Ryan (The Mallick Brothers #2)

by Jessica Gadziala

  "There were no mother fucking rules about where I put the goddamn supply, Dom, and you know it."

  What the hell was he doing?

  I looked at his profile, my eyes bugging out, giving his hand a squeeze that I hoped relayed the message I was trying to deliver with my eyes: What are you trying to piss them off? Shut the hell up!

  And despite knowing each other most of our lives and being able to have nonverbal conversations like that, he was completely ignoring me.

  "It's something that my other men simply understand."

  "Well, now it has been clarified. I don't see how any of this could have gotten around anyway, Dom. Unless, Ray and his buddy were talking seeing as I'm the only one dealing in Navesink Bank. Can't figure out why I'm being made an example of when you got some guys with loose fucking lips which is a much bigger threat to your organization."

  "Enough," Dom said, waving a hand toward Bry.

  Apparently that was some sort of nonverbal cue because the next thing I knew, Ray was across the room, grabbing Bry, pulling him to the side. His hand squeezed mine, again like reassurance, before I lost it completely. When I tried to reach for him again, Ray reached out with his free hand and shoved- catching me off-guard and sending me falling to the floor.

  I landed on my side with a shooting of pain from my hip to my shoulder.

  But I barely registered it, all my attention focused on Bry as he was pulled away. When he tried to double back to me, seeing me fall, Ray's arm cocked back and swung, landing solidly into his center and making him fall to his knees, gasping hard for breath.

  "No!" I shrieked, unable to keep it in, hysteria bubbling up like never before.

  "Shut the fuck up, cunt, or it will be you next time."

  I didn't hear a shuffle. I didn't hear any of the men shouting.

  I didn't hear anything out of what was the ordinary.

  Except the next second, a voice that hadn't been in the room before spoke, breaking through the tension like the crack of a whip.

  "Care to call me a cunt too? I mean, I do have the right body parts for it."

  And there was a woman.

  Really, one look at her and you realized she wasn't merely a woman; she was a force to be reckoned with. It wasn't that she was overly bulky or butch or intimidating. Actually, she had a perfectly curved, feminine body with long legs, a flare of hips, and a great rack. She was dressed in somewhat military fashion with camouflage printed utility pants and a tight nude-colored tank top. She had long blonde hair and intelligent, observant warm brown eyes. But there was just something about her. There was an air of authority and strength.

  She stood in the doorway with her head cocked to the side, calm as could be. Like it was every day she walked into a drug dealer's compound.

  I worried momentarily that maybe that was because she was a part of their organization or something. That was until Dom stiffened in his chair. "Who the fuck are you?"

  "I'm Lo. And this," she said, moving to the side and allowing another woman to step in. She was younger, black-haired, blue-eyed, and covered in tattoos, "is Jstorm. And this," she went on as Jstorm filed in to allow space in the doorway again, "is Ryan Mallick," she said and I felt like my belly dropped to my feet.

  Ryan?

  But even as I was trying to convince myself that I was hearing things, hallucinating, losing my ever-loving mind, he stepped in.

  Just like when Bry walked in, he didn't look at the men on the stage. He didn't look at Bry on the ground or Ray standing over him. His eyes went and stayed on me. There seemed to be a thousand words in their light depths.

  But it wasn't the time or place.

  "What the fuck are you doing here and where the fuck are my men?" Dom hissed, sitting up straight, but seeming to refuse to leave his makeshift throne.

  "Funny story," Lo said, leaning back against the doorway, casual as you please. Who the hell was the woman? "You employ a bunch of street rats with absolutely no training. I mean the first guy to pull a gun on me, he held it out at me on an angle. For fuck's sake. Like a gangster in a movie. Ridiculous. Needless to say, they were easy to disarm and get control over. Mine and Mallick's people have them all corralled into one of the other rooms."

  They had them corralled into a room.

  So, they essentially... had control over the situation?

  I wasn't going to be raped and murdered.

