5

I ignore his question and point my gun at his arrogant face while I wrap my other arm around Amber and pull her behind me, shielding her body with mine. She clutches at my waist and whispers my name right before gunshots ring out and everything goes to shit. Davey’s head explodes right before Levishoots Artemis in the dick, making him suffer for the time he hurt Jalene. Chris looks over and screams as loud as the woman in his lap. The bullet Roger puts between his eyes cuts the scream off while Donny and Vitorio take out the congressmen. Finally, Levishoots Artemis in the head, ending his suffering and silencing the annoying screams of pain. The women fall to the floor, covering their heads and praying the next bullet won’t be aimed at them.

“Don’t fucking move,” I tell Konstance when his hand starts to creep inside his suit.

“That goes for you, too,” Levihollers at Onil, training his gun on him.

Two of our men run up behind them. I keep my gun aimed at Konstance until his hands are securely zip-tied behind his back and I know there’s no way in fuck either one of them can move. With gunshots still going off, Amber clutches at my waist, shaking so badly I’m surprised she’s still managing to balance on those damn heels. She fists my hoodie as I angle her to the side even more so she’s in between me and the wall and her body is completely hidden by mine. I keep my armbehind me and against her small body, so fucking grateful to be touching her again.

Looking around at the chaos, I spot one of Konstance’s men and quickly shoot him before he can aim his gun at Vitorio, who’s busy shooting one of the customers who felt it was his duty to try and interfere. I scan the dark club, looking for my other brothers. With the music still blaring and the women still screaming, it’s impossible to hear anything above the mayhem. Roger is in the center of the room with Timofey, taking out a Lebedev enforcer while Levipushes through the crowd on the right, and Donny punches another overzealous customer.

“Lev, get down!”

I have just enough time to turn my head at the sound of Dominic’s voice before I see Leviduck his head right as Dominic fires his gun, killing the man who’d just been aiming at Levifrom the dark corner. The relief at knowing Leviis okay is short lived, because as soon as I look up, I see one of Konstance’s men aiming a gun at me from the center of the room. There isn’t time to do anything except pull Amber down in case the bullet passes through me. I don’t even get the chance to tell her I love her before I hear the gun go off right as Roger throws himself in front of us.

“Roger!”

Amber’s screams echo through the air as Roger falls to the ground and one more shot goes off. I don’t need to look up to know the shooter’s been killed. Falling to my knees, I press against Roger’s chest, trying to staunch the blood that’s pouring out of him way too fucking quickly.

“Roger, stay with me,” I shout at him. “Don’t you fucking die on me, brother!” Lifting my head I shout for Dominic to get his doctor. Leviand Vitorio come running over, followed by Donny and Dominic.

“He’ll be here in a few minutes,” Dominic says, shoving his phone back in this pocket.

Roger groans and then grimaces when I press harder. “Are you trying to fucking kill me?”

“I should for that stunt you just pulled.”

He tries to laugh but can’t manage it. Turning from me, he looks at Amber and smiles at her. He lifts a bloody hand and cups her face. “I’m sorry it took so long to find you. We tried so fucking hard.”

Amber squeezes his hand while tears stream down her face. “I knew you’d find me.” She starts to sob as she whispers, “I’m so sorry. Don’t leave me, Roger. I can’t lose you again.”

Roger tries to say something, but I can tell he’s about to pass out. Levigently pats his face, trying to keep him conscious.

“Stay awake, brother.” He gives a forced laugh. “Emory is going to kick our asses for this.”

“Fuck yes she is,” Vitorio agrees. “So thanks for getting your ass shot, Roger. We’re never going to live this down.”

“Sorry,” Roger whispers.

The music is too goddamn loud to hear him, but his lips are easy enough to read. I lift my head and yell, “Someone turn off the fucking music!”

