Chapter 32

Gio

W e’re ready. I’m ready.

I repeated those words over and over on the ride to the new meetup spot, and again when I got off my bike and checked my weapons. The truth was that I was ready for whatever these assholes had planned. We had a plan too.

Harper was safe, that’s what mattered most. Now it was time to deal with the Blood Reapers once and for all.

Viper stepped out of the back door of the brothel with a smug expression on his face, which told me everything I needed to know. “Looking for someone?”

“Not at all,” Diesel replied in an even tone. “Did you lose something?”

His nostrils flared but he tried hard to appear unaffected. “You got my product?”

Diesel scratched his chin as if he was deep in thought. “What product? Are you missing something that doesn’t belong to you Viper?” He was teasing him, taunting him into overreacting.

“Don’t fuck with me. I’m not in the mood. You got your girl back, now give me back what you took.”

“That’s the thing,” Rocky began and shook his head. “We didn’t take anything from you. Maybe you’ve got a thief in your ranks.” It was just as possible as the truth.

“No!” Viper jogged down the steps and stopped just a few feet from Diesel, his men lined up all around him. “I know you took it, goddammit! Just give it back and this will all be over.”

“Over?” I shouted and all eyes swung to me. “You kidnapped my woman, and you think this is all over? Oh no motherfucker, this shit is just getting started.” I crossed my arms and dared him to try something. Try anything. I was ready.

He scoffed and glared at Diesel. “You let your boys make the decisions now, Diesel? Pathetic.”

“You took someone who matters to us and that won’t be forgotten easily. You have to pay.”

He laughed. “You can have the bitch who gave her up.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be taken care of too.” Diesel folded his arms across his chest, a sign of disrespect that he didn’t see Viper as a real threat. “Are we done here?”

Viper raised his gun. “Not until I get my shit.”

“My shit you mean, don’t you?” Carlos Santangelo stepped from the darkness, barely over five feet in a black suit. With his hair slicked back and a throat covered in some kind of ancient Mayan tattoo, he didn’t look nearly as threatening as his reputation—which given his Sicilian grandfather had been head of a notorious mafia family, was formidable.

“Carlos,” Viper stammered out. “These are the assholes who took your product.”

“Yeah? Because I spoke to the Black Devils who have my product and claimed they paid you for it.” He walked forward slowly, two men flanking him as he came to a stop between the Blood Reapers and the Steel Demons. “So either they are lying, or you are.”

“I would never lie to you. They set this up, all because of some dumb fucking bitch who wouldn’t just go away.”

“Pretty fucking dumb to do a deal in a hotel and casino in Vegas,” I offered with a grin. “More cameras than a fucking airport.”

Santangelo’s expression told me that deal had nothing to do with the cartel. “You risk my business for your own, Viper?” He shook his head, but his body was tight with anger.

“Our business isn’t exclusive because you didn’t want it to be,” he replied in a firm voice.

“True.” His easy acceptance was surprising but in the next second he pulled out his gun and shot two Blood Reapers a point-blank range. They fell to the ground unceremoniously.

“What the fuck?” Viper was shocked by the death of his two men, so affected that he still hadn’t realized he was the man responsible.

“I want my money Viper.”

Viper’s gaze narrowed in on me, filled with hate and the need for vengeance. “You motherfucker,” he snarled. “You set me up.”

“You set yourself up.” I shrugged, unbothered by the accusation and delighted that he was unraveling.

“Fuck you, Gio.” He raised his gun quickly, quicker than I anticipated and shot before I managed to pull mine out. The bullet went through my side, and I dropped to my knees as five shots sounded, and Viper was pushed back by the force of the bullets.

His eyes were wide and full of shock.

The pain seared through my gut and the warmth of the blood spilled over my hand. “Harper.” Her name is the only word on my lips, her face the image that filled my thoughts as the edges of my vision blurred.

“Gio, I got you brother.” Cole was at my side, his hand gripped mine as more bullets flew all around us.

“I’m good, just hurts like a son of a bitch.”

Cole grinned. “It’s just a flesh wound, I’m sure.”

“Dick,” I grunted, wincing through the pain. “Shouldn’t you be shooting?”

“Someone has to get you to Laura so she can stitch you up. Besides I’m not gonna let you die because Harper is your problem now.”

“Good problem to have,” I managed to push past the pain. “Let’s go.”

Cole helped me to my feet, but we stayed low while our MCs took aim at each other, determined to keep shooting until no one was left alive. “What a fucking shit show.”

“Amen, brother.” I nodded to where Viper attempted to get away. “Fucker is like a damn cockroach, he won’t die.”

“Not quickly,” Cole grunted. “But his days are numbered. If we don’t get to him, Santangelo will.”

That was good enough for me.

“Cole, get him the fuck outta here,” Rocky shouted as bullets continued to fly.

“Hang on,” I grunted and planted my feet into the grass. “Shooters in the windows.” I raised my gun and took aim, squeezing the trigger through the pain.

Cole didn’t argue, instead he helped me stay on my feet while he aimed at the upstairs windows. “Fuckers!”

I don’t know how many bullets we shot but one body fell to the ground and the other fell out of the window and onto the ground below. Satisfaction rushed through me, but the pain returned and brought me to my knees. “Cole,” I muttered as both hands hit the ground.

“I got you, brother. Let’s get the fuck outta here. The boys can take care of what’s left of the Blood Reapers.”

I nodded, unable to speak as the pain became unbearable. “Fuck.”

“Don’t worry Gio.”

“I’m not fucking worried,” I gasped out as the pain consumed me and my thoughts went back to Harper. Her big blue eyes filled my vision, and her smile was the only thing I focused on as my consciousness began to fade. “I’m fine.”

“You will be.” Cole’s voice was the last thing I heard as the darkness claimed me.