He sighs and shuts his eyes. “I love you.”

God, those words coming from him always melt my heart. “I love you, too.”

***

Chapter Twenty-One

Shadow

Alec didn’t heed our Prez’s advice, of course, so Smokey, Sniper, Pyro, and I stand outside of Euphoria mere days later. Due to the Prez stressing over Winter and the baby, the lucky fucker even got a couple extra days. We couldn’t give him any longer because we have a point to prove.

“How many guards inside?” Sniper asks, as he climbs off of his lady, drags his rifle out of his side bag, and puts it together.

That motherfucker is scary as shit. I mean, he carries a rifle in pieces on his bike, for fucks sake.

“It’s not open right now, so two,” I answer as I take the safety off of my gun.

“Can we even get in?” Smokey asks.

I dig the keys to the club out of my pocket. “I pay for a room here, so I have complete access. It may be closed, but there are always a few guards.”

Having keys to the building is an advantage of paying for a separate room. The only part we can’t access when the building is closed is the dungeon, but I never use it, so I don’t give a shit.

“Sniper, seriously, be on watch, man. We got these Russians that we ain’t never seen until the other day. Who knows if that was all of them?” Pyro states.

We walk up to the door, and when I open it, we see the first guard. He looks down at my right wrist and then back at me. He recognizes the brothers and me immediately and backs away, not wanting to take part in what is about to happen. The doorman eyes the guns, and instead of following us inside, he leaves. Sniper sneers that he was a smart man as we walk through the corridor of the building in long strides.

I unsnap the clasp on my side knife holster. If circumstances deem it necessary, I will use all the force I have.

We spot the Russians and Alec drinking shots at the bar. None of them senses us as we move to take quick action. We break apart, and when we stand behind them, all at the same time, we cock our guns. Their glasses halt when they hear the sound everyone hates to hear. The cocking is enough to make any man piss himself with cowardice.

“Now, Alec, did you think our Prez was playin’ around when he gave you that flawless, serious ultimatum?” I growl as I press the barrel into the base of his neck and his back stiffens.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to come into my club and put a barrel to the back of my neck like a fucking pussy!”

Pyro chuckles as he presses his gun into the Russian he has on point.

With one hand holding my gun in place, I drag my knife out, and with as much force as I can muster with my left hand, I slam it into his hand that rests on the bar top. The bones in his hand crush as my knife nails it into the wood of the counter. His scream is one a chick would be proud of, and we laugh at the scared little pussy.

“You were the one that thought you’d get reinforcement from the Russians. You dumb fuck, you didn’t even bring enough of them. If you want to come close to being even with us in a war, you’d better get more than these three little bitches!” I hiss as I move the barrel of my gun away from his neck. I nod to Pyro who is beside me to watch him as I move around the bar.

Once I am in front of Alec, I point my gun between his eyes.

The Russians speak to each other in their own language. We don’t give a shit what they say, only that they understand our goddamn point.

“You and your little bitches have until tomorrow to clear the fuck out. This ain’t a joke anymore. This club is no longer yours. It is ours. If you want anything you have here, you best get it before the clock hits nine pm. We’ll be back by then.”

Alec uses his free hand to move the knife sticking out of his other, and my mouth tilts up in that smartass smile that I do best.

“Hurts like a bitch, right? Well think, tomorrow you’ll suffer far greater than this if you don’t get your ass out of here by the cutoff time. We’re done playin’ nice. The time for that is over. That man right there,” I tip my head towards Pyro, “is our VP, and he has permission to splatter your blood if you don’t listen to your last and final warning.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Feather in the corner, shaking in fear. Shit.

“Feather, come,” I order her, my voice loud, my words demanding.

She hesitates only for a moment, and then walks towards me on very shaky legs.

“What are you doin’ here, darlin’?” I ask, as I tug her closely to my side. She is leaving with me so that Alec doesn’t hurt her to get back at me.

When she realizes she is safe at my side, she answers with a quiet tone. “The club is opening soon, and the guard wasn’t at the front door, so I walked in and saw this.”

Shit. I look down at my watch. No wonder she is here. People will start coming in any minute.

“We gotta wrap this up, brother,” Pyro growls, “but first, we need to prove something to this fucker. Darlin’, close those beautiful eyes,” he says to Feather.

I peer down at her to make sure she has followed my VP’s command, and give him a flick of my head to let him know.

The explosive clamor of Pyro’s SWAT-K Mini submachine gun fire reverberates through the club as the bullet rips into the nose of one of the Russians. His brains disperse all over the floor behind his slumped body.

The other two recoil in an uproar, and Sniper and Smokey wedge their guns further into the Russians’ bodies to stop them from pulling weapons on us.