by Tillie Cole
We’ll be positioned at the north side of the town. Snipers and shooters hidden in the back in case everything goes to shit. Cartel will have thirty men. We’ll be making up the rest.
Wade had already told me their plan. The Hangmen had been planning for three days. The Louisiana and San Antonio chapters were already on the south side of the ghost town. In position since last night. AK was with them. If Diego dared touch any of the brothers, AK was there to put a slug in his head. The guy was the best fucking sniper I knew. Zane, AK’s nephew, was a captive. Zane, who AK treated like a son . . . AK wouldn’t be missing a fucking shot.
On top of that, AK had the biggest task of all—to take out Diego. When the exchange was made, I had to restrain myself just long enough to let Adelita walk back to the cartel camp . . . then AK would send a bullet straight through Diego’s head.
There was no way to avoid the carnage that would follow. We were ready. It was time to fight.
Wade had given me numbers—of men, weapons and coordinates. I printed the information off and ran my hands over my face. Today, I would face Beau and Diego as a Hangman. All the time trying to keep the prospects and my bitch safe.
Too much could go wrong. I never wanted to ever go head to head with my baby brother. But there was no other way.
“One day, Tann,” Beau said. “One day we’ll stand together when the race war begins. Shoulder to shoulder, brother and brother. And we’ll fucking tear down anyone in our path.”
I remembered the elation I felt at that thought. Now, here I was, on the opposing side. I now was the path he intended to tear down. My fucking chest cracked at the thought.
Adelita put her hand on my shoulder like she’d sensed something was wrong. I lifted my head and let her spin me around in my chair. Never breaking eye contact, Adelita straddled my lap. Leaning in, she kissed my lips. My hands slid down her body, tracing over every curve. In the past three days I’d been inside her every chance I got. Our plan for today was good. We had men for when the battle broke out. Thanks to Wade, we had the knowledge of where their best snipers were positioned. But any little thing could send the exchange into a fucking nightmare. Any fuck-up could send any one of us to the boatman. Not all of us would come back to the compound tonight. That much we all knew.
I fucking counted on me and my bitch making it back alive.
“We have to go,” I said as Adelita laid her head on my chest. Her arms wrapped around me and held on tight. Adelita had been too quiet over the past few days. I didn’t like it. Didn’t like not knowing what she was thinking.
Lifting off the chair, Adelita slid down my body, and I kissed her lips. “You ready?”
Adelita nodded, but I could see she was scared by the worry in her eyes. It fucking killed me. I longed for the day when she was never scared again.
Taking her hand, I led her outside the club. The Hangmen were already waiting on their bikes. The truck I would drive was waiting at the back.
“You ready?” Ky asked. Styx and Ky were at the front of the pack. I nodded. Flame was here too, even though the guy was still injured. But nothing was keeping him from getting his brother back today. Viking was beside him. He was tasked with keeping Flame back from the cartel and Klan until it was time to fucking unleash hell.
We made our way to the truck. Adelita stopped when Beauty appeared from the clubhouse. Some men were staying behind in case there was an attack. The other bitches were in the clubhouse too, still on lockdown. Beauty threw her arms around Adelita’s neck and squeezed her tight. “You take care, all right?” Beauty said and kept hold of Adelita. “We wanna see you back here tonight.”
“Si,”Adelita replied and hugged Beauty. I looked to Tank, who was on his bike beside Bull. He nodded, as if assuring me that he had my back. That he would help make sure my woman did return home with us.
“Lita, we need to go,” I said. Adelita stepped away from Beauty. I could tell by her face that she hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected Beauty to be so concerned. My heart fucking broke for my bitch all over again. She hadn’t expected it because she’d never had many friends. Never been allowed to get too close to hardly anyone.
When we were in the truck, Adelita took a deep breath, and I saw a new kind of determination in her face. “You good?” I asked, as I pulled out onto the road. The truck was flanked by the Hangmen. Styx, Ky, and our chapter were up front; the other chapters took up the rear.
