Page 51 of Before the Fall

I have no idea how many men he has inside with him. It could be one, or it could be a dozen. I don’t care. The time has come to take care of fucking business.

The next minute goes by in a blur. Ryker throws the door open and is instantly hit by a shot from Dickie. Happy to take care of that asshole, I aim for his fucking knee and shoot. He collapses to the ground screaming in agony. I watch with a certain sense of glee as he writhes in pain, but I’ll get back to him later.

Cason disarms him as I begin to look for Tia, but Dickie’s the only person in this room. “Where the fuck is she?” I bark at him.

He laughs even as blood pours out of his leg. “She’s gone. He took her, and trust me, he’s already had her, Jaxon. She screamed, but she was no match for him.”

I can’t see straight I’m so enraged. I rush over to him and kick him in the head, sending a bunch of his teeth flying out of his mouth. That’s not enough for me, though. I want to beat the hell out of this fuck not only for what he did to me but for gloating about what Victor did to Tia.

There’s no time to waste on all of that, though, so I smile down at him and take aim, making sure to do a little gloating of my own. “Time to meet your maker, motherfucker. Your boss will be along in a minute. Fuck you, asshole!”

He opens his mouth to say something, but the bullet drives into his forehead, slicing through skin, bone, and brains like a hot knife through butter. It wasn’t exactly the ending I had planned for him, but it will have to do.

Kane and Cason are already on the other side of the room heading out the door that leads to the estate grounds, so I hurry to catch up with them, wondering where Ryker has gone. “We’re missing someone. Where the hell did Ryker disappear to?”

For a second, I wonder if he’s changed his mind about taking care of Victor. That’s fine with me. I’m happy to step up and send that son of a bitch straight to hell.

Cason answers me as we run out into the estate just as the sun sets. “He ran after my father.”

Fears about what Victor’s done with Tia fill my head as I look around in the dim light for any sign of them. If she becomes a problem for him and slows him down, he’ll get rid of her. She’s a means to an end, but if he thinks she’s not going to help him, I know him. He’ll put a bullet into her head and run off.

We have to find the two of them before she becomes a liability for him.

In the distance, I hear a gunshot, and I freeze. It feels like forever until the next sound hits my ears, but when I hear Tia scream my name, I take off running across the lawn toward where I think she and Ryker must be with Victor. Behind me, Cason and Kane yell they’re going to cover me, but I don’t care about my safety.

All I care about is getting to Tia.

I run as fast as I can, my eyes scanning the grounds around me, but I don’t see them. I need her to let me know where they are, so I call out, “Tia!”

For a long moment, I don’t hear a thing, but then she screams, “Jaxon! I’m here!”

My heart soars, even as I can’t deny I’m afraid of what I’m going to find when I reach her. I come around a row of hedges, and there on the ground I see Victor with Ryker standing over him. Tia lies a few feet away, and all I can see when my gaze lands on her is her shirt is ripped in half.

I run over to her and drop to my knees beside her on the grass. “I’m here, Tia. I’m here. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

She sobs my name and something else I can’t understand, but it doesn’t matter. She’s alive and safe with me. That’s all I care about. Ryker can take care of Victor. I have what’s most important to me now.

Taking her in my arms, I cradle her against me as she continues to cry. “I thought you weren’t going to get here in time,” she says against my chest.

“I’m sorry I was late. Forgive me.”

Tia gently pushes me away and smiles up at me. “For your birthday, I’m going to buy you a watch. Then you’ll be on time.”

I shake my head at how she could be making jokes right now. “Okay. I guess I can start wearing a watch again.”

Her smile makes me think she’s going to be okay, after all. I know it’s going to take a long time for her to get over what’s happened today, but I’ll be there with her every day and every step of the way.

Then she sees the blood on my arm, and her eyes grow wide. “Oh my God! You’re hurt!”

Smiling, I shrug, not feeling even a twinge of pain from where that asshole of Victor’s shot me. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t hurt. All that matters is you’re okay.”

Exhausted from all she’s been through, she doesn’t say another word. Tia just rests her head against me, but that’s fine. I can be strong for both of us.

That’s what the man who loves her is supposed to do.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Ryker