FIRE & RUIN
Chapter 16
OVER THE EDGE
Kait didn’t sit.
Didn’t touch anything.
She paced.
Back and forth across the same stretch of floor, arms folded tight, jaw set, eyes flicking to the door every few seconds like she could will it open.
Nothing.
Just the quiet.
Then—
Engine.
Low. Familiar.
Her steps stopped.
Didn’t move toward the door.
Didn’t breathe.
Gravel crunching outside.
Kill switch.
Silence again—but different now.
Closer.
Bootsteps.
Fast.
The door swung open hard enough to hit the wall.
Lane didn’t slow down.
Didn’t say a word.
He crossed the space in two strides. Hands already on her, pulling her in, mouth finding hers—finally after holding it back all day.
Kait staggered back a step from the impact, hands gripping his kutte, dragging him closer.
“Sorry—” he muttered against her mouth, breath rough, hands already moving, pushing fabric out of the way. “Tried to get here as fast—”
She didn’t answer.
Didn’t care.
Her fingers were already working at him, getting rid of his kutte, his shirt, getting it all out of her way.
“Couldn’t leave,” he went on, words breaking between kisses, jaw tight. “Snake Eyes—some cosigner—”
“You’re here now,” she cut in, low, breathless, not pulling back.
Not the time.
He exhaled through his nose, sharp—like he knew she was right.
They moved fast.
Too fast for anything soft.
His hands were everywhere—pulling, guiding, lifting—until suddenly she was up and over him on the couch, straddling, her knees planted on either side, his grip firm on her hips.
Lane looked up at her, breathing hard, eyes locked in her body.
“I want you just like this,” he said, low.
Not a suggestion.
Kait didn’t answer.
She moved up a little and gave him room to get rid of his pants, then she grabbed his shoulders and rolled her hips into him—deliberate, testing, watching his reaction.
No rhythm at first—just friction and urgency—until it clicked.
Then it locked.
Her hands slid up his chest, gripping, anchoring, her head dipping close, breath uneven against his skin.
Lane’s hands stayed firm on her waist—just enough to guide, not enough to control.
He let her set the pace.
However she wanted it.
Faster now.
Louder.
Closer.
Like they were trying to burn through time they didn’t have.
Kait leaned into him, her forehead on his for half a second—just enough to feel it—before pulling back again, keeping the movement, not letting it slow.
It didn’t take long.
They waited all day.
Eventually the movement slowed—not gentle, just… done.
Both of them breathing hard.
Still close.
Still one.
Lane’s hands didn’t drop.
Kait didn’t move off right away.
They stayed like that a second longer than they should have.
They kissed as they recovered.
Rocking gently as they felt the very last of it.
Then reality snapped in clean and they started moving.
Clothes.
Boots.
Belts.
Kait pulled her shirt back on, watching him for a second.
“You were saying?”
Lane glanced at her, half a breath, then a low chuckle under it.
“What.”
“Snake Eyes.”
“Oh.” He shook his head, grabbing his shirt. “Cosigner trying to get a refund. Mundo’s fuckin’ useless explaining and the guy was getting ignorant, so, I had to go over…”
Kait huffed lightly, adjusting her jeans.
“Sounds about right.”
She didn’t look at him this time.
“Still not bailing Prince out?”
Lane didn’t hesitate.
“Nah.”
Flat. Final.
He reached for his kutte, pulling it on, rolling his shoulders once like he was already shifting gears.
Kait watched that.
Then—
“That sucked earlier with Don and Loraine,” she said, quieter now. “That shit’s getting… worse.”
Lane didn’t answer right away.
Just kept moving, buttoning up, jaw set a little tighter than before.
“It ain’t worse,” he said finally.
Kait looked at him.
He met her eyes for a second.
“It’s always been like that.”
He looked away first, grabbing his boots.
“Grew up on that shit.”
Kait didn’t say anything.
Lane shrugged one shoulder, like it didn’t matter.
“That’s nothing compared to what Kolt and I’ve seen. Trust me.”
Silence settled for a second.
“Really?”
Lane huffed under his breath, not quite a laugh.
“Yeah, that ain’t shit. But still. She shouldn’t come to the Nest with home stuff.” He shook his head.
“Agreed,” Kait said.
