Duke: Fallen MC #1 (20 page)

They were in what looked like a reception area with two doors leading from it. Duke approached the first and swung it open, ready to fire on whoever was inside. It was a storage closet with only a few bottles of water inside. Razor approached the next. When it opened they looked at the faces of two massive brothers watching porn on a laptop and playing cards. Duke took aim and shot the biggest fucker in the chest. The yelling and sounds of firing were deafening and anyone left in the building would be left with no doubt that they were there. The fuckers were riddled with bullets. It looked like Duke wasn’t the only one venting some anger.

Duke ran to the only door from that room. It was steel and reinforced. He tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge. Hollywood was searching the bodies for keys. Duke noticed a deadbolt at the very top and unlatched it. The heavy door creaked loudly as he opened it and ran inside, right into a dark corridor lined with cells. His shock was only momentary, his attention was drawn to none other than Nole fucking Fletcher pointing a gun into one of the cells. Duke didn’t even have to guess to know who was in there. He’d had enough of this bastard. It didn’t matter who he was to Nicole, he wouldn’t be leaving the warehouse alive. He would have shot him straight away if his eyes hadn’t registered the small pale hands clinging to the bars.

Nicole woke from her sleep when she heard the steel corridor door open and shut. She held herself still as she listened to footsteps approach. They were much lighter than the other man’s so she didn’t know who to expect. She never would have expected who was facing her now.

“Dad?”

“It’s me, sweety.” He spoke softly as if nothing had changed between them and they were just having a chat over coffee.

Wave after wave of anger and disgust broke over her. How he could face her after he’d kidnapped and shot her, she could never understand. She pulled herself up and levelled him with her glare. He was trying to look contrite but he wasn’t pulling it off and that just served to make Nicole more pissed. He looked better than he did yesterday, he was cleaned up and calm, as opposed to the jittery mess he was before. She walked forward but didn’t get close enough to touch him. His gaze settled on her bump and a small smile lifted the corners of his lips.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be a Grandpa.”

Nicole scoffed. “You won’t be getting anywhere near my babies, you asshole. You shot me and took me away from the only place I’ve ever felt safe in my whole life and think you can just stand there and everything will be alright. I always knew you were a filthy fucking crook and a lousy father but I never thought you were so fucking stupid to screw around with rival MCs.”

“Don’t be like that, Nicole. I did what I had to to keep me and you safe.”

“I can smell the bullshit from your breath all the way over here. Don’t act like this was for anyone’s benefit but your own. It was always about you. It never mattered what happened to me. I was told over and over to let you go and cut you out of my life. Pathetic me, I naively thought that you were my family and that that meant something. But it means fuck all! I had a new family and was making another of my own before you tore me away from it!”

“We’ll always be family. We’re blood. I crossed Riot by dealing with Fallen and they knew you’d be the collateral. When they found out about my deal, Wrath threatened to kill me if I didn’t get you back to him. I swore you wouldn’t talk about Riot. Then he wanted the information you’d have. I thought better the devil you know, so I came and got you. They paid off my debt with Fallen so I could do it. We owe them, sweety.” His placating tone ground against her nerves.

“I owe them nothing! You did all this to save your own ass, not for me. I’d never be in this position if it wasn’t for you. You used your own daughter as collateral. Your a fucking pathetic excuse for a father and a human being. No more, Dad. I’m done with you. You’re on your own. When I get out of here you don’t exist to me and if I ever see you, I’ll kill you myself.” Nicole wanted to throw herself against the bars and pummel him.

“I know you don’t mean that. I’ll make this right, just…..”

They were interrupted by gunfire and yelling. Nicole’s heart raced. She knew in her heart that it was Duke, he had come to save her. She ran to the bars and tried to look toward the steel door. She could sense him already. Joy and extreme relief engulfed her until she heard the cock of a familiar gun. She slowly turned her head. She couldn’t believe she was in this position again. Her father was pointing the gun at her bump as he stood facing the door. He was sweating and shaking.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now!” She shouted at her Dad.

