Everyone’s laughing, and I can't help but smile. This is what family should be laughing, joking about life.

  “Well you need someone to tame that devil,” Warren says.

  Which brings me to my other point. “Drew…”

  "Far as everyone thinks, she is just a fuck,” Warren says. “For the moment, I would like to keep it that way." For once, Warren might finally have a good way of keeping Drew safe from all this.

  “Now that that’s all done, when is lunch served?” I ask.

  I watch the girls laughing at something on Drew’s phone.

  As everyone walks away to eat, I'm left with Elijah. I was trying to avoid being left alone with him if I could. We've been targets before, but there is something in the air about tonight that has me rattled.

  Elijah walks over to me, and we both make our walk to the garden. "I've spoken to Gwen, and as much as I didn't want to talk about tonight, I had to tell her."

  "I know. Alice knows, too." I light up a cigarette and lean against the wall.

  “She...I’ve...told…”

  “Elijah, you will watch your son grow up. If I have to take a bullet to protect you, I will. You have a wife and a child on the way. You need to be here.” I can see how hard this is to talk about.

  "You know Gwen and I both said you would say that, you've always looked out for us. Maybe it's time for someone to look out for you. Gwen has said that no matter what happens tonight, she won't leave the family. This is her family just as much as it is mine," Elijah says.

  I couldn't be happier that she thinks like that about us, because from the moment Elijah brought her to a family dinner, we loved her like a sister.

  "I don't know why you're talking like this. Nothing is going to happen, so stop worrying," I say as I walk to the rail leading to the lawn.

  "I'm sure it was your grandad who told you that when you have a war, you lose men," Gwen says as she walks up to us.

  I turn around to face her. "The family we are, men will fall."

  Gwen presses her hand to my cheek. "Maybe tonight won't be that night, but you can’t always be there for your brothers. They can fight, and whatever happens will happen. One thing you need to know is that it won’t be your fault.”

  It will be my fault. Whenever that day comes, I know it will be because of a fight I started, or because I wasn't ready. If anything happens to my brothers, I will always blame myself.

  I walk over to Elijah and see Warren standing next to him. "Remember that quote grandad drilled into us when we were little. He told us we might fight today, but brothers will always stick together." I look at them both. "I still say the quote whenever we go to talk to a family, because I know you two will always have my back."

  Warren looks at us both.

  The three of us stare for a moment, then say the quote together.

  “Because brothers don’t let each other wander in the dark alone.”

  “Are we ready to finish this fight?” Elijah asks.

  “Yes,” both I and Warren reply.

  Tonight is going to be a fight, and there's going to be blood spilled, but one thing is for sure. The Young family will die tonight.

  ***

  Pike turns the headlights off as we get closer to the warehouse. I don't want them knowing we're here. This is a surprise attack. Everyone knows their role for tonight. As the car stops, everyone gets out and starts moving towards the warehouse. Each of us have our guns ready. A semi-automatic is all I need. It’s easy to reload.

  My head turns to Vinny as his phone rings. I told everyone, all phone should be off. Without checking to see who it is, he turns his phone off and we walk into the warehouse.

  Tingles run down my spine. Something is off. It doesn't feel right. As soon as I get deeper into the warehouse, I know why something feels wrong. As I look around the not-so-empty warehouse, I see at least fifteen members of the Young family. Bastards. There was only supposed to be four. Even then, we knew there'd be more. I was expecting eight, maybe nine, but fifteen is a hell of a lot more than we thought there would be. We're outnumbered.

  There’s a smirk on Louis's face as he takes a step forward with his arms out wide. "You didn't think there'd be so many of us?"

  The fucker has a cockiness in his tone that angers me.

  "Are you running scared? Is that why you brought all the backup?" I'm baiting him, but I'm not going to let this asshole get to me. He's right that I wasn't expecting this many, but I'm not going to let him know that.

