Page 41 of Last One Standing (Saint Brothers #5)

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

KONA

Everything was insane. Seriously, how had it all turned into trying not to be killed by some lady kingpin and her cartel and Bratva pets? The MC was scary enough now—adding this into the mix, would it even be possible to walk away from this mess?

I watched as Angel and his brothers broke down how they’d handle a meeting with this mistress of murder. They were calm and collected while it felt like a bunch of rabid bees were swarming under my skin.

Pika sat beside me, some handheld game in his hand, half supporting me and half playing. I wanted to pull Angel out of the room and wrap my body around him. It was all too much.

“When do you think she’ll call?” I asked.

“No one knows; it’s why we’ll need to stay alert.” Angel offered a sympathetic smile my way. He understood I was terrified—I was sure there was no hiding it.

JJ brought me and Pika plates of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Everyone was eating in the living room. It was big enough, and there were plenty of places to sit and tables to use.

My stomach kept rolling, and eating was the furthest thing from my mind.

But I didn’t want to insult JJ, so I nibbled.

By midnight, mostly everyone was passed out.

Angel was lying on my lap, and I was rubbing my hand over his head.

I couldn’t sleep. I’d tried, but it was a no-go.

Noel was currently awake, he and Nick each taking turns keeping an eye on the monitors.

Pika was out cold on a very large beanbag chair in the corner of the room, and Four had gone upstairs to be with Lizzy, having instructed us to text him if Colette called.

JJ and Mason were in the love seat talking about something while Shep and Gabe were asleep on the ridiculously oversized couch. I didn’t know where Matt or Phoenix had gone.

I was just starting to feel sleep pull me under when a beeping noise caught my attention.

“What the hell is that?” I yelped.

Angel jumped up, and what had been a quiet, calm room a minute ago turned into chaos.

“Intruders.” Noel was calm, focused on his laptop.

Nick came running into the room his laptop in hand. “I have three alert points.”

Three? What was going on? “Intruders?”

“We have cameras for when people turn on our street. Alarms when they reach the driveway. When it beeps, that means someone has stepped onto the property without our permission,” Angel answered.

“You don’t have a gate. Doesn’t that mean everyone who approaches is an intruder?” Pika asked.

“Yes, except…” Nick hit a button, and the TV split into three separate areas of the property. “Each alarm has a different sound and purpose. The one we just heard is from the cliffs.”

“The cliffs?” JJ shouted. “They’d be climbing from the ocean, then.”

“The other two are for the driveway and through the woods on the right side of the house.” Nick pointed out where there were figures skulking through the night.

“Why aren’t you all freaking out?” I grabbed Pika’s arm and yanked him to me.

“Because this house is the safest place for any of us. Watch.” Noel cackled as he typed on his keyboard, and I observed what appeared to be a long whip, maybe, swipe across the trees and take down three people.

“Holy shit!” I gasped.

Four came into the living room with guns of all kinds and handed them out to the brothers. Mason and JJ each took one as well, but Matt refused. He handed me a smaller kind of handgun. I’d never held a gun in my life and had no idea what caliber or anything it was.

“This is a .357 magnum snub-nosed revolver. Fairly easy to use. It’s loaded, just point and shoot.” Four’s gaze was intense. “Anyone that’s not us comes near you, shoot them.”

“What?”

“Point. Shoot.” He walked away before I could tell him I had no idea what I was doing.

I was gawking at the weapon in the palm of my hand. It was heavy, silver, looked like a mini cowboy gun, and I was supposed to use it?

“Hey.”

I glanced up into sweet brown eyes. “Stay with me, you and Pika. You’ll be fine.” Angel smiled.

“I can’t kill someone, Angel.”

He covered the revolver with his hand. “You won’t have to. Don’t worry.”

Pika’s eyes were wide as he stared at the screen, but Angel’s were soft. He wasn’t afraid, and I trusted him.

“Okay.”

“Keep it at your side, pointing down. Finger off the trigger, rest it alongside like this.” He positioned my fingers. “It’s just a precaution.”

“Yeah…of course.”

On the television, four people all in black were climbing over the rocks by the cliff. They walked maybe five feet; then their bodies went ramrod straight, they vibrated, and fell to the ground unmoving.

“What was that?” Pika asked.

“Under the ground, we have a sort of electrical grid. It’s activated when the alarm is on, which it is, and if you walk on the grass you get like that.” Noel gestured to the TV.

The black van in the driveway came to a stop and another four men stepped out, all holding semi-automatics. I couldn’t take my eyes off the television, but I was also scared to see what would happen.

I saw red dots on each of their heads a moment before they crumpled to the pavement. This house was lethal.

“I don’t see any more,” Nick said.

A loud buzzing went off, and a number popped up on the screen. “That’s Colette calling.” Angel moved to Nick’s laptop and hit the button.

“I’m going to assume this was you?” was how he answered.

“You took out eleven of my men, Mr. Fawkes…or should I say Saint?”

“Eleven men who you sent to kill us.”

She tsked. “Don’t be upset. You can’t blame a girl for protecting her livelihood.”

“I fucking can and am. I never had to contact you, could’ve left you to get thrown in prison, but I didn’t, and this is how you thank me?”

“We live in a world where saying thank you is a weakness, Mr. Saint. And don’t act like you were doing me a favor.

See, I spoke with Brick and asked him was what kind of trouble the MC got themselves in.

He gladly explained that you and your people are the ones who destroyed my merchandise, stole his boyfriend, and killed some of his men.

Explain how that makes him the problem and not you. ”

“He’d tell you anything to live. He’s a coward.”

She hummed. “Perhaps. But you survived the night, so I’ll keep my word. I will send you the date, location, and time we will be meeting. We’ll get it all sorted out then.” She disconnected the call, not letting Angel respond.

A message came through a few minutes later with the when and where. Two days from now. Would it all end? Would we walk away from any of it? I hated the unknown.