Chapter 18

Quinton

" W e go the rest of the way on foot," Titus calls out.

It's storming badly. Thunder and lightning battle above us as the rain beats down. We're drenched, eyes squinting to see as the water impairs our vision.

Not a single man cares. This is our war; we've come to kill.

I've killed a few men in my past, had my hands covered in blood more than once, but I've always left the darker parts to Link. He lives for it, craves it.

But tonight, I will have no mercy. Titus said there will only be three people who come out of this alive, giving us free rein to take out anyone who gets in our way.

Titus walks towards us, hand shielding the rain from his eyes. "Our men are to spread out and take down anyone in their path. The old man won't get his hands dirty; he will most likely be held up in his office on the middle floor in the west wing, his bedroom on the top left of the east wing, or his panic room in the basement. Our job is to find him and our girls. Kill anyone on the way."

I look over to Link. His eyes aren't on Titus, but I know he can hear every word he's said. By the tick in his jaw and the way he's breathing, I can tell he's having one hell of a time letting someone else take control. But Titus made sure to share as few details as he could so he remained the one in charge, knowing we wouldn't fight him, not with Raven's safety at risk.

"Hunter, you're with Quinton, check the panic room. The code is 7893482." I repeat the numbers over and over, preying my memory doesn't fuck this up with all the stress. "Travis, Taylor, you two take the office. Otto and Arcadius, bedroom," Titus instructs. "Once you've found him, lock him in his panic room. We will deal with him once we know our girls are safe and let them have a say in how he dies tonight. Make sure at least a good handful of our men are watching that room before you leave." Titus's men hand all of us some rope.

Looking to Link, I wait for his permission. Titus might know what he's doing, but he's not my friend, not my boss, and not my family.

Link gives me a nod, then the others.

"And what do you suggest we do?" Link asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Our girls are being kept in one of the rooms on the west wing, top floor. That's all my contact could give me as he hasn't been granted access to find out for himself, and that level is heavily guarded. We will take a good chunk of men with us ourselves. My man said there's at least fifty people on this property, including guards at the front gate, along the perimeter, and within the house itself."

"Does he normally have this many people guarding?" I ask.

Titus looks at me and pauses before answering. "No." He looks to Arcadius and Otto. I don't like it.

"You're keeping something from us," Taylor accuses, stepping forward. "What aren't you telling us?"

Titus says nothing, causing Link to get in his face. "Speak, you motherfucker," he snarls.

Titus sighs heavily. "I got an update on the way here. We assumed that they were being moved to another one of Tyrone's properties, as this is one of many. Something more low-key, private, but that's not the case."

"So, they're not moving her?" Travis asks.

"Oh, they plan on moving them, alright. Right out of the country and into another."

"What?" Link snarls.

"He's meeting for business tonight with the intention of selling them." Titus' face is a mask of fury. "To one of the sickest mother fuckers in the Russian mob. "That's why we need to get this done now. Boris is on his way here to collect what he thinks will be his. Knowing him, he brought an army of men with him. We have enough to take on Tyrone on short notice. Boris, not so much."

Like fucking hell that bastard is getting our girl. Titus might underestimate us, but we're willing to die to save our girl. Are they for theirs?

"Then what are we waiting for?" Link growls. "Let's go."

After Titus fills everyone in on the game plan, we head out. This property is nestled pretty deep in the woods. The hike up there isn't the best and without lights, it makes it hard.

Once we get to the front gate, I notice the lights are out, meaning they've cut the power. A few seconds later, some muffled shots are fired, letting us know the guard station has been cleared.

"That was my guy. We're in," Titus announces. "You know your jobs, focus on that and only that. Be alert and ready."

Grabbing my gun, I flick the safety off as my eyes find Hunter's. "Ready to get our girl back?"

He gives me a shit-eating grin. "Let's go kill some motherfuckers!"

We're on our way, Chiaro di luna , not much longer now.

We all start running through the open gate. More gunshots are fired, but Hunter and I try our best to keep focused on heading for the front door.

It sounds like a battlefield. Gunshots, people screaming, the thunder crashing above us.

