“Now that was your first and only warning.” He pulled out his cellphone and handed it to me. I cautiously looked up at him from the floor. “Call my son.”
Despite his warning I wasn’t willing to put Keiran in danger. Yeah, I don’t get that either. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said no. You’re just going to have to kill me.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few hundred degrees that could freeze over hell. He watched me for a moment with unmistakable rage simmering within his eyes before he swiftly turned and headed back out the door. He was back before I could make a dash for the door and freedom. It sounded like he was dragging something or rather someone as I soon found out. I first noticed a familiar head, full of dark spiked hair. “It may not be you that I start with…” he warned.
“Keenan!” I was horrified at this sight of his still body bleeding in various places. I immediately crawled over to him to see if he was breathing. When I felt the shallow rise and fall of his breathing I sent a silent prayer. How did he get Keenan and why?
“What did you do to him?” I screamed.
“My nephew wasn’t exactly cooperative with the men I hired. Took three of them to bring him down. They roughed him up pretty good.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter either way to him.
“Why Keenan?”
“I’ve decided to go after all of it. We are essentially the last of a dying breed and I could give two shits about continuing the line. If I kill them all then all the monies are mine.”
“No.” I shielded Keenan with my body. I had to do whatever it took to keep him safe.
“Oh don’t worry. I won’t kill him just yet. He is extra incentive to get Keiran here.”
“What about his father, your brother?”
“I’m saving him for last. I want his death to be slow and painful.” As he spoke about his brother I couldn’t miss the deep hatred lacing his tone.
“You would take your brother’s life too?”
“My brother has taken much more from me.” He looked in Keenan’s direction brief before shooting his eyes back to me. “Now make the call.” He dropped the phone in my lap but I let it lay there untouched until he suddenly pulled out a gun and aimed it at Keenan.
“Ok!” I held out my hands in surrender before picking up the phone.
“Good girl. Keiran trained you well.”
I dialed Keiran’s number and prayed he didn’t answer. But when he finally did I realized how much I loved and missed the sound of his voice even though now it sounded gruff and full of impatience.
“Who the fuck is this?” he barked.
“Keiran…”
“Lake? Where the fuck are you?” he asked. I could hear the rage but I could also hear the desperation in his voice.
“I don’t know.” I instantly broke down crying. Mitch snatched the phone out of my hands.
“Hello, son. You haven’t forgotten about your father all these years have you?” I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Mitch had walked out, locking me in the room with an unconscious Keenan.
I was afraid for him with not knowing the extent of his injuries. Not to mention being unable to form a clue as to how to get us out of all this safely. I wasn’t dumb enough to believe that Mitch would let me walk away from this. Not after everything he had revealed.
“Keenan,” I whispered. “If you can hear me, you need to wake up…please wake up.” I nudged him and amazingly he began to stir and groan in pain. When his eyes finally opened he instantly shut them squeezed them closed again.
“Shit,” he grumbled.
“It’s worse than shit,” I half joked.
“Lake?” he groaned out.
“Yes, it’s me. Can you sit up?” He exhaled and slowly moved until he was sitting on the floor next to me. “How bad did they hurt you?”
“They?” he asked with a confused look.
“You don’t remember?” He was quiet but the moment he remembered what happened his expression changed to anger.
“You mind telling me who the fuck that guy was?” he growled.
I blanched and stared at him. This time I was the one confused. “You mean you don’t know?” He shot me an impatient look and my frown deepened.
“No, I don’t.”
“He’s – he’s your uncle.” Silence stretched between us but a look of incredulity was plastered all over his face.
“My uncle? I don’t have an uncle. The only uncle I would have is Keiran’s father and he’s dead.”
“Well the dead have risen from the grave because that is him.”
Are you shitting me?”
“Fraid not.” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Not to rock the boat or anything but the guy is whacked.”
“Yeah, thanks, I hadn’t noticed, “he said sarcastically.
“Did he say anything to you at all?”
He frowned. “Only that it was time that I paid what was owed to him. Who says shit like that?”
“How much do you know about your inheritance?”
“Inheritance? I have a college fund my dad said was set up for me but that’s about it.”
“Well apparently you’re worth millions and he wants it.”
“No way.”
“It’s true.”
“Son of a bitch,” he groaned. “We need to find a way to call Keiran.”
“Already did.”
“How?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.
“He made me. He wants to kill you both.”
“Well fuck…”
* * *
Keenan and I were thinking up an escape plan when Mitch burst into the room along with two other men. He looked between Keenan and me before motioning the men towards us. However, his little henchman both grabbed Keenan up. Keenan managed to elbow the bald one in the face and was knocked down with a hard kick to the back of his knee for his trouble.
Once they managed to wrestle him out of the room I was left with Mitch. He stared at me with a smug look. “Are you going to come more peacefully or do I need to arrange for you to be brought along?”
“I think I can manage.”
“Good to hear. That nephew of mine could be taught a few manners. It’s show time, my dear.”
“Do I get any last requests?”
“What makes you so sure that I will kill you?”
“You told me too much…and your eyes give away everything. You’re evil and empty. Incapable of goodwill or remorse.”
“You have a wonderful mind. It is such a shame that it must be eradicated. Shall we?”
He gestured for the door and I walked through it but stopped once I was in the hallway. The house from what I could see looked ordinary but large. He led us outside where two cars with heavily tinted windows were waiting. I slid into the car he directed me to and waited for him to finish talking with his men. Once he climbed inside the car, he pulled out a black scrap of material
“This is for your eyes. Can’t be too careful.” He wrapped and tied the blindfold around my face and once complete the car drove off.
“Where is Keenan?”
“Don’t worry about it. Your part is all that should matter to you. The pieces will fall where I tell them to.”
* * *
I knew the moment we were no longer on the main road. It must have been a dirt path or a gravel road we turned on when the ride turned bumpy. We finally stopped with a screech of tires as the driver slammed on the brakes and cursed.
“Leave it to my boy to take me by surprise.” I heard his amused chuckle come from my right.
“Boss, what do we do?”
“We get out.”
Mitch had tied my hands minutes ago so when I heard the sound of the car doors opening. I was then dragged out of the car and thrown to the ground. “Careful with her,” Mitch said, his voice sounding annoyed. “She’s precious cargo and by the look on my son’s face, he looks ready to kill us all right now.”
“It sounds as if you are afraid of your own son,” I mocked.
“Lake,” I heard the familiar call of my name from a short distance in front of me. Keiran. He must be closer than I thought. I unconsciously took a step toward the sound of his voice but was snatched back by a rough hand on my hair. My cry of pain pierced the cold night air and I was brought back against a man’s chest. “You’re going to lose that when I kill you,” I heard Keiran say. The stench of the man’s breath spread across my cheek when he laughed and pulled on my hair more.