Chapter 16: Chapter 16

“Why isn’t he dead!”

Luciana was livid. She was murderous. She craved the blood of the Spartans on her hands. How had they, those plebeians, gotten the drop on her people? Had they been standing around with their dicks in their hands?

Men. Totally inept.

She should have known the moment she left the house that the whole place would fall to hell in a handbasket. One hour away had resulted in a total bloodbath. Her poor maid would be working all through the night to have the house back in order by morning.

Windows, doors, walls, the whole lot of it had been destroyed as well. Those would take longer to fix, a constant reminder of the sheer ineptitude that’d happened here today.

“Ma’am,” one of the badly hurt but somehow still standing pieces of shit dared to say, “forgive me for saying this, but it was an ambush. We never stood a chance.”

Luciana tossed her head back and cackled. But she wasn’t laughing out of humor. She was laughing at the idiocy. The laughter ended as quickly as it had begun. She leveled the minion with a blank yet deadly stare. “Manuel reviewed the tapes himself. There was no ambush, you ingrate. It was one. Man!”

His gaze dropped to the floor where it belonged.

Luciana continued. “I’m surrounded by fools! One job. You have one job! Protect me and protect this property. You couldn’t even do that right! I’d be better off killing you all and finishing this myself.”

“Luci,” Manuel addressed her, “shit happens.”

Luciana’s eyes widened so much they dried out. “Shit happens?” she repeated on a whisper, her fingers clenching tight around the chair’s armrests. “Shit happens?” She was prepared to take her anger out on him, and it was obvious by the placating smile he wore that he knew it. It only made her angrier that he viewed her the same as everyone else: a non-threatening entity. Did he think her a joke?

Approaching her side, Manual knelt down in front of her, ever the subservient aid—all of it faker than her acrylic fingernails. He touched her cheek gently, his eyes soft and alluring. He was buttering her up, the rat.

“Mi princessa, as you said, I reviewed the tapes myself. The man had training. He had the advantage.”

“One man, Manuel,” she reminded him. “Of all of mine, someone should have been able to pull their thumb out of their ass long enough to take him out.”

“I agree, mi amor. But these men have not had the kind of training they should. They’re not equipped for true combat. They’re scrappers, street fighters. Hand to hand, they’ll win every time. Something like this? They were unprepared. Next time, they won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.”

Disgusted, Luciana jerked her head to the side, away from his slimy touch. “There’d better not be a next time, do you understand me?” she growled. “I want that gringo hunted down and dead by sunset. I want them all wiped off the map, understand? Gone!” she bellowed.

“I understand, mi pequeño demonio. And that’s just what you will have.”

Calling her his little devil may have been meant to endear her to him, but Luciana was well past that stage of emotion. She was singularly focused now. Only one thing would please her. Only one thing would make her happy now.

The head of that white man on a pike so she could look into his cold, dead eyes while she ate her dinner, knowing that she had won. To the victor go the spoils, as the saying went, and she planned to have them all.

***

“You’re insane.”

“I can’t believe you did that shit alone.”

“So, what, my invitation got lost in the mail or somethin’?”

Country laughed at his brothers’ mixed reactions to his one-man offensive strike on the Cruiz fortification. “Look, it wasn’t supposed to be like that. I got…” He had to think for a moment to find the right word. “Caught up in the moment.”

“You unloaded AR artillery—twice—on a house full of mercenaries,” Quick interjected. He was the least happy of the group.

Country understood where the president was coming from. He’d wanted recon work, not a full-on assault—yet. Everyone had their hand in the pot and wanted a piece of the pie. Country hadn’t been thinking of all that in the moment.

“Look, I do apologize for that. All I can say is that I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

Quick threw him a look. “I wasn’t there, so I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same. Tensions are running high with this. I know that. But I also want to play this thing right. We can’t afford any missteps right now.”

“I understand that.” Country also understood that he had misstepped, as far as Quick was concerned.

Quick looked around the table at the brothers gathered. “Expect this to get hot and heavy—fast. After today, Cruiz isn’t going to lay back and do nothing. She’s going to go full throttle, hitting us with everything she has and in all the places that hurt most. You have loved ones you don’t want getting caught up in the melee, now is the time to pack ‘em up and ship ‘em out.” Those steel gray eyes of his turned molten. “We’re going to war, people. No more studying the game from the sidelines. This is the real deal. I hope you’re prepared for it.”

Country left church that day feeling like dog shit on the bottom of someone’s shoe. He hadn’t considered how badly this would impact everyone. Well, he had, but only from a peripheral view. Instead of holding himself back like he should have done, he’d reverted to his days in the service. He was used to flying solo, doing what was necessary and calling the shots as he saw fit. Today he hadn’t worked as a member of a team, and now they were all going to have to pay for it.

When he walked through the front door of the home he and Talia shared, the weight of his choices grew heavier. He had another decision to make. Actually, he’d already made it. And he expected a lot of resistance.

“Hey!” Talia greeted when he entered the kitchen. She was packing a cooler with everything two people could possibly need or want on a road trip.

“Hey, sugar.”

“I have almost everything done and ready to go. I can’t wait to hit the open road!” She beamed, her smile radiant. They’d hit some rough patches a while back, but they’d managed to work through it, and they’d been doing pretty well lately. Country was afraid what he was about to tell her would derail all that progress.

“Talia,” he started, and immediately she noticed the hesitation in his voice.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

He held up his hand. “I don’t want you freaking out.”

