“To save your damn life!” I seethe through clenched teeth.
“Mr. Diaz was afraid we would blow our cover if he turned you away. He was afraid you would say something to dad, and he would figure it out…” Hudson shakes his head. “I fucked up, Kiana. I was ready to put a stop to it—then Bram showed up and offered to pay the debt for you.”
“Once again, to save your damn life!” I am literally trembling with anger.
“I told Mr. Diaz that I was done.” Hudson looks down for a moment. “He said one more deal. We’d get a big payoff from Bram and then we could go our separate ways. He wasn’t supposed to involve you…”
“Hudson, Bram doesn’t have that kind of money.” I glare at him. “He had to empty his bank account to buy our dad’s shares of the company.”
“Fuck!” Hudson stands up. “I need to tell Mr. Diaz that this is over. I’ll fix this Kiana, just give me a few minutes.”
“You damn well better fix it, and then I don’t want to ever see you again.” I slump in my chair.
Hudson walks to the door and after knocking several times, it finally opens. I stare a hole in him until it slams shut again.
My emotions are going in every direction at once. My brother is alive—he’s not in danger—but he’s a bigger asshole than my father ever was.
He let me make that deal with Mr. Diaz. He let me walk out onto that stage and take my clothes off for money.
For what? To keep up appearances—to protect himself from getting caught?
I thought I knew him. I would have done anything for him.
At least this will be over soon.
I hope.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bram
This is it. The moment I trained my whole life for. Granted, when I was getting my boots dirty in basic training, I never imagined using those skills for urban combat. I planned to fight for my country, not for the woman I love—but I’ll be damned if I won’t use everything Uncle Sam taught me to get her back in my arms.
“You good?” I look over at Lawson as my car pulls to a stop near Mr. Diaz’s club.
“Yeah.” He makes some adjustments to the AR-15 he borrowed from Keaton. “Let’s go get my daughter back.”
“We don’t leave without her.” I nod and reach for my M-16.
“I’m going to say this right now—I will never be okay with it.” He shoots me a glance.
“Yeah, I know.” I open my door.
Lawson has lost everything. His son is a disgrace who gambled away his entire fortune. His wife is leaving him because of all his secrets and lies. He treated his daughter like shit and his eyes are finally open to it. But none of that makes him okay with what happened—the night she crawled into my bed. Right now, none of that matters. We are two people who care about the girl inside that club more than our own lives. If we lose them today, so be it.
I’ll willingly bleed my last drop if I know she’s safe.
“One guy at the door.” Lawson motions, the slings his AR-15 over his back. “I got him.”
“Sure thing.” I nod and let him take the lead.
Lawson was a demon in the desert. He could sneak behind enemy lines with a knife clenched in his teeth and walk out without a scratch on him—covered in the blood that wasn’t his. I never had a problem getting my hands dirty, but I was much better with a gun in my hand than without one.
I watch as Lawson disappears in broad daylight like it’s the dead of night. A minute later, he’s behind the guy guarding the front door. Crimson is all I see before Lawson drops him. Mr. Diaz might have had the upper hand with a beaten-up bastard like me coming for him, but he’s about to face a father’s wrath—a man who has nothing left to lose at this point.
“Alright.” I meet him at the door. “It’s probably going to get ugly when we walk in here.”
“Good.” Lawson clutches his AR-15.
I slam a boot into the door hard enough for it to nearly come off its hinges. The two of us storm the club with weapons drawn. We’re not here to take prisoners. Kiana’s life is the only one that will be spared. We didn’t pick this fight, but by god, we’re going to finish it.
“What the hell? Oh my god! Juan! Mr. Diaz!” A startled thug reaches for a weapon and dies before his hand ever gets close.
Two down.
“On your six!” Lawson points.
“Got him.” I turn and two bullets drop another one of Mr. Diaz’s thugs.
It might as well be a massacre. Shooting fish in a fucking barrel. Mr. Diaz’s thugs are good on the streets, and they’ll kill for the man who pays them, but they never get a chance. Bullets end lives in an instant until there’s enough smoke from our weapons to leave a haze.
“Stop! Dad! Stop!” A voice—a familiar voice, but not the one I expected.
“Hudson?” Lawson lowers his gun.
“Don’t shoot anyone else, please!” Hudson steps out from a back room with his hands in the air.
“What the hell are you doing here, son?” Lawson blinks a couple of time in confusion.
I share his confusion, but I’m not ready to let my guard down. I scan the room as Hudson approaches. Something doesn’t feel right. Why would Hudson be here? All of this shit started because of his fucking debt. This should be the last place in the world he would want to be.
“I’m trying to straighten all of this out!” Hudson is sweating. He’s obviously upset.
“Where’s Kiana?” I ask the question before Lawson has a chance.
“She’s safe! I promise! She should have never gotten dragged into this.” Hudson looks down and sighs. “I fucked up, dad.”
“I want to see her.” I narrow my eyes at Hudson.
Regardless of whether Hudson is here by own free will or
