Resurrection (Wesson Rebel MC Series Book 3) (14 page)

Prophet/Charles

I stir in the darkness, unsure of what woke me. Sitting up, I listen and hear the rustling again.
Damn wild animals.
The image of a raccoon floats in my mind. Pesky bandits. When I hear a thud my muscles tense. Unless the raccoon just mutated, it’d never be that big. I shake Vita.

She opens her eyes and smiles.

“I need you to get dressed. I think someone’s messing around the house,” I whisper.

Her mouth forms an O. “Who?” she mouths.

“No clue. But they’re not friendly from the sound of it.” I slip from the bed and pull on a pair of sweat pants. After grabbing the .45 from my nightstand I slowly pad through the house. I hear the rustling once more. They’re in the back. I creep up to the window and peer out. The sight before me makes me laugh.

A medium-sized black bear is exploring the deck.

There’s no food out there to speak of, so I imagine he’ll get bored sooner rather than later. Relief rushes through me. I lower my gun. A floorboard creaks and I catch a fully dressed Vita in the hallway, frowning. “Come here.” I wave her over. “This is our suspect.” I point out the black bear.

Her shoulders rise and fall with laughter.

“Now that we’re awake at four in the morning,” I say, shaking my head.

“Better him than anyone else,” she signs.

“True.”

In the moonlight, she looks ethereal. A fairy creature with windblown brunette locks, sleep soft eyes, and red lips still swollen from my kisses.

“I can think of a way to pass the time.” I grab a handful of her ass with my free hand and squeeze.

She smiles up at me.

Thwack.

We jump apart.

“What the hell?”

Ping.

Glass shatters and I shove her down, covering her body with my own.

The bullets continue to rip through the cabin.

They’re probably what disturbed the bear.

“Let’s get out of the kitchen, it’s too open.” I lift up, and together we crawl away from the air. I grit my teeth and ignore the destruction happening around us. My sole focus is on her room. It’s the furthest away, has one small window and her weapon. The more defense we have, the better. I know there are vests, guns, and ammo in all of the closets. Marbles has never been the type of man who leaves things to chance. Especially, when it comes to survival.

The house goes silent as we enter her room.

“Go to the closest, put on a vest and start pulling ammo.”

She rushes to the closet, clicks on the light, tosses me a vest, and begins to fasten her own.

We’re suited up and crouched down behind the bed I’ve turned on its side, when I hear the splintering of wood. “They’ve kicked the door in.”

Heavy boots come up the hall.

I clutch the butt tight. Gunfire rings out in the night. I hear the person outside hit the ground. “How many people are out there?” I whisper.

I hear the body drag across the ground, past the door. Heavy foots steps pound over the wood.

Did he bring a fucking army with him?

Gunshots ring out. A cry of pain comes. Our door bursts open. I fire. The bullet goes into the wall directly across from me.

“Shit, don’t shoot me, brother!”

“Houdini?” I call out, stunned.

“Yeah, you want to lower your weapon?” His head appears in the doorframe.

“The fuck is happening?”

“We had to smoke out a rat. I figured if I came here, he’d follow me. I been posted in the woods since I said I left.” His eyes narrow. “We got a talk to have, but for now I have an extermination process to finish.” He glances over my shoulder. “You good, V?”

I assume she says yes.

He disappears from view once more.

How much does he know? What did he see? Hell, what did he hear?

Vita brushes past me and I grab her wrist. “What are you doing?”

She shakes free. “I need to see his end and know this is finally over. I don’t want him haunting my dreams any longer.”

I swallow. This is the man who tried to kill her… Twice over. I hold my hands up in surrender and trail behind her, feeling like a lost puppy. Big brother is back on the scene and already, I feel like a second-class citizen. Men line the hallway, dressed head to toe in black with clunky steel toe boots.

So, this is what a mafia hitman squad looks like. I’m stunned they’re not wearing suits.

The man in all black is laid out on the floor with three bullet holes in his back. One looks like it hit his spine.

I’d be shocked if he wasn’t paralyzed.

“You remember me, Uncle?” Houdini says. He rolls the man over with his booted toe.

Lorenzo flops to the ground like a dead fish. His body may be useless, but his eyes are very much alive.

“You should’ve left me and my sister alone. But you couldn’t, could you? Not when your empire was crumbling and your second-in-command was blackmailing you.”

“You know?”

“Oh, we know all about it. It’s amazing what a man will tell you before he dies a painfully slow death. Did you really think taking us out would keep you on top? You stepped on everyone on your way up. That’s was your first mistake. It’s a wonder I’m the one who’s killing you.”

Vita rested her hand on her brother’s shoulder.

He glances up. “You took everything from us, but you stole her voice.”

Lorenzo’s face turns white as a sheet. “You understand it was just business.”

She begins to sign.

“She says she understands, Uncle, and you’ll understand that this is the same thing. Because you were
so
humane to her. She’s not going to let me shoot you. She’s going to return the favor.”

“Get the woman the sharpest knife you can find.”

“No, you can’t let her do this!” Lorenzo yells.

Houdini delivers a body jarring kick to his side. “I know you’re not asking me for mercy. Because trust me, there will be none for you here at the end, or in the afterlife.”

I want to beg him to stop. He shouldn’t let her do this. It’s taken so much to put herself back together, this lone act of vengeance could set her back. I shift my weight, warring with myself. “V,” I whisper.

