Chapter 16

Travis

T he whisky burns as I swallow down the glass full of amber liquid. I'm trying not to drown my feelings in alcohol but it's fucking hard when the moment Raven was taken and shoved into that SUV keeps playing over and over again in my mind on an endless loop.

I failed her. She expected us to protect her, and we didn't. The third time's the charm, right?

Not again. We will get her back, or we will die trying. That's why we're here, sitting in my brother's MC clubhouse waiting for Link and the crew to get here. We called Andy and told her to send everyone who was available down here. We also told her to get one of the guys to give Link the address and let him go. There have been reports of at least five men being shot, three men were beaten within an inch of their lives, and many, many others have scrapes and bruises. But no one died... yet. So I'd call that a plus.

The hardest part is the waiting. Waiting for my brother to tell us what the plan is and waiting for everyone to get here because we can't do anything until they do.

"I'm going to kill you motherfuckers!" Link's voice roars through the room.

"Whelp, Daddy Link is here," Hunter says warily, giving Otto a look. "You sure we're not allowed to have our guns? We promise not to shoot anyone. He..." Hunter points to the raging Link storming his way over to us. "On the other hand, he might kill us."

Otto raises his brow, looking bored of Hunter and his mouth. He's had no real luck keeping the damn thing shut, but thankfully, this place doesn't run the same way as it did when my father was in charge. So he hasn't gotten his ass kicked... yet.

Three... Two... One.

I feel Link grab my shoulder roughly, yanking me off the stool and onto my feet. I let him, going willingly, knowing what's about to happen next, and I welcome it because I deserve it.

Just as my eyes land on him, his fist comes flying at my face. Pain shoots through my jaw as it snaps to the side. "That's for letting them get away with her," he snarls, low and dangerous as he grips my shirt. He pulls me towards him, his face an inch from mine. "I should fucking kill you," he sneers at me. "I should slit your throat and watch you fucking bleed out."

"Do it," I tell him, voice horse. "But after we get her back."

"Like she's gonna let him," Hunter scoffs. "You should just do it now and ask for forgiveness later."

I shoot Hunter a look as Link pushes me back. Wiping my bloody lip, I flip him off. He just glares. He's pissed at me too. Rightfully so. I'm trying really damn hard not to have a pity party for myself but fuck! I feel like a piece of shit.

The only one who can look me in the eye is Quinton. I don't think he hates me, because he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Not after what happened to her last time.

"So, this is your fearless leader?" Titus's voice sounds from behind me.

"Who the fuck are you?" Link growls.

Titus raises a brow. "You have some nerve talking to me like that in my own house. Are you looking to die before we get your girl back?"

Link's chest heaves, but he doesn't say anything else. I'm a bit shocked, but Link is a desperate man. We all are. Titus seems to be the only one who knows where Raven is... at least, the only one who is willing to tell us where she is. Link won't risk him changing his mind.

"Are all your men here?" Titus asks Link.

"Yes," Link grunts, jaw clenched.

"Good, because we need to leave now. The house where he's keeping her is about an hour's drive. With the storm, it might take us longer to get there. And we only have three hours or we're all fucked."

"Why would we be fucked?" Link stiffens, eyes alert. Taylor, Hunter, Quinton, and I all look at Titus, unease coming off us in waves.

"Because it looks like that bastard doesn't give a fuck about your girl. My contact says he overheard that someone will be coming to pick her and my girl up tonight. And that can't fucking happen because once they leave that house, I won't know where they're going next," Titus explains.

"No way in fucking hell will that happen," Link barks. "Tell me the address now, and I'll go there myself and fucking get her."

"You need to back the fuck up," Titus warns him. "We are doing this together or I'll go there myself, get my girl, and leave yours behind."

"I'll fucking kill you." Link takes a step towards him, and I know he's itching to put a bullet in my big brother's brain.

"Enough." Taylor steps between them. "As much as I'd love to see my brother get his ass handed to him, we have bigger things to worry about."

"Brother?" Link's eyes snap over to Taylor, then me. "He's your fucking brother?"

