Page 30 of Hostile Cravings (Wicked Cravings #3)

Chapter Fifteen

TYSON

T he flight to Armina was the second longest I’d ever experienced, the one when we’d gone to save Casey was the first. I paced the cabin while Mason tried to take my mind from Angie.

His attempts lacked effort, and I knew his mind was on what awaited us when we got there.

This was big. We were going into Donelli’s territory unannounced, stopping a wedding between two other families, and likely pissing at least one of them off.

There was bound to be gunfire, and someone would be dead by the end of the day.

My intention was for that death to be Joey Tirenti’s, but there were no guarantees.

“You sure about this, Ty?” Mason asked as the car drew closer to the church listed in the invitation.

“Of course not, but I need to stop this. Even if she hates me forever, there’s no way I’m letting Joey Tirenti touch her. I can’t believe her brother isn’t stopping this.”

“He doesn’t have a choice. It’s Donelli’s call, and he’s still in charge until he fully hands things over to Tony.”

I spotted the church in the distance, my eye picking up movement on the corner of the building. Leaning forward, I put my hand on Breck’s shoulder. “Slow down,” I said. “Do you see what I see, Mace?”

He leaned forward, picking up his phone. “Turn down the street before the church and park out of sight. Tell Finch to do the same.”

We’d come prepared, bringing enough bodies to fight the war we expected.

“Breck, drive by, don’t slow down,” he said. “Ty, tell me if there’s another one posted on the other side. Check the shadows.”

I turned my head just enough to see the slight movement of a body in the alley next to the church. “Yeah, at least one.”

“That makes two in the front of the church and one at each corner. I’m guessing they have two in the back.”

He lifted his phone and sent a text as I eyed him.

“You spotted one on the corner?” I said.

“Yeah. Breck, pull up two blocks down. I don’t want any chance of us being seen. And keep your eyes peeled.”

I stared at him, waiting for an explanation because if he spotted another man, he was looking before we were close enough.

“I may have suspected Tirenti was going to turn this into a bloodbath.”

“Those don’t look like his imbeciles,” I said, scratching my head. “He’s not smooth enough for that. Those are Omens.”

“Yeah. After we talked last night, I called Donelli.” He pulled his gun out as Breck parked the car. “I told him plans had changed, and I’d text him if our suspicions were true.”

“Plans had changed?”

He gave me a haughty grin. “I may have planted the seed that Angie’s haste to leave you offered us an opportunity.”

My mouth dropped. Leave it to Mason to have a master plan. “Wait, you let him give Angie to Joey?”

“I encouraged him, knowing Tirenti would use it to get what he wants. His son gets Angie, he gets Donelli and the territory. The Omen get a weasel to control, a weak boss they can manipulate to take down the province. Giving me the prime opportunity to rid myself of a threat.”

“Asshole. When we get through this, it’s you and me in the boxing ring and I’m gonna mess up that pretty face of yours. Don’t ever use my girl as a pawn again,” I said, slipping from the car.

We moved to the shadows of the alleys, skirting the buildings until we were close enough.

I was coming to realize the Bad Omen were arrogant sons of bitches who thought they were invincible but were making lethal mistakes.

They hadn’t anticipated me coming for Angie, or Mason wanting Tirenti’s head for turning on him. And they were too easy to spot.

“I didn’t use your girl. And since when did you start calling her your girl?” he muttered.

“I don’t know, but I like it.”

“What’s the plan, guys?” Breck asked.

“Yeah, we’re running out of time,” I noted, trying not to think of Angie in there taking vows with Joey.

“Tell Finch to take out the two in the back of the church and scout for any others. Stay silent, break their necks if necessary, but tell them not to make a scene.” He gestured for Breck to come closer.

“Send Creek up to take the guy on the corner out. You take the one closest to us and let me and Tyson handle the other two. Silencers on, I don’t want the men in the church knowing anything is going on out here. I’m sure they have more inside.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Beck made the call, and I scanned the area, seeing the shadow of the one hidden from view.