A look between them.
Then movement again.
Back to getting ready.
Back to the run.
DON AND LORAINE’S HOUSE
The house was quiet.
Window open.
Smoke drifting out into the night.
Loraine stood by it, one arm folded, the other lifting the joint to her lips.
Didn’t rush it.
Didn’t pace.
Just waited.
Headlight cut across the wall for a second.
Gone.
The front door opened.
Closed.
Bootsteps.
He stepped into the room, stopping just inside.
Loraine didn’t turn.
Exhaled slow, smoke trailing out past the window.
“You’d have him out already if it was Lane.”
A beat.
“Wouldn’t even be a conversation.”
Don didn’t hesitate.
“Lane would never be that stupid.”
Flat. Immediate.
Loraine let out a quiet breath through her nose.
“No, of course not.”
Now she turned.
Slow.
Eyes on him.
“Not your perfect boy.”
A step closer.
“Your pride and joy. The quarterback. The Marine. Your right hand.”
Don scoffed.
“Ain’t nothing wrong with any of that.”
Loraine tilted her head slightly.
“He’s so much like you, Don…”
A beat.
“Want me to tell him why?”
Silence.
Real silence.
Don closed the distance in two steps.
Fast.
Controlled.
His hand came up—two fingers driving into the muscle at the base of her neck.
Sharp. Exact.
Loraine’s breath caught.
“You best shut your mouth.”
Her body tightened, knees buckling for half a second—
But she didn’t fold.
Didn’t pull away.
Just braced against the window frame.
Stayed there.
“And you don’t ever talk to me like that in front of my men again, you fucking cunt,” Don said, low.
A quick strike to her side.
Low. Controlled.
Not enough to drop her.
Enough to remind her.
Her grip slipped for a second—
Then held again.
Loraine let out a strained breath.
Not quite a laugh.
Still there.
Still standing.
“You think this does anything anymore?” she said, thinner, but steady.
“Oh, it does something.”
Another strike.
This time Loraine gasped.
Then—
A small figure in the hallway.
Kyle. Barefoot. Half-asleep.
Just standing there, looking.
Not really understanding what he was looking at
Just seeing shapes. Movement. Tension.
Don’s hand dropped.
Clean. Immediate.
Like it had never been there.
Loraine straightened slowly, rolling her shoulder once.
Kyle blinked.
Eyes moving between them.
“Grandma?”
Soft.
Unsure.
Loraine stepped away from the window.
“Go back to bed, Kyle,” Don said.
Like nothing had happened.
Kyle didn’t move right away.
Just stood there another second.
Watching.
Then he turned.
Small footsteps fading down the hall.
Silence settled back into the room.
Don adjusted his sleeve.
Reset.
Didn’t look at her.
Didn’t say anything else.
Turned.
Walked out.
Loraine stayed by the window.
Picked the joint back up.
Took another drag.
Held it.
Then let the smoke drift out into the night.
LAKEHOUSE
The night air hit different.
Cooler.
Reality creeping back in.
Kait moved toward her bike, still catching her breath a little, gloves in hand, hair now braided for the long ride.
Lane watched her.
Didn’t move right away.
Then his hand caught her wrist.
Firm.
She turned back into him before he even pulled.
Close again.
Too close for this to just be nothing.
Lane’s grip stayed on her, eyes locked in, pupils still a little blown from minutes ago—but sharper now. Focused.
“Hey,” he said, low.
Kait didn’t look away.
He took a second like he was choosing the right words.
“I’ll take care of you out there.”
A beat.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Kait studied him for a second.
She stepped in closer, closing whatever space was left.
Her hand slid up to his chest, steady.
“I got you too.”
No hesitation.
Lane exhaled slow through his nose.
A small nod.
Like he accepted it but didn’t like it.
Didn’t argue.
Couldn’t.
Kait reached up, fingers brushing his jaw, grounding him there for a second.
Then she kissed him.
Not rushed this time.
Not frantic.
Just solid.
Real.
He pulled her in tighter, one arm around her back, holding her just for a minute longer.
When they broke, it wasn’t far.
Foreheads almost touching.
Breath still mixing.
Lane stayed there a second longer.
“When this is over…”
Kait didn’t move.
Didn’t interrupt.