When the song cuts off, the silence is deafening. We hear the doctor on Dominic’s payroll come rushing in, and when he sees Roger, he immediately gets to work. He says something in Italian as he checks for an exit wound and then starts packing the wound and using a pressure bandage. Three other Alessi men come over. They’ve got a stretcher ready to go, and within minutes Roger is on the damn thing and being rushed out of the room. Levikisses the top of Amber’s head and Donny gives her a quick hug before they run to catch up with Roger, and I know they’ll text us as soon as they know anything.

“Where are you taking him?” Amber asks.

She’s still crying and clutching my arm, and when I feel her body start to shake again, I pull my hoodie off and start to put it on her. I’m still wearing a T-shirt, but Dominic eyes the burn scars on my arms, only hesitating for a second before saying, “We have a room outfitted for surgery at my house. He’ll be safe there.”

Amber threads her arms through the hoodie that’s way too big for her, and when her head pokes through the top, our eyes finally meet. “Mateo,” she whispers and then starts crying again. Everything comescrashing down on her, and when I feel her legs start to buckle, I pick her up and hold her against me.

Vitorio pats her back and gives her shoulder a squeeze. “It’s good to have you back, Amber. We’ve missed the hell out of you, little sis.”

She starts to cry harder when he walks away with Dominic to give us some privacy and to help make sure the club is secure. The men are being forced onto their knees in a line near the back wall while the women are being herded into the back. They’ll be taken to a safe house that Dominic owns for now until we can get them back to their families.

She’s still crying, but I can’t stand the sight of that fucking collar on her for one more goddamn second. Setting her back down, I pull my knife out and gently push her hair aside. “Don’t move, baby,” I tell her, slipping the blade under the leather. Using my other hand, I keep it secure so it won’t dig into her skin any more than it already is. The blade is sharp, easily cutting through the collar, and when she feels it fall from her neck, she lets out a soft, shaky breath. Putting my knife away, I pull her back against me.

“I’ve got you,malishka,” I whisper against her neck, breathing in the scent that I feared I’d never smell again. She’s crying too hard to speak, but I feel her nod her head as she tightens her arms around me. “I’m never fucking letting you go.”

“How fucking sweet.”

Her body freezes at the sound of Konstance’s voice.

“I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing,” he continues, “but you’re not going to get away with it.”

I turn to face him, eyeing him on his knees with his hands zip-tied behind his back. “We already have.”

He laughs, and I’ve never wanted to cut someone’s mouth off so badly in my life.

“I take it you know Nadia.”

“That’s not her name, you stupid fuck.” I keep my arms tight around Amber, refusing to turn even slightly, because I don’t ever want her to have to look at him again.

“Doesn’t matter what your name is, does it, pet?”

She flinches at his words, and I stroke her back and kiss her cheek.

“I’d shut the fuck up if I were you,” Vitorio tells him. “Your death is already going to be a slow one.”

Konstance laughs again. “Killing me won’t change the fact that I’ve been fucking the girl you love for the last two years.” He smiles at me and runs his eyes over Amber. “In fact, we fucked right before we came here tonight, didn’t we, sweetheart? I bet she still feels me sliding down her goddamn thighs.”

Amber lets out another sob and buries her face in my neck as Vitorio pistol-whips the fucker, knocking him out so she doesn’t have to hear another goddamn word from the bastard. Onil watches and wisely keeps his mouth shut.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers against my skin.

I cup her head and bring my lips to her ear. “That’s the last apology I ever want to hear from you,malishka. You don’t ever need to say those words to me.”

She nods, but she’s still crying when she peeks over my shoulder and sees the line of kneeling men. “What are you going to do with them?”

“We’re killing them. If they’re at this club, then they’re involved in sex trafficking. None of them are walking out of here. Once they’re dead, we’re setting the building on fire.”

“What about the rest of Konstance’s men?”

“We have two teams over at his mansion now. They’re under orders to kill every last Lebedev man. The women will be brought back to their families and given money. We’re doing the same for the women here tonight.”

“And Konstance and Onil?”

“Will die very slowly.”

“Good,” she whispers. When I start to walk her out, she pulls back and looks at me. “No, I want to see.”