Adelita was staring out of the window. “I am.” She took hold of my hand. I knew she wanted to say something. I could tell by how she shifted on the seat. I waited her out. Eventually, after a few minutes, she said, “If something happens today . . .” She paused and seemed to think over her words. “If something happens today, I want you to know that I don’t regret a thing.” I gripped her hand tighter, keeping my eye on the road. I wasn’t sure I could look at her right now. I wasn’t sure I could keep my shit together. “Nothing, mi amor.” Adelita kissed my hand. “Meeting you, as hateful as it was in the beginning, has been the single biggest blessing I’ve had in my life.” Adelita stroked her fingers along the back of my hand. “Seeing you fight your demons, challenge the prejudices you were raised with and completely change, was the most amazing transformation to witness.”
“It was you,” I rasped. “It was all because of you.”
Adelita moved until she was right beside me on the seat. She laid her head on my shoulder. “Even though we’ve only had a short time together, Tanner, these past several days . . . they have meant more to me than anything else has in my entire life.” Adelita looked up at me, and this time I met her eyes. “I didn’t know it was possible to love anyone as much as I love you. My father never loved anyone after my mother, so I never had an example of how a couple in love could be.” I kept my eye on the road but found it hard to tear my attention away from Lita. “If anything happens today . . . if for whatever reason something goes wrong . . . at least I have known what it was like to love you. Entirely and with my whole heart.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” I said. Adelita smiled, but it was laced with sadness. I understood then that there was no part of her that thought today would go well. “I love you, princess. You fucking saved me. Not sure if you know it. But you saved me.”
“Tanner—”
“And now I get to save you.”
Adelita stayed close to my side, holding my arm and resting her head against my shoulder. My heart started to beat faster and louder when we turned onto the road that led to the ghost town. My eyes scanned around as much as I could. I could see my brothers up ahead on their bikes doing the same thing. I expected an ambush. I expected them to try to take us out. But because of Wade’s intel, we knew to come into the town from the south. Some of our brothers who had been here overnight stepped out from their hiding place to wave us on through. To assure us that we were safe.
As the town came into view, Adelita sat up. Her brown eyes were huge. But she remained the perfect cartel princess—calm and steady.
Styx, Ky, and the brothers up front turned the corner and entered the clearing in the ghost town first. I was on my guard as I pulled in. The minute the clearing came into view, every part of me tensed. Diego stood in the center, flanked by his men . . . his men and my old brotherhood. I scanned over the Klan soldiers I had trained. They were ready and braced for action. A strange familiarity rushed through me at seeing the hate on their faces. The hatred that fueled their need to kill.
And then I saw him. Beau. Standing to the side, just behind the front-line soldiers. My uncle Landry was positioned close to a van. I knew that was where the prospects were locked up.
But my attention strayed back to Beau. His hair was longer than the last time I’d seen him. He looked bigger in build. But apart from that, he was the same.
My little fucking brother.
I shifted in my seat when he looked directly at the truck. When he looked directly at me. His eyes pierced through the windshield.
“Tanner? You ok
ay?” I tried to open my eyes. The light stabbed at my skull when I did. “Shit!” Beau spat and shut the door of the shed. He turned on the storm light and rushed straight over to me on the camping cot. Beau made a move to touch me, but quickly thought better of it. “Tanner, that cunt has beaten you to a pulp.”
If I could have, I would have laughed. I knew the bastard had beaten me. There wasn’t a part of me that could move. “Yeah,” I rasped. “I didn’t kill the kid from the north east gang. The drug dealers.” I wheezed as I sucked in a slow, controlled breath. “I let him go.”
Beau sighed. “You should have just killed him, Tann.” I frowned at Beau. He looked like he was serious. But I knew him. He wouldn’t have killed that kid any more than I would have. I was seventeen. The kid had been only a few years younger. But he didn’t deserve to die. No matter what my old man said.
Beau sat down on the cold floor beside the bed. I was told to stay here until my old man came back for me. In this icebox of a shed. “He’ll beat you if he finds you here.”
Beau looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. “I’ve never been one to follow the rules, Tann. You know that.” It was true. I rarely fought back against my old man. Beau did. Then again, he wasn’t groomed to be the heir. For the most part, our old man didn’t even give a fuck about Beau. He could afford to break the rules. He wouldn’t be almost beaten to death for daring to defy him . . .
