The first man through opened fire.
I watched in horror as Marvin’s chest blew open. He toppled backwards out of the chair in a spray of blood and a groan of pain. Vlad and German threw themselves down and flipped the table up for cover as the rest of the guys came inside, firing their guns.
Luke shoved me behind him, wedging me into the corner. He had a gun in his hand and opened fire, hitting the nearest shooter in the leg. German came up and fired, hitting one of the guys in the head, and Vlad screamed something in Russian and began running and shooting. Bullets slammed all around him, but Luke kept firing and shot another. Three of the attackers were down in a flash, but two were still up and starting to move toward the bar, seeking cover.
Vlad charged like a bull. One of the shooters stopped firing, his gun jammed, and Vlad rammed into him, tackling the man to the floor. German came up again and fired, hitting the last guy before he could get behind the bar. Luke ran out and finished off the men on the floor as Vlad slammed his prisoner down against the ground over and over, smashing him into the floor like a doll.
“Enough,” Luke growled, pulling Vlad back. The man lay there groaning, still alive, but broken into a pulp.
The floor was slick with gore and blood. I couldn’t move, could barely breathe. I looked over at Marvin, at his corpse lying there motionless and still leaking dark blood from multiple wounds in his chest. His heart must’ve stopped, and he was gone.
“Are you okay?” Luke knelt in front of me, breathing hard through his teeth. “Cara, are you okay?”
I blinked a few times then nodded. “Yeah, yeah, I think I’m okay, yeah.”
“Don’t move.” Luke got up and stalked across the room. He kicked the last living guy in the side hard. “Who sent you?”
The man groaned. “Fuck you, asshole.”
“Wrong answer.” Luke shot him in the head.
Vlad growled with anger. “Why would you do that? We could’ve talked to him.”
“They’re Maher’s guys.” Luke spit on the dead man then rolled the first shooter over with his foot. “I recognize this one, a guy named Billy, works for Maher sometimes. The rest of them are either from Maher’s crew or hired fucking muscle.”
German was on the phone, saying something to someone. My ears rang like bells, and I tried to get to my feet, but couldn’t quite make it. I stayed there on the floor, staring at Marvin’s body, at all the other bodies, at the brains splattered across the tiles, at the way Luke looked so angry, so disgusted, and so filled with a vengeful wrath.
It all happened so fast.
“Clean this shit up,” Luke said to Vlad. “Get rid of Marvin, that poor bastard.”
“What about you?” Vlad asked. “You just going to dip out?”
“I’m taking Cara somewhere safe. German’s calling for backup, so wait until they show up.”
“Yeah, all right boss.” Vlad looked back at Marvin. “He didn’t deserve that.”
“No, he didn’t.” Luke put a hand on Vlad’s shoulder. “We’re going to make it right.”
“Can’t make it right. Don’t matter how many of them you kill.”
Luke grunted something softly, then walked back to me. I stared up into his angry eyes and managed to get to my feet with his help. I wiped flecks of blood from his cheek.
“Come on,” he said softly. “We’ll get you home.”
“They just came in and started shooting.” I felt dizzy and I thought I might be sick. I should’ve been sick, given all the death and blood around me. I didn’t know how I was still walking, let alone talking.
“Thought they could surprise me in my own fucking club. Maher must’ve gone insane or he lost all damn respect for me.” He clenched his jaw then pulled me along by my arm. “Come on, let’s get you out of here”
I glanced back at Marvin and wished I could do something for him—I was just starting to get to know him and thought maybe I could make a friend in Luke’s crew.
But now he was gone. The fate of all men like him, murdered in violence.
Dead in blood.
That’d happen to Luke one day. I felt it startlingly clear, right in my chest.
It would happen to Luke, like it happened to Marvin, like it happened to my dad.
Like it would happen to me if I didn’t get away from all this.
Luke dragged me outside, pulled me into the car, and we drove off in silence.
15
Luke
I got Cara back to my place and had Yuri watch over her while I went back to help with cleanup. A few guys from another Morozov crew showed up, and together we managed to get rid of the bodies and mop up most of the blood. Needless to say, the club wasn’t opening that night until we could get a legit deep cleaning crew in there.