I hesitate for just a second, but there’s no way in hell I can deny her anything, so all I ask is, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I trust her at her word and nod to Vitorio who motions for the others to get ready. Keeping my arm securely under Amber’s ass so she’s in no danger of falling, I carry her to the end of the line and raise my gun, shooting them in the head one bastard at a time. Some of the men yell and try to scramble away, but there’s nowhere for them to run to. Their hands are zip-tied, and they’re surrounded. The only decision they’re making is whether they want to die where they’re kneeling or sprawled on their stomachs as they try to crawl away. It makes no fucking difference to me.

Amber tenses at the loud gunshots, but she doesn’t look away. She watches me shoot them, and when I need to reload, she watches Vitorio take over until every single one of them is dead. She looks at the men on the floor, and it’s painfully obvious that the Amber I lost almost two years ago is not the same woman I got back tonight. She’s been changed by everything that’s happened to her, but I don’t care. I love her, all of her, no matter what.

Some of Dominic’s men come in with gas cans, and when they start pouring it out on the ground, I head for the front door, and this time Amber doesn’t stop me. Her hand is pressed against my scarred back, and she knows I have no desire to stand in a burning building ever fucking again.

Timofey and Alexei drag Konstance and Onil out of the club, hauling their asses into a waiting SUV. They’ll both be thrilled to learn we’re going to be torturing them at their posh mansion. It’s the perfect location, and it’ll be easier to keep guards there than at the abandoned warehouse we usually use for such things. We won’t have to stop torturing if we get hungry, and it’ll be easy to jump in the shower and wipe off all the blood before we drive home.

The women have already been taken out of the club, so as soon as the place is soaked in gasoline, the others come out and one of our guys lights it up. With the amount of gasoline and alcohol, it doesn’t take long before the place is engulfed in flames and the windows areblowing out.

“About fucking time,” Vitorio mutters from beside us, watching the fire spread with a grin on his face. He laughs and nudges Dominic’s shoulder when he walks over to stand beside us. “Thanks for saving Lev’s life.”

Dominic shrugs. “I was going to be a gentleman and never speak of it.”

Vitorio laughs. “Yeah right. You saved him just so you could hold it over his head for the rest of his life.”

Dominic smiles. “Maybe.” He looks over at Amber. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Dominic.”

Amber nods at him and asks, “What did your doctor tell you about Roger?”

Dominic rubs the back of his neck, and I can tell he doesn’t want to answer, but when he sees the look on my face, he tells her the truth.

“He said he’d lost a lot of blood and that he needed to do emergency surgery, but he said it didn’t look like a fatal shot.” Wanting to reassure her, he adds, “He’s an excellent doctor. He’s saved my life and the lives of my men more times than I can remember, and the room I set up for him at my house is better than any hospital in the city.”

“Thank you.” Amber rests her head against my shoulder again, and I know she must be exhausted.

“I’m getting her out of here,” I tell them, already walking her toward the SUV we came in.

Vitorio catches up to us after giving Timofey a few more final orders. “I’m coming with you. I want to be there when you tell Emory, and I need to reassure my wife that my fine ass is safe.”

“Did you really marry their sister?” Amber asks him.

Vitorio looks over at her. “I did. She’s not like them, though. She hates her brothers.”

“I know she isn’t,” she whispers. She waits a few seconds before asking, “Since when do you work with the Italians?”

“That’s a long story,” I tell her while Vitorio gives a soft laugh. “We found out that we were both hunting the same Bratva. Dominic’s sister was kidnapped while in Italy, and then her body was found not too long after. We decided to work together to find them and bring them down.”

“But how did you find out about his sister?”

Her body tenses, growing agitated while I kick myself for making her even more upset. I know she’s confused and hurt and scared and overwhelmed by everything, and all I want is to take it all away. “We have plenty of time to explain everything.” I kiss her forehead. “It’s time to go home, Amber.”

I’ve waited so fucking long to say those words to her, and when I tighten my arms around her and get in the backseat, keeping her on my lap, she doesn’t try to move away. The truth is I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to let her out of my arms again.