Konrad Read online

  I hear bullets hitting the glass. I wince at that but it’s bulletproof, thankfully, but it won’t hold forever.

  I pull my phone and I see texts from Lynn. “There is one in the house. He’s locked in.”

  Oh fuck!

  I show the text to Ronny and he starts to get up. “You’re better at this than me. I will handle this.”

  I pick up my gun and run through the door. I let myself calm and I push the button to turn off all of the lights so he can’t see.

  I pick up my phone and I search the cameras, trying to see if I can spot the person in the house.

  “What room are you in?” I ask Lynn through text.

  “He’s on the second floor, three doors from Sheryl's.”

  I hit the stairs, running as fast as I can to make it down. Lynn is different than me. She is not a fighter like I am.

  I look into the scope, detecting thermal, and I can see him at the end of the hallway.

  Fuck, he is right outside of where Lynn is hiding. Why didn’t she get into a safe room?

  I make sure I don’t make a sound as I approach, then I hear a loud bang and the sound of Michaela screaming.

  The not-making-a-sound idea goes right out of the window. I walk inside of the bedroom and see he is trying to break down the closet door.

  I see red at the sight of him trying to get inside to them. I lean against the door casually. “Well, well, how did you get in here?” I smirk when I see it’s my brother-in-law, Michael’s brother.

  He spins around to look at me and I use my phone to turn on the lights once more. I want him to see who it is when I beat his ass.

  He looks me up and down. “You’re alone?” He looks behind me like someone is magically going to appear behind me.

  “I am.” I look to the closet and I can hear Michaela crying inside.

  “Look, I just need Michaela and then I will leave. That is all,” he says so simply, like it’s nothing.

  I laugh. “You think I will give up my niece?” I point my gun at him, right at his dick. “I will never fucking give her up, you stupid piece of shit!” I scream and start to pull the trigger, but another gun goes off behind me.

  He hits the ground, holding his dick in his hands like that is going to save him. I whip around and see Konrad standing in front of me, decked out head to toe in gear. He has a hat on backwards and is brandishing an AK.

  Relief floods through me. His mask drops and he rushes to me, pulling me to his chest, holding onto me so tight. “God, I was so scared, baby,” he whispers into my ear. I can feel him shaking.

  “We are safe. Ronny saved Olivia.” I tell him how it all went down, and he has a proud smile on his face at the mention of Ronny. “I love that fucking kid.”

  I hear a loud boom and glass shattering, letting me know that they have made it inside of the house.

  Shit!

  “Lynn, open the door. We need to move, now!” Konrad yells through the door and she opens it immediately.

  He reaches down and scoops Michaela into his arms just as Tristan thunders his way into the room. He has a wild look in his eyes and blood on his shirt that lets me know that he fought his way in.

  “One hundred more just flooded through the back gate. We need to move.” Tristan takes Michaela from Konrad.

  Konrad nods, the mask slipping back into place. We have been attacked and we didn’t expect this to happen like this.

  Tristan hands Lynn Michaela. “You need to hold her. I will get you guys out of here,” he promises her.

  I help her situate Michaela and I lift my gun, ready. I nod to Konrad, letting him know that we are ready.

  “We need to take them to one of the guest houses and into the ground,” Tristan says, and I agree immediately.

  “Wait, Maci and Olivia are inside here!” I forgot that they ran through the house trying to find safety.

  I look at the motion detector on my phone and see that they slipped through a room right down the hallway.

  “They are right down here!” I whisper-yell, just as I hear someone running up the stairs. Konrad steps in front of me, shooting them the second they make the first step onto the landing.

  “Michael is mine when I find him,” Konrad tells us. I can feel the darkness inside of him.

  I look down at Michaela to see if she is okay, but Lynn has her face covered so she can’t see what is happening.

  We make our way down the hallway to the room where Maci and Olivia are. “You guys, we need to run!” I yell into the room and they pop out of the bathroom instantly. I know they were listening to see if anyone was coming.

  Olivia runs to me. I take her hand. “Hold onto to me and don’t let go,” I tell her and she nods. I can see the fire in her eyes.

  Huge-ass footsteps break the moment and I hold my breath, waiting to see who the person is. Tristan is in the back of the group and he fires off one single shot, the bullet hitting the person directly in the face.

  “Let’s move.” Konrad takes the head and we go down a back stairway to the first floor.

  My adrenaline is running so high right now, anyone could cross in front of us at any second.

  I can hear gunshot after gunshot outside and inside. I hope that Michaela won’t be affected by this. That would be my worst fear.

  Konrad stops suddenly before he is tackled to the side by someone. I watch in horror as the guy brandishes a knife, trying to stab Konrad in the side.

  Konrad pushes him off. My stomach twists with the urge to throw up at the extreme fear I am feeling.

  Konrad lifts his gun simply and just shoots him point blank. “I don’t have fucking time for this shit.”

  The knife hits the ground first as he clutches his neck where Konrad shot him, blood hitting the floor.

  The clean-up is going to take fucking forever here. Why that crossed my mind, I have no clue.