“We’re gonna have to figure this out.”
He swallowed.
“‘Cause it ain’t gonna be easy.”
That landed different.
Not doubt.
Reality.
Kait held his gaze.
“I know,” she said low.
Simple.
Certain.
Another second.
Then she stepped back first this time.
Lane let her go.
Didn’t try to stop her.
Kait swung onto her bike.
Engine fired.
Lane followed, pulling his helmet on, eyes still on her for half a second longer.
Then his engine roared to life.
Lights cut through the dark.
And just like that—
They were gone.
Straight into it.
FALFURRIAS
A ridge above the road.
Dark.
Still.
Severino lay behind a jagged outcrop of rock, body low, elbows planted, binoculars steady in his hands.
Dust clung to his sleeves.
The wind moved light across the ridge, carrying the distant sound of engines before the headlights even appeared.
Then they came—
cutting through the stretch below, white beams slicing across the asphalt.
He didn’t track the truck.
Didn’t care about the formation.
His focus stayed on the riders.
Counting.
Spacing.
Movement.
One eye steady behind the glass—
the other hidden beneath a rough bandage wrapped tight across the right side of his face, already stained through at the edges.
Fresh.
Angry.
Then—
He saw her.
La culebrita blanca.
Alive.
His jaw tightened.
The muscle ticked once.
She was supposed to be dead.
The world narrowed.
His focus shifted.
Just her now.
A slow breath in.
Then out.
He lowered the binoculars.
Didn’t look at the men behind him.
Didn’t need to.
They were already waiting.
A small gesture—two fingers forward.
Go.
Muzzle flashes erupted below.
The road lit up in bursts of light and shadow.
Engines surged.
Gunfire cut through the night.
Severino didn’t move right away.
He stayed there, watching through it. Tracking her movement as the formation shifted, watching the break, the angle change… the gap open.
There.
He pushed up from the rock.
Decision already made.
Helmet on.
Engine fired beneath him with a sharp, violent growl.
He swung the bike around, gravel kicking loose under the tires.
And then he dropped off the ridge straight into it.
He was going to chase her again, but he was going to catch her this time.
Engines tore through the night, a solid roar stretching across the empty highway.
Formation tight.
Falfurrias straight ahead.
The box truck held the center lane, heavy and steady.
The van rode close behind it, almost glued to its rear.
Lane at the front.
Low over the bars, eyes working everything. The distance ahead, wind pushing across the road,
the slight dip in the asphalt before the middle stretch.
Kait rode just behind him, never fixed in one place.
Sliding position when needed.
Watching the sides of the road more than the road itself.
Diablo locked the right flank.
Ram held the left.
Koa and Buster sealed the rear.
No gaps.
No drift.
Just movement.
The night stretched out ahead.
Dark. Quiet. Too quiet.
The middle stretch opened up—flat, empty, nowhere to turn.
No exits. No cover.
Exactly where it should happen.
Still nothing.
No headlights.
No movement in the distance.
Just engines.
Too clean.
Lane’s hand lifted slightly off the bars.
Subtle.
Ready.
Kait caught it first.
Diablo saw it.
Ram too.
Everyone tightened without breaking formation.
No one sped up.
No one dropped back.
Just… ready.
A second passed.
Then—
Flash.
Left side.
Muzzle fire ripped out of the brush.
Low. Hidden.
Rounds slammed into the formation.
Metal sparked.
Glass cracked.
No warning.
No buildup.
Just impact.
Lane’s hand snapped forward signaling the driver to keep going
The convoy surged.
The truck didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t slow.
Krait fired back instantly—
short, controlled bursts into the dark where the flashes blinked.
The van’s side door slid open behind the truck, and gunfire answered from inside.
Men braced in the frame, rifles out, firing clean lines without breaking speed.
The incoming fire didn’t scatter.
Didn’t panic.
It stayed tight.
Disciplined.
Walking the formation.
Wrong.
This wasn’t Reyes spray.
Kait felt it immediately.
Too controlled.
Too deliberate.
She adjusted without thinking—
shifted position, fired, moved again.
Lane saw it too.
Registered it and kept moving.
No time.
Headlights ahead—
fast.
Too fast.
A pair of bikes cut across the lane from the right, engines screaming as they slid into position.
