Page 24

“ I s that the last of ’em?” Raze asks, lighting himself a smoke while Rocoo and a member from Nevada, Flex, drag another corpse over to the pile of dead men.

I look around at all my brothers, all of them look shattered.

Most of them are covered in blood, some of it theirs, some of it Irish, but what matters is, we’re all still standing.

“I’ll call Burlusconi and tell him Quinnell ain’t here.” Raze nods proudly at us before taking his phone out of his cut and turning his back.

Despite the fact we killed every one of them, he looks disappointed. But not nearly as much as I am.

“Fuck!” I slam my foot into the steel container beside me, still feeling that rage burning under my skin.

It don’t matter how many of these assholes I killed.

I don’t think it’s ever gonna go away. It’s a part of me now.

I’m infested with it. And knowing that Quinnell is still out there, makes me wanna use it to reign Hell on him.

“Hey, Dev, they’re dead, man. We did it.

We slaughtered the fuckers.” Saint tries to calm me down.

Doing his best to avoid the heap of dead men beside us.

Saint never lets us down; he’ll get his hands dirty when he has to, but he hasn’t got the stomach for it the way Sinner has.

I’m actually surprised Sin didn’t show up for all the fun.

“I wanted Quinnell,” I explain, closing my eyes and picturing my brother here.

“And we’ll get him. Vike’s in the office right now, sending everything from their computers to Jessie’s old lady.

Quinnell had to be making contact with them somehow.

Maddy will find it and use it to track him,” he tries to reassure me, but I still feel so empty and unfulfilled.

I convinced myself that all that would go away once they were dead.

Looking back at the heap of bodies, I wonder which one of them killed my brother; whoever he is, he didn’t suffer enough.

I should have taken more time to find out, instead of charging in here, bloody thirsty.

I could’ve picked him out and taken him back to the warehouse, made him feel something close to the same pain I do by tearing out his guts and strangling him with them.

Maybe if I’d done that, we could have found Quinnell, too.

“Look around ya, Dev, this was a success.” Saint tries to keep me grounded, and as I swipe my hand over my face, it smears it with more blood.

Not that I fucking care.

“Come on, let’s load these fuckers into one of the containers. Burlusconi’s got a cargo ship coming to collect in a few hours,” Raze orders once he’s done with his phone call.

“And what are we gonna do with all this?” Tawk opens the door of the container closest to him. It’s stacked to the ceiling with crates of AKs, and every one of my brothers grins from ear to ear.

“I say finders keepers.” Ruck rubs his hands together.

“Best get loading up those cages, boys.” Wrath heads inside the container and picks one out of the box.

“Rocco, Sasq, and Saint, I want every inch of this yard scouted. Who knows what else Quinnell’s got hidden around here? Whatever it is, it belongs to us now.”

“Sure thing, boss.” Sasquatch hobbles off with the others while I start dragging the dead men into the container, ready for shipment.

We make a stop to unload the cages at our warehouse before we head back to the club.

A few of the guys will need some medical attention, but aside from that, Saint is right, today has been a success.

We knew going into this that Quinnell wasn’t gonna be there, at least now we have some way of finding him.

Jessie’s old lady is good at what she does.

I guess I was just expecting to feel more.

To feel better.

After parking up our bikes, we head through the arch into the yard. There’s a few whores gathered around the pool pit as a welcoming committee; all of them looking eager to please, but there ain’t no sign of the old ladies, and I see how much that surprises Wrath and Ruckus.

“The girls okay?” Ruck calls over to Angelica, who’s already got her arms wrapped around Saint, giving him her own version of TLC.

“They’re just fine.” She smiles back, and after the two of them look at each other confused, they march off inside. I look at Vike and shrug before we follow them to get ourselves a drink.

The club is empty, and when Raze storms in behind us, he heads straight for his office and slams the door.

“What the hell’s with him?” Vike shakes his head. “And where’s Polly at? Are we supposed to serve ourselves?” We both follow Wrath and Raze when they step out of the side door onto the balcony and watch them breathe a sigh of relief when they see all the girls down on the beach.

“Jesus Christ.” Wrath shakes his head as he grips Ruck’s shoulder. “Are those bitches trying to give us a fuckin’ heart attack?”

“Holy shit.” Vike’s eyes almost pop outta his head when he sees that Alicia is with them, her huge tits squeezed into a bikini that’s too small for her, and her pregnant belly on full display.

“You’re home.” Peyton quickly stands up when she sees us. I notice she’s a little wobbly on her feet and as she places down her empty cocktail glass, she hiccups loudly. “Oops.” She slams her hand over her mouth while Alicia breaks into a fit of giggles.

“Good to have you back.” Alicia smiles at Vike as she aids Peyton up the stairs, and I watch Vike’s eyes almost pop outta his head as he focuses on those huge fuckin’ tits.

