She merely grins. “What? Ace wanted to help. He heard about the shooting, and he says he owes us.” She shrugs. “The more the merrier.”
I shake my head. The Fury Vipers are the local motorcycle club. The president of the New York chapter happens to be Makenna’s best friend’s brother. Over the past two years, they’ve had a fuck of a lot to deal with. When the shit hit the fan and Ace’s woman was in danger, Ace turned to Makenna, and as he’s family, she didn’t hesitate to step up to the plate. Now he’s here to help us.
“While we’re all practically congratulating ourselves for pulling this off—” I begin as I take in all the smiles around me. “We still haven’t uncovered who’s pulling the Serbian’s strings. They’re not doing this alone, and if we take out the Serbians, we won’t find out who’s actually gunning for us.”
The look that’s shared between Dante and Makenna tells me they've also thought about this.
"Ales,” Dante sighs. “Kenna and I have spoken about this. We either take out the Serbs now and then dig deep into who they’ve been working with, or we miss this opportunity and have to go after them individually, meaning they’d catch on to what’s going on and we could lose men.”
Fuck, but he’s right. Today is the best chance we have. If we’re going to limit the casualties on our side, taking the Serbs out when they least expect it is the right way to go.
I nod. “Alright,” I say as I get to my feet. Today’s the day to get our revenge. “Your women, are they here?” I direct my question to the Gallagher men. Romero’s wife is at Dante and Makenna’s home under more guards than anyone can count while she looks after my nephew.
“No,” Malcolm says. “Melissa is at home with the kids, but she’s on standby if we need her. Callie is in Ireland, and Raylee’s in Spain. Her best friend lost her mother, so Raylee’s with her.”
“Good,” Dante says. “It means there are less targets for them to go for. Those that are here are protected.”
We will never make the same mistakes we did in the past. The women have been targeted one too many times as a result of who they’re married to. This time we’ve got them protected, just as it should always be.
Ace walks into the office, a grin on his face. “Are we ready?”
Makenna laughs. “Bored are we, Ace?” she asks with a raised brow.
“Pyro wants to make something go boom,” he chuckles.
I turn to the guy in question. The fucker has no teeth in his mouth but still manages to give everyone a fucking bright smile. Christ, where the fuck did they find this dude?
“You all know the plan,” Dante says as he moves toward the door. “No one survives.”
The darkness in his tone sets the mood. Everyone has been told what to do, the Fury Vipers are here to help. Their guy, Pyro, is going to rig the compound the Serbs are in to explode. Any one lucky enough to survive will be gunned down as they scramble out of the wreckage.
“Are you ready for this?” Romero asks as he stands beside me.
Cold air wraps around us as we wait for the signal from Pyro. Our men, along with the Gallaghers and Vipers, are situated around the compound. We’re ready to finish this shit. Once it’s done, we can find out who’s behind it all.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask with a frown.
He shakes his head, not wanting to answer, and I grit my teeth. This is the shit I’ve had to put up with since I got back from Denver. My family has been watching me, whispering about me.
“Spit it out, Rome,” I growl. I’m far from breakable.
He heaves a heavy sigh. “The women are worried. You were shot and you’ve not mentioned anything about it.”
I shake my head. “Don’t want to talk about it,” I grunt.
“That may be so, but, Ales, you and I both know more than what you’re letting on happened down in Denver. Are you going to finally tell me what you’ve been holding back?”
I pause as I look into the darkness. Do I tell him?
“I met a woman. She’s the one who helped me. She saved my life.”
I feel his sharp gaze on me. “What?” he grunts. The word that got back to Dante was that one of Joe Ranieri’s men helped me and brought me to a safe house where the doctor was called.I’ve kept the same story as I don’t want anything happening to Gabriella.
“She was in the bar that night. She was on her way home. She should have fucking walked away, Rome. Instead, she stayed and dragged my unconscious ass to her car and got me the fuck out of there.”
Silence spreads between us. My gaze firmly on the compound in front of me, I watch as Pyro and a guy called Shadow move silently through the night, setting the explosives.
“You and this woman—” he begins carefully. “—is it just gratitude?”