I spun around, unable to hold back my anger. “Get the fuck out of here before I kill you.” Slash, Zane, and Ash’s eyes widened, and the three of them hurried back from the door. Their faces were confused, like they didn’t know what the fuck was happening. But I’d lost it. I didn’t have it in me to explain. I was done trying to be the Tanner they all knew. The one who kept his temper in check. The one who tried to pretend he wasn’t a stone-cold fucking killer. The one who kept back the part of him that was fucking tapped.
I pulled my knife from the back of my jeans and made sure the gun in my holster was loaded. “Fuck!” I spat, knowing my brothers would be here soon. Knowing the shit was about to go down. My muscles vibrated as I waited for whoever was gonna come through that door. Because they would. And even though these men were my brothers, if they tried to get anywhere close to Adelita, I’d fucking ruin them.
I didn’t have to wait long. Minutes later, Bull, Tank, and Beauty rushed through the door. I fisted my knife and stood in front of Adelita. It was Tank I focused on. He took one look at me and his hands went into the air. “Tann? What the fuck?”
“Get back,” I warned. My voice was pure threat. Bull stepped forward around Tank. “I said get the fuck back!”
“Tann! Shit! What the hell is happening?” Tank blocked Bull from coming any closer. Bull’s face was laced with fury as he watched me like a hawk.
“Tank, get the fuck back. I won’t ask again.”
“Tann, I don’t know what the fuck is happening here. But speak to me. I’m your best friend. Tell me what the fuck is going on! You planning on taking her somewhere? This about your bitch?”
My eyes darted around the room. I had to get Adelita out of here. I had to protect her. No one was touching her. The thought of Shadow taking her from her room, or whoever had tied her to the chair binding her hands and feet, almost pushed me over the edge. My vision was misting with red at the thought.
The door flew open again, and Ky, Styx, Vike, AK, and Rudge barreled through. I locked onto Styx. He was my biggest threat. More brothers piled in. Cowboy and Hush and Smiler. The prospects I’d threatened. The blood in my veins flowed like rapids now, my ears echoing with the adrenaline that was surging through me.
Ky stepped to the front. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Get back,” I said, slowly, so the fucker would know not to test me. Ky blinked in shock, then tipped his head to the side. I knew that look on his face. I’d pissed him off. Before he, or any of them, could speak, I said, “I’m warning you. Any of you try to get to her, I’ll fucking kill you. No one will touch her. Just fucking try me.”
“Finally!” a voice said. I found Vike. Fucker was smiling. “The beast has awakened. The fucking White Prince is here. The beast we’d all heard of. I was wondering where he’d been all this time.”
Ky took a step forward. “I mean it!” I warned. “I don’t wanna hurt you, but I will if you try me.”
“Tann?” Tank pushed Ky back and kept his hand on the VP’s chest to hold him off. Then something flashed across Tank’s face. “The bitch . . .” he said, and I saw he was trying to piece shit together by the look of concentration on his face. He tried to see Adelita behind me. I blocked her from view. “It’s not the cousin in that chair, is it?”
The room filled with tension as silence fell. My eyes flitted from one brother to the next, my knife held out, just in case they tried to blindside me. I heard Adelita hitch a breath as I said, “This is Adelita Quintana.” This time it was Tank I addressed. “And she ain’t my bitch, brother . . . she’s my fucking fiancée.”
Tank’s eyes closed briefly. That was what I’d been keeping from him. That she was so much fucking more than just my bitch. I never moved my attention from him, so Ky caught me off guard when he plowed past Tank and punched me straight across the face. He pushed me against the nearest