“Good to be back,” he tells her, watching her slip on a summer dress from the mountain of clothes that’s on the table, then shaking himself outta his trance once she and Peyton have gone inside.

“You good, brother?” Wrath pats him on the back sarcastically as Eden makes her way up to him.

“I’m fine.” Vike swallows thickly, then takes a deep breath and follows in after her.

“Good to see you home.” Eden kisses Wrath like they haven’t seen each other for a year, and I turn away so I don’t have to witness it.

“You all look like you’ve been having fun.” He smiles.

“It was Quinn’s idea; time was passing too slowly. We were getting worried.” Eden brushes noses with him.

“Well, you needn’t worry, everyone’s home in one piece,” he assures her.

“Fabulous, that means I get to make another round of Jaw Lockers.” Quinn climbs the stairs in a bikini so fluorescent it reflects the sun onto my eyes.

“Tawk needs some stitches, and Sasquatch took a bullet to the shoulder, but it was a straight through.” I give her the heads up.

“Cool. Tell Pol, Tawks all hers.” She pulls a lipstick from her bikini top and paints her lips the same color as her bikini, before tucking it back, rearranging herself, and heading inside.

Wrath looks at me, shaking his head, and I’m about to laugh, until I see that it ain’t just Lettie, Freya, and Polly that's left on the beach.

“Millie?” I almost choke as her name comes outta my mouth. What the fuck is she doing here? Is she incapable of listening to a warning? And why the fuck does it feel this good to have her here?

“Seems like she can’t stay away.” Ruckus laughs as Freya rushes up the stairs and leaps at him.

“I missed you,” she tells him, grabbing under his jaw and kissing him as he carries her inside. Lettie scoops up her little boy, and she tugs on Polly’s arm as she leads her up the stairs, leaving Millie by herself.

“Go easy on her, she’s only here because she cares,” She warns me fiercely, and when I eventually turn around and see that everyone has gone inside, I stand gripping the wooden balcony till it splinters my hands.

I keep staring at the girl who remains sitting on the sand, staring out at the ocean with the bag I gave her yesterday resting beside her. She’s also wearing a bikini that shows off far too much of her, and I’m torn between wanting to cover her the hell up and ripping it off her body.

Deciding that I can’t just watch anymore, I charge down the stairs and onto the beach.

Millie must sense me coming because she stands up and turns around to face me.

The calm, collected look on her face turns to fear when she sees me shrug outta my cut and throw it on the sand in temper.

Her cheeks turn pink, and her lashes flutter when I rip my t-shirt up over my head and grip it in my fist as I near her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here, dressed like that?

” I shove it over her head and cover her up before anyone else sees her.

She’d have been safer jumping into a shark pool with an open fuckin’ wound.

Millie waits until I’ve pulled it down over her thighs before looking down at what she’s wearing, and when she notices that it’s covered in blood, her wide eyes fix back on mine.

“Jesus.” I look up at the fuckin’ sky for some strength.

“I didn’t come here to argue, Dev. I came to return this.” She quickly bends down and picks up the bag.

“I don’t want it. That money’s for you,” I tell her, trying my best to stay calm. Now that I’ve gotten closer and she can see the blood on me, she’s looking real fuckin’ scared.

“I take it that everything went well?” She looks back down at my t-shirt as she twists her foot, burying it deeper into the sand.

“They’re all dead, if that's what you mean.” I can’t help noticing how her hair is the same color as it.

“I’m not leaving town, Dev.” She looks back up at me, her green eyes sparkling full of determination. “I have a life here, a family. Long Beach may not be safe right now, but it will be.”

“Millie, I—” She suddenly interrupts the speech I’m about to give her when she stretches up on her toes and presses those perfect, pink lips against mine.

I swear the world stops spinning, even the ocean goes fuckin’ silent, and when she pulls away from me, I have to take a few seconds to catch my breath.

“Sorry.” She bites her lip as she pulls away, looking both scared and embarrassed.

I make those pretty eyes stretch wide again when I lose the fight.

Grabbing hold of her face, I drag her back up to my mouth.

I kiss her hard and deep, filling her mouth with my tongue so I can taste every crevice of it, and even though I know I’m squeezing her jaw far too tight, I don’t let up.

I want her to feel me raw, to know that I’m not the guy for her, so she never tries to pull anything like that again.

Releasing her, I take a step back, and when I see the smears of blood my fingers have left on her face, I can’t help wanting to kiss her all over again.

Turns out, what was supposed to be a punishment for her has turned into one for me.

“You wanna stay in Long Beach? Fine, but you stay away from me, and you stay away from this club.” I leave her and the bag on the beach and storm back up the stairs to join my brothers.