Page 28 of Holiday Scars
“No!” Blade says, shoving me behind him. “You two must be really stupid or desperate.”
That gets Reichart’s attention, and when he sneers at Blade, about to reply, Dirk pulls a knife from his boot and shoves Reichart onto his back.
Holding the serrated edge to his neck, he says, “If your partner touches my woman, we will not only kill you, but I’ll find your wives and kill them, too.”
Reichart’s jaw ticks. Dirk shifts slightly, taking advantage of the mindfuck my brother laid on the guy to steal his focus. My pulse is pounding so hard, something inside me snaps.
I launch, surprising Reichart. But he’s fast and turns his gun back to Dirk, ready to shoot. I pull the trigger first. Once, then twice. When the other agent flies out of the bedroom, I ice him,too. With both guys dead on the floor, Dirk runs to check on Hana.
Blade just stares at me, blinking. I just killed two men in front of him. Something he’s never seen.
My heart’s hammering as the world tilts, but my voice is steady when I say, “They weren’t taking my brother.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Blade
The sound of gunfire still rings in my skull. Two bodies lie dead on the floor, their blood spreading, soaking into the planks.
Hana is shaking so hard she can’t stand. Dirk’s got her in his arms, holding her like she might break apart. Jett’s watching his brother and the woman he killed two men for.
Dirk is the first to speak. “We should call someone. Have these pricks moved and—”
I let out a laugh that sounds nothing like me. “Dirk, every cleaner on the East Coast knows who we are. This can’t get back to the Quinlans. We’ll take care of it.”
Mentioning our bosses, the Irish Mob, hangs in the air, heavy and true. And it makes this more real. We’re all alone. We have to take care of this ourselves.
Hana sobs, pressing her face into Dirk’s shoulder. “Take me home.”
“We can’t stay here, Blade.” Dirk drills me with a look. “I can’t—”
“No.” My voice comes out rough. “We stay. We act normal. Their agent-in-charge told these douches to back off and wait in town, remember, Jett?”
He nods, staring at the dead bodies.
Dirk curses under his breath. “I’ll find their car and drop it off in front of that biker bar on Route 19. Those MC assholes will get blamed for making them disappear.”
Jett puts on a pair of gloves and drops to the floor to start going through their pockets. “Keys.” He depresses the buttons on the fob, and lights flash in the brush about one hundred yards from the house. “And the car.”
“You saved my life, brother,” Dirk says, hugging Jett.
They share a moment and grip each other’s necks, whispering, their bonded trauma on display. Now, I’m jealous and totally get why Jett was offended when I put my relationship with Dirk above taking a stand to make Jett mine.
Shit can change in a second. It just did.
Dirk kisses Hana before leaving with a bag of clothes to change into after he dumps the agents’ car. He knows...
Hana, now standing alone, flies to Jett. “Dirk said you saved him. Us.” Her voice cracks. “Thank you.” She leans in and kisses his cheek. Soft. Grateful.
Something ugly twists in my gut seeing him touch a woman. I shouldn’t care. But I do.
“Hana, why don’t you stay in Dirk’s room?” I look down at the two dead bodies. “We’ve got to dump these guys before Dirk gets back.”
We wrap the Feds in tarps from the shed. Taking care of a scene is a reminder of how comfortable I am working with Jett. But he wants to leave my detail with Rhys.
Jett helps me lift the bodies. One by one, we load them into the trunk of Hana’s car after lining it with more plastic. We then drive through the woods until the trees open up to the lake.
The water is black and still. A perfect burial ground. Even if they find the bodies, like Dirk suggested, the bikers will get the rap. After all, Reichart reported that he never found Dirk.
