The Great Disapurrance: BBW Shapeshifter Surprise Pregnancy Romance (Chicago Catastrophe) (17 page)

A
fter a quick but heated discussion
, Holland’s men escorted Antonio to the front door, calling to someone inside before letting him enter..

Didn’t see this one coming,
Arlen thought.

It was definitely an interesting turn of events, but ultimately, it didn’t change anything. Arlen was there to kill Holland, and that’s what he was going to do. If Antonio got in the way, that was his problem.

He glanced at Sienna for a moment. Putting her father in direct path of danger… he wasn’t sure how well that would go over with her, even with their history. All he really had to go on was his gut at the moment. There was no time to spare on what could turn into a lengthy conversation and at the same time cost them the mission.

Only one guard remained outside, standing near the house, while everyone else got back in their cars. Arlen steadied his breath and took aim, taking the wind direction and speed into consideration as he locked on to his target. He would just have to take care of the goons and draw Holland out in one fell swoop.

His finger softly pushed down on the trigger and the shot rang out. It was more muted because of the silencer, but shifters would still be able to hear it easily. He would have to be fast, so they wouldn’t be able to track down their location by sound.

The guard in front of the house went down, spilling brain matter on the green grass. Holland’s men jumped out of the car in lightning speed, while Antonio’s men were a bit slower. That left another four targets.

Holland’s guys were wildly scanning their surroundings while Antonio’s men were huddled by their car. Arlen decided to take out the bigger threats first. One by one, no matter how fast they ran or where they tried to duck, Holland’s goons went down in a splatter of crimson.

One of Antonio’s men tried to get back inside the car, but he was too slow. The last man standing tried to make a break for the house, but was mowed down mid-sprint. Arlen stared down at the bodies, unmoving on the lawn.

It had almost been too easy.

As a finishing touch, he took out some of the tires on the car as well, in case Holland tried to make a break for it.

“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered to Sienna, who was staring at him wide-eyed after all those shots.

Arlen focused his attention on the house next. He could see a curtain move, just for a second, before it was drawn. The carnage outside was hard to miss. Holland had to know all his men were gone, and he was probably huddled inside, calling for backup. Antonio was still in there as well, presumably doing the same.

He threw off his camo and crawled over to Sienna.

“The guards are down but Holland is still inside the house. And he’s not alone. Your father’s in there, too.”

Sienna gasped and she started to stand to look over the edge of the roof, but he pulled her back down.

“From all the shots, Holland could have pinpointed the rooftop we’re on. Stay low, we’re going down.”

Arlen grabbed her hand and they awkwardly walked off the roof, backs hunched and knees bent. He left the gun there, needing his hands free.

“What is
he
doing here?” Sienna asked from behind him, her tone incredulous.

“I have no idea, but we’re about to find out.”

Probably nothing good,
he added in his thoughts.

They ran as soon as they got off the roof, bounding down the stairs and to his car, which was parked out back.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to wait here?” Arlen asked, gently grabbing hold of her shoulders.

“I’m sure. I need to see this through and I have to find out what my father is up to. And with me there, they might think twice about reacting too quickly.”

We’ll see about that.

She was determined, he had to give her that. Arlen hadn’t expected a different answer, but he had to at least try.

With a sigh, he opened the trunk, picked up one handgun for himself and pressed another into Sienna’s hand. They had already discussed the possibility of having to rush the house, so she just took the gun and lay down on the backseat.

“Hold on tight,” he said as he got in the front.

He pushed down on the gas and away they went, rounding the corner and heading straight to the house Holland was hiding in. Arlen kept his head low, in case the man decided to fire on the car.

It was why Sienna was in the backseat in the first place. They couldn’t just walk up to the house. That would make them easy targets.

No bullets whizzed by as he got closer, driving right over the curb and onto the lawn, swerving to avoid the bodies there. He brought the car to a stop by the side of the house, away from the windows and immediately rolled out of his seat. Sienna was still hiding in the back.

“Are you alright?” he whispered, making his way around the car and toward the entrance.

“I’m okay.”

“Stay here until I get a handle on things,” Arlen ordered

For once, she listened.

He ducked down near the front door, listening intently. There seemed to be two other people in the house besides Holland and Antonio, but one of the breathing patterns struck Arlen as very odd. It was almost… mechanical.