  He laughs. "I could ask you the same thing." His eyes move behind me to the men I brought with me. I thought I'd have the upper hand but the asshole's one-upped me.

  “Just family,” I mutter as movement catches my eye from the left.

  Fuck. I should have known there’d be more. I glance around and see that even more men have joined us. I count at least twenty. I’m sure there’s more hidden somewhere. “That’s a lot of back up, Louis. Want to tell me why you’ve brought so many men with you? I thought we would come and have a friendly chat.”

  I’m lying, of course, but all I really want to know is how he knew we were coming. No one knew about this but my family. Even the extra guys with us didn’t know until we parked. How did they find out?

  The only consolation I can find is that we brought enough bullets with us for many times the number of men we thought we would have to kill tonight. I have never left my house without my gun, but I suspected the worst was going to happen tonight and prepared. Who fucking knew it would happen right away? Not me, that's for fucking sure. Shifting my foot, I feel the small pistol I have holstered on my ankle bite against my skin.

  Scuffing sounds come from behind us, telling me we’re now surrounded. We need to think of a plan. We're outnumbered, and I need to come up with a plan fast. Elijah acts first and takes out his gun. He's always mad to get in on the action, and as he raises his weapon, the shots begin to fire.

  I position myself in front of my brother as he begins to pick off the Young family. My hand touches the gun at my back, pulling it out in time to shoot the fucker standing in front of me.

  I came here to kill them, but I thought I had the upper hand. I’m getting fucked over now. There is too many of them, and most of them are shooting for Elijah, but they have to shoot me before they can get to him.

  I continue to fire, and absorbing the recoil with practiced ease. I'm not going to let anyone hurt my family, especially any of these fuckers. The gunfire rings out, and I realize two of my men are down. About five of the Young's are down, which is getting us nowhere close to being safe.

  A grunt from behind me tells me another one of my men has been hit. “Who’s down?” I demand as I take out another of the Youngs and quickly reload my gun. Elijah keeps nudging me, trying to get me to move out of the way. That’s never going to happen.

  “Pike’s been hit!” Elijah shouts.

  I grimace and nod. One of my men are down, one of my family. Rage rushes through me.

  “Is he down?” I shout.

  “No!”

  “Let’s end these fuckers,” I say through clenched teeth, pissed that they’ve hit my family.

  "With pleasure," Elijah says.

  I smirk. He's a bloodthirsty fucker.

  The Young's are down to single figures within minutes. They're all standing beside each other, trying their hardest to move back toward the exit. There's no way they're getting out of here alive. There is a reason my family are feared by others. It's not that easy to kill us.

  Elijah pushes me out of the way and fires off two consecutive shots. I see Ross lifting his gun and aiming for Elijah from the corner of my eye. I jump back in front of Elijah as I fire off shots at him. Pain shoots through me as the fucker's bullet sinks into my stomach. Just as that pain hits me, another hits me. The bullet hole quickly fills with blood. My body weakens quickly with the amount of blood pouring out. I raise my gun, but Elijah pushes me out of the way. As I’m falling to the ground, I hear him grunt in pain. His eyes widen as he touches his upper chest. Blood seeps through his fingers. Fuck, he’s been hit.

  I hear yelling as my body hits the cold, hard concrete with a jolting thud. Gunfire is still echoing around the warehouse. I try to yell, ask if Elijah is okay, but I don't think any words are coming out. Pike yells something and I hear footsteps, but I'm unable to keep my eyes open as the pain takes over.

  Chapter 26

  Alice

  I stand in the garden, staring out at nothing. Tonight is going to be a night I don’t think I can live through. I can’t stop worrying about them all.

  “You’ve brought out a different side of my brother, and I want to say thank you for allowing me to see it.”

  I turn to Elijah.

  “He’s told you about tonight, and I know him well enough to know he will take a bullet to protect me.” Elijah stops and looks out towards the garden.