  "You're not as pathetic-looking as you sounded on the phone," the other woman, Jstorm, said, directed it seemed to Bry.

  "Gee, thanks," Bry said, still sounding winded and I worried about his ribs.

  "Why are you here? You want the fucking girl?" Dom asked, waving a hand toward me and it was right about then I thought to pick myself up slightly, getting onto my knees.

  "We will be taking the girl," Lo said, a little edge in her voice. "We will also be taking your former dealer with us as well."

  "That's where I am going to draw the line," Dom said, voice getting firm. "He is mine. He fucked up. I get to deal with him however the fuck I want."

  "It's funny, you're talking like you have any leverage here. You don't."

  "I don't know who the fuck..." Dom started, getting up off his chair and reaching into the waistband of his jeans.

  I had seen enough movies to know what he kept there.

  And I knew enough about odds to know he could probably put a bullet in at least one of the other people in the room before they could get out a gun and put one in him. If they even had guns. I knew Ryan was a loanshark and everything, but I was pretty sure he never had a gun on him when I was around him.

  But, as fate would have it, his hand never reached his gun.

  Because, in an action that I never could have predicted no matter how many times I could reimagine the situation, Albert stood and raised a hand. I caught a flash of silver before I heard the bang.

  Then the entire side of Dom's head exploded.

  Exploded.

  Red shot out of one side, splattering everywhere as his body wobbled then collapsed.

  As much as it hurts my pride to admit it, I screamed.

  And I mean... screamed.

  And it didn't stop until I felt a hand clamp over my eyes as an arm went around my center and pulled me backward.

  I didn't need to see to know.

  Ryan.

  SEVENTEEN

  Ryan

  The plan Jstorm came up with was surprisingly simple. There wasn't even a hint of flare to it. It was a cut and dry invasion, disarmament, and containment. Really, that was it. We, which meant me, Lo, Jstorm, the guy driving whose name was Malcolm, along with about a dozen or so other people in accompanying SUVs and my entire family who followed behind in their own, my fucking mother included, all climbed out of the cars in unison after one of Lo's men in the SUV behind us got out and picked the lock for the gate so we could all drive in.

  Then Lo hopped out and walked right up to the first guy who saw our presence, some kid with a Glock who held it out at an angle which Lo apparently found so amusing that she threw her head back and laughed before her right arm went across her body, grabbing the whole side of the gun then bringing her left fist up in an uppercut to the man's jaw. It was comical how fast he was knocked out and on the ground and Lo in possession of his gun.

  From there, everyone else filed out of their respective vehicles and I was handed a gun, looking back to see my parents and brothers had brought their own, something we very rarely, almost never carried.

  And then we simply moved in, everyone aware, each taking down a threat before they could scream or get a shot off- alarming the boss to our presence.

  Once they were all filed into one room on their knees, Lo's guys and girls and my family there keeping an eye, the three of us moved down the hall to the sound of voices.

  Had I not gotten a very stern warning from Lo and then Jstorm, the latter much more filled with piss and vinegar, about staying calm and letting Lo lead, I would have fucking darted across that roo
m to her.

  Never, never in my fucking life had I been even as close to worried about something or someone as I had been about her over the past two hours. It was a constant, overwhelming, all-consuming sick feeling. Every God-awful worst case scenario flashed across my mind.

  Seeing her down on that floor, everything within me begged me to run over to her, to slide my hands over her and make sure she wasn't hurt anywhere.

  But I couldn't.

  I owed Lo and Hailstorm more than just the money I would pay them for this. I owed them my respect and cooperation.

  So I stayed where I was.

  And I took comfort in the fact that she was fully dressed, not even a shoe kicked off, so the worst-case had definitely not happened. And aside from what looked to be bruises on her wrists and the redness in her eyes that hinted at tears, there seemed to be no injuries.

  I could look her over as soon as the situation was handled.

  Fact of the matter was, the situation was still somewhat volatile until Dom, Albert, and Ray Cleaver were neutralized.

