I didn’t want him leaving me, not when I just got him back.
“Hads, let’s go,” Nick urged. We started for the door, but it slammed open and we stopped dead in our tracks. Nick pulled out his gun, but we were in a standoff, and the other guy was most likely faster.
“Going somewhere?” Shades taunted, pointing his gun straight at Nick’s face.
Blake’s gun clicked from behind. “Drop it.”
“Maybe you should drop yours,” Tristan called out as he entered the room.
Shades smirked and walked around the edge of the room, while Nick followed his movements. Now we were facing Tristan and Blake, but Tristan was behind Blake who in turn had his gun still pointed at Shades. Tristan was in the clear.
“You lying sack of shit,” Nick spat. “How could you do this?”
Tristan rolled his eyes. “Pretty easy, actually. My only mistake was not killing you.”
Nick tensed. “So it was you.”
“Nothing personal, brother. You had something I wanted and I used you to get to it. Speaking of which,” he noted, turning his dark eyes to me, “you’re not in my bed where you’re supposed to be. I told you bad things would happen if you disobeyed me.”
“Tristan, please,” I begged. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll go with you.” Blake shook his head, but I had no choice. I couldn’t gamble with their lives. Taking a deep breath, I let go of my father and glanced at Nick. “I’m sorry.” One step at a time, I walked over to Tristan and stood by his side.
“Good girl. Now let’s make sure you don’t do it again.” Then everything moved in slow motion as he pointed his gun at my father and fired.
“No!” I screamed, falling to the floor.
My father hissed, but was still out of it from the drugs. Nick grunted with holding his weight and eventually dropped him to the floor so he could keep his gun trained on Shades. Blood oozed onto the floor from his thigh and all I could see was red.
“Bastard,” I shouted, glaring straight at Tristan.
“It was just a knick, love. A simple reminder to take my threats seriously.” He edged closer to Blake. “Now what am I going to do about this one? That is, if I’m correct in assuming this is the infamous Blake Evans. I heard you killed one of my guys. Not an easy task.”
“Two,” Blake pointed out. “The other one’s upstairs.” Tristan growled and slammed the heel of his gun down on the back of Blake’s head. Hissing, he fell to his knees, a trail of blood dripping down his neck.
I choked in terror. “Tristan, stop! I’ll go with you if you just leave them alone. I’ll do whatever you want.” It was a lie, but I had to get him away from Blake.
Turning his attention to me, he smirked. “So you’ll let me fuck you whenever I want?”
By the look in his eyes, he’d kill them all no matter what I did. I just needed to give them more time. Clenching my teeth, I closed my eyes and nodded.
“I can’t hear you, Hadley,” Tristan taunted.
My eyes snapped open and I shot to my feet. “Yes!” Adrenaline coursed through my veins. “You want me now? Let’s go.” He stared at me like I’d lost my mind, and maybe I had. All I knew was, I had to do something. Pulse racing, I stalked past him toward the stairs, not knowing what the hell I was going to do.
An idea hit me and I had a split second to act. Grabbing the antique Celtic cross Tristan had showcased on one of his tables, I turned and hurled it at his head. He saw it in enough time to duck, but it gave Blake the time he needed to act.
Then everything moved in super speed all around me. Blake and Tristan battled it out while Nick and Shades fought on the other side of the room. I didn’t know who to help or where to go. A gun fired and I screamed, but then I was dragged out of the room from behind and let go.
Breathing hard, Connor pulled out his phone and handed it to me. “Take this. I’ve already called for help, but it’ll take them a while to get here. Right now, you need to get out of here.” Another gunshot fired and he pushed me toward the back door. “Go, now!” He charged off into the fight, but I couldn’t leave them. Instead, I went right back into the line of fire.
There was blood everywhere, yet no one was down. Nick had blood soaking the left side of his shirt and I could see his energy waning. He backed into the wall and gripped his arm. “Nick!” I raced toward him and helped him over to my dad. “What happened?”
He grimaced in pain. “The fucker shot me in the shoulder. I think this is a clear sign that I need to stick to hockey.”
“Are you okay? Where did he go?”
“I’m fine. I think he took off to find you. I need to warn Connor.” He started to get up and I squeezed his arm. Connor could handle Shades.
“No, you need to help me get my dad out of here. I can’t do it by myself.” Nodding, he helped lift my dad to his feet. We carried him outside and all the way down the driveway. Nick pressed the button for the gate and it opened. “Where are we going?”
He nodded toward the woods. “There’s a spot up ahead with all of our supplies.”
As soon as we got there, I pulled out one of Blake’s shirts from his bag and ripped it in half. I wrapped one around my dad’s leg and the other around Nick’s shoulder. Something else caught my eye and I picked it up.
“That’s not a toy, Hadley,” Nick warned.
“I know,” I agreed, holding the gun in my hands. Turning on my heel, I marched straight back toward the house.
“Hadley, no! Stop!”
I couldn’t stop. There was no time.
Hadley
More gunshots fired and I ran as fast as I could. Shades could be seen through the window, getting to his feet but I couldn’t see Connor. Where was he? Shades hobbled across the floor, gun drawn. No! I raced up the stairs and pointed my gun at his chest. Blake was on top of Tristan, his fists hitting flesh, he didn’t see Shades coming.
I pulled the trigger and the next thing I knew, he was on the floor, bleeding out from a wound in his gut. Not where I was aiming, but at least I hit my mark. He grunted in pain and reached for his gun. Another shot rang out and I screamed, turning my head away from the bloody carnage.
Gun drawn, Connor stood by my side, his expression full of turmoil. “It’s over, Tristan,” he growled low.
Blake slammed Tristan’s head on the marble floor and stood. He was covered in blood and the whole right side of his face was bruised. Breathing hard, he cocked his gun and pointed it at Tristan, who he allowed to get unsteadily to his feet.
Even faced with death, Tristan glared defiantly at us. Blake put his finger on the trigger and his muscles twitched. He was about to pull.
“Blake, no,” I warned.
Furrowing his brows, he glanced at me. “There’s no choice here, Hadley. This has to end. He has to pay for what he did to you.”
Connor spoke up. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of him.”
Tristan swayed on his feet. “You gonna kill me, uncle?”
Connor winced and pointed the gun straight at his head. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this.”
Tristan scoffed. “Is this about that whore of yours?”
“She wasn’t a whore.” His voice boomed throughout the room and I trembled. I’d never seen him so angry; it was frightening. “Alannah was mine and you killed her! You raped her and when you found out she was pregnant, you made it look like a suicide. It wasn’t even your fucking child; it was mine!” He pulled out a piece of paper from the back of his pocket and threw it at Tristan. “She told me everything you did, you son of a bitch. She knew you were going to kill her.”
Clapping a hand over my mouth, I gasped in horror.
Blake lowered his gun and put an arm around me. “Turn around and keep walking,” he murmured, pulling me back. “It’s between them now.”