Chapter 41: 41

The air outside the warehouse was thick with gunpowder and smoke now after the madness that followed. Spent shells covered the ground and there were so many of them that the duo matched them wherever their legs went.

Blaze was out in the open now, chest rising and falling hard as he tried to catch his breath, watching as the last of the enemy vehicle roared away, leaving only the wounded, the dead, speeding off into the distance. His shirt was soaked in sweat and streaked with dust. That's when Domenico walked back, brushing past a dead man at his feet.

"Those are the last of them." He said, gesturing to the bodies that were littered on the floor now.

Their men were moving around, checking for those who were still alive and disarming them.

The brothers had made sure to warn their men not to kill anyone. They were to be taken captive and interrogated later on.

Dom's half-blind gaze swept the scene, catching the movement were now collecting weapons and checking bodies. Blaze didn't answer. He just nodded, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. His dark eyes were colder than usual, lost somewhere deep.

The war might have been over, but his anger wasn't. Dom could see it in the way Blaze's shoulders were so stiff and the way his hands kept twitching every few seconds near his gun. The restlessness wasn't from the adrenaline, it was personal.

"Get the trucks ready," Dom yelled to his men. "Get the survivors out of here and clean this mess up. I don't want any evidence left behind."

They nodded and shared themselves into groups, barking orders. Soon the engines started and the men moved, getting the whole place back in order.

Dom watched the whole thing and when he was sure they were doing something, he turned around but Blaze wasn't there anymore.

"Where the hell-" he froze mid-sentence.

He didn't even need to ask. He knew exactly where Blaze had gone.

The warehouse. The woman. Lucy's mother. Anna.

"Shit!" Dom spun, heart pounding. Soon he was doing something he hadn't done in a very long time- running.

The only thing he could hear then was the sound of his boots hitting the ground and the hammering of his heart inside him. His mind was already ahead of him, picturing Blaze, picturing the gun and picturing the blood he was about to spill. If he didn't get there on time and stop him, Blaze was going to blow that woman's brains out without any form of apology or remorse.

That was why he'd come here- to stop it. And he'd be damned if Blaze accomplished his mission. It meant everything he'd done to get here was in vain. The heavy warehouse door creaked before slamming against the other side of the warehouse.

The first thing that hit him was the smell of Blaze's cologne. And then when he looked up, he saw Blaze standing there, just above the light that sliced through the slits in the metal wall, stripping the floor in sharp white lines. He was standing in front of the shaking woman, gun aimed between her eyes. Anna was sitting on the hair, her wrists bound and her face bruised.

She looked so scared, so scared she couldn't say a word because of how bad her lips were shaking. When Blaze cocked the hammer, she began struggling in her chair, fighting to get out. Dom's heart skipped.

"Blaze! What do you think you're doing?!" Dom's voice thundered through the pace.

Blaze didn't turn to look at him. He kept his hand steadied and the gum right at the woman's forehead. "I knew you'd come." Blaze said, with a smile. "I waited till you got here so you can witness what I am about to do."

"Put the fucking gun down," Dom ordered, stepping forward slowly now. Blaze's has clenched. "She doesn't deserve to be alive for what you did. This is all your fault. You mess with the wrong people and expect them to let you walk on them and... and force your shit down their throat. Didn't you think of what would happen when you decided it would be wise to abduct Nicole and torture her. There are limitations to things you can do. You know that."

"Nicole deserved what she got. And maybe she should have thought about it when she had that girl strapped to a chair, hitting her like she was some criminal. That girl was innocent."

"And how many girls, how many men deserved what you did to them? What this family has done to them?" Blaze replied coolly, reminding his brother of his past. "She's not yours to judge. That woman is the reason I'm still alive. Trust me you don't want to do this to her. She saved me many years ago, Blaze and that's why I want her. I want to repay her for what she's done for me and this family."

Blaze snickered. "That's more reason she should die."

Then he turned back to the woman. "Is that true? You saved this snivelling piece of shit?"

She was still shaking and couldn't string up a single word because of her fear.

Before she could speak, Dom quipped. "You're not a goddammit executioner. Put the gun down. You think I'd let you turn this place into a slaughterhouse? That is not happening."

Blaze snorted. "Oh, it's about to happen and you're going to watch me do it. And don't even think about pulling out your run, because the moment you made any funny move I'm pulling this trigger and painting the floor with her brain."

Dom's temper snapped. "You're not thinking straight!" He shouted. "You've lost your fucking mind. You don't even know what you're doing. All this just because of some vixen who's using you. Come on!"

Blaze's finger tightened on the trigger. "Nothing you say will change my damn mind, Dom. It's over."

And then he pulled the trigger.