“I guess I have no choice,” I mumble.
We drive for about thirty minutes before we pull up at a hospital one town over. I have no idea what is going on right now, but this is really making me nervous. I need to know what is going down tonight.
“Jax.” I lean up and grab his arm. “Tell me what the fuck is going on. Please.”
Jax parks his truck and shakes his head. “I can’t. Don’t ask me again because you will get the same response. All I can tell you is that Royal has everything handled.”
“Jax–”
“Don’t worry about Royal. Got it,” he snaps. He grips the steering wheel and I can tell that he’s just about as worried as I am. “I’ll text him once I get you inside and taken care of. Now let’s go.”
I wait inside the truck as Jax jumps out and walks over to help me out. The thought of anything happening to Royal has me fighting for air. “You better not fucking lie to me, Jax.” I try to fight back my tears, as I look him in the eyes. “I can’t lose him.”
Jax closes the door behind me and rubs his thumb over my chin. “You won’t,” he says with more confidence this time. “Everything will be fine. He can’t lose you. So let’s get you the fuck inside.”
When my head begins to spin, I grip onto Jax’s arm to keep my balance, as he walks me through the parking lot and toward the building.
As soon as I get checked in, you better believe that I’ll be calling to check on Royal. I don’t care if Jax tells me otherwise.
Nothing can happen to him. I don’t know what I would do . . .
WE’VE BEEN WAITING IN BLAINE’S truck for an hour now and my patience is really fucking starting to run thin. Any second now I’m going to lose my shit and drag him out of the bar my damn self.
“Any word from Cole yet?” I ask stiffly, while staring at the rain through the window.
Blaine shakes his head. “Nah, not yet.” He looks up from twirling his phone. “You still want to do this, man? His death is going be another weight on your shoulders that will never fucking go away. I’m not sure if you can come back from this.” He pauses for a second and reaches for a cigarette. “I can do it and you can go about living your life and move on with Avalon. You two could have a life together. She’s good for you.”
“It’s not that fucking simple,” I grind out. “He took my family from me. There’s already no way to move on from that. Having that fucker pay is just a small step closer to the relief that I will never fully get. I’m fucked up, Blaine. You know that shit. Too fucked up already to care.”
“He took my family from me too, brother,” he points out. “I know how much that shit hurts. I know how it fucking eats at you, making you feel empty inside and full of rage. I’ve been here through it all, and it kills me every fucking day.”
I swallow hard and look over at him. I can see the pain swallowing him whole, just as much as it is me. It only gives me more reason to kill that fucking cunt: for all of us. “I know, man. I’m sorry.” I grip his shoulder and squeeze it. “You’re my brother, Blaine. You don’t need this shit on your hands. Got it? This is on me to do. It always has been.”
He shakes his head and grips the steering wheel. “Fuck! This shit . . . It’s so fucked up.” His eyes widen as his phone goes off in his lap. He reads the message and then turns to me, his amber eyes dark with rage. “This couldn’t be anymore fucking perfect.” He throws his phone down and starts his truck. “Cole overheard dumb-fuck say that he’s headed to that old warehouse off Twentieth and Teasdale to pick up a drop. No one in their right mind goes over that way after dark. Looks like the devil is on our side tonight.”
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and anxiously run a hand through my sweaty hair as he takes off in the direction of the warehouse.
This is the fucking moment I’ve waited almost two years for. It’s happening, and I can finally find peace knowing that Brian is rotting in the fucking ground. Right where his wrong doings put Olivia and my unborn child. He’s going to feel my wrath tonight and understand the pain he’s brought to my family.
When we reach the warehouse, Blaine turns off his headlights and parks in the alley out of sight. It’s hard to see through the rain, but there are two vehicles parked out back and three men standing around talking. One of those fuckers is Brian. I’ve only ever seen him in a photo, but as soon as my eyes seek out his tattooed face in the small lighting and crooked ass nose, I know that it’s him. My heart will never let me forget that fucker’s face. It’s been haunting my dreams for far too long.
They talk for a few minutes, before the other two guys jump into a red car and pull off. Brian waits after they leave, and then jumps into his dump as their taillights disappear, turning on the light and just sitting there, most likely testing out his shit.
“Get out of the truck,” I demand, keeping my eyes straight ahead.
“What? Are you serious?”
“I’m dead serious. I’ll buy you a new one. Now out.”
Blaine shakes his head, but doesn’t say another word as he jumps out of his truck and softly closes the door behind him, being careful not to alarm Brian.
I crack my neck, start the engine, and slam on the fucking gas, driving right into the side of Brian’s car.
The impact causes me to slam my head into the windshield, but with my adrenaline pumping I don’t feel shit. I shake it off and focus on what I came here to do, to finish this.
Kicking the door open as hard as I can, I jump out of the truck and rush over to Brian’s side of the car. “You fucking piece of shit.” I punch my fist through his window, watching him jump back and cover his face as the glass shatters around him.
“What the fuck!” He screams. “Take my shit. You can have it. Please.”
I reach through the broken window and grab him by his hair, slamming the side of his head into what’s left of the window. Then I pull his head up so that he can look into my eyes. “I’m here to take much more than that.”
With both hands, I yank him out through the window and throw him down onto the ground, before yanking him up to his knees.
I lean in close to his face as he grabs at his wounded flesh, trying to stop the blood from his cuts. “You took everything from me!”
“Royal,” he stammers.
I raise a brow and choke him up against the side of his car. “You were stupid for coming back here. You know that, right?” I squeeze his neck tighter and slam him against the car again. “Answer me!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He grips my arm with both hands. “I didn’t know he would come after you and your family. You have to believe that.”
Releasing his throat, I punch him across the face, causing him to fall over and grab at his busted mouth. “You think that shit matters to me? Huh!” I place my boot on his back and force him flat down on the gravel. “I lost my world that night. Those fuckers came into my home and raped and murdered my wife . . . and my child. They were fucking innocent. Do you know what I did to them when I walked in and had to watch that? I saw it with my own fucking eyes! Did you know that?”
He shakes his head and grips at the gravel, as if it’s going to somehow save him. He’s wrong. Nothing will now. “No. No. No,” he says quickly. “I didn’t know!”
With my boot on his back, I pull out my knife and kneel down close to his face. “Well, good thing you’re here so I can tell you then.”
I flip him over on his back and kneel over his shaking body, shivering from the cold rain and fear of what’s about to happen to him. “I shot them each in the dick.” I bring my knife down to his dick, putting pressure on it. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Then I shot them in the head.” I bring the knife up to the side of his skull and pierce the skin with the tip. “And I watched as they bled out.”