Another set pushed in from the left, tightening the space around the truck.
Not a full block—
a moving choke.
Forcing them in.
Holding them in the kill zone.
Layered.
Not random.
Lane’s head snapped once—
saw the angles.
Saw the trap.
His arm cut hard—
West.
Now.
then he began shooting.
Krait peeled off the highway as one, engines howling as they broke onto the quarry road.
Gravel exploded under their tires.
The formation stretched for a second—
then tightened again.
The truck stayed on line.
Didn’t slow.
Didn’t look back.
The van stayed glued behind it, gunfire still cutting from its open side.
That was the job.
Keep it moving.
Gunfire chased them into the dark, bursts echoing off the open land.
Kait leaned into the turn, pushing hard onto the quarry path—
then felt it.
Something behind her.
Different.
Not breaking off.
Not falling back.
Closing.
Lane saw it a second later—
headlight holding position behind Kait.
Not drifting.
Not engaging the truck.
Locked on her.
That hit him.
Hard.
Severino.
The distance between them wasn’t big—
but it was enough.
Too much.
Kait pushed harder.
Gravel sliding under her tires as the quarry opened ahead.
Her chest tightened.
Breathing already off.
Smoke still sitting in her lungs from the fire.
Every inhale scraping.
She ignored it.
Had to.
Behind her—
the engine stayed with her.
Closer now.
Too close.
Lane pushed harder, cutting through the last of the turn—
trying to close the gap.
But the crossfire had slowed him just enough.
Just enough.
Kait broke deeper into the quarry—
no more road.
No more clean lines.
Just open ground and loose gravel.
Severino followed.
Didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t slow.
To hell with the convoy or the plan.
Just her.
Kait cut hard off the path, throttle twisting as she rode deeper into the open ground.
Not escape.
Position.
She wasn’t running from him.
She was pulling him in.
Behind her, the engine stayed locked.
Severino didn’t hesitate. Didn’t second guess.
He followed her line exactly.
Good.
Kait pushed harder, bike sliding under her as loose gravel kicked out behind her tires.
The ground wasn’t clean here.
Uneven. Broken.
No room for control.
That was the point.
Her chest tightened.
Sharp. Immediate.
She ignored it.
Kept going.
The quarry floor opened wider.
Nothing but rock, dust, and shadow.
No cover. No help.
Lane’s headlight flickered somewhere behind them.
Too far.
Kait slowed just enough.
Then killed the Kriger.
She let it drop and moved.
Boots hitting the ground already running.
Fast.
Purposeful.
She didn’t look back.
Didn’t need to.
She could hear him.
Severino’s engine roared closer.
Then cut.
His bike hit the ground behind him.
He was already on her.
Footsteps tearing through gravel.
Closing.
Fast.
Too fast.
Kait pushed forward.
Her breath already shortening.
In. Sharp.
Out. Not enough.
Her lungs burned immediately.
Too soon.
Too fast.
The smoke from the fire still sat in her chest.
Every inhale scraped.
She tried to control it.
Didn’t work.
Each breath came thinner.
Tighter.
Like something closing in from the inside.
It felt just like when she got shot at the junkyard.
She kept moving anyway.
Had to.
Her stride shortened without her meaning it to.
Just a fraction.
Enough.
“I told you, Culebrita,” Severino said behind her.
Closer now.
“I told you I was going to catch you.”
Too close.
Kait didn’t answer.
Couldn’t waste the air.
She stumbled.
Caught herself.
Tried to keep moving.
Didn’t get the chance.
His hand caught her hard from behind.
Dragged her back.
She twisted with it.
Instinct.
Her elbow drove back.
He absorbed it.
Didn’t let go.
His arm slid across her throat, locking her in place.
Not choking.
Controlling.
His other hand came up.
Gun pressed to her temple.
Cold.
Deliberate.
He pulled her just enough to turn her.
So he could see.
“There you are,” he said.
Not to her.
To him.
Lane came in fast across the quarry floor.
The Hardline cutting hard over loose ground.
Closing distance.
Severino smiled.
Slow.
Satisfied.
He knew Lane was coming.
“You better get back on that bike, Sarge,” Severino said.
A beat.