  “He told me you and Warren are the most important people to him, and I know he will do anything…”

  “I won’t let Angel pay for something that wasn’t his fault again. Prison changed him. That should have been me, but Angel took the blame and I can never forgive myself for that. Tonight, though, if anything goes wrong, I want you to know that Angel will not die because of me,” Elijah says and looks over his shoulder.

  These brothers would give up everything to protect each other. They will kill or die for each other. Loyalty is the most important thing to them, but this is more. This is family. Family that is so strong.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to either of you. If something happens to him, it will kill you. If something happens to you, it will kill him,” I say.

  Elijah takes my hand in his and just stares at me for a moment. Leaning down, he gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you, Alice, for giving me the chance to see my baby brother fall in love. It’s something I never thought I would see. I’ve got to see him love you, and even smile, and that’s because of you.” Elijah stops, and it brings tears in my eyes. He’s talking as if he knows what’s about to happen.

  He wipes the tears away from my cheek. “Look after him, please.”

  Before I can say anything to him, he walks back into the house.

  I watch him walk away, and a shiver of fear runs through me. Tonight, there will be death. I just pray it’s not my family.

  My mind is not on the film playing on the TV. I’m not even sure which film is playing. Drew and Ellie are doing everything they can to help me not stress out, but not only is it Angel I’m worried about, but Vinny too. In such a small amount of time, Angel’s family has become my family, too.

  They’ve been gone a few hours now, and it’s not making me feel better. If they went there to finish this war, quicker would be better. It shouldn’t take this long. It feels as though I’ve been sitting here all day waiting for them to walk back through the door.

  I’m broken out of my worried thoughts when a pillow is thrown at me. “Earth to Alice.” Drew looks at me, waving her hands.

  “Sorry. What’s happening?” I ask. I turn to the TV to see what we are watching. The Notebook.

  “We were thinking about going shopping tomorrow. You in?” Drew asks me.

  I understand the girls not wanting to talk about what is happening, and they want to get my mind off what is happening, but I still have to think, how can these two be thinking about shopping when the guys are out there? I haven’t even thought about sleeping tonight, never mind a fun day out tomorrow.

  I realize Ellie's been through this plenty of times and knows what to expect. I understand her being so calm, but there has to be a little worry for her.

  “I haven’t thought about—” I stop when Drew’s phone rings.

  “It’s Warren.” She looks up at me.

  That worries me immediately. Angel or Vinny should have called me. I know one of them would have called me right away if they could have. This call from Warren better be to tell Drew they have no battery.

  “Hey...on our way.” She ends the call and looks at me. That call was way too short to be good news. The colour drains from my face and worry takes over.

  “Drew, what happened?” I ask as I walk over to her. She hasn’t stopped staring at me.

  I hear the door behind me, making me jump, and I turn to see three of Robert's security team walking over to us.

  “Alice, we have to go to the hospital…”

  “Who?” I ask in a panic.

  “Warren didn’t say, just that we need to go now.” Drew looks at Ellie, then back to me as she grabs my bag and passes it to me.

  “We’re taking you,” one of the team says.

  I don’t know any of Robert’s team, but we follow them out. The leader holds his finger to his ear. “We’ll have them in the car in a moment and be on our way,” he says.

  He must be talking to Robert.

  I have no idea how I'm walking, because I feel so sick. Not knowing what is happening has nearly paralyzed me. I climb into the car and collapse onto the seat.

  "How far is the hospital?" I ask, not to anyone in particular. I just need someone, anyone to answer me.

  “We will be there in ten minutes,” one of the men in the front tells me.

  I look down as Drew takes my hand in hers. She knows more than she has told me. I can feel it. There is something in my gut telling me that tonight everything has gone up in flames and the fire is still spreading. I can feel the flames burning tonight.

  I feel a panic attack coming on. I don’t even know what’s happened, but blood starts pounding in my ears and my heart thuds in my chest. I look down at my hands as Drew tightens her grip on them, and see them begin to shake. My body is breaking down.