“Well, I will if you don’t spill it. What happened? Tell me everything. Does this have anything to do with that job you said you were working earlier?”

He smirked. Talia was always eager to jump into the fray. It was hard not to love that about her, even though it was the last thing he wanted her to do—ever. She was a born fighter. It was one of her most attractive qualities.

“It does have to do with that job today. I screwed up…kind of,” he amended. “I got a little overzealous, and,” he said, taking a deep breath, “I’m going to need you to leave town for a while.”

“I thought that’s what we were doing? Wait,” she said, his words clicking into place. “You mean alone?”

“Yeah, sugar, that’s what I mean.” He hated the confusion and pain in her eyes.

“You’re canceling? This was supposed to be our special weekend. I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“It’s not by choice. It’s to keep you safe. The other brothers are doing the same, as much as they can anyway. We’re just trying to keep everyone safe.” He’d been looking forward to their plans as much, if not more, than her. A getaway was exactly what they needed, but it looked like it was going to have to be delayed a while.

“Dammit, I knew something would come up and ruin everything,” Talia ranted as she manhandled the cooler, unpacking it with a fury that would have impressed him if it wasn’t so damn sad.

Country had burst her bubble. He’d let her down in a big way, something he never wanted to do but never seemed to be able to help.

Dammit, he was sick of putting that look on her face. Couldn’t things just ever work out for them? It seemed as if, if it wasn’t one thing, it was always another.

“I know you’re disappointed, sugar. So am I. But I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“How?” she demanded to know. “Are you going to come with me? Are we going to go on the trip after all? No. You’re going to watch me pack a bag and then shuttle me off to God knows where while you stay here and do God knows what, and then assuming something horrible doesn’t happen, maybe—maybe—we’ll take that trip when things die down. Do I have that right?”

He hated to say it, but, “Yes. I’m sorry, Talia,” Country said honestly. He was gutted just watching her go through this and knowing it was his fault. He’d tipped this whole thing off, lit the match and was now watching it burn.

“You know what, it’s fine,” Talia said, her voice lower than normal as she struggled to hold back her emotions. “I’ll pack my bag. In fact, I’ll pack several.”

Country frowned as he followed her retreating form into the bedroom. “What does that mean?” He watched her pull out luggage instead of the duffle bag one might expect if they were going on a short journey. But as she cleared out dresser drawers, he realized she was packing for a much longer trip. “Talk to me, Talia. What are you doing here?”

Talia was tossing and slamming and throwing clothes into the luggage until they were both overflowing. “What does it look like I’m doing?” she groused.

He could hear the tremble in her voice, and his heart slammed in his chest in response. “It looks like you’re leaving me, sugar.”

Her only response was to pause and look up at him, eyebrows raised.

“Are you leaving me?” he asked, needing but not wanting to hear it from her lips.

“I can’t do this anymore, Tucker.”

“Can’t do what? Tell me so I can fix this.”

Stopping mid-pack, Talia’s hands gesticulated at nothing in particular, but her eyes…those eyes were so damn expressive. Welling with tears, she struggled to find words. “I just—I can’t anymore. All of this…all of it…I thought I could do it. But being kept in the dark all the time…the late nights and running off at all hours without explanation...I risked my job for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that.” It was entirely the wrong thing to say. He knew it, but it was the truth.

“Oh you kind of did,” she insisted, calling him out on the lie. “It’s draining me, Tucker,” she admitted. “All of this, the secrecy and the danger and all the shit that comes with it, never knowing when or if I’ll see you again when you walk out that door. You take risks every day, and you don’t once think of me, do you? You don’t think of what you’d be leaving behind.”

“That’s not true,” he asserted. “I think about you all the time. All the time. Everything I do is for you.”

“No, everything you do is for you. The club, me, we’re always second, hell, third.” She swiped a tear from her cheek. “Look, I’m not saying this is all your fault. I knew what I was getting myself into when I got involved with you. But I have needs too.”

“Talia, sugar,” Tucker pleaded, sensing that this moment was pivotal, one he needed to fix right damn now or he may never get the chance again. He approached her like one might a rabid animal. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll give it to you. I know I’ve been selfish sometimes, and I know there are things I could improve on. Just give me a chance. Give us a chance.”

She didn’t back away when he stood in front of her and placed both hands on the side of her face. Her eyes, though, were filled with more sadness than he could bear. Despite him standing there, bleeding internally, desperate to fix whatever he’d done wrong, inside he knew it was already a lost cause.

“I’ve given chances, Tucker, and nothing has changed. I’ve hoped and prayed every day and every night for things to be different, but tonight just showed me that they never will be. I don’t want to be stuck in a life where I’m relegated to the back burner. Or where I don’t get a say and I never know what’s going on from one moment to the next. I thought I could, but I just can’t. I need to be an equal partner, and I just don’t think I can do that with you.”

“Don’t do this,” Country begged her as she pulled away and turned to zip up the overflowing luggage. “You don’t have to leave. Stay. We can work this out. I promise. Just don’t leave. Talia—”

“I’m so sorry, Tucker. I wish things were different, but they’re just not. Maybe someday, but right now, you’re right, I have to go. It’s what’s best.”

Grabbing her arm, Country could only say, “Sugar…”

Eyes full of the same grief and remorse he felt looked up at him, and Talia rose up, pressing her lips to his in a tearful goodbye. Placing her palm on his cheek, she stared up at him for a prolonged moment before quietly scooping up her luggage and leaving the room.

Country didn’t even hear the door close behind her. All he could hear was the frantic beating of his heart in his ears.