“Because I’m either taking her with me alive… or I’m blowing her fucking head off right here.”
Lane didn’t answer right away.
Didn’t stop.
Didn’t rush him either.
Just slowed enough to read it.
Gun.
Grip.
Kait’s breathing.
Wrong.
Too shallow.
She was fading.
He exhaled once through his nose.
Then—
“Really, Severino…” he said.
Like he almost felt bad for him.
“What, you’re taking her to Mexico or something? Gonna make her your girlfriend? Introduce her to your family?”
Severino’s smile didn’t drop.
But it shifted.
Just a little.
Lane took another step.
Casual. Loose.
Like they weren’t standing in the middle of a kill.
“What are you doing, man? You serious?”
A beat.
Severino’s grip flexed under Kait’s throat.
Not enough to choke.
Enough to show it hit.
Kait felt it.
Faint.
But there.
Lane tilted his head slightly.
Studying him.
“You don’t even know what to do with her,” he said.
Flat.
No heat.
Just fact.
Severino let out a short breath.
Amused.
But tighter now.
“You know what I’m gonna do with her?” he said.
Lane shrugged.
“I’m gonna take her to my warehouse. Put her on my table… and see how much she can take.”
Lane shook his head slightly.
“Goddamn, man…”
Severino leaned closer to her.
“He thinks this is a joke,” he murmured. “Maybe I should take your eye out so he knows I mean it.”
Lane didn’t react.
Didn’t even look at him.
“Hey. No. Just go,” he said.
Flat.
“Take her then.”
A beat.
“If you’re gonna do it, do it.”
Nothing in his face.
Nothing in his voice.
Severino watched him.
Waiting.
Didn’t get what he wanted.
Kait’s chest hitched again.
Thin.
But this time—
air came in.
Just enough.
Her fingers flexed against his arm.
Then she looked up.
Found Lane.
Clear.
Finally.
A small nod from him.
Now.
Kait dropped her weight hard.
Straight down.
Severino’s arm slipped off her throat just enough—
not expecting it—
not from her.
Lane fired.
The shot cracked through the quarry.
Severino jerked. The round tearing into his shoulder.
His grip broke.
The gun slipped from his hand.
Hit the ground.
Kait rolled away immediately.
Out of the line of fire and towards the blade she dropped earlier.
Her chest seized again, air still not coming right—
but she moved.
She had to.
Lane stepped in.
Fired again.
The second shot hit—
but not clean.
Then—
click.
Empty.
Severino didn’t go down.
Didn’t hesitate.
He came forward.
They collided hard.
No distance.
No space.
Just impact.
Hands. Elbows.
Short, violent hits.
Severino swung wide.
Lane slipped inside and drove a punch into his ribs.
Again.
Severino answered with a headbutt.
Sharp.
Violent.
Lane staggered.
Reset, and came right back.
They crashed together again.
Boots sliding on loose gravel.
No footing.
No control.
And then the ground changed.
Behind Lane, the edge.
A steep drop into the lower cut of the quarry.
Severino saw it.
And started driving him that way.
Step by step.
Relentless pressure.
Lane tried to angle off but the gravel kept slipping under him.
No reset.
Kait pushed herself up.
Barely.
Her lungs were still tight, still burning, but working just enough now.
Enough to move.
She lifted her head and saw it clearly—
the direction,
the edge,
Lane losing ground step by step.
Severino kept driving him back, not thinking about anything except finishing it.
Lane’s heel slid.
Gravel broke loose under him, spilling over the edge.
His balance went with it.
Nothing behind him.
No recovery.
Severino surged forward—
committed.
Everything into the push.
That was the moment.
Kait moved.
Not fast. Not clean.
But all in.
She came in from the side, blade already in her hand, and drove into him hard—low, into his hip and ribs. Right where his weight was already pushing forward.
He didn’t see it coming. He couldn’t adjust.
She came up with it.
Quicker than she should have.
The blade cutting across his throat.
Not clean.
Just enough.
His hand flew up instinctively, clamping over his neck. Blood already forcing through his fingers, but he didn’t stop.
He didn’t break.
Still pushing forward.
Still trying to finish it.
Lane dropped back at the same time, his balance completely gone now.
Kait reacted instantly.
Her hand shot out and caught his forearm.
