Unlawfully Yours (Lawless MC #1)

45

When I get back inside the clubhouse, the fighting is largely over. Venom is lying in the same spot where Allie left him, surrounded by a pool of his blood. I crouch down and check his pulse, not finding one. I then wander over to where Christina’s body lies, her lifeless eyes staring up at me. I expected to feel something for either of them. Anything .

Relief? Anger? Sadness?

I feel nothing.

I glance around the room, searching for who I really came back for, but I can’t see Grimes anywhere. The spot on the floor where he was when I left is empty, only a patch of blood that slowly soaks into the carpet remains.

I head through the room and down the narrow corridor I came through earlier, hunting through each room one by one. I step into the last room on the right, which appears just as empty as all the others.

The click of a gun has me stiffening as something cold and hard presses against the back of my head. “You should’ve left with that little bitch of yours while you had the chance, Lawson. ‘Cause now I get to kill you once and for all.”

“Thought you wanted to see me suffer, Grimes? Kill me now, it’ll be too quick.”

“What can I say? I changed my mind.”

“At least look me in the eye. Only a coward shoots from behind. But then again…” He’s the definition of a coward.

“Turn around. I wanna be the last thing you see before I end you.”

I spin on the spot, the tip of his gun now pressed to my forehead. There’s a huge gash on his head from where I smashed it onto the floor earlier. His nose is broken and crooked, the dried blood turning brown, beginning to crust on his skin. His eye is slowly swelling shut and his lip is split.

“You look like shit,” I comment.

“No thanks to you. Put your hands behind your back.”

I do as he says.

“Now on your knees,” he commands.

Again, I comply.

He towers above me, the gun still at my head. “You know, as soon as you’re done, I’m gonna go find that little brat of yours, then I’m might pay a quick visit to your girl.”

“You piece of shit,” I spit. “Is killing me really not enough for you? You’ve got to go after an innocent woman and a child too? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’ll make it quick for them, if you want? She is family after all. I give you my word.”

I scoff. “Your word?”

Keeping him distracted by talking, I feel for the shape of my gun tucked into the waistband of my jeans.

“Your word means nothing to me.” The gun is out from behind my back and I’ve pulled the trigger before I even realise it myself. The bullet punches a hole in the middle of Tobias’ forehead and I don’t anticipate the recoil as it ricochets up my arm.

His body collapses into a heap on the ground in front of me and an overwhelming sense of relief settles over me, the weight that has hung around my shoulders, pulling me down for so long has finally been lifted.

My family are safe.

My club is safe.

It’s finally over.

Kill, Jett, Cruiser and Alex have the four remaining Cobras lined up on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs.

Jett meets my eye as I approach. “Grimes?”

“Dead.”

“Where’s Allie?” Kill asks.

“Drew and her mom took her to the hospital. I’ll meet them there when I’ve dealt with this.”

The rest of my guys are sat at the bar, some of them in worse shape than the others. “You all okay?”

“We’re okay, but… Jack. He… He didn’t make it,” Alex says, blotting his bloody nose with a tissue, his eyes falling to the floor.

I stop in my tracks, processing what he’s just told me and when it finally sinks in, it’s like a punch to my gut and it knocks me back a step.

No.. .

Not Jack.

“Fuck.”

I spot his body amongst the sea of others, his eyes still open as they stare lifelessly up at the ceiling. I make my way to him and drop to a crouch, reaching down to close his eyes.

My chest constricts as tears burn into the backs of my eyes. This is what I was afraid of, what I’ve always been afraid of when we find ourselves entangled in situations like this; afraid of returning home with someone missing.

Jack was my brother, not by blood but he was my family all the same and losing him feels like losing a limb. It cuts deeper than any blade possibly could.

“What do you want us to do, Prez?” Kill inclines his head to the four men on their knees in front of him, bloodied and bruised. A couple remain defiant as they glare up at me, one in particular is shooting daggers at me. He’s big in build, his dark black eyes piercing through me. The other two men hang their heads in defeat.

Taking one last look at my fallen brother, I rise to my feet and cross the space towards them. “I admire your loyalty to your leader, but you put that loyalty in the wrong person. He didn’t care about any of you and I hope in time you’ll come to see that. I’m not going to kill you today, I’m not a murderer like Tobias, but I will say this… If I ever catch you in Stillwater Falls, or if there is any form of retaliation from what’s transpired here today, I won’t be so understanding. I suggest you leave Hillcrest. Hell, leave Georgia, but I never want to see any of you again,” I warn. I glance up to my guys, “release them.”

My guys untie them, and one by one they rise to their feet, heading for the door, stepping around the bodies that are strewn over the floor.

“What do you wanna do, Prez?” Kill closes the distance between us, resting a hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll take Jack back with us. Jade should know the truth of what happened to him and get the chance to say goodbye.” My stomach twists with guilt at the fact his baby will never know their father, and he will never be able to watch them grow up. But Jade and the baby are family, and they’ll never want for anything, I’ll make sure of it.

“Yo, Lawson!” I hear from behind me.

I spin to find the bigger Cobra pointing a gun at me. Before I can reach for my own, two consecutive shots rings out, one bullet to his chest and the final to his head and he collapses to the ground with a heavy thud.

I look to where the shot came from as Jett lowers his gun and places it back into the holster at his waist.

“Bury the bodies somewhere they’ll never be found, but leave Venom. I need his body to be found here for the story we spin to the cops.”

“And this place?”

“Burn it to the ground. Leave no trace of us. I’m going to see my girl.”