  The last thing I could have expected, though, was a goddamn mutiny.

  Brother taking out brother.

  It was fucking biblical in its simplicity.

  One bullet to the head and none of us even had to get our hands dirty.

  Lo and Jstorm each raised their guns, unsure of the situation, as Dusty screamed, her face twisted up in horror as she sat frozen, watching the bullet tear through Dom's skull, watching brain matter splatter everywhere, watching his dead body fall to the ground.

  And, well, fuck the rules.

  Fuck respect and gratitude.

  She needed me and they would just have to fucking deal with that.

  I rushed up behind her, clamping my hand over her eyes, wrapping my arm around her center, and dragging her backward, eyes focused on the man with the gun.

  Bry twisted from his position, letting out a cry of pain and it was clear he had a busted rib or two, but he did it anyway, knocking into Ray's knees and sending him flying onto his back.

  "Well, that's certainly not a loss for any of us," Lo said, calm as ever and I was left to wonder what kind of fucked up things she had overseen and been involved in in her career to make her so unflappable.

  "I was looking for an opportunity to do that," Albert admitted, voice a little rough and, I guessed, killing your own brother would do that to a man. He held up his hands for a second, showing submission, then slowly lowered his gun to the ground, kicking it away.

  "Not that we're not pleased as punch to not have to do it ourselves, but care to tell us why?"

  "Ever know a real scumbag... Lo, was it?" he asked, sitting back down. "And not in passing. I mean know them. Break bread with them, share fucking holidays with them. And have to listen to that shit, listen to them brag about all the twisted shit they have done? The men they have tortured and killed? The women they have raped and ordered be raped? If you had even a clue what that was like, you would understand this."

  "Sure, but why now?" Lo pressed and I was vaguely aware of Bry climbing on top of Ray and starting to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. Which, well, I couldn't fault him. I had beaten that man myself.

  Jstorm moved from Lo's side and went to stand by the men to, I imagined, make sure she stopped Bry before he killed the man.

  "I couldn't let him get his hands on her," Al said, waving a hand toward where I still had Dusty pulled against me, her body having completely collapsed against me, her chest jerking in such a way that she must have been crying, albeit silently. "It's bad fucking enough to know the bastard did that shit to women but not knowing of it at the time. It's a complete other to be ordered to bring a woman to be beaten and raped and killed."

  "But you did bring her here," Lo specified, trying to understand.

  "Once he had his little audience with her, I figured I could sneak her out and say she escaped. This place is only impenetrable from the front. The back of the building is loaded with windows and shit for the old classrooms."

  "You could have let me run away," Dusty said, surprising me enough to drop my hand. Her voice had been loud, seeming to explode outward from her. And, so used to her speaking so quietly, to murmuring and whispering and tentatively speaking her opinion, it was shocking. "I got away. I was out and you dragged me back!"

  "Sweetheart," Albert said, shaking his head. "There were four guys in that yard. They would have told Dom that I let you go."

  "Alright," Lo interrupted. "So what now?" she asked, looking at Albert.

  It was right about then too that Jstorm, with a string of profanities, tried to get Bry off of Ray. When he didn't respond to any of that, she lifted her heavy combat-booted foot and slammed it into his hips, knocking him off.

  "I take over. You take your people and leave. You never hear about us again."

  Lo pursed her lips. "That could work. Just a warning, we're putting out word to all the local dealers to keep an eye out for new people on our streets. To say they won't handle it nearly as amicably as we are right now would be an understatement."

  "We'll stay out of Navesink Bank," Albert said with a nod and, despite not knowing the man from Adam, I believed him.

  "You stay twenty miles out of Navesink Bank in all directions or we come back with one of Jstorm's creations. They're of the big bang variety," she specified with what seemed like an almost maternal smile to the younger woman.

  "Understood," Albert agreed.

  Lo kept her eyes on Al, but addressed me. "Why don't you guys go ahead and head out?" she suggested, reaching in her pocket and tossing a key. "Bry, you too. We'll drop you at the hospital once we're back in town," she added.