Not his whole weight, just enough to keep him from dropping straight back.
Lane’s momentum pulled her forward, boots sliding, knees hitting the gravel hard.
She didn’t try to hold him there.
Didn’t fight the weight.
She pulled sideways instead, changing the angle.
Lane got it immediately and used it.
His other hand hit the ground, boot digging into loose rock, and he rolled with her pull instead of against it.
But Severino didn’t.
His foot hit loose gravel.
It slid—but he didn’t go down.
He pushed forward again anyway. Still coming. Still trying to finish it.
Kait drove into him with everything she had left, and this time it broke.
His balance went, and his body tipped back toward the drop.
His hand slipped from his throat and came for her.
Caught her face.
Hard.
Blood smeared across her cheek, her mouth, her jaw hot and thick.
His grip dragging across her skin as he fell.
Then—
his fingers caught her braid.
It unraveled in his hand.
Slipped.
Coming apart.
The braid was already loose.
Hair pulling free as he grabbed at it.
Kait felt it tighten for a split second—then the pull.
Sharp.
Her head jerked back, pain flashing across her scalp.
And then it gave. A chunk tore loose in his hand. Uneven. Ragged.
A last souvenir to take with him.
His body hit the slope below hard, sliding over loose rock before dropping out of sight into the lower cut of the quarry.
Silence followed.
Dust drifting down into the dark.
No movement.
No sound coming back.
Nothing.
Kait stayed where she was, bent forward, hands braced against her legs, pulling in air that still burned on the way down.
But it was coming now.
Rough. Uneven.
Real.
Blood still warm on her face.
Lane stepped in beside her, steady again, one glance over the edge—just enough to confirm—
then back to her.
He didn’t say anything.
Didn’t need to.
Because this time—
she finished it.
Kait didn’t move right away.
She was only breathing.
In.
Out.
Blood drying on her skin.
Her hair uneven where it had torn.
Lane kneeled next to her.
Close.
Not touching.
Just there.
The quarry felt empty now.
Whatever had been there—
gone.
In the distance, engines were getting closer.
The rest of them.
Kait straightened slowly.
Not all the way.
Just enough.
She wiped at her face once.
Didn’t look at her hand.
“We gotta go,” Lane said.
Low.
She nodded.
That was it.
The engines hit the lot one by one.
Not loud.
Not like a victory.
Just machines coming back.
The truck rolled in last.
Slow.
Driver still holding it together, but barely.
The van behind it.
Quiet.
No jokes.
No noise.
The courtyard felt different.
Too still.
Word had already spread.
Or maybe they could just feel it.
Lane killed The Hardline.
Didn’t move right away.
Kait pulled in next to him.
Cut the engine and looked at Lane.
She jerked her chin at the Battleborn and sat there for a second.
Then she took it off.
Hair uneven.
Blood dried across her face.
No one said anything about it.
They didn’t need to.
Diablo stepped off Slayer.
Looked at Lane.
“Truck’s good,” he said.
That was it.
Lane nodded once.
The driver climbed out.
Hands still shaking.
Eyes moving too fast.
Taking in everything.
Trying not to ask questions.
Lane stepped up to him.
No small talk.
“Keys,” he said.
The driver handed them over immediately.
Then the envelope.
Lane took it.
Didn’t open it.
Didn’t count it.
Just held it.
“You’re staying,” Lane said pointing down.
The driver nodded fast.
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
“Get food. Shower. Stay inside.”
Another nod.
Relief now.
Someone else taking control.
Ram jerked his head toward the rooms.
“I got him.”
They moved him out.
Routine.
Same as always.
Except it wasn’t.
Lane turned back.
Looked at the rest of them.
Counted.
Everyone who made it back.
No words for the ones who didn’t.
Not here.
Not now.
His eyes moved once to Kait.
Quick.
Checking.
She was still standing.
That was enough.
“Chapel.”
Don and Klaus were at the table as they walked in.
Not talking.
Just watching the door.
Lane stepped in first.
The others behind him.
Dust.
Blood.
It showed.
Don’s eyes moved across them immediately.
Counting.
Quick.
Who was there.
Who wasn’t.
“Everybody made it? Everybody good?” he asked.
Not loud.
But it carried.
Lane nodded.