  The car moves from one lane to the other, speeding past every car in the way. I look over at Drew, and she gives me a soft smile. I know that she is worried, too. I look behind her at Ellie, who’s on her phone with her mum, I think, but I can’t hear a word she’s said.

  "Here." The guy in front looks back at me. "You are not to leave my side, Alice. You understand?"

  I nod. I know what they are like when it comes to following the rules.

  "Once we get to everyone, you will be fine."

  He gets out the car and opens my door. I have two men next to me as we make our way through the hospital. I take a quick look over my shoulder to see Drew walking closer behind me, and one guy next to Ellie.

  I see Robert, Warren, and Pike as we reach them. I look around for Angel and Vinny.

  "Where is Angel?" I ask them.

  Warren and Pike, both look at Robert.

  "Robert, where is Angel?" I beg. My voice is quiet, and breaks as Angel's name leaves my mouth.

  “He’s in surgery. He took two bullets.” Robert takes a step closer to me, rubbing my arms. “He is a fighter. He will fight through this,” Robert reassures me.

  My legs go weak, and Pike reaches for me and sits me down on the bench. Fear of losing Angel becomes unbearable to think about. My throat tightens as I hold back my tears.

  "Breathe, Alice," Pike says in a soft voice that reaches my ears through the pounding of blood running through them.

  I look up at him for a moment, but everything around me is falling. With a shaking hand, I reach for Pike's bandaged shoulder.

  "It's nothing. Went right through." Pike takes my hand in his and squeezes it.

  My heart is beating at a speed I can't control.

  "He will be back before you know it."

  "Where is Vinny?" I ask in a shaky voice. I can’t lose two men I love. That simply can’t happen. Both of them are not leaving me.

  “He got shot, but he will be fine. He’s just getting stitched up,” Robert says.

  I let out a sigh of relief. Thank God.

  I look down at the ground. Vinny will be fine. I wipe the tears from my cheeks as I worry about Angel. Two bullets? I look up at Pike, and he looks broken, just like Warren and Robert. I hear the door behind me open, and I see Gwen running over with her security.

  “Where is Elijah?” she asks.

  All three of them look at each other, and I already know what they are about to say.

  “They wanted Elijah’s blood. Angel protected him. He took two bullets for him, but Elijah pushed him out the way and took a bullet. One bullet…” Pike stops and looks at me, his words explaining why Angel is in surgery. He protected his brother, his best friend. “Elijah didn’t make it.”

  The scream from Gwen shouting echoes around the room. Robert grabs her as she falls on the floor. I can't take my eyes away from her as she screams into Roberts' chest. Pike places his hand on my back, but I move out the way.

  Numbness runs through me, not worry for Angel, no tears, just numbness. My gaze struggles to move away from Gwen. She has lost her husband to a war she had nothing to do with.

  I know I should move to comfort her, but I’m paralyzed. This is not how the night should end, not with death, not with fear, but none of us can change it. Death won this war.

  I hear Ellie saying no, over and over and over again. Drew tries to comfort her. I let the words sink in. They killed Elijah. Angel protected him, but he still died.

  “Does...does Angel know?” I whisper.

  Angel is going to blame himself. This is going to kill him.

  "No, not yet. He came in barely conscious. He lost a lot of blood," Warren says.

  I look over at Robert, who is comforting Gwen.

  I sink down on the bench again. My body is in shock over what has happened tonight.

  “Alice! Alice!” I stand up as I hear Vinny shouting my name.

  “What the fuck are you doing, you need…”

  "We have to go. They're coming," Vinny shouts as he puts his phone in his pocket. "Ben called. They know you're here."

  Vinny pulls me to the side and nods to Drew. "The Frost family has a mole. Ben said they know everything about you now. They know where you live, and they know you’re here." Vinny is talking really fast, at a speed that makes it hard for me to follow everything he is saying.

 

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