Titus chuckles. " So there's trouble in paradise, is there? I see your men are keeping secrets from you, yes?" he looks over to Otto and Arcadius. "Mine don't. Secrets kill."

"We didn't say anything about them because up until a few days ago, this whole place was dead to us." Taylor gives Titus a side eye glare. "Look, it's a long story but our father was a sick bastard, just as bad as Raven's. We didn't want you to think we had any affiliation with them or have it in the back of your mind we might flip on you someday. You, Hunter, and Quinton are our real family. You three and all of Black Venom Crew have our loyalty."

"I'll fucking deal with the two of you later," Link hisses, then looks back to Titus. "So, what's the plan?"

"When the time is right, my man on the inside is going to cut the power. Then we move. Shoot everything you see apart from the girls. Every one of them needs to die." He grinds his jaw. "My man will be waiting outside. If he gets too close, it will draw suspicion. They will think the power is out because of the storm. It should give us enough time to get in there and do our thing before they wonder why the backup generators haven't turned on yet."

Link nods. "We brought all the ammo we have."

"We have more than enough," Titus tells him. "It's what we do best."

I see they're still arms dealers. I guess in this case, that's a good thing.

"Tyrone, leave him alive if you find him. I want her to see him die with her own two eyes."

Titus snorts. "If anyone is going to get the privilege of killing him, it's my girl. After everything that fucking bastard did to her, she deserves it."

Link narrows his eyes. "Who's your girl and what's her connection to Tyrone? She one of his playthings?"

"Fuck no," Otto scoffs. "Not unless he's into incest."

"Wait, what?" I ask, brows furrowing. "Are you saying your girl is his daughter?"

"Unfortunately," Titus growls. "Not that he has a paternal bone in his body. All they are to him are pawns in his game. He has something big planned, but we don't know what. He's set up a meeting with us for next week to talk business. All I know is, it can't be good. We need to stop him now before it's too late."

"Then what the fuck are we waiting for? Let's go," Link demands, then turns around and heads outside.

"Alright Demon Knight's. Load up. Time to spill blood!" Titus shouts, getting the men in cuts all riled up. They all start to cheer and shout, banging glasses on the table before heading outside.

"How weird is this?" Hunter mutters. "You guys are brothers, and you're dating sisters. So, no matter what, our babies would be cousins."

"Shut the fuck up." Taylor slaps Hunter upside the head.

Titus laughs. "We're not dating her."

"Then why are you saying she's your girl?" Taylor asks.

"Because she is." He gives him a wicked grin. "She just doesn't know it yet."

Otto and Arcadius chuckle softly as they head toward the front door, and I get a feeling that this poor girl has no idea what's coming for her.

Link, Hunter and Taylor follow after them but Quinton steps in front of me. "Hey," he says. "I just wanted to talk for a second. I know what you're feeling and it feels awful. Like you're the biggest fuck up in the world. Like you've failed at protecting the thing you love the most."

"Thanks," I snort, his words a kick in the gut.

"But," he raises a brow. "What you need to remember is you're only human. And no, it's not going to be easy to work past this, hell you may never. But don't let this bring you down. It will only hurt Raven in the long run, seeing you beat yourself up. She will forgive you because she knows you tried everything. That's all we can do is try."

I'm hearing his words, and I do appreciate it, but it does nothing to help.

"Thanks," I nod.

He claps me on the shoulder before heading out.

As I go to follow after him, Titus steps in front of Taylor and me. "Look, before we go out there, I wanted to tell you something. I tried." He looks between the two of us. "I tried to save you. But..." he sighs, pausing. "I made sure he didn't come for you. I kept him busy with the promise that one day, we'd bring you back to him. A promise we never planned on keeping. I'm glad you had a good life. I'm glad you found yourself a woman worth fighting for."

"Thanks." I nod.

"At least you didn't turn out like him," Taylor adds.

Titus's eyes go dark. "The greatest day of my life was putting a bullet between his eyes. I'd rather fight through the pits of hell than ever be like that bastard."

Taylor and I look at each other and nod. We don't know how much of that to believe, but we don't have time to think about it. "Okay," I tell him.

Titus nods. "Okay. Now, let's go get our girls."