But Beau was following the rules now. Like a good little Nazi soldier.
Styx and Ky got off their bikes and stood at the front of us all. Everyone else took that as their cue and got off their bikes too. They filed in behind the prez and VP, their guns and weapons ready.
Styx looked back at me and nodded. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Adelita. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene. “Stay here.” Adelita was a damn statue. “I’ll come and get you soon.” I opened the truck’s door slightly. “Remember the plan, baby. Swerve to the left.” Adelita nodded. I didn’t want to leave her here alone, but I had to show my face. My old brotherhood knew I was a Hangman now. There was no sense in hiding.
The plan was simple. AK was one of the best snipers we had. When the exchange was made, and the prospects were safe, Adelita would swerve to the left beside Diego, and AK would put bullet right through Diego’s skull. I would get Adelita to safety, then the battle would start.
I pushed through Viking and Flame. Flame was like a fucking Rottweiler as he paced, breathing heavy, waiting for his brother to be delivered. Waiting for the go-ahead to tear every one of the Klan and cartel fuckers apart with the knives that were in his hands.
I pushed past all my brothers until I stopped beside Tank. I scoured the clearing and one by one saw my old brotherhood notice me. Their faces morphed from hatred to full fucking rage. Confirmation that the heir now belonged to Hades.
“Fucking betrayer!” Uncle Landry shouted. Some of the other Klan echoed his slight. But there was only one person out of these fuckers I’d ever given a shit about. When I found Beau, he was glaring at me, arms over his wide chest. And when my eyes fixed on his, his lip lifted in disgust and he spat on the ground at his feet.
And that was it. Proof that my brother hated me too. And I was just gonna have to be okay with that fact.
“Keep strong, brother,” Tank said under his breath. “Those fuckers ain’t your family no more.” I breathed deeply and let his words sink in. He was right. They weren’t my family. He was. Beauty was. These brothers were my fucking family . . . and that was my woman in the truck. My bitch who these cunts were trying to take away.
Movement caught my eye and led me to Diego. The minute I saw him, my veins flooded with the need to kill. To tear him apart limb from limb for even touching one hair on Adelita’s head. For having the audacity to believe that he was good enough for her. That he would ever be her motherfucking husband.
“I’d heard the rumors,” Diego said, addressing me and completely ignoring Styx and Ky, who were leading the Hangmen. Diego walked toward us. My brothers clicked the safeties off their guns. “I’d heard the great White Prince of the Ku Klux Klan had abdicated and fled to the enemy.” His head cocked to the side, and I wanted to knock his teeth from his fucking mouth.
“Give us the kids, prick. And cut the fucking theatrics,” Ky drawled and folded his arms, waiting for Diego to speak.
Diego, even to this exchange, was wearing an expensive black suit and tie. His brown eyes went ice cold. “I want to see her first.” He pointed to the van Landry guarded. “Only then will the exchange take place.”
Styx eventually looked back at me and nodded. I passed by Smiler, who was watching that van like a hawk. Slash was in there. This all had to go to plan. I approached the truck and saw Adelita sit up straight. I opened the passenger-side door. “You ready, baby?”
Adelita climbed from the truck. I led her through the Hangmen. I held my hand back. Adelita slipped her hand in mine and fucking squeezed it tight. As we broke through the final few brothers, we stood beside Styx and Ky. Adelita released my hand and walked forward toward Diego.
I saw fire light in Diego’s eyes on seeing Adelita . . . until he saw what she was wearing. Then that fire lit into a fucking inferno. The cartel princess stood in biker bitch clothes. “Adelita . . .” Diego said, softly.
“Diego.” No one would ever know my bitch was scared. She stood like a fucking warrior queen, staring down her ex-fiancé.
“You’ve seen her,” Ky said. “Now show us our prospects.”
Diego nodded, but he was wearing a sadistic kind of smile. I braced myself, wondering what the fuck it was for, when Landry opened the van. I couldn’t see inside. Then a Klansman came out of the dark cabin, pulling a beaten woman with blond hair to the ground.