  I didn't hesitate, I grabbed Dusty and I dragged her with me, finding her oddly uncooperative. But we were given an out and I was fucking taking it. I pulled her through the halls, nodding my head at Shane as he caught my eye when we passed the room where they were holding Dom's, now Al's, people.

  Then we exploded outside and I didn't stop until I hauled her up into the backseat of the SUV I had driven to Camden in and slammed and locked the doors. Bry gave me a look that said he didn't want to, but would give me a few alone with her and stayed outside the car.

  "Dusty, honey, breathe," I demanded, trying to keep my voice calm, but more than a bit of desperation seeped into my tone.

  She wasn't even looking at me, her eyes huge and seemingly unseeing. My hand reached out and pressed into her stomach hard. "Breathe," I repeated.

  That seemed to get through as she sucked in air greedily, her belly expanding. Her eyes moved to me, looking at me like she was seeing me for the first time.

  And then the dam just... broke.

  Her eyes welled up and she face-planted into my chest, her arms wrapping around my center hard enough to make it difficult to breathe.

  "It's okay," I murmured, hands sliding around her, slipping up her back, and sifting through her hair. "I got you," I added, pulling her forward and onto my lap.

  "How... did..." she started, sniffling hard in a way I shouldn't have found amusing, but she was alive, unharmed, and in my arms. So I was going to go ahead and be charmed by it.

  "The tenant in the other penthouse. He thought something was up and looked out the window and saw you get snatched. He called me. We called Hailstorm. You saw the rest."

  "What... is... Hailstorm?"

  "That's a good fucking question," I agreed, looking out the front window as Lo, Jstorm, and Malcolm walked out first, carefully followed by my family and then the rest of Lo's people who spread out, turned to face the building with guns out still, and walked backward toward the cars, creating a human wall.

  Trained.

  Highly, highly trained.

  Whatever the fuck Hailstorm did, I bet they did it well.

  My father tapped slightly on the window as he passed, giving me a nod, then moving off to his SUV.

  Bry climbed in the other side of the backseat, Jstorm moving past us to another SUV and
Lo and Malcolm hopped in as well.

  Then, like we had just stopped for a quick late dinner, we all pulled off and left.

  As for me, I didn't pull a breath until we were back on a main street again. As if similarly afflicted, no one else seemed inclined to break the silence either.

  It wasn't until we cleared out of the county lines before someone finally did. And that someone, unsurprisingly, was Bry.

  "Hey Sunshine," he called quietly, extremely hesitantly, using her hated middle name. I knew he was feeling guilt. Though, really, it was just an impossible situation and she was, after all, okay. "Don't be mad at me, Dust," he urged, needy, desperate for forgiveness.

  "I'm not mad at you," she mumbled against my chest.

  "You can't even look at me," he pointed out.

  "I was looking at you plenty in there. Trying to silently communicate to you to..."

  "Shut the fuck up before I got the both of us killed," he agreed, nodding, making her head pop up to look at him. "I know."

  "And yet..."

  "I knew nothing was going to happen, Dusty. I wouldn't put you in danger on purpose. You fucking know me better than that. I just... that mother fucker had men beat you and steal your safe little haven from you. And then had you fucking kidnapped on top of it all? I couldn't just stand there like a bitch and not say something about it."

  "I kind of mouthed off to Dom too so I guess I can't blame you," she said, swiping at her cheeks, not even attempting to move away from me and I wouldn't have had it any other fucking way.

  "You?" Bry asked exactly what I was wondering. "You don't mouth off to anyone."

  "Apparently when people make jokes about raping me, I do."

  I could see Bry pale, likely feeling the same sinking feeling in his gut at the very idea of her having to listen to that shit.

  There was a long, tense pause as Bry looked at her, brows drawn together. "You're not freaking out," he observed, looking utterly confused by that.

  "I've been, ah, getting used to being dragged around against my wishes," she admitted with a wobbly little smile as she looked up at me.