"Where to?" Hunter asks as we rush into the house. A few of our men are inside already, more shots fill the smaller space. It's dark in here, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust.

"Basement." Heart pounding, blood pumping, and adrenaline coursing through my veins, we search for a door that will lead downstairs.

After opening a few, I'm about to try another when a man pops out of nowhere, gun raised and pointed at my head. He hesitates, but I don't. Without thinking, I raise mine and empty a few rounds into his skull. He drops to the ground.

"I found it!" Hunter calls out. My head snaps over, and I start running. Hunter turns off the flashlight on his phone, and we jog down the stairs two at a time, one hand grasping my gun, one hand tightening around the rope.

When we get to the bottom, Hunter holds up the light, and we see that it breaks off in two different directions. The halls are long. "Fuck," Hunter hisses. "It looks like a damn maze down here. How the fuck are we going to do this in the damn dark!"

"Why haven't the lights been turned back on," I grunt.

"Maybe the storm really did knock them out, I don't know, but we don't have time to waste."

A gunshot rings through the hallway. "Shit!" Hunter shouts, moving his flashlight to our right. A man comes running at us full speed. We duck as he shoots off another few rounds. That's all he manages before Hunter shoots back at him. His aim is better than the guy's because Hunter gets him right in the chest, then the neck.

"Come on." Hunter takes off in the direction the guy came. "If there's a guard down here, it must mean they have someone to protect.

I follow after him, my mind buzzing, my body shaking with energy. I want that fucker dead and my girls in my arms.

We take out a few more men before we reach a door. Hunter shines a light up to what looks like to be a keypad. "Shit. What was the code." He looks at me with wild eyes.

I do my best to remember and punch in the number. "Fuck," I curse when it flashes red. I try again and this time it flashes green.

The lock clicks, and Hunter grabs the handle, pushing it open.

"Don't move!" a voice sounds, followed by a fit of coughing, then he fires off a bunch of shots. We quickly duck back into the hallway, plastering our bodies to the walls. He keeps firing, hitting the wall on the other sideof the hall. Then comes the clicks of an empty gun. "Shit!" he curses.

"Well, your aim is shit." Hunter chuckles, gun raised as he steps back into the room. I raise my own, looking around to make sure no other people were in here. It was just him, in a tiny room with a bed. He's sitting on it and my eyes widen. The man looks like he's seconds away from death. He's got an oxygen tank next to him and tubes in his nose.

This is the man everyone fears? No, that man is long gone now. Clearly, he has been suffering from cancer, that part was real. It just hasn't killed him yet. I'm sure if we weren't ending him tonight, he wouldn't last much longer on his own.

Too bad he won't get a say in how he dies.

"This is him?" Hunter snorts, shaking his head.

My hand trembles as it takes everything in me not to shoot the fucking monster. Pure rage settles over me. This is the monster who had us living our lives in a consistent panic. The monster who hurt my girl when she was young, and the one who thought he could steal her away.

Raven is ours. No one can have her. And we will always kill anyone who tries, no questions asked.

"Drop the gun," Tyrone demands, his voice shaky as he starts coughing again. "My men will kill you. There's no point."

"What men?" I chuckle. "Right about now, they're all dead."

We can't hear much from down here, but before we found him, I was able to hear faint gunshots. But now, nothing.

"You–" he starts to speak but Hunter grabs something from his back pocket and shoves it into the guy's mouth.

"Shut the fuck up," Hunter snarls, then bashes the fucker over the head with his gun, knocking him out cold. "Tie him up. I need to see Raven and make sure she's okay with my own fucking eyes before I go out of my damn mind."

He's not the only one. Once I'm done tying him up, we leave him passed out on the bed and lock the panic room behind us.

"Don't shoot. Titus sent us here to see if you needed any help." Hunter holds up his flashlight and gun at the newcomers. Then we see that it's one of Titus's men, followed by a few of our own.

"He's in there, tied up. Doors locked. No one goes in, and he doesn't come out. Not until Link or Titus comes for him," I tell them.

They nod and Hunter, and I take off in search of our girl.

We're coming, Chiaro di luna. We're coming for you, baby.