  We step outside onto the porch and I see bodies on top of bodies lying on the ground, but more people are running everywhere.

  This is a mess.

  I hear a gunshot from the top of the house and I know it’s Ronny. Maverick runs past us with two pistols, with Smiley at his back. “Where is Ronny?” Maverick asks me.

  I point to the roof just as another shot rings through. Maverick shakes his head, grinning as the body hits the ground. “My boy is too good of a shot for his own fucking good.”

  Olivia steps forward, her face serious. “He saved my life. He saved me from getting taken.” Her body is shaking so hard from the adrenaline, the fear, and so much more.

  Maverick’s face changes at the realization and I know what Ronny did is sinking in. “Let us help you take them to safety,” Maverick tells Smiley and us.

  They move on either side of us, putting us in the middle of a barrier, which is them. Maverick looks at me and smiles, arching an eyebrow to check if I am okay.

  I am.

  Seeing Michael this time didn’t shock me, no. I was prepared for it and this time it was different. Lives were in danger.

  “There is a cabin right through those woods.” I point and we all move as one unit. I peek back at Lynn and Michaela to make sure they’re okay. Lynn is carrying her with her eyes covered so she doesn’t see the bodies lying around.

  Tristan has his hand on her back like he is trying to reassure her that he’s there and she’s safe.

  This is horrible. We’re coming around the side of the house and we’re going to be out in the open, but we have no choice considering that’s how we can get to the cabins.

  Konrad peers around the corner to make sure it’s clear, his arm lifted, and he waves us forward with him.

  The second we get ten feet from the main house, five guys come around the front of the house and we are fucked.

  One of the guys yells out, “Here she is!” and points at Olivia. She looks pale and shaken, because every single guy is looking at her like she is the last meal on earth.

  Fuck me.

  One of them starts running toward us,
and before I can lift my gun, a shot rings out and he doesn’t make it five feet before he is dead.

  I look up to the roof at Ronny and he’s grinning from ear to ear. “My fucking kid,” Maverick laughs as Ronny makes the rest of the guys scatter back to the front of the house.

  We take their moment of distraction and run for the cabin. Konrad opens the door and we all four run inside. I push the button on the wall, opening the hole in the living room.

  The girls climb inside. I look down at their four frightened faces. “We will be back for you.”

  “Etta, why don't you get inside with them?” Konrad asks me. I know that he is barely hanging on with all of the stuff happening around me, but I can’t leave the girls to defend themselves. It’s my job to protect them.

  I shake my head no, lifting my arm and wiping the sweat off of my forehead. “I have to protect everyone. I will not hide.” I walk to the wall and push the button, closing the hole, locking them inside.

  It can only be opened from inside or someone who has the code, and only a few people have that.

  I let out a deep breath, knowing that they are safe inside. “Now let’s have some fun.” I grin at the guys; they give me the same crazy look.

  They live for this. These are the moments when they let their darkness out. I have seen it many times before and it’s never good for the people their anger is directed towards.

  Outside the house, I hear a car speeding and then it slides through the grass right toward us and I look at the guys, confused.

  It comes to a full stop and a head peeks out of the window and I laugh. “You think you’re going to have a party without me?” Butcher jumps out and I take his place in the passenger seat.

  In the back are Kayla and Alisha with their own guns. “Drive,” I tell Shaylin, sticking my upper body out of the sun roof, standing in the seat.

  She screams at the top of her lungs. “Get them, girl!” She drives with one hand and has her pistol out in the other.

  * * *

  Konrad

  We stand there and watch as the girls completely destroy everyone in sight. Shaylin is even trying to run them over.

  “I raised a crazy fucking kid.” Smiley shakes his head with that crazy-ass grin on his face.

  Etta is just right, with her eating that shit up. A bullet hits the side of their vehicle and Shaylin does a sharp right, clipping the people who were shooting at us with the SUV and knocking them five feet in the air.

  “I need to find Michael.”

  Ready or not, here I come, Michael.

  16

  Etta

  One by one they hit the ground. Fewer and fewer are alive. It’s been an hour and now we can finally have a break without so many of them.

  They are all over the property, it’s fucking crazy.

  I sit down into the seat to take a break from the craziness. We’re parked to the side of the field at the back of the property.

  I can feel all of the girls looking at me. “Are you okay, Etta?” Alisha asks from the back seat.

  “I’m fine. I just hate that this happened and the girls won’t think this is a safe place anymore.” That is my fear—that they feel like they can be hurt anytime.

  Shaylin shakes her head furiously. “They will know how hard you fought for them. We are all fighting for them to make sure they are safe. They know that.”

  I am touched by her words. “Thank you.”

  My door is wrenched open and I look at Shaylin in shock before I’m taken out of the SUV, my legs hitting the ground hard.

  The girls are screaming as I’m carried off. I turn around and I almost vomit at the sight of who has me.

  Michael.

  Pure panic almost cripples me. I can’t let him take me. I can’t.

  I fight with everything in me to make sure that doesn’t happen. I can’t let it happen. I need to protect my baby.