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“Nothing we can’t patch up.”
Ram said moving his arm showing a small hole from a grazed bullet in his bicep.
Klaus let out a quiet breath, almost to himself.
Don’s shoulders eased just slightly.
Not much.
Enough.
Lane stepped up to the table.
Set the envelope on the table and slid it over to Don.
Didn’t say anything for a second.
Then—
“They hit us.”
Don didn’t flinch.
“I see that. How bad?”
“It was pretty heavy.”
Lane glanced back at the others.
“Set up right. Timed it.”
Klaus leaned forward just a little.
“I see the truck made it fine.”
“Yeah.”
Don nodded once.
“Driver must be shitting his pants still.”
“Little shaken still, but he’s already in a room. He’ll be alright.”
Another small nod.
Lane kept going.
“They came ready. They had sicarios,” Lane said.
Ram added, “But so did we.”
A quick look passed between Don and Klaus.
They already knew what that meant.
Lane nodded once.
“We used everything Mondragón sent.”
Don’s jaw shifted slightly.
Not surprised.
Something else.
“And?”
“It worked.”
Simple.
Direct.
Lane held his eyes.
“They didn’t expect it.”
Klaus gave a small nod.
That part made sense to him.
“Any losses?” Don asked.
Lane didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“Some of theirs too.”
Diablo spoke again.
“We’re pretty sure Pollero was out there.”
That got Don’s full attention.
“And?”
Diablo shrugged.
“He went down.”
Ram nodded.
“Yeah. He ain’t walking away from that.”
That sat for a second.
Then Lane finished it.
“Severino’s dead.”
That one hit different.
Even in that room.
Don didn’t move right away.
Just looked at them.
Really looked this time.
Then he gave a slow nod.
“Good.”
His eyes moved again.
Landed on Kait for a second.
Took in the blood.
Her hair.
The way she was still standing.
Then back to Lane.
“That’s a big one.”
“Yeah,” Lane said.
“You handled it,” Don added with a smirk.
Lane shook his head.
“Kait did,” he said pointing at her.
That landed heavier than anything else he’d said.
Respect.
Earned.
Klaus smirked and nodded slowly.
“Great job, Toast,” Don said.
“It was Kount too, King, but thank you,” she said.
“We’ll need to go over numbers later,” he said. “Ammo, losses, and what all we got left.”
Lane nodded.
“Yeah.”
Don lifted a hand slightly.
“That can wait.”
He looked at all of them now.
“You did your job.”
A pause.
“And you did it right.”
Silence held for a second.
Then he exhaled.
“We’ll square everything up,” he added, glancing at Klaus.
“Make sure everybody’s taken care of.”
Klaus nodded once.
Already working through it in his head.
Don looked back at them.
“Go get some rest.”
Not loud.
Not soft.
Just final.
The room didn’t move right away.
Then chairs shifted.
People stood.
Quiet.
Not celebrating.
But it was there.
Underneath it.
They had just taken a Vice President.
Usually, taking down a club officer meant war, but during war, it was reason for celebration.
The door to the chapel opened.
Noise from downstairs drifted up—voices, engines, movement—but it felt far off.
The day at the Nest had started.
Lane stepped out to the walkway first.
Kait right behind him.
They didn’t walk together at first.
Just fell into the same direction.
Side by side without looking like it.
Boots on concrete.
Slow.
Measured.
“Meet you at the lake house in an hour.”
Quiet.
Like it was nothing.
She turned her head slightly still walking.
“There’s people working there right now,” she said.
Lane’s jaw tightened just slightly.
Didn’t look at her either.
“Shit.”
A few more steps.
Lane looked behind him to make sure no one was listening.
He grabbed her hand, he needed to touch her.
The space between their doors closing in.
Kait slowed just a fraction.
“Snake Eyes?” he said.
“Loraine and Mundo are there already.”
Lane nodded once.
Already knew.
Didn’t make it better.
They reached his door.
He stopped.
Finally looked at her.
Just for a second.
Everything still there.
Lane exhaled once.
“Get some rest then, you deserve it.”
“You too.”
That was it.
Kait kept moving.
Her door a few steps ahead.
She didn’t look back.
Didn’t need to.
The door shut behind him.
A second later—
hers did too.
