner aimed at Charlie. I fired taking him out, before he could pull the trigger. She grabbed the gun and moved. She was going after Enrico. Hades pulled his bike into the mayhem, a bullet nearly missed him. I fired, grazing his shoulder. A small explosion went off to my right, and then I lost sight of Charlie. Hades saw my mom on the ground, her body shaking as she spat up blood. He looked wrecked. I’d never thought he’d actually give a fuck about her. Seeing her on the ground, I wasn’t sure how I felt. One thing I knew is we wouldn't be in this situation, if it wasn't for her.

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck fuck!” I heard Donnie yell and watched as he dropped to his knees. He was shot and I hoped like fuck it wasn't too bad. Two Hades also dropped in rapid succession as Knuckles moved in to get Donnie clear from any more danger. Shane had my back shooting men as I moved to where Charlie had gone.

It was dark, the smoke from gunfire made everything hazier. There was a red glow in the sky. I assumed it was from the SUVs that Ace had no doubt set fire to. It helped me see Charlie’s form running towards our cabin, right towards Gun. She didn't know that I’d already given Reggie strict instructions that no matter what, the first sign of danger, he was to get Gun as far away from here as possible. I trusted that he’d done just that, but when Charlie threw open the cabin door, I was afraid. He could be inside waiting for her. I ran as fast as I could.

I moved to the door of the cabin with stealth speed, and breathed a sigh of relief, when I saw that Charlie had the gun aimed at Enrico.

“I’m not yours, you sick fuck,” she said holding the gun exactly like we practiced.

“You can’t kill me.”

“No? Watch me, motherfucker.” Her finger was about to pull the trigger when he said, “If you kill me, your old man’s sister will suffer a fate far worse than you ever did.”

“She said she was dead,” I said coming up beside Charlie.

“She lied to get you to trust her. You stupid moron.”

“You fucking killed her,” Hades shouted from the doorway, “You’re my brother, we had a fucking deal, and you killed her.” Before we could do anything else, his gun went off in a burst of rapid shots. Holy shit, they were brothers!

“No!” Charlie shouted.

Enrico’s body slumped to the ground. Blood pooled. He was dead.

I grabbed Charlie, pulling her to me trying, and failing to shield her from the bloody mess in front of us. I aimed a gun in Hades’ direction, not sure of the danger we were still in, but he was gone. Too many bombshells dropped in his wake. He was brother’s with Enrico. I had a sister and my mom was now dead. Motorcycles roared to life, and I knew the war was over, at least for tonight.