“You’re my ticket out of here, sweety. Stay calm and do as I say.” Did he actually think she’d play along this time? He was clearly delusional.

“No. Not this time.” Her patience was gone and she was done being scared.

Her Dad turned from the door to glare at her. “Don’t think I won’t shoot you to make my point, Nicole. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.”

She could see he was serious. He would shoot her again. She had to find a way out of this. She had to escape him. The fucking cell had no where to hide. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel and she wasn’t exactly a small target anymore. The door unlatched and Duke strode in looking fierce. Her love for him grew immeasurably, he looked like an avenging angel. She saw Razor and Slam behind him before they all ground to a halt, staring at her Dad holding the gun on her.

“Listen here, you back away and let me and Nicole go. I’ll shoot her if you take one step.” Her Dad’s voice shook as he spoke but there was steel underlying it. He was desperate and twitchy.

Nicole met Duke’s eyes. Time stopped as she let herself drown in their brown depths. His love for her showed but was tinged by the rage he had towards her father. He scanned her body before focusing on the bloody bandage on her arm. His lip pulled into a sneer as he drew his eyes back to her Dad.

“We’re not going anywhere, Fletcher. Give it up. There’s three of us here and more behind us. You’ll never get past. Drop the fucking gun!”

His rough voice soothed her soul. Their guns were steady and all pointed at her Dad. She willed one of them to shoot but knew they wouldn’t while his gun was pointing at her. Jingling pulled her attention back to her Dad. He dug a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked her cell door, never taking his eyes off Duke. He slid it open and reached in. She moved to dodge his hand so he let off a shot close to her feet and she stalled. Fear came back stronger than before. She was so close to Duke yet felt so far away. When he roughly gripped the elbow of her injured arm and pulled her from the cell, she yelped. She didn’t struggle, unwilling to make this situation more volatile. Being out of the cell had to be some advantage as well

The corridor was narrow so half of her body was tucked just behind him. He kept his gun pressed on her bump. Her head fell forward in despair. The direct threat to her son’s pushed her to the edge of her sanity. Something tucked into the back of her Dad’s jeans caught her eye. The flash of metal, reflecting light from the ceiling. It was a hunting knife and it looked wickedly sharp. She couldn’t twist away from her Dad fast enough and get away to give Duke a shot but she could grab the knife before he knew what was happening.

Her Dad’s hand was steadier now as his confidence in his escape plan grew but he still had a twitchy trigger finger. He was truly dangerous and they all knew he would do the unthinkable to save his own hide. He had ruined her life for the last time. She drew strength into herself and readied for what she was about to do. Her resolve kept her steady. She only hoped she could forgive herself after.

She leaned into her Dad as if she was tired, momentarily distracting him and quickly snatched the knife. It was heavier than she anticipated. This was good, it would take less effort on her part to cause him harm. Her dad had taught her to pick pockets at a young age and this was hardly a challenge for her. He was going to regret that. She kept the knife angled out of view, switching it to her good hand before making her move.

Pressure seemed to push on her from all sides as her dad started to pull her forward. Her plan immediately firmed in her mind. It was up to her to put it into practise. It was now or never. She swung her good arm forward and plunged the knife into the side of his neck, while she twisted her body away from him towards her cell, getting out of the line of fire. Blood squirted and gushed from the neck wound all over her as she heard shots fired. She dropped to the ground, curling her body around her sons. A thud near her caused her head to turn to the slumped body of her Dad. His eyes open, unseeing, blood coating every inch of him and pooling around his body. She couldn’t feel anything. She expected remorse or horror at what she had done and at what she was seeing but all she felt was exhausted.

Her body was pulled up from the cold floor and and embraced in large strong arms. Duke’s scents swamped her and she let herself sink into his warmth.

“I’ve got you, baby. I love you.” He rocked her tightly in his arms, quietly repeating the same phrase over and over in her ear.