She turns to look at me with dead eyes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Keep out of it. You don’t belong to this family,” Houdini snarls. “This is her right, blood for blood.”

“Her right and what’s best for her might be two different things.” I’ll stand up for her when she can’t.

“Oh, you think you know her now that you took advantage of the situation and got into her pants?”

“I didn’t take a damn thing. And you’re too blinded by your hatred and anger. I’m just asking her to think about this. Once you have someone’s blood on your hands, it doesn’t rinse off.” I meet her gaze as I answer him.

“I want to do this. I need to,” she signs.

I step to the side and lean against the wall.

“Don’t think this is over between us,” Houdini says.

I meet his gaze. “Wouldn’t have dreamed of it.”

He sneers.

“I got one that’ll work,” one of the men says, handing her a wicked looking butcher knife.

Vita takes it and kneels over the man watching her with horrified eyes. She leans in, kisses his forehead, covers his mouth, and carves a smile across his throat.

My heart sinks.

He sputters and twitches. The blood spurts out, splattering Vita’s face, arms, and chest. She holds her position.

I watch as the life begins to leave his eyes.

His flailing stops and she removes her hand.

Her brother helps her stand. “We make sure the job is finished,” Houdini says. He puts three to his head.

I flinch. There’s no surviving that.

He turns to look at the men behind him. “You know what to do. Francesco, call your father and tell him it’s done.”

“Marbles know you shot his place up?” I ask, mentally rallying myself.

“Yeah, Dallas and I cleared it with him. No one here was ever in any danger. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Vita.”

The unsaid message is loud and clear. He’s not happy about me being with Vita.

Well tough shit.

“I’ll have my boys come in and clean up.”

“So…what, you’re the Don now?” I ask.

His face clouds over. “I don’t know what I am, but I do know this is over.”

“Aunt Giada?” Vita asks.

“Is safe. Her husband went off the deep end. He wanted to edge Lorenzo out and take over. She’s been scared out of her mind. He watched her every move, and made a point of letting her know if she fucked him over and said anything, he wouldn’t just slit her throat, but the kids, too. He told her he’d make what happened to us look like child’s play.”

Vita covers her mouth.

Jesus.

“He regretted the error of his ways before he left this world. Be assured of that.”

“Are we going to be okay?” she asks.

“Yes. There are things to work out. People to place in power, others to watch, but we’re on the top of the food chain now. We do the hunting. Not the other way around. The question you need to answer is what’s next for you. Do you want to come back here to this, or go home?”

She looks up at him, stunned.

I’m betting she never even thought about it.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s okay. You have time to think about it. As much time as you need.” He tucks stray strands of hair behind her ear. “How about you get some clothes and clean yourself up while we clear the mess out of here. When you’re ready, we’ll leave.”

“And go where?”

“Some place a lot more comfortable and safe,” Houdini answers.

She frowns.

“We have a dead body in the hall and a mess. Now’s not the time to argue.”

She clamps her mouth shut and stalks off to her room.

I see what he’s trying to do— back her in a corner and exert his dominance. I get that it’s something he’s used to. Before this, she needed to be looked after. It’s different now. She’s not alone, or cowed by fear.

He rushes at me and wraps a skilled hand around my throat. “Don’t think for one second, I’m going to let you ride out of here with her.”

“You just had a serious trauma. So, I’m going to let this right here slide. We’ll call it a momentary lapse of sanity. But if you don’t remove your hand right now, I’m going to put you on your ass in front of all your little friends.”

His jaw ticks. He tightens his hold and releases me.

I clear my throat and roll my shoulders. “As for your sister. She’s almost thirty and perfectly capable of making her own decisions. The girl you left is now a woman. She stepped up in a major way to see you safe. The least you can do is show her the respect she deserves.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” he roars.

“By taking away her choices, you insinuate she’s incapable of making them on her own. After everything she’s done, is that how you’re going to treat her?”

“Fuck you, Prophet.”

“I’ll pass thanks. Look, I get that you’re pissed off about this. I’d be too, if I was in your shoes. But this isn’t a choice we made lightly. There’s something between us. Whether or not you like it, we’re going to explore that to the fullest and see where it leads us. You can try to keep her away from me, but it won’t work.”

“You that sure this thing is legit?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Then give her some time to get her head on straight. It’s the least you can do.” He sneers.

She walks out of her room with her clothes and into the bathroom.

I wait for the water to run to answer, “How exactly do you propose I do that?”

“Let her stay here, get re-familiarized with her family and what life could be.”

“While I wait? Sit around with my thumb up my ass?”

“No, while you cool out at the clubhouse and do whatever the hell Pres asks you to. Shit might look different, once you’re back in your every day.”

It won’t.
I don’t have shit to prove to him, but maybe I do owe it to her to let her explore this. I look down at my shoes.
Better to know now if she’s going to bail before you get any deeper.
“I’ll bite, on the condition that you do the same and not try to sway her away.”

“Done.”

“I wasn’t finished.”

He arches an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“When she chooses me, you keep your mouth shut and be nothing but happy for her. We both know she deserves that.”

“I can live with that.”

“Be sure you can,” I growl.

His men move in and drag the body off.

“A cleaner is on his way,” one says.