I nod. “Killing him isn’t enough. I’m going to annihilate that motherfucker and his empire.”
“You know this will impact Ezra, too, right?” Jax states and I nod. “She’ll lose everything.”
“If I know Ezra, after this, she will want nothing to do with Hugo or the Quintero name,” I answer, and Jax nods, averting his gaze from me to look ahead.
“If we don’t get to her pronto, she might be a Lorenzi.”
I exhale slowly to control the raging storm brewing inside of me and shake my head. “The fuck she will. Lorenzi can’t marry her because she’s still married…to me.”
Jax’s brows draw together, and he looks at me questioningly. “I thought you got divorced.”
“I didn’t sign the papers.” A slow grin spreads across his face, and he shakes his head.
“Never thought I’d see the day, the big bad Damien Wolfe brought to his knees by a five-foot-three brunette.” I send him a withering glare, and he smirks back at me. “You can give me the death glare all you want, bro. Ezra has transformed the ugly beast in you into a gentle giant.”
I couldn’t even deny it anymore. Jax was right. Ezra has somehow managed to subdue the beast in me, but that’s only subject to her…anyone else who’s got balls big enough to dare get in my way will indeed feel the wrath of Damien Wolfe.
Starting with Hugo.
We pull up outside the Quintero mansion, and as I had suspected, Hugo has beefed up the security surrounding the house. Out front alone, I see at least seven guards. “Well, this should be fun,” Jax states, leaning over and looking at the gates, his blue eyes narrowed.
“Hugo must be home if he’s crammed the place with his goons. As soon as we are in, find Ezra’s mother and get her out of there.” Jax nods and pulls the barrel back on his Glock, and I do the same.
“Shall we then?”
“I’ve waited so fucking long for this moment. The moment I get to look into his eyes and tell him exactly who I am.” A shiver of anticipation teems through me at the thought of watching the life drain out of Hugo’s eyes.
* * *
After Jaxand I come up with a plan to take out Hugo’s dogs strewn at the front of the house, we move in. Two of the guards already know me, so Jax was the one that distracted them while I went around the back of the house.
I see two guards around back by the guest house Ezra and I were staying at. While they’re in a conversation, I attach the suppressor to my gun and take a couple of steps back so I can run and leap up the eight-foot wall. I grab the edges and pull myself up quietly. My eyes are on the guards as I throw one leg over, then the other and hop off the wall, crouching down behind the boxed hedge. I lift my gun and shoot down both the guards, a clean kill right in between the eyebrows. I stand as they both hit the floor.
I move along the side of the garden toward the back gate. I halt when I hear a loud gasp from behind me. My eyes meet with Diana—Ezra’s mother, and she watches me wide-eyed. She doesn’t make a sound, but her eyes glisten with tears—she knows why I’m here. I press my finger to my lips and motion her over to me. Diana complies and scurries over to me. “Damien.”
“Mrs. Quintero, things are about to get ugly in there. I need you to make an excuse and leave.” I inform her, but she shakes her head.
“I cannot go anywhere. My husband will not let me leave because of the threat to our lives. Hugo has got us into some trouble. They took my baby—they took Ezra, and that pendejo husband of mine agreed to have her taken away to be married to a dangerous man. Damien, you must save her. There is no saying what that man will do to her.”
“Diana, nothing is going to happen to Ezra. I promise you. Your husband, on the other hand, he’s about to get a first-hand taste of what hell feels like. Lock yourself in a room someplace, and don’t come back out until myself or my friend comes to get you. All right?” Diana nods. “How many guards are there inside the house?”
“Five, I think. Three in the foyer and two upstairs on the landing.” I nod and gesture for her to go, and she wipes away her tears, muttering prayers under her breath as she walks toward the house.
First, I need to deal with the guards out front. I move toward the back gate and send a text to Jax to tell him I’m in position. Not even a second later, I get a reply with a thumbs up. It’s showtime. I pull the gate open, and a guard turns to look at me; immediately, a startled look crosses his face, he goes to draw the gun in the holster.
I lift mine and shoot him in the head once and twice in the chest. He hit the floor hard, knocking over a wooden chair, and I step over him. Another guard comes running around the corner, and I shoot him down before he could pull the trigger and shoot me.
“Come on, fella’s, no need to be hasty.” I hear Jax say, a smirk on his face with his hands up in the air, palms facing the five guards that had guns aimed at him. One guard turns and notices me.
“Stop right ther—” He demands, but I shoot him before he could finish his sentence. Jax takes that moment to draw his gun and shoots down two of the other guards, and I kill the remaining two. We share a look, and Jax sighs, walking around the dead men.
“Incoming.” He lifts his gun and fires his gun twice, killing the guard running out of the house. Another two guards appear from inside the house, firing their weapons at us. The bullets scarcely miss Jax and me when we jump out of the way, pressing our backs against the wall and reloading our guns. “You got left, and I‘ll go right.” I nod, pulling the barrel back, chambering a bullet, and we step out together and shoot down both guards.
“I’m going in,” I tell Jax and move over to the front door. The door was ajar, so I press my back against the wall and listen out for any sound on the other side. No doubt guards are waiting for me to walk in so they can kill me. I push the door open and jump back when guns are fired the moment the door swings open. I step forward and shoot one of them before I drawback and press myself against the wall again.
Jax comes to stand behind me, and I gesture for him to take the front while I go around the back. I make my way around the back of the house, through the garden, and slip inside through the kitchen. Diana left the door unlocked. “Where are you, you son of a bitch.” I mutter as I move cautiously through the house, out of the kitchen.
“What are you waiting for? Get out there and kill them!” I hear Hugo’s voice echo in the house. I crouch and peek over the barrier to the staircase leading to the first floor. Hugo is pacing the living room fretfully. His hands on top of his head, his greying hair disheveled. Upon seeing him, the rage I felt before tripled.