The other two were in plain sight, but acting like they were undercover, one was reading the paper, the other playing on his phone.

Both had their hands on their guns, ready to kill if anything went down.

I spotted Creek, and Mason gave the motion for the three of us to go.

Just as Creek shot his man, Breck grabbed his and put him in a neck hold.

The one in the alley stepped out and my shot took him down at the same time Mason landed a shot in the neck of the other.

Both men stumbled, reaching for their guns, but the second bullet did the job.

“Does this seem too easy to you?” I asked Mason as we took the weapons from the bodies and moved closer.

“Entirely. Either they’re hiding more in the church, letting us think this is easy, or they’re off their game.”

“Again,” I noted.

It surprised me that each time we’d had a run in with the Omens, they weren’t up to their reputation.

They went down too easily, and that didn’t seem right.

The Omen were like ghosts you didn’t see until you were taking your last breath.

They didn’t stand on corners trying to blend in.

They were in the shadows, ready to pounce.

Mason had mentioned the same thing. Either they were getting sloppy, or every move so far had been a way to boost our confidence and ensure we grew complacent.

I had suspected the latter was the case and when they chose to really strike, it would be lethal, but now I wasn’t so sure.

This situation was one that warranted that deadly reputation they’d earned, yet we’d taken every one of their men out with ease.

“How are we doing this?” I asked Mason as we approached the door to the church, still staying low on the side of the building.

“I’ve got us covered. Donelli’s men are standing guard. Tirenti would have agreed, thinking the Omens would take them out first. We’re going to surprise Tirenti and walk right in.”

“Shit, how did you get this devious?” I asked. Mason amazed me every day with how good he was at this stuff. I was good with my fists, but his brain was his power.

“It’s not devious, it’s strategic. Ready to win back your girl?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You’ll go down the aisle and get her. The rest of the team will take the back and side entrances. ”

I should have known he had it all planned.

Here I’d been thinking this was a risky venture and Mason already had everyone in place to strike.

There was still risk. I’d be walking in alone.

A target that Tirenti or Joey could easily take out.

A distraction while Mason, our men, and Donelli’s set the trap.

We walked into the church vestibule. Donelli’s men were on guard and gave us an understanding nod.

I rolled my neck and shoved the sleeves of my shirt higher to show my muscle then walked into the main part of the church, leaving Mason behind.

I kept my steps steady, my shoulders back, even though I knew I was vulnerable, that any of them could take me out.

Angie turned toward me, her brown eyes growing large.

She looked stunning, her hair done up in curls that were piled on her head, her veil pinned within them.

The dress she wore left little to the imagination, and I tried not to question why I could see right through it and that she clearly had no underwear on.

Maybe I’d been wrong, and risking my life like this for her was a tragic mistake.

“Get your hands off my wife!” My voice resounded through the church, cutting through the sound of Tirenti’s men raising their guns.

From the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the rafters, but I kept my eyes ahead. If it was Mason or any of our men, one flick of my eyes to their location would give them away. If it was Omen, I was dead.

“What’s the meaning of this, Raines?” Joey snarled.

“You’re touching my wife, and I can guarantee she doesn’t like that touch, not as much as she likes mine.”

Tirenti drew his gun, and he moved to the aisle. I was confident he wouldn’t shoot and risk Mason’s wrath, not without the Bad Omen backing him up. “Go home, Raines, before I fill you with holes. We annulled your marriage. You have no claim here, and she doesn’t want you.”

I continued forward, wondering where Mason and the others were.

No gunshots had penetrated the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air after Tirenti’s threat.

That told me either our men had discovered no Omen or had, once again, dispatched of them too easily.

The latter I’d contemplate with Mason when this was over.

