Chapter 18

Leaving Camilla to handle business isn't easy, but it's something that has to be done. It can't wait. Raven and Victoria are going to stay back and watch over the women and children.

Chains was able to talk Victoria down from coming with us. But there was no talking my sister out of coming. She and Ranger were coming with us to have our backs, along with Tracker and Blaze.

"You know Ryder is going to be pissed with all this shit happening, and he out on that cruise with Brielle and the kids," Breaker snorts, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, he's gonna be fuckin' pissed," Brake remarks, looking grim.

"With him gone out on that cruise, we know they're safe," Chains grunts. "Now, let's get going. Get this shit taken care of so we can get back to our families."

I couldn't agree more.

We all load up in one of the vehicles after moving our brothers out and laying them down in a place to rest for the time being. Once this is all done, we'll give them the funerals they deserve. Until then, their bodies are somewhere safe.

On the ride there, I block out everything but the plan itself. It's not easy. I want nothing more than to be back with Camilla, to hold her in my arms and not let her go. She means everything to me, and I want to tell her that. Tell her I love her, but not before I get this taken care of.

Only after will we be free and easy. Nothing else can stand in the way of us finally settling down without having to look over our shoulders.

Taking out Pennington will send a message to everyone that we're not to be fucked with without blowback. Our club has been fucked with one time too many, and it stops now.

By the time we reach Pennington's estate, I'm ready for him. Ready to take him on. To feel his blood slicking my hands. To end the Pennington line.

"Ready?" Tyres asks, looking back at me from the passenger seat.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I grunt, locking gazes and making sure he sees the truth.

"Good." He turns back and nods to Breaker behind the wheel.

"Let's do this," Chains commands, and the doors are thrown open.

Filing out of the van, we rush for the house. Ezra's men coming out, gunfire filling the night. I fire back, taking two men down before getting to the front doors.

I lift a boot and slam my foot into the damn thing popping the doors wide open. I'm not surprised by the dead bodies inside already. Harlow is in full-on Harpy mode, and she's one hell of a woman.

We adjusted the plan at her request, letting her slip in first. She also demanded the death of the son of the man who killed our mother since I'd already taken out the one who killed her. We weren't about to let her have the kill, not by herself, but that doesn't mean she couldn't be in on it.

Following the trail of dead bodies up a set of stairs, I find Harlow's already starting the party.

"You just couldn't help yourself," I mutter, slicing a look in her direction before focusing on the man tied to the bedposts.

Harlow had Ezra's arms tied high up on base board posts. What is it with men like him enjoying high-posted beds? Long as it's got enough maneuvering to restrain my woman for me to play, I'm good. High posts, they're just overkill.

Most of the time, that is.

Right now, it works well, considering Harlow put the damn things to use and even restrained Ezra's ankles leaving him at our mercy.

"What can I say, you're slow." She shrugs, her voice devoid of emotions.

Yeah, she's in full-on Harpy mode.

"Here," she says, handing me the bloody knife. "I've had my fun. Now, you and the others handle the rest."

I nod, taking the knife from her.

"We do this together," I tell her and look in Ezra's direction.

"You thought you could take out my club, did you?" I cock my head, rolling it on my shoulders, feeling it pop.

"You can't kill me," Ezra snarls.

"Man, you realize you're the one tied up right now, don't you?" I smirk, stroking the blade across Ezra's throat. "You know your daddy pleaded for his life when I slit his throat," I tell him, seeing his eyes dark with fury. "He tried to act all big and bad, that is, until I started in with the pain. I made sure to break him before killing him."

"Fuck you. You think you can kill me . . ."

"Oh, we're definitely going to kill you," Chains announces his presence along with my brothers.

"You kill me, and someone else will take my place," Ezra states. "We could come to an agreement."

"I don't think so." Tyres sneers. "We don't make deals with men like you."

"It's time to put an end to an era," Breaker growls.

"I couldn't say it any better," I remark. First, though, I'm going to treat this bastard to a bit of fun.

Using the blooded knife, I grip Ezra by the head and shear his hair off. The blade cuts into his scalp every so often, just as I allow it to do.

"Without the locks, he's definitely an ugly bastard." Brake chuckles.

"You would know." Speed snorts.

"He definitely ain't my type." Brake's lucky his man stayed back with their woman, otherwise, he might have something to say about his comment.

