55. HOLDEN

HOLDEN

B arely any light emits from the warehouse. I have no idea if she’s still in there but we have to try. I have to bank on the thread of hope that Jeremy and Watson haven’t already taken her back to Miami.

Dex hands me a tactical vest that Trey stole from the Sheriff's office before passing one to Scottie and O’Neil. I slip it over my head under the shroud of darkness from the treeline just outside of the warehouse. Passing pistols back and forth between the four of us.

“What’s the plan?” Scottie asks, loading a shotgun with shells and handing it over to Cole.

I glance between the three men. All of them stare at me, awaiting instructions and for a brief moment, it throws me back on the battlefield. It’s a strange feeling I haven’t had in a long time. “Scottie and Wolfe, you two watch the perimeter. Get eyes on the exits and if anyone leaves that isn’t Kade or us, shoot them.”

Wolfe nods but Scottie just stares at me for a moment. “You okay doin’ this, brother?”

I narrow my eyes on him. “I would burn down the world for her.” So yeah, I’m okay putting a bullet between their eyes if it means she’s fine.

Cole claps my shoulder. “We’re with you, brother.”

It’s the first moment we’ve had where I don’t want to rip Cole’s hand off of me. We share a look and he nods. I meet my gaze with every one of theirs and shift on my feet. “If anything goes wrong, you get Kadence out of there.”

“Nash-” Dex starts, but I shake my head.

“I mean it. Kadence is the priority. No matter what, she lives through this.” All three men nod at me. I check once again that my pistol is tucked in the waistband of my jeans, my vest is secured and the shotgun I’m holding is loaded.

Cole looks over at me, “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Scottie and Dex break off, each of them circling opposite sides of the building. Cole and I wait until they’re in position, each flicking our flashlight on to signal to them before we move toward the side entrance.

The tension between the two of us permeates as we make our way to the door. Both taking a stance on either side of it and sharing a look. I nod giving Cole the go ahead to yank the door open.

The metal creaks as he does and we push forward into the darkness. I hear Watson curse and another male voice I’m not familiar with. Cole pushes forward next to me as we crouch behind a stack of boxes. There’s a clatter that sounds like a metal table falling over and hitting the concrete floor.

“Get off of me!” Kadence’s voice echoes against the bare walls and every hair on my body stands to attention. The grip I have on the shotgun tightens as I glance back to Cole checking if he’s ready. He nods once and that’s all I need to move out from behind the boxes with Cole on my heels.

“I was wondering when you might show up,” Watson seethes, training his gun toward my chest.

I ignore him, my eyes are glued to Kadence. Those big green eyes stare back at me, glossy from tears that I know she’s refusing to shed. Movement behind her catches my eye as the man I recognize from the news junket appears, his hand tangling into her hair and ripping her head back while the other hand moves a knife to her neck. He presses it just enough that her skin indents from the pressure. Anger like I’ve never felt before courses through my veins as I try to keep control for as long as I can. For her.

“So you must be the asshole she’s been screwing behind my back,” he spits.

Again, I ignore him, my eyes flicking back to Kade’s. “You okay, baby?”

Her brows furrow but she nods. A small fleck of relief falls off of my shoulders but her forehead is caked in dried blood and the nasty gash along her hairline is red and angry. I glance between Jeremy and Watson. I know Cole is near me, his own shotgun trained on Watson.

“You know, she told me you're horrible, but man did she leave out how much of an actual piece of shit you are,” I bite looking at Jeremy.

“She’s a lying whore,” Jeremy laughs. “But she’s mine. Can’t have some low rate biker taking what’s mine now can I.”

I shift on my feet again. “I’m only going to tell you this once. Watch the way you talk about her.” My shotgun is aimed at Jeremy but it’s far too close to Kadence than I like. I’m going to need to switch to my pistol if I want a clearer shot with less spread and an even lesser chance of hitting her.