But there were more important things to figure out. Like how he was going to get inside without being shot. There was no doubt in his mind that Holland was armed.

He focused on listening. Soon he could make out two voices, Holland’s and Antonio’s, arguing inside.

Good. That meant they were distracted.

Arlen carefully pushed the door open, not wanting to alert the men to his presence before he had to.

Still keeping his body low, he crept inside, breathing deeply as he went. The smell permeating the house reminded him of a hospital for some reason. He could tell the mechanical sounds he heard before came from the back of the house, and it was accompanied by someone’s panicked breaths.

The arguing, which seemed to be coming from the kitchen, only got louder.

“Shut up, he’s already inside!” Holland yelled.

So his presence had not gone unnoticed.

“What are you, scared?” Antonio bellowed back.

Hell yes, he is.

Arlen had just taken out Holland’s security detail. Not to mention Holland got his ass handed to him the last time they fought. It would only be wise of him to be afraid of Arlen. The tiger inside was already gnashing its teeth, looking forward to a good old-fashioned Texas-style asswhooping.

Arlen straightened up when he made it to the doorway leading into the kitchen and pressed his back against the wall next to it. From the sounds alone, he could figure out that Holland and Antonio were standing somewhere near the window, opposite of the doorway.

Tightening his grip on his gun, Arlen whirled around and stepped inside the room, the weapon trained on Holland. Thinking fast, Holland grabbed Antonio and pulled the man in front of him, effectively using him as a shield. The gun Holland was holding flew up to press against Antonio’s temple.

“Make a move, and I’ll blow his brains out.”

Arlen grinned.

Holland had definitely picked the wrong hostage. Arlen would gladly take the shot on Antonio himself, if given the opportunity. But he knew it wasn’t his choice. He sighed.

“Sienna!”

I hope I’m not making a huge mistake.

“
S
ienna
! You can come inside,” Arlen’s voice called out.

She didn’t waste any time getting out of the car and rushing into the house, gun in hand. Not that she had much of an idea what to do with it. It felt awkward in her grip, while the times she’d seen Arlen hold one had been like it was an extension of his body.

“We’re in the kitchen. But be careful when you come in and stay behind me,” Arlen instructed as she got closer, his voice low.

She stepped into the room and peeked over Arlen’s shoulder at what was going on. What she saw almost made her laugh.

“Holland, what do you think you’re doing?” she asked.

The man looked confused by her lack of concern, while her father was wearing an expression that said he was thoroughly annoyed. Sienna could tell at least some if it was just posturing.

Antonio was scared, she could see it in his eyes.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he shot back. “I’m holding your father hostage.”

“And your goal is to… win me over?”

Arlen laughed, his gun trained firmly at Holland. The tiger shifter looked thoroughly miffed, looking from Antonio to her and Arlen.

“Look, back away and let me leave, or this man is dead!” Holland declared, but he was sounding a lot less confident than before.

Arlen glanced back at her with an arched brow before taking aim.

“I could probably hit Holland through Antonio,” he remarked, leaving the decision to Sienna.

She hated her father, there was no doubt about it, but did she want him dead? And by Arlen’s hand? She wasn’t so sure about that.

“Okay, what the hell is going on here?” Holland demanded, loosening his grip on Antonio by just a fracture.

“You’ve made the mistake of thinking I care about his life,” Sienna responded, waving her gun in the direction of her father.

“He’s your father!”

“So? He’s also a bastard,” she countered coolly. “Out of all the people I’ve ever met, he probably deserves a bullet to the head the most.”

“How dare you,” Antonio ground out. “After everything I’ve done for you. I sent you to all the best schools, clothed and fed you…”

Sienna couldn’t listen to another second of his bullshit.

“You sent me to those schools because that’s where all the other rich douchebags sent their kids, not because you cared about my education! And I never asked for the clothes or the jewelry. I just wanted a father who loved me.”

Antonio didn’t even look at her when he spoke, smoothing out his fancy suit instead.

“You should have been a better daughter then. Or perhaps a son.”

Sienna could hear a growl start in Arlen’s throat. Even Holland looked taken aback.

“But you were willing to pay so much money to get her back…” Holland muttered, trying to make sense of it all as sweat beaded on his forehead.