Once I finish with his head, I give the blade back to my sister. She takes it and moves to stand in front of Ezra, tilting her head back to glare at the man and spits on him.

"Do you know who I am?" she asks.

"The bitch's daughter who shouldn't have survived any of the attacks against you." Ezra sneers.

Harlow doesn't let on that what he said bothers her, instead, she gets even closer. "In this world, I'm known as Harpy. You wanna know why?"

A light dawns in Ezra's gaze as he recognizes that name. My sister and the others are known to be merciless, a force to be reckoned with. Harlow is known to work alone and did so a lot, but that doesn't mean she didn't work with the others.

"I see it's dawning on you," she says, digging the blade, cutting along his body, not deep enough to cause him to bleed out, but just enough to cause him pain and to scream. "You're going to go to hell where you belong, and I hope you burn in the deepest depths of Tartarus, where Hades himself will torture you for an eternity."

I shake my head at my sister. She and the others love Greek mythology, and even our cousin, who is known as the king of the underworld. He runs a facility where people are taken to be tormented for longer.

As much as this bastard deserves to suffer longer, I'm not going to let it happen. His death is to send a message.

Harlow steps away and gives me a nod, letting me know she's done. Looking at my brothers, I nod, and together we line up and pull our guns out, aiming them at Ezra.

"Say hello to Daddy for me." I sneer and pull the trigger at the same time as my brothers. Together, we empty our clips.

Some might say it's overkill, but each bullet has a meaning, a name. He took from us and we got it back.

For my brothers who died. My parents. Everyone else who was hurt in the era we've lived through.

It's over now, and the message will be delivered.

The Inferno's Clutch MC is not to be fucked with.

Shoving my gun back in my holster, I turn to my brothers. "Let's get the fuck out of here. I'm ready to see my woman again. To hold her and know she's safe. To finally tell her again what she means to me."

Outside the safehouse, Harlow stops me by placing a hand on my shoulder. I turn to her and wait for her to say what she needs to say.

"I love you, Lynch, and I wish I could have been a better sister?—"

"Harlow, don't even go there," I remark, interrupting her. "I didn't protect you like I should have when you were a kid. That's on me. I can't take it back, but we're good now. You're happy. I'm happy. We move on. Let's leave the past in the past and go on from there."

"Okay," she says as Ranger comes beside her and wraps an arm around her shoulder. "We're heading to the hotel. We'll be here for a couple days before heading back."

"We'll meet up before you go." I nod and let them go. I turn, head into the building, and go in search of Camilla. Lawson told me he had makeshift rooms made up and told me which one Camilla was in. I find her in the middle of an air mattress, a blanket pulled around her, eyes closed.

Seeing her, I know I should take a shower first, but there's no way I cannot touch her first . . . to ensure myself she's okay.

Taking my boots off, I lay next to her, and her eyes immediately pop open. "Hey, baby."

"Hey," she whispers. "You okay?"

"It's done," I tell her.

"I won't be needed to defend you in court, will I?"

Chuckling, I reach up to stroke her cheek. "No, Cams, it's all good. But it's good to know you got our back if it came to that."

"Yeah," she breaths and draws that bottom lip in. "I've got something to tell you."

"Yeah? What is it?" I ask, wondering what it is. The only time she does this is when she's nervous.

"Ela talked to me before you left earlier."

"Okay." I lower my hand from her cheek to give her a slight squeeze of encouragement.

"She told me a few things about . . . about her gift. She shared it with me because there was a message I needed to hear," she says a bit hesitantly. "She also shared that I'm . . . ugh, well, we're having a baby." She blurts out those last four words hastily.

I blink, then do it again, staring at her while those words sink in. "You're pregnant?"

"That's what she said," she confirms.

"Then you're pregnant." I grin and pull her into me.

"I take it you're okay with this?" she says more in question than statement.

"Yeah, baby, I'm fuckin' thrilled," I tell her and kiss her, then spend time doing other things to her, not caring about anything else. She's all that matters right now.

I don't know what the rest of our lives are going to hold, but as long as we're together, we got this. She's my match. My woman. My ol' lady. And now, she's gonna be the mother of my child. I couldn't be happier.

Finally, life is back on track, and I can let the past go and move forward. To have the life we were always meant to have.

Ela was right back then when she said what she said, and now, I have it back—all of it.