Page 162 of Savage Don

When he takes a step forward, his limp more pronounced than ever before, I can’t help but let out another rageful roar.

“Fuck!”

The three of us are all crippled in one way or another, and all we can really do right now is limp around the driveway, impatiently waiting for someone to give us a destination.

It’s infuriating. How could I have let anyone take Francesca? How could I have let myself fall into such a stupid trap?

If it wasn’t for Maksim, I might very well be dead already. He directly disobeyed my bed-rest orders and made his way to the meat packing plant to help us out. He was with done sitting around, waiting to get better.

Thank God for that.

Apparently, it was his idea to get onto the roof. If he had showed up a second later, or not at all, Leonid and I would be nothing more than corpses stuck beneath a mountain of burning wreckage.

Stepping over a corpse, I limp towards Maksim, who is staring down at his cell phone again.

“It sounds like the Kilpatricks are willing to help,” he says, looking up at me. “But I’m not exactly sure what that—”

Before he can finish, the sound of squealing tires interrupts him.

All three of us immediately whip around towards the front gates, guns drawn, ready to kill.

But I instantly recognize the first car. The second one too. They peel into my driveway with a purpose.

My bosses.

My friends.

They’ve come to help.

“Ray!” Shane is the first one out. He races towards me, three guns tucked under the front of his belt alone. “God, you look awful!”

“Thanks,” I grunt, unable to help myself.

“Ah, the half-dead look suits you.”

Behind Shane, Nolan and Aiden step out of their cars and make their way over to us.

“I hear we have a situation on our hands,” Aiden nods.

“We’re here to help,” Nolan adds.

The gesture takes me aback.

“You’re not supposed to…” I remind them, my sense of duty somehow surviving the pain erupting from my heart.

As the Great Don, I’m supposed to pass this test on my own.

“Francesca has nothing to do with your duties as the Great Don,” Shane smirks. “You’ve already found the snitches. They’ll be killed. Our kingdom will be secured. You will succeed.”

“This isn’t for work,” Nolan says.

“… This is for love.”

The king of all kings, Aiden Kilpatrick, steps forward and offers me his hand. I take it.

Love. Fuck. He’s not wrong.

“But… How did you know?”