At first I didn’t know what the fuck was happening, who the hell she was, until Adelita whispered, “No . . .” The woman lifted her swollen eyes at the sound of Adelita’s voice, and a pained sound ripped from her throat. “No!” Adelita cried again, and this time tried to run toward the woman. The beaten bitch had a rope around her throat, the binds rubbing her skin raw. I grabbed Adelita before she could gain any ground. “Charley!” she cried, and my head snapped to the woman. Charley . . . Adelita’s best friend. The bitch from California.
“I thought I’d better bring some insurance,” Diego said coldly.
Adelita shook in my arms. “My father will kill you when he finds out you have taken her.”
Diego’s head tipped to the side. “Cariño . . . it was his idea.”
Adelita froze. She gasped. But she didn’t argue back. After what she had discovered about her father, I figured she believed he was capable of anything.
“The prospects, cuntface,” Ky growled. “I’m getting real tired of your bullshit.”
Without taking his suspicious eyes off me and Adelita, he signaled with the click of his fingers for Landry to bring out the captives. In seconds they were being pushed from the van and into the clearing. Flame snarled behind us, and I felt the tension rise among the brothers as the prospects came closer. They were beaten, their faces covered in blood. A Klansmen led them to the center of the clearing and kicked each of them to their knees. I rocked on the spot, ready to just fucking storm these fuckers and take as many out as I could. But Adelita turned to look at me.
Diego walked to the prospects and pulled out a knife. Styx held out his gun, the Hangmen Mute ready to shoot Diego through the skull. Diego moved beside Slash, reached down and cut the rope that bound him. He next moved to Zane, and finally to Lil’ Ash.
“Adelita,” Diego said, and jerked his head—a command for Adelita to go to him. Adelita’s eyes moved from the prospects to Charley, who was being held at knifepoint by a Klan solider. And finally to Diego. Adelita moved from my arms, and it took everything I had not to wrench her back to me and take her the fuck away. With a sad smile, Adelita walked away from me and toward Diego. My blood ran cold. I didn’t like that look in her eyes. Like she was saying goodbye for real
.
Only the sound of Diego’s voice took my attention away from her. “Get to your fucking feet.” The prospects did as he said. Adelita got closer and closer to Diego.
The relief I saw on the prospects’ faces as she approached was obvious. They were fucking kids. They’d be scared shitless. Adelita stopped next to Diego. He smiled at her. Tank laid his hand on my arm to stop me from going over there and taking her the fuck back. I breathed, trying to calm down.
“The kids,” Ky barked.
Diego nodded, but then said, “Oh, just one more thing.” One second he stood beside Adelita, and the next he had his arm around Lil’ Ash’s throat, a gun to his head. Looking directly at Ky and Styx, Diego said, “You took something of mine, now I’ll take something of yours.”
Lil’ Ash’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Flame roared in rage from behind us and plowed through the men to get to his brother. Diego released his safety, just as Slash rushed at Ash from the side and knocked Ash to the ground and out of Diego’s hold. Diego didn’t falter; instead he turned the gun on Slash and shot a bullet straight through the kid’s eyes. The world moved to slow motion as Lil’ Ash’s scream ripped into the air, followed by Smiler’s, who ran from the men toward his cousin lying on the ground. Blood seeped from his head. Slash’s eyes were open, staring at nothing.
The world slammed back into real time as Ash pushed off the ground and ran toward us. Grabbing a couple of guns from Ferg, one of the Florida chapter’s brothers, he turned back into the clearing and started firing. Fucking roaring and firing bullet after bullet into Klan and cartel flesh. Flame was beside him in seconds, guns aimed at the Klan who had started firing back.
“Zane!” Viking’s voice rang out to the youngest prospect, who was watching the scene like he didn’t know what the fuck to do. One of the cartel rushed at Zane, knife ready to stab the kid. A shot rang out in the distance, and the cartel fucker hit the ground—bullet to the heart. AK. Zane only took a second to lean down and pick up the cartel prick’s gun. He followed Ash. I watched as the little fucker started firing slugs at the cartel and Klan. Two men immediately went down. I was sure the kid had never killed before . . . He had now.