  “Be fucking still, bitch! You are my wife!” he hisses at me, holding me even tighter, his hands digging into my arms.

  I kick back, hoping to connect with his shin, my elbow digging into his stomach.

  I look back at the girls, who are following at a distance. Shaylin looks terrified right now.

  “KONRAD!” Kayla yells at the top of her lungs to get the guys’ attention out into the field.

  Michael was hiding in the fucking woods, which is why I never saw him coming. “Oh, how I am going to love getting reacquainted with you again before I kill you!” he yells into my ear.

  I reach behind me and I dig my hand into his pants, grabbing his balls and squeezing with all of my might.

  I grin in satisfaction at the beautiful sound of him screaming and his balls shattering in my hand.

  He lifts his hand like he is going to hit me. I try to back away. I close my eyes, waiting for the punch, but it doesn’t come.

  * * *

  Konrad

  Hearing Kayla yelling for me had my soul leaving my fucking body. I saw right off the bat what had her screaming as Michael carried off Etta.

  I reach her just as he throws a punch, I step in front of her and his fist hits me in the chest instead.

  He looks at me in shock like he can’t believe I’m actually standing in front of him, but oh yes.

  “How I have waited to meet you, Michael.” I grin at him, my hand taking the fist that dared to hit her. I lift his wrist back farther and farther toward his shoulder.

  His face reddens with his pain. “Please don’t break it,” he begs me, but I laugh at his fucking audacity.

  He looks to Etta like she’s going to help him. I pull her behind me so he can’t look at her. I don't want him to look at her. He is not fucking worthy of that.

  I pull it back and look him dead in the fucking eyes as I do so. “You think breaking your wrist is going to be the worst thing that happens to you?”

  I hear the snap and that shit runs through me, pure fucking pleasure at his scream. I grip his face. “Get used to it. I am going to break you. I am going to fucking destroy you until you wish for hell because then you may have rest, because it’s not going to compare to what I do to you.”

  I throw him to the ground and wave for the prospects to take him from me. They drag him to one of the vans, where he will be taken to one of those fucking boxes in the basement.

  I turn around and take Etta. “I am so glad you’re okay, angel.” I lift her face so I can kiss her. I can feel her shaking in my arms.

  Her hands are on my sides. “Is it all over?” she asks me, looking into my eyes, and I smile, kissing her forehead. I look behind her to all of my brothers standing behind me, all of us battle-worn. “Yeah, baby, it’s all over.”

  * * *

  Etta

  A few Weeks Later

  We are having a family barbecue. Konrad’s parents are here and my family is here. I am over twelve weeks pregnant and it’s time to tell everyone the good news.

  Konrad has tried his best to not tell everyone, but he is such a proud dad it’s practically been killing him to keep all of that in.

  “Can you get the food out of the oven?” I ask his mom.

  She jumps out of her seat. Konrad squeezes my hand under the table. He is trying to hide his grin and pretend to be busy so no one suspects anything.

  A few moments later, she comes back into the dining room holding a bun, looking confused. “Why is there a bun in the oven?” She looks at it and then at me.

  She looks to me, to my stomach, then back to the bun. “Wait…” She trails off and then she screams, throwing the bun over her shoulder and running to me as fast she can, pulling me to her and hugging me.

  “Oh my God! I am going to be a grandmother!” she screams, and that sets everyone in motion and running over to congratulate us.

  Konrad pulls me from everyone until I am facing him. I look at him, confused as to what he’s doing.

  Then he gets down onto one knee in front of me.

  I gasp, shocked that this is happening now. He takes my l
eft hand. “My sweet Etta, I love you with every part of my being and I will forever until the day I am taken from this earth. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  “Yes!” I scream. “I would love to marry you!” He slips the beautiful ring on my finger and stands up, lifting me off of the ground.

  He presses his forehead against mine. “Forever and always, baby,” he whispers for only me.

  “I am yours always.”

  Epilogue

  Konrad

  Months Later

  The second our baby was born, the life I knew was changed. The second I stared into Loretta’s eyes, I fell in love for the second time in my life.

  The love I feel for her is something I can’t even describe. Life ends and begins with that sweet angel and her momma.

  I loved seeing every single change in Etta’s body over the last year. I didn’t like seeing her so sick from the morning sickness though.

  I kiss her forehead, rubbing her slightly rounded belly that’s still swollen from pregnancy as she cuddles Loretta to her chest.

  She opens her eyes to look at me, full of happiness, the darkness and the shadows long gone from that night all those months ago.

  It took a long time for all of the girls to recover from that. They were scared, especially the girls whose husbands were within the group, but no one who attacked the compound made it out alive that day.

  “How is momma?” I ask, rubbing her stomach. Labor was hard for her. Loretta was a big baby, but she did it.

  The door opens and Trey walks in carrying a tray. The second Trey found out Etta was having a baby, he devoted himself to taking care of her.

  He was in the delivery room with me. I got to catch Loretta and it was an amazing experience, but it was one of the worst because it absolutely killed me knowing how much pain Etta was in the whole time.

  “I’m still a little sore.” We just got home early this morning.