Page 83 of Empire of Carnage

“Baby, I need you present for this.” I gave her cheek a hard tap and she blinked at me in shock.

“Fletcher—“

“Is dead,” I confirmed. “We can mourn him later, we have to get the fuck out of here,” I said it to her but it was meant for me.

I’d lost plenty of brothers in the middle of action. The battlefield wasn’t the place for grieving unless you were prepared to drop into the grave as well.

“Okay,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“If you’re in the building, get the fuck out.” Santos said into his phone, advising our men to head out.

“Sokolov?” I asked.

“He’s dead,” Mateo confirmed.

“Pluto?” she asked me with worry.

“Ethan got him out,” I assured her, watching her shoulders relax.

“Any captives?” She asked.

“Four were tied up backstage. They’re already loaded into the van,” Santos answered.

“Let’s roll the fuck out of here then.” I reloaded my clips, tossing a gun to Mateo.

“Wait,” she yelled, her eyes wide with a look I didn’t recognize from her.

Worry.

“I love you. All of you pendejos.”

I raked my fingers through her hair, a soft smile pulling at just one side of my face. She looked between the three of us, no response needed on our part. She knew how we felt. She knew how hard the three of us loved and fought to keep her.

She was saying she loved us in case she died.

We wouldn’t return the sentiment because we knew shewouldn’t.

I remembered the candle she’d lit, and I pulled her chin towards my face.

“You’re protected, remember?”

She smiled and nodded, some of the weight seeming to lift off her shoulders.

“Ok, take cover,” I warned them, Mateo and Santos dropping their bodies over her despite her clueless protests.

My brothers and I were so in sync I didn’t have to let them in on the full scope of the plan, they knew me well enough to read the signs and react accordingly. I pulled the grenade from my belt, pulling the pin and tossing it over the booth towards Sokolov’s men surrounding us.

They yelled but the blast soon overpowered any other sounds in the room. The high pitch sizzling in my ear muffled any chance of communication between us. I grabbed a smoke bomb next and pulled it, tossing it over and letting the smoke fill the room to give us the cover we’d need to get the fuck out.

Cries of pain amplified throughout the room and bullets flew aimlessly through the smoke. Santos and Mateo surrounded Celia, the four of us moving together in a tight huddle towards the exit. A sharp pain hit me in the chest, sending me stumbling backwards and dropping to my ass.

“Ronan!” Celia cried, but I waved her off.

“Get her out of here, it was my vest,” I wheezed, taking a second to catch my breath on the ground.

“Mudak!” I heard in the distance.

They dragged her out screaming, reaching for me. But I would only be moments behind. Bullets were still whizzing by, and the smoke was burning my eyes.