“I’ll talk about her any fucking way I want to. She was riding my dick long before she was yours.” He seethes. “Drop the shotgun or I’ll cut her so deep she’ll be dead in seconds.”

“I’d listen to him,” Watson chimes in. “You don’t have a shot here, Nash. Take it or leave it.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Cole barks, jerking his shotgun in Watson’s direction. “I know what you did, Watson.”

“Do you?” He grins at Cole. “Tell me, O’Neil, what do you know?”

Silence falls between everyone. Kade’s ragged breathing is the only thing I can hear. As long as she’s breathing . I have to remind myself that she’s handled Jeremy before. She knows his triggers, his patterns. I also know that if Jeremy is desperate enough to fly across the country for her, he won’t kill her. It’s the only hope I have as his gaze moves to Watson.

“You killed Becca,” Cole says lowly, his voice trembling between rage and sadness.

Watson barks out a laugh. “You’ve just now figured that out? Tell me what else you’ve figured out.”

Cole’s brows knit together and his eyes flick to me before moving back to Watson.

“You don’t know do you?” Watson chuckles. “You gotta be more careful about who you let wander around your clubhouse, O'Neil.” Once again, a shadow creeps forward in the darkness and Layla moves to stand at Watson’s side. “Wonder why we’ve always been one step ahead of you? How we found Kadence unprotected?”

Layla has the audacity to wave her fingers in my direction. That smile I used to gain comfort in after a long night of drinking only makes my skin crawl now. We’ve had a rat under our roof this whole time and this time it’s at the expense of Kadence’s life.

“You fucking bitch,” Cole hisses. “You’ve been working for them? For Watson!” He moves the shotgun from Watson to Layla. Watson doesn’t even flinch to try and protect her.

“I wanted to be a part of the club!” Her shrill voice cuts through the racing thoughts. The millions of ways that this could go wrong. “I wanted him!” She points a finger at me. “But he wanted this road trash instead!”

My gaze flicks to Layla at her words. “You’ve been betraying this club long before Kadence showed up, you snake.” Layla betraying us, Watson admitting to Becca’s death, my mind won’t quiet down. Doing as Jeremy says, I drop the shotgun, instantly reaching for the pistol behind my back and aiming it right at Layla. Before she can protest, I pull the trigger. Hitting home right between her eyes.

Kadence holds back a scream but I catch the strangled noise that comes from her direction.

“What the fuck!” Watson yells watching as Layla’s limp body falls to the floor. Cole trains his shotgun back onto Watson.

“Are you four done?” Jeremy says impatiently. The knife is still firmly pressed against Kadence’s neck and as she swallows, a drip of dark liquid runs down her skin and below the collar of my sweatshirt. “Watson, hurry up or we’re going to miss the plane.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” I bark, taking a step towards him and lifting the barrel of my gun at Jeremy. I’ve got to get the knife away from Kadence. Even shooting him, I can’t risk the slip of his wrist and it cutting into Kade’s neck.

Jeremy shifts behind Kadence and narrows in on me. “What do you want with this bitch anyway?” He tugs on her head again, bringing her head back so far she has to look up at him. “The only thing she’s good at is being a pain in my ass. At least with me I can keep her in line. Tell me, she talk back to you yet? She’s got a mouth on her when she wants.”

He leans into her, brushing his nose against her hair. “She smells sweet too, tell me, Nash. You taste her yet?”

My hand tightens around the pistol as Kade’s eyes close. My control is splintering. The need to get her as far away from Jeremy as possible is the only thing I can think about, that and killing him. A low rumble comes from my chest as I take another step.

“Get your hands off of my wife. ”

Time stops when I realize what I said. Then satisfaction rolls through me as realization crosses over Jeremy’s face and Watson falters for a second. I can’t look at Cole. I can already feel the betrayal burning from my friend's eyes and into the side of my own head. Kadence’s eyes lock onto mine and the corner of her mouth turns upward ever so slightly. In this moment alone, I know that even burning down the world for her would never be enough.