As I leave, I turn off all the lights, to keep them safe under the cover of darkness. The doors are all locked and I slip out the front into the pouring rain. Wind violently whips at me, slashing me with rain and soaking me to the bone. I sprint through the downpour, racing toward the front of the hotel under the cover of shadows and between buildings. I’m not letting my guard down for an instant.
“Boss,” Caymon hisses from between a building. He stumbles out, holding his side. “It’s a fucking—”
His head explodes in front of me as he collapses to the dirt. I lift my AR and turn toward the direction the bullet came from. Spraying bullets into the trees, I try to mow down the attacker. This isn’t Aris’s style, which means he has his men doing his dirty work. Someone grunts from the trees and I charge after them.
I tackle the man and lay a hard punch to his kidney. He groans, attempting to roll away from me, splattering us with mud, but I’m stronger. I flip the man and shove the barrel of my AR against his Adam’s apple, making him gag and cough.
Niles motherfucking Nikolaides.
The urge to shoot his head right off his spine is strong, but I need answers. I kick him hard in the stomach, making him howl.
“Get the fuck up and walk,” I bellow.
He groans and unsteadily makes his way to his feet.
“Turn.” As soon as his back is to me, I poke the gun in between his shoulder blades. “To your left.” My phone buzzes and I quickly answer it. “What?”
“It’s Adrian,” he barks out. “Where are you?”
“Walking Niles to the goddamn cellar. Where are you?”
“Standing behind the Porsche. We can see them inside. A man and a woman. Call it and I’ll put a bullet in their heads.”
“No,” I growl. “I want my brother alive. I’m going to tie down this fucker and then I’m on my way.”
“Hold on,” he bites at me as he talks to someone. “No fuckin’ way. Basil has Phoenix.”
That traitorous motherfucker.
“Tell Basil to bring Phoenix to the cellar to keep his daddy company and to watch them both. You keep Aris there.”
We hang up just as I storm into the groundskeeper’s house with Niles leading the way. The groundskeeper sits on the sofa, soaked to the bone, holding pressure to his stomach as blood blooms over his hands. He gurgles out something to me, but it’s too late. Hot pain slices through the back of my arm, just as I’m turning. Whoever nearly stabbed me in the goddamn back, missed a deadlier hit when I moved at the last minute, but it still hurts like a motherfucker. With my gun still trained on Niles, I swing out with my leg, taking down my assailant. They hit the ground with a loud grunt.
I sling the AR to the guy’s face and pop him right in the mouth with three bullets. Niles tries to run, but I crack him hard in the back of the head with the butt of the AR. He falls hard on his knees but doesn’t go completely down.
“Get your ass down those stairs or I’ll kick you down them,” I roar, shoving the barrel into his back. “Move.”
He groans and curses all the way down to the cellar. I force him into the chair and tie him tight enough around his wrists, his hands turn purple. I’m about to head back upstairs when Basil and Bronn manhandle Phoenix down the steps. His face is beat all to hell, but he’s raging like a beast. Not taking any chances, I stay until they get him subdued with an elbow to the face and tied down.
“I’ll be back soon with my brother and his bitch. Don’t let them go anywhere.”
Basil and Bronn both nod as I take the steps up two at a time. My arm hurts like a motherfucker, but I’m high on adrenaline. I’ve thirsted for vengeance for what feels like forever. I’m finally getting it. Fucking finally.
I run through the rain toward the front gate with my AR raised and ready to fire. My staff are trained in the event we’re ever attacked, so the guests should be fairly safe, although it’s going to be a helluva PR nightmare. I’ll have Josef pissed as fuck having to cover our shit, but there’s nothing money won’t buy—even the Minister of Public Order’s compliance.
When the Porsche comes into view, flashes of light can be seen in conjunction with pops of gunfire. My men are shooting into the vehicle against my orders. What the fuck!
Racing toward them, I nearly mow down Adrian in the process.
“They shot him against direct orders—”
“Something isn’t right, Boss!” Adrian barks out.
I shove past him toward the Porsche. Pushing a guy out of my way, I fling open the door. A man and a woman are slumped over, the entire interior splattered with their blood. The guy is an older man with his hands tied behind his back. The woman has gray hair and her arms are bound too.