He was here. He was going to save me…
“Duke!” I cried out.
Carlo turned and pointed his gun right at me.
“Let’s do this right,” Carlo said. “Come on in, Duke. And leave your weapons behind.”
Duke was allowed to be with Trev and nobody else was allowed in the office. Leto slammed the door shut and locked it. Part of me wanted to know why the rest of the MC wasn’t there, shooting the place up. But that didn’t make sense, did it? If they started shooting, they were liable to kill one of us.
We were really screwed.
Duke had his hands up while Leto patted him down. Leto then patted down Trev.
“This is simple,” Trev said. “You get what you want and we get what we want.”
“That simple?” Carlo asked.
“I say fuck you,” Leto said. “You know what you fucking did to us.”
“Fair enough,” Duke said. “But this had nothing to do with Belle and Jim. They did their part. Let them go.”
“Show me the cash,” Carlo said.
Duke had a bag in his hand and opened it. It was full of cash. Lots and lots of cash.
“That looks beautiful,” Carlo said. “Almost as good as her pussy.”
Carlo thumbed at me and grinned.
I saw the flash of rage in Duke’s eyes.
He jumped forward as Trev grabbed him. But Duke broke away. Carlo quickly moved the gun, letting Duke run right into it, right against his broad chest.
“Come on,” Carlo said. “Make me pull this trigger.”
“Hey!” Trev growled. “We’re here to talk, right? So we work this out or we don’t. Pick a side.”
Duke just stood there.
He was so angry… but then… he started to smile.
“Pick a side,” Leto said. “I pick a side where you guys get killed.”
“Why the fuck are you smiling?” Carlo asked.
“Because we’ve already picked our side,” Duke said. “You’re fucked, Carlo.”
Carlo started to laugh. “No, my man, you are…”
That’s when I felt a hand touch my shoulder.
And then the sound of a bomb went off.
**
Okay, it wasn’t a bomb. But it was the loudest gun I had ever heard in my life. To my right, a very portly man stood there, touching my shoulder, hand raised. It took me a second to realize the man had shot Leto in the shoulder, sending him flying back into the wall. Trev turned and went after Leto, stripping him of his gun.
At that exact same moment, Duke took advantage of Carlo, who had turned his head to see the newcomer.
Duke clotheslined Carlo up on the desk and grabbed his arm, slamming it down on the desk, forcing Carlo to drop his gun. Duke then took hold of Carlo and lifted him up like he was a bag of potatoes and threw him across the office, against the wall.
Carlo hit with a thud and looked as surprised as me.
In a matter of a few seconds, the tables were officially turned.
Duke and Trev were holding weapons. Carlo and Leto were the ones being held hostage. Leto was curled up in the corner of the office, holding his shoulder, crying.
“You,” Jim said. “I know you.”
“Yes, you know,” the man who shot Leto said.
“This is Ivan,” Duke said as he dropped down to one knee next to me. “Our Russian friend.”
I looked at Duke and then dove off the chair into his arms.
He’d done it. He’d saved me.
Duke squeezed me tight. “Fuck, sweetie, I’m so sorry that happened. I should have never…”
“Duke,” Trev said. “We have to bolt out of here sooner than later.”
“Right,” Duke said. He stood up and nodded down at me. “Go to the door, Belle.”
“This is all you need to see,” Trev said to Ivan. “These are the ones.”
“Right,” Ivan said. “A pain in my ass. Stealing money. Fucking everything up.”
I slowly walked toward the door. There was a lingering sense of death in the air and I didn’t like it at all. When I got too close to Trev, he swung his right hand and gently nudged me right against the door. I twisted the lock to unlock the door and I waited.
“So this is all settled,” Duke said.
“Fuck you!” Carlo said. “You’re not getting away with this shit. You fucks are going to pay.”
“Actually,” Duke said, “I think he’s right about that.”
“Very true,” Trev said.
Duke grabbed the bag of money off the floor. “This, Ivan, is the winnings from the fight. This is your owed money. When the land deal fails completely, the MC will then take up the fifty grand with the Hell Five personally. Does that sound fair?”
“Yes,” Ivan said. “Very fair to me.”
“Now, Belle and Jim are free to go,” Duke said.
“Not my hostages,” Ivan said.
That’s when Jim broke away from the wall and ran toward me. Trev took a second and cut the rope from Jim. My brother hugged me as we were both shaking.
“Holy fuck, Belle,” Jim said. “I’m so sorry…”
“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s going to be okay.”
Jim stood next to me as the meeting with Back Down Devil MC, the Hell Five, and the Russian man continued.
Duke put the bag on the table. “This is yours, Ivan. You can do what you want with these guys.”