He’d stepped into a far bigger mess than he’d banked on and it was becoming clear to him right in front of Sienna’s eyes.

“That wasn’t for me, that was for his own selfish reasons.”

Sienna could tell Arlen was having trouble controlling his anger, from the way his insides rumbled every time her father opened his mouth or looked in their direction. She stepped closer, and placed a hand on his back, hoping her touch would help calm him. He seemed to relax, if only by a hair.

“While we’re being so open here, why don’t you tell us why Antonio came to meet you here in the first place?” Arlen offered, addressing Holland.

Holland considered it for a moment before shrugging. Whatever the plan had been, there was no need to keep it secret now.

“It wasn’t a meeting. He just showed up. He knew a shifter had taken his daughter, and he figured it would take a shifter to get her back. So he turned to me,” Holland said, tapping Antonio’s head with the butt of his gun and smiling mirthlessly. “Your father tells me you’re pregnant, honey. He really wants that bun that you’re cooking. Even more so after I told him an Alpha’s firstborn will always be male.”

That was another new piece of information to Sienna, something which she felt Arlen could have mentioned. She’d have to take it up with him later.

“You will never get your hands on Sienna or our son!” Arlen thundered, all of his composure gone.

“I could give this child a life of wealth and privilege!” Antonio shouted back, seemingly forgetting for a second he had a gun to his head.

“And we can give him unconditional love. I think that’s more important,” Sienna interjected quietly.

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this episode of Jerry Springer. I don’t give two shits about this family drama you have going on here, so why don’t we quit talking about our feelings and settle this, once and for all,” Holland called out, clearly frustrated.

Tossing Antonio to the side, figuring out he was pretty useless as leverage, Holland trained his gun on Arlen instead. Sienna in turn pointed her weapon at Antonio, who was scrambling to get upright in the corner of the room.

She could at least make sure he didn’t interfere in the standoff between Arlen and Holland.

“I got this, you get out of here,” Arlen commanded.

Not feeling entirely comfortable with leaving, she looked around the kitchen. Leaving was the best thing to do. If the men turned into tigers again, this limited space would turn into a bloody battlefield with her caught in the middle.

“You’re coming with me,” Sienna ordered, waving the gun she was holding at her father.

Antonio begrudgingly did as he was told and stalked towards her, eyes narrowed. After their little heart-to-heart, the man probably didn’t doubt she would shoot him, which helped with his cooperation.

“Wait!” Arlen suddenly called out, growing tense as he whiffed the air with deep breaths.

Holland did the same, getting far more serious now.

“We are being surrounded,” Holland said, tilting his head and taking in another deep breath.

For a moment, the two tiger shifters eyed one another. Sienna could only imagine what was going through their heads. This was turning from a shitty situation to a real Mexican standoff. No one could come out of this as the winner.

“Smells like The Firm. Find a safe place in the house and stay there. They won’t hurt you unless you get in the way,” Arlen confirmed.

“What about you?” Sienna demanded as fear turned her insides hollow.

“I’ll be fine, but I can’t fight when I’m busy worrying about you!”

With a frustrated little snarl, Sienna guided her father out of the kitchen and followed after him, gun aimed at the man’s back.

He’s going to be alright,
she told herself as his father walked towards the back of the house and into a bedroom located there.

She stepped into the room after Antonio and was shocked to find it wasn’t empty.

Can’t this day just… end?

A middle-aged woman in a nurse’s outfit huddled in a corner with tears in her eyes. On the bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines, lay the wrinkled body of an old woman.

“What the hell…” Sienna mumbled to herself.

“Please don’t hurt me,” the woman in the corner whimpered.

Sienna gestured for his father to sit down on the chair beside the bed, so she could keep an eye on him.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” she assured the woman, trying to make her voice sound calm.

Shots rang out from the kitchen and she couldn’t help but flinch. The woman squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. Antonio just smiled as roars filled the house.

“I for one am betting on Holland,” he said, adjusting his tie and settling into the chair, considering Sienna with newfound curiosity.

Sienna resisted the urge to shoot him, even if just barely.

“Really? Well, you are at a disadvantage, since you haven’t seen Arlen wipe the floor with him like I have,” she shot back, though her hand was beginning to tremble.

He’s going to be alright,
she repeated again in her mind, willing herself to believe it.
He has to be.