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“Stay down.” I gently lower her into a chair and turn away.
This is our last stand. I know we’re fucked. I count five men able to return fire, including me. The rest are either out ofammo or too injured to do anything, and they’re hurrying to the emergency exit.
We’ll hold them off for as long as we can. When there’s an opportunity, I’ll send Valentina out with them, and hopefully she can make it without getting hurt.
I lean out the office door and nod at Niall. He’s in the doorway of the women’s room across the hall. “You good?”
“Not at all. You?”
“Having the time of my life.”
Niall’s grim smile suggests this isn’t the time for a little black humor.
“Ronan Hayes!” Gregory’s voice echoes from the wreckage of the main bar room. “I know you’re trapped down there like rats. Here’s the thing. I’ve got more grenades, and that hallway is the perfect killing zone. I’m going to offer you a way out of a bloodbath though, because I’m a reasonable man. Come out here, surrender yourself, and I’ll let the rest of your people go.”
“Bluffing,” Niall says, staring at me. “Don’t you dare move.”
I lean out and spot Gregory’s men at the other end of the hallway, looking down at me, guns aimed. But nobody shoots.
“You’re full of shit,” I call out. “If you had more grenades, you would’ve used them already.”
“You want to gamble the lives of your men on that?”
I look at my people. They’re staring back, and they look determined. None of them say a word, and none of them act like I should cave. A little piece of my heart locks into place, and for the first time in a while, I truly feel like their leader, like the headof their family. I care about them, and they trust in me, and I have to get them through this.
“Go to hell, slimy scumbag. Go fuck your bike’s tailpipe. Better yet, suck on it and breathe nice and deep.”
Gregory’s shout of rage makes me think I might’ve played this wrong. I brace myself for another grenade to come rolling over, and I prepare to jump on top of it if I have to. Instead, gunfire breaks out as the MC guys try to lay down covering fire.
They’re going to storm us. The stupid bastards. It’ll be a slaughter. Coming in the front was bad enough, but charging down a hallway with multiple guns pointed straight at them is straight-up madness. But what else can they do? I hear Gregory shouting at them to be strong, to fight for the pride of their patches, and other dumb shit. And a sick part of me knows they’ll do it.
“Wait until they’re in,” I call out to Niall. “Spread the word. Don’t shoot until they’re in.”
He nods and turns to speak to the men behind him. The plan moves, man to man.
I don’t know how much it’ll help. There are five of us and more of them, and maybe the MC thugs will take some heavy losses, but they’ll overwhelm us with firepower. I glance back at Valentina, and she’s got her knees against her chest, looking like she’s going to be sick, and I can’t blame her. I want to get her out of here, but I can’t tell if there’s going to be another chance.
“Kill them all,” Gregory shouts. “Murder the fucking Irish pricks. Go, go, go, rush them!”
Then screaming. I expect a flood of bikers, but none of them attack. There’s only horrible, brutal screaming, punctuated by more gunfire, and it’s not aimed at us. I stare at Niall, wondering what the hell is going on, and risk poking my head out of cover.
There are men pouring in through the shattered front of the bar. Gregory’s down on the floor and his men are turned around to meet the new attackers, but it’s too late.
Uncle Eddie’s in the front, limping along and shooting an enormous revolver. He’s got a massive smile on his face like he’s having a blast. I can’t believe they made it and that we held them off for as long as we did, but soon the shooting is over, and the bikers lie in twisted, bloody wreckage on the floor.
“Are you okay?” I hurry over to Valentina. She nods and touches my face.
“I’m fine,” she whispers.
I crush her mouth with a fierce kiss, not caring who sees. I hold it for a few seconds before pulling back. “My family,” I say, and I feel the mourning beginning to bubble up.
“Go.” She blinks back tears. “Do what you have to do.”
I tear myself from her and leave the office to face the wreckage of my bar, the bodies of my dead friends, and the corpses of my ruined enemies.
Chapter 36
Ronan