My instincts were on edge until I spotted Tony pulling his gun out slow enough to go unnoticed by everyone else because their eyes were on me. He was ready for a fight, just like Mason had said. I was still a walking target, so I stopped midway through the building.

“Why don’t you let her tell me that,” I told Tirenti. “Angela, get over here and tell me I have no claim on you. Tell me how you don’t want me.”

She moved, and Joey grabbed her arms. That’s when I noticed the bruising around her neck. My fists clenched, my anger rising. I couldn’t kill him now. She was too close to him and half the people in the room had their guns on me.

“Let me go, Joey.”

“I’m not a fool, baby.”

I saw the way she cringed at the nickname I’d grown fond of calling her and it made my desire to fill Joey with holes even greater.

“She’s not your baby, she‘s mine,” I snapped. “Isn’t that right, little viper?”

Her inhale was noticeable, but she played it off. “Let me talk to him. I’ll get rid of him and then we can finish here.”

He jerked her forward. “You’re lying,” he snarled.

“Of course, I’m not. I don’t want him. I thought I did, and he tossed me aside like a used piece of luggage.”

I could hear the truth in her statement, how she’d convinced herself that’s what I’d done.

“If he wants me to tell him to his face, then let me. I hate him. I always have. No one hurts Angela Donelli and expects that I’ll take him back.

” She freed her arm, her head going up proudly as she turned to me.

I could see the fire in her eyes, the resignation that she wasn’t going to break again.

In her mind, I’d hurt her and thrown her away, just like she’d said.

Joey pulled his gun out and trained it on me.

“Put the gun down, Joey, and let them talk,” Tony said. “It’s the least you can do before you take her.”

Joey looked at his father, who was hard to read. His muscles were tense, the vein in his neck protruding. All the while, Angie grew closer to me and the closer she came, the more lost in her I became.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here, Raines,” she said, trying to sound tough. But I could hear the shake in her voice, see the fear in her eyes. She needed me to say the right thing because she wanted me to save her. That confirmation drove me to step closer to her.

“Watch it, Raines. You step any closer to my bride and I’ll kill you.”

The grinding of my teeth caused my jaw to ache.

“What do you want, Tyson?” Angie asked, her voice low.

“To tell you what you didn’t give me a chance to tell you yesterday,” I started.

“A chance? You threw me out!”

Damn, I had and of course she would call me out on it.

“Well, you were being a bitch.”

“Because you were an ass, a hurtful ass.” And there it was, the quiver in her voice that confirmed my suspicion.

I grabbed her arms, pulling her closer.

“That’s it,” Joey growled, but the sound of more guns being pulled out stopped his complaints. This place was about to erupt, and Angie and I were right in the middle of it.

“I was hurtful because you were. Fuck, Angie, you didn’t hear the entire conversation.”

“I heard enough!”

The sigh that came from me was one that poured from the depths of my soul. “No, you didn’t, or you’d know that I love you, Angela Donelli.” Her mouth parted, the fight leaving her body. “I love you so much that it hurts. You destroyed me, Anj, and nothing can piece me back together but you.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and I waited for her response, hearing Joey’s growing agitation. My eyes moved to him.

“You can't have her back, Raines! She’s mine now.”

“Shut up, Joey. She’s not yours.” I tipped her chin up, seeing the bruising that was forming around her neck. My blood boiled. “And there’s no way I’m letting you put your grimy paws on my girl.”

“She’s mine!” I looked past her, seeing him aim his gun and registering the click of the trigger.

I pushed Angie to the ground and his bullet hit me square in the chest, ripping the air from my lungs.

I heard Angie scream but my body was crashing to the ground.

Gunshots filled the room as the war erupted around us.

“Tyson!” Angie’s voice was distant, the pressure of her hands on me too light to do more than drift into my awareness. “Please don’t die! Please. I love you. I’ve always loved you and…”

The words faded just as everything became black and no matter how I tried to fight, to hold on to those words, they were just out of reach, like they’d always been.