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“Bryce!”

He turns to face me, and his sparkling green eyes light up as he holds up his fishing rod. “Reed! Look what I caught.” He holds up a fish, but his smile falls when he sees the worry laced on my face. “What happened? Is Mom okay? Jax?” The way he asks about his mom and little brother makes my love for him soar. “Bubbles?”

“They’re fine, buddy. But we’re in danger, and I’ll explain soon, but we need to leave right now.”

He drops his fishing rod to the ground and heads toward me, but the sound of rustling in nearby bushes has my body tensing, so I lunge toward him. The sound of a bullet whizzing through the air causes me to throw myself in front of him and tug him toward my chest, and an agonizing pain unleashes in my back. “Fuck,” I grunt, hitting the ground with Bryce beneath me, careful to cradle his head as we fall.

I glance down to find his startled eyes burning brightly, boring into mine and making my heart flutter with relief. “You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah. B-but Dad, you’re bleeding.” He glances down my chest toward my stomach, but I register nothing other than one word. Did he just call me dad?

Movement catches my eye, and I brace myself above Bryce, but when a man with a gun appears, all I can do is cover my son’s face with my hand and tuck him beneath me.

The man raises the gun, and I kick myself for coming out of the cabin unarmed.

As I seethe with a burning rage at the injustice of finally having the love of a family for it now to be torn away from me, I contemplate my next move while also considering that I don’t really have one. I wanted to protect my family, and I let them down. But I won’t go down without a fight, that’s for sure.

A man appears behind the other, and my stomach sinks, knowing how outnumbered I am. Then he sends a wink in my direction and spits out the toothpick hanging from the corner of his mouth, and my eyes widen as they latch onto the blade that appears at my enemy’s throat.

He moves quickly, holding the man in place as he creates a sea of blood in his wake, then the man’s body falls to the ground with a heavy thud.

My avenger steps forward, and I jump to my feet, pulling Bryce up and shoving him behind me.

“Name’s Finn O’Connell. Owen sent me.” I take in his open combat boots and ripped jeans and try to find a sense of resemblance compared to his brothers I know of, but I find none. Other than the bright-blue eyes.

The O’Connells are a Mafia family, a family full of secrets and lies, but they’re good people, nonetheless, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their input.

“Reed.” I lift my chin in his direction, and he takes another toothpick from inside his leather jacket pocket and places it in his mouth.

“Know these fucking trees like the back of my hand.” He shudders, and my eyes narrow. “Had a family member go rogue once. Oh, and another time, Oscar took an axe to the fucker who tried to destroy my family.” He grimaces as he motions with his finger across his throat, letting me know that his brother Oscar decapitated someone who threatened their family.

Oh, fucking goody, they’re all insane, and they’ve been sent to rescue my family.

“You go ahead. I’ll cover you.” He motions toward the trail, then disappears back into the undergrowth.

“You’re bleeding, all down your back,” Bryce whines.

“It’s okay, buddy. It doesn’t hurt,” I lie. With each footstep, it’s like white-hot pokers searing through my flesh.

The cabin looks untouched, but I’m not stupid enough to think there might not be intruders, especially when I walk through the door and see Jax’s blue lion softie on the floor. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Gia would not have left the room without it. Our boy finds comfort in that little soft toy, shoving it in his mouth and suckling until he falls to sleep. There’s no way in hell she’d risk him stirring and alerting someone to their whereabouts without it.

I push Bryce farther behind me, blocking him from view, then reach over the counter and grab the meat cleaver. Even the movement of stretching hurts like a bitch, and somehow makes my chest pull tight, causing my lungs to seize in agony. “Fuck,” I grunt out with a wince when I straighten.

“Drop the fucking knife, Reed.” George’s voice cuts through the air, and when I hear Jax’s whimper, I turn to face the man holding my girl by her hair as she clutches Jax against her chest. Her face is teary, and she has a split lip that sends a red haze over me. He touched her, hurt what’s mine. He holds the knife Gia had to her throat; her neck elongated so savagely I can see her pulse racing against the metal.

“Drop the fucking knife,” he repeats, and somehow, it sounds clearer this time, as if the threat is all the more real now. He holds my world in the palm of his cruel hands. A tyrant through and through. A monster.

How the hell did I ever choose to do business with this monster?

GIA

As soon as Reed leaves to fetch Bryce from the lake, I spring into action, grabbing Jax’s softie and clutching the knife I’d been using, and my heart hammers. I knew my father was a monster, but killing my husband to get to me and my shares is unfathomable.

Jax makes a soft cooing sound, and my hold around him tightens, and I can feel his soft breath against my chest. “Momma’s got you, Jax,” I say, and kiss the top of his head.

I reached the first stair, and a flash of pain hits my face, causing the back of my head to bounce off the wall, and I struggle to remain upright as dizziness overwhelms me. Oh Jesus, that hurts. My vision is blurry, and I hold Jax tighter. “Please,” I beg, knowing it’s hopeless.

Then my hair is pulled so hard my head is yanked back, causing tears to flow from me in waves. Oh, fuck, that hurts. I drop the knife and Jax’s soft toy as I’m dragged from the room with no consideration for the small baby crying against my chest. My only priority right now is to protect him. “Please.” I try again, but my assailant ignores my pleas.