She used all her remaining strength to cling to him. She never wanted to let go ever again. His breath was sawing in and out of his chest rapidly and she rested her head over his heart, listening to the thumping rhythm. She heard Slam talking to someone else outside the corridor and Razor dragging her Dad’s body away. A whimper drew her attention and she all of a sudden remembered Bianca. She tried to pull away from Duke’s hold, he wasn’t letting go. He held her so tight, she couldn’t struggle against his strength. He picked her up and started to walk along the corridor.

“Duke, let me go. There’s someone else in there! Bianca’s in the cell next to mine.”

Duke paused and shouted instructions to the Musketeers to collect Bianca. Knowing Bianca would be rescued, Nicole relaxed, wound her good arm securely around Duke’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder, soaking his shirt with her tears. She was home at last. Her babies started to kick like crazy, looked like they knew it too.

Nicole was back in his arms. His body finally felt settled but his mind still raced with all that could of happened, it spun with the possibilities. He kept replaying Nicole thrusting the knife into Nole’s throat. His heart had stopped and his brain had struggled to register what it was seeing. What had his baby gone through to make stabbing her father an option? Nicole wouldn’t normally hurt a fly. To have turned on her father, something inside her must have finally broke. He hated that that was how it had gone down. Duke should have rescued her but instead she’d rescued herself. If she lost one minute of sleep over that pathetic fucker, he would lose it.

He felt like he’d let her down over and over again. How was he ever going to make this up to her? He pulled her even tighter into his chest, using her as a blanket, the only one that could warm the cold feeling he had that was eating him up inside. He relished his son’s kicking against him as he stood in the relative quiet of the reception area as his brothers sorted the bodies outside. Nicole didn’t need to see that.

His body felt wired. He knew he wouldn’t settle until he knew Nicole and their boys were alright and healthy. He closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair. Nicole’s sweet smell calmed his heart. He felt her breath steady against his neck. She had fallen asleep. He wanted to wake her and hear her reassurances that she was okay but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She looked so peaceful. They had all the time in the world to talk, so he let her sleep, loving that she still trusted him enough to keep her safe and protected after everything that had happened.

He walked outside, Razor and Slam came to stand by him. They never said a word, just gave their silent support and it was just what he needed right then. He was lucky that he’d never have to stand alone. He knew Nicole loved Razor and Slam like the brothers she’d never had and would be happy that they were nearby. They were waiting for the clubs truck to pick them up.

Just then, Duke saw Bones emerge out of the warehouse carrying a petite blonde woman. She looked tiny in his arms, this must be Bianca who Nicole had mentioned. She looked beat up. Even from all the way over here, Duke could see cuts and heavy bruising marring her face. Hollywood went to talk to him but Bones quickly backed away, while Digger and King blocked him from getting any closer. Their faces were fierce and determined. He looked at Razor and Slam, they both shrugged. Obviously they didn’t know what was going on either.

While everyone else watched that event unfold, Duke studied Nicole. She was as beautiful as ever but from the dark smudges under her eyes, he knew she was worn out and had been through too much. He was going to give her a hot bath and then hold her tight against him in their bed for as long as he could keep her there. First, Slam would have treat her gunshot wound. He could see the heavily soiled bandage haphazardly wrapped around the top of her arm. He lifted her slightly and pressed light kisses all over her face. In her sleep, she hummed and snuggled into him, burying her face in his neck. God, he loved her.

The two trucks pulled up and four brothers got out. One to ride his bike back for him and three to ride the ones they’d acquired from the dead Riot brothers. He glanced at the bodies being loaded into the second truck as he climbed into the first, making sure not to move about too much, then settled Nicole on his lap. He didn’t want to jar her awake. A commotion outside the truck woke her anyway and now Duke was pissed.

He stuck his head out to see what the fuck was going on. He watched as Bianca started to wail loudly. She seemed terrified to get in the truck and was clinging onto both King and Bones. He could see her knuckles turn white with her straining effort. Prez was shouting that they needed to move out - now. Duke vehemently agreed. Eventually, all three Musketeers got in the truck, each keeping a hand on Bianca. They sure were possessive over the girl and she was gripping onto them like a life line.