Chapter 63: Formidable Valdrians

DRAVEN’S POV

"Everyone down ... now!"

Two shots fired into the ceiling. The sound cracked through the room like thunder and every single one of us dropped.

"Bring him out," the same voice commanded.

The tear gas was still thick in the air. I couldn’t make out the face behind the voice ... just a silhouette, broad-shouldered and unhurried, moving like someone who had done this many times before.

They dragged Rex out to the front.

"Where are the rest? Hold them down."

We were pinned to the floor. No exits. No angles. No way out.

I couldn’t see Jade anywhere, which meant they already had her.

The smoke thinned slowly, and his face came into focus.

He looked like us. All of them did ... the four men flanking him, the ones pressing us to the ground with boots and barrels. They carried themselves like wolves who had spent their whole lives outside the law. Mafia wolves, same as us.

Rex never mentioned a rival faction. Not once.

Rex was at the front of the room taking a beating from the man’s crew, and he was absorbing every hit like it wasn’t his first time.

The leader stepped forward.

"Hello, mafia wolves." His voice was deep, controlled, and terrifying in the way that quiet men with power always are. "The reason I’m here will be known shortly. But know this ... I’m not here to talk. I’m here to act."

He walked up to Rex and grabbed him by the jaw. Then he spat directly in his face.

"You think you’re the only rogue wolves in this territory?"

Rex smiled through the blood coating his mouth. Which earned him another punch.

He took it. Barely flinched.

They herded all of us into one spot close to where Rex was being held. The leader scanned the room and frowned.

"This isn’t everyone. Get me the last one ... I heard he picked up new members."

Two of his men disappeared inside and came back out dragging Dante.

Fuck.

They’d pulled him off the stretcher. Broken bones and all. They dropped him on the ground with the rest of us like he was nothing.

"Let’s get everyone up to speed, yeah?" The leader looked around. His men nodded, guns raised.

"Your leader Rex killed two of my crew." His jaw tightened. His fists clenched at his sides. "Those two men were important to my operation ... irreplaceable ... and he had them killed. And as if that wasn’t enough, when he got word that we were planning to hit a bank, he mobilised his team and robbed it first."

He turned to Rex and looked him dead in the eyes.

"You think I’m a fool?"

He picked up his long gun and pistol-whipped him across the face with it.

Rex had already taken a lot. Too much for one night.

"When I’m done with you today, Rex, you’re going to understand exactly who the baddest wolves in this territory are."

He looked around the room slowly. Then he told them to bring Jade out.

No. No no no.

I said it in my head because my mouth wasn’t going to be fast enough.

"What do you say ... a life for a life?" He tilted his head. "Cock it."

His man cocked the gun and pressed the barrel to Jade’s head.

My blood pressure spiked so fast I felt dizzy. My hands were pressed flat on the floor and every muscle in my body was pulling in two directions ... stay down or move.

The adrenaline won.

I pushed up off the floor. "Don’t hurt her. Please."

The leader looked over at me. "Who’s that?"

Someone leaned in and whispered in his ear. He nodded slowly.

The man beside me cracked me across the face with an open hand.

"Bring him out too." The leader almost looked amused. "He’ll be Romeo. She’ll be Juliet."

A gun barrel found the back of my head.

Rex finally spoke. His voice was worn down, roughed up, but still measured.

"Carlos. Please. Don’t do this. No tit for tat, no life for life ... there’s a way to work this out."

So his name was Carlos.

I filed that away behind my teeth and said nothing.

Carlos was a bastard if he thought he could walk into our house, do all of this, and walk out untouched.

"First things first ... find the money." Carlos waved two of his men off. "Go look."

They tore through the place fast and efficient. Didn’t take long before they found where the bundles of Valdrian dollars were stored. They stuffed everything into a polybag without a second thought.

Rex had spent months making me believe this was the most feared faction in the territory. Right now, watching Carlos’s crew move through our base like they owned it, that story had a very different ending.

Fuck.

"You don’t give me conditions, Rex." Carlos turned back around. "I do whatever I want. You know what ..." He pointed. "Raise her up."

They hauled Jade to her feet.

"She’s fine as hell. Blonde. Perfect." He walked a slow circle around her. "Strip her."

They tore her clothes off. Right there in front of everyone.

I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t speak. The anger was there ... white-hot and rising ... but I had nothing to do with it. No move to make. Not yet.

This was getting very, very messy.

Carlos grabbed my face next, lifting my chin. Slapped my cheek once, hard, and studied me.

"Nah. He looks boring. Weak." He dropped me. "Throw him back. Bring me their strongest fighter."

They shoved me back down onto the floor with the others.

Jade was still standing up there, tears streaming down her face.

They brought out Nico.

He walked out looking exactly like what he was ... a fighter. Jaw set. Eyes forward. That unshakeable hardness he wore even after a full brawl earlier in the night.

"I’ll take one today and save one for later." Carlos reached for his belt.

He whipped Jade. Once. Twice. Again.

Her screams cut through the room with every strike, getting louder, more raw, more desperate. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

Then he took the gun back from his man, cocked it, and pressed it against Nico’s forehead.

"See you on the other side, friend." He tilted his head. "Any last words?"

Nico didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.

"You can’t do shit. You can’t do nothing. You’re a bas..."

Boom.

The shot went straight through his head.

The room went silent for half a second. Then the gasps hit all at once.

Nico dropped.

I looked once. One glance was all I could manage. It was awful. I turned my eyes away and kept them away.

Rex was crying. Quietly, but I saw it.

Carlos wiped down his gun and handed it back to his man like it was a routine task.

"One down. One remaining ... for another time." He looked satisfied. "I’ve got my money. I’ve got my warning. Let’s move."

They started heading for the exit. Half the room was already crying. This was beyond wicked. This was the kind of thing that didn’t leave you ... the kind you carried in your chest for years.

Carlos stopped at the door.

"Get me the blonde."

The room erupted.

Everyone shouted at once ... begging, pleading, voices breaking over each other.

"You shout any louder, I kill her right here." His voice didn’t rise. It didn’t have to.

The room went dead silent.

He walked Jade to the car, loaded her in, and drove off into the dark.

We were on our feet the second they cleared the gate. Everyone moved toward Nico at once.

It was already too late. He was gone.

Rex turned to Mia, his voice frayed at the edges. "How did they get in? This place was supposed to be locked and secured."

Mia said she didn’t know. Said everywhere had been secure the way it should have been. She looked genuinely shaken.

I had to ask.

"Who were they, sir?"

"The Glocks," Rex said. "Rogue wolves ... Valdris-born. I didn’t see this coming. But I will retaliate. With everything I have."

The way he said their name told me everything. The Glocks hadn’t just shown up tonight. They’d been in this territory long before the Mafia wolves ever arrived.

"We need to go get Jade right now, sir," I said. "Do you have a plan? Because I can start pulling one together."

Rex looked at me for a moment. "Why did you stand up when they had her? You risked your life."

"I just didn’t want to see anyone else die." I kept it simple. Kept it covered.

He held my gaze a second longer than necessary, then looked away.

"Dorian. Rafael." His voice sharpened back into command. "We draft a plan. Tonight. We are getting one of our own back."

Everyone fell into line without hesitation.

Blood on the floor. Injuries on every body in the room. Nico still lying where he fell.

And we were already moving ... because Jade’s life wasn’t something any of us could afford to leave in Carlos’s hands.