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“Tell your people to back down,” The Sheriff shouts at Bree, as he begins walking backwards towards the front entrance to the club.

I want to roll my eyes at this fucking idiot. She’s already told him we have the exits covered, and that our men are waiting outside to detain every single person. Even if we were to put our guns away and let him walk out of the fucking front door, our team would have him unarmed and on the ground in seconds.

I can see Bree is considering that option too, when she turns to face us all. I keep my gaze fixed on The Sheriff, whose eyes have now lost their frantic movements, and he appears to be making more deliberate steps now. He looks like he has a plan, and I’m almost certain it’s not a good one.

“Lower your weapons,” Bree says, giving us all that look of hers. It’s the one that says we can lower our weapons, but do not put them away. She’s also deliberately not addressing Kian, who The Sheriff can’t see is standing in front of the exit, with his gun aimed at the back of The Sheriff’s head.

I hear Kian mutter through the communications device. “I have the shot. Shall I take it?”

“Negative,” Bree whispers, and I can’t help but groan.

She shoots me a look, and I keep quiet. Bree turns back to The Sheriff. “Our guns are down. Now yours,” she says calmly.

“Fuck you,” he shouts, as he pulls the trigger on his gun just once.

As he shoots, it’s like the room around us begins to move in slow motion, as an eruption of noise spreads outwards. Once the bullet has left his gun, The Sheriff runs a few steps down the aisle he’s in, and drops underneath a table there.

His gun was pointed straight at Bree, who began to duck as best she could. Liam, standing right beside his wife, reacted quicker than anyone, and threw himself on top of Bree, crashing them both to the floor.

As Bree was standing right next to me, my instinct was to make sure Teigan was protected. I didn’t hesitate in putting my body between hers and the bullet, before pushing her to the floor and behind a table, safely out of the way.

Finn rushes over as Kellan shouts out through the communications device. “Is everyone okay? Is anyone hit?”

Kian, who knows he can’t move from his position keeping the door secure, looks frantic, his eyes flicking between Bree andLiam, who are on the floor, and The Sheriff. He doesn’t call out, as he knows that will give his position away, where he’s mostly hidden in the shadows. The Sheriff will only see him if he turns around, giving us his back, which he’s not stupid enough to do.

Instead, Kian touches his comms device, speaking to us all through it. “Update. Now!”

I look over at Teigan and confirm we’re both uninjured. “Teigan and I are fine.”

“I’m okay,” Finn adds.

I watch as Liam climbs off Bree, breathing a sigh of relief that my brother can at least move. “Bree… Princess, are you okay? Did you get hit?” he asks wildly, his hands roaming over her body as he looks for any wounds.

“I’m fine, Lee. Get off me. He missed. Fucking cocksucker,” she grumbles under her breath, as she pushes her husband off her, so she can stand up.

Only this time when Bree stands, there’s a fierce determination combined with a truly pissed off expression that would have a grown man quaking in his boots. If The Sheriff was scared before, he will be shitting himself now, because Bree looks like she’s on the fucking warpath, and he’s her target.

“Since you clearly want to do this the hard way, I’m going to give you three seconds, and then I will let every person in this room open fire on you. Starting with me,” she growls. “One.”

Bree pulls her gun back out and lifts it, aiming it at the table we know The Sheriff is hiding behind. Liam moves to position himself in front of Bree, to protect her, but she punches his arm and moves him out of the way.

“Princess…” he groans, and I can see her roll her eyes from here.

“Don’t, Liam. Stand beside me. I can look after myself,” she says firmly, holding her head high, like she has no fucking fear in the world.

In that moment, I have to admit, Bree shows herself to be the badass leader we all know her to be. If anyone ever had a doubt that a woman couldn’t be the leader of a mafia family, this moment right here proves that she can.

Liam lets out a sigh, but respects her wishes. He stands by her side, as she calls out, “Two.”

There’s a shuffling from behind The Sheriff’s table, and I pull the safety off my gun, taking aim, just in case. Only when he steps out, he has his arm wrapped around Lilly’s waist as he uses her body as a shield, while pointing his gun at her head.

Lilly sobs loudly as her wild eyes take in all the guns pointed at her, and she holds her hands up. “Please, don’t shoot me,” she cries, tears streaming down her face.

Teigan gasps from beside me, and begins moving around me to take a look at her friend. I hold my arm out to keep her back, but I can tell the moment she realises the predicament her friend is in, as she whimpers behind me.

“Don’t shoot her,” she shouts, talking to anyone that will listen.

Once again, Bree holds her hands up, putting her gun down on the nearby table, so The Sheriff can see she’s not a threat. This time, both Liam and Kian swear over the comms. “Fucking woman,” Liam grumbles.