Page 107 of Endure the Pain

I handed him back his laptop and he went to his room.

“We should all get some rest,” Asher said. “Big day tomorrow.”

“Some rest it’s going to be. Finn snores,” Brenna grumbled.

Finn frowned. “Are you still pissed from this afternoon?”

I winced. Finn excelled at putting his foot in his mouth.

Brenna glared at him. “You really shouldn’t piss off your roommate. They might kill you in your sleep.”

“Roommate?” Jamie repeated.

“You aren’t sharing a room with Maura?” Louie asked.

Brenna gave me an apologetic look. “Finn, that’s our cue to leave.”

Finn didn’t argue and the two of them briskly left the room.

“Dean is bunking with me,” I replied.

Jamie blanked his expression.

Louie didn’t even try to hide that he was mad. “Are you fucking him?” He had been trying to be the peacekeeper up until this point, so I found his jealousy surprising.

Again, I wanted to be petty and hurt them, but it wasn't what we needed right now. Not when we were all going after Alex in less than seven hours. “No.”

They both looked at Dean as if they didn’t quite believe me. He tried to appear bored. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he shook his head. “None of us trust you not to take her.” With that said, he stood from his chair and gestured for me to walk ahead of him. I did and he followed me down the hall to our room. Asher lingered in the living room. I had a feeling he wouldn’t retire for the night until Jamie and Louie did.

“I’ll take the floor,” Dean offered after we got into my room.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We can share the bed. You can put a pillow between us if you're worried about your virtue.”

He froze, appearing stunned.

“What?”

He cracked a smile and shook his head.

“Tell me,” I demanded.

His smile dropped. “Lately, you’ve been having moments where the old you shows. You just made a joke.” He looked away. “I never thought I’d say this, but I missed your sass. It made you…well, you.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that.

He grabbed a pillow from the bed and tossed it in the middle. “To protect my virtue,” he joked, making me crack a smile.

We all loaded up in the van and Asher’s truck before the sun rose the next morning. Alex Roth’s hideout was a house located in a wooded rural area, near Cornwall. Dean parked the van a mile away on the side of the road. We’d trek through the woods the rest of the way, then spread out into position.

Everyone climbed out of the vehicles. I pulled on a ski mask to my forehead, folding it so it wouldn’t cover my face, then rechecked my weapons. I had two Glocks in my shoulder holster, spare magazines in my cargo pants' pockets, and a hunting knife strapped to my thigh. Asher grabbed my BFG and Brenna grabbed hers and they took off to find the best spot in the woods. They were going to be our eyes from afar, while the rest of us would circlearound the cabin and move in. Jamie and Louie weren’t happy with how involved I was going to be. Dean and everyone had come to my defense and pretty much told them to get fucked.

It might have been excessive for all of us to go after one man, but Alex Roth was the Aryans' pet assassin for a reason. He was smart, lethal, and unpredictable. He'd snuck into Quinn Manor alone, attacked me, and left without being seen.

I waited for the rest of the guys to finish checking over their weapons. Dean, Jamie, Louie, and I would split up in pairs to cover the house while Finn set up explosives under Alex's and his sister Tiffany’s cars. We were hoping the explosions would draw them out of the house. If they didn’t we’d have to smoke them out a different way.

Once everyone was ready, Jamie and Louie went to the right, Finn down the middle, and Dean and I veered off to the left. The mile long walk was a little strenuous because it was at an incline.

We moved slowly and kept our eyes peeled. With the sun beginning to rise, it was still dim and gray out. I was carrying one of my Glocks with a silencer screwed on. I flicked the safety off once we were about halfway there.