by G N Wright
“It’s about time, King.”
From that day forward, I met with Max every single day to train, as he and Zack taught me everything I know now. We started with basic breathing exercises, stretching, movement and even balance. Before moving onto kickboxing, karate and krav maga. We practiced with fake weapons, until I learned how to use real ones, did one on one combat until I could give just as good as he gave, and even scenario attacks with his team. Any fighting or protection technique he could think of, he taught me. I spent every single morning at his training facility, and every afternoon with Zack learning about hacking and coding, six hours every day for almost two years. Basically, any time I could get that wasn’t with Cassie, I was training.
All that helped me turn into a girl who can become an emotionless killer, but it didn't make me. What made me is my family: Cassie, Zack, Helen, Arthur, even the twins. Being with them made everything better and then Max made me stronger. Healed my mind and made me into a weapon that everyone underestimates. I let myself forget.
I came back here for my vengeance and then locked eyes with Marcus Riviera. Drowned in my River and haven't come back up for air since. And with him came his brothers. Two more family members to call my own. All of them would risk it all for me. I know they will understand why I now have to risk it all for them, for her. I won’t forget again. Not until I am standing on the graves of every single person in my way of a happy and safe life with my daughter and the rest of my family.
An hour later I make it to Lockstown and pull into the parking lot of the private medical facility there. The guy guarding the gate takes one look at me through the window and lets me straight in. Ignoring the security this place has, I reach into the bag and sheath a knife to my thigh and a handgun to my waist.
Once inside, a nurse leads me to the top floor where they keep VIP’s. This place is made for celebrities, politicians, and anyone with a lot of money. She tells me Zack made it through surgery and they have just wheeled him from recovery back to his room. Once I reach his door, I take a deep breath and flex out my shaky hands, before grabbing the door handle and stepping inside.
Zack is lying motionless in the bed with countless tubes coming out of his body including one down his throat. He isn’t breathing for himself. The fire of tears burns behind my eyes, but I am done crying. Crying won’t help me, help him.
I feel a presence in the room, “I thought you’d be at the safe house by now.” I declare.
I hear the slight smile in his voice when he answers me, “And I thought you’d be at home.”
I turn to Arthur, he looks exhausted, “You really think I wasn’t gonna come and see my brother on his deathbed.”
He rolls his eyes causing me to smile, because if he can be playful then I can guess it means Zack is out of the woods, for now. “Such a dramatic little firecracker.”
He moves towards me until he is standing by my side, and then continues, “I’ve been waiting for you.” I flash my surprised eyes to him at that and he nudges me with a smile, as he continues, “What you think because I didn’t raise you, I don’t know you like you’re my own?”
I blow out a breath at his brutal honesty and his endless love. “I don’t deserve you, or him,” I whisper, looking back to Zack.
“I don’t know anybody who deserves more than the two of you.” Arthur moves to sit in one of the empty chairs by Zack’s bed as I perch onto the side of his bed and pull his hand into mine. We both watch him silently for a few minutes.
“He shouldn’t be here,” my voice is still charred with emotion, “this never should have happened. I should have just left him to live his life, not involve him in mine.”
Arthur smiles a sad smile, “Elle, you didn’t have a choice. From the moment he found out about you I saw the change in his eyes. He acted unaffected, appreciative of his family, but I know how important it was for him to have a blood relative.”
“But I did this to him, he escaped the curse of the King name, only to be dragged back into it. And now he is lying here unconscious.”
“He is gonna be fine Elle, I promise. Besides, being a King is the least of his worries, trust me.”
“The Donovan’s know about him, about all of you. What if Sarah tries to find him?” I would never let her anywhere near him, but still, I can’t imagine what this must be like for Arthur and Helen to have to go through.
Arthur reaches out and grabs Zack’s other hand, “I love him, and I will respect whatever he wants. He is my son, no matter what anyone says.”
I don’t know what else to say, so I don’t say anything. We just sit in silence for a while, watching Zack until I know it’s time to leave. I think about trying to make an excuse to Arthur as I get up to leave.
“Erm I should go and--” I start, but my voice trails off, unsure on what to say.
“Elle, I know you. I know you need this. That you deserve it, they deserve it, but be smart, okay?”
I nod as the lies purge off my tongue to appease him, “I know. The guys are waiting outside for me, don’t worry.”
He stares me down, before deciding not to question me and nods. “Go make them pay, firecracker, I’ve got our boy.”
I smile, give him a quick hug, and then drop a kiss to Zack’s head, taking in his motionless form one last time. It’s time to play the big game. Greg taking my daughter has lit a rebellious fire in me that won’t burn out until I get her back. The Donovan’s are done taking from the people of this town, it’s time to do what I should have done from the start.
It’s time for the first act of war.
Chapter 9
MARCUS
She’s gone. I know it before I even open my eyes. I knew it before I even went to sleep. I felt it in my heart. I knew the moment she snapped, that I had lost her. The second Greg said he would give Cassie in exchange for her, I knew Elle would be gone. From the moment I found out about Cassie, so many things about Elle made sense. Why she left, why she came home, why she pushed me away, why she pulled me back. Through it all, the only thing I knew to be true was that she loved me, but Cassie would always come first. I never thought I would resent that, never imagined I could hate the love she has for her daughter. Until now.
That kind of love, the unconditional kind, it’s reckless, ruthless, completely, and utterly life changing. She won’t let anything get in the way of that, not even her own happiness. Yet I also know she won’t go down without a fight. If that was her plan, then as soon as the call with Greg ended, she would have left and gone straight there. I know she wanted to, how could she not?
I’d give anything to get Cassie home to her and she isn’t even mine. That doesn’t mean I don’t love her like she is because I do. I will use everything at my disposal to get her home and get Elle back by my side. Even if I have to plant a bullet in Greg myself. I’d do it. Without thought, without regret and with a fucking smile on my face.
I don’t move straight away, not even to alert my brothers or Asher. I just allow myself a few minutes of silence, to feel the dread of the situation crush my soul. Elle is gone and I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again. I don’t know if I will be able to do everything I need to do before she hands herself over to them. Ironic that the last time she disappeared from my life, I never wanted her to come back, now I pray on every fucking star in the sky that that she does. I know why she’s gone, why she has to do this, but it won’t stop me from doing what I need to do either. She isn’t the only one with a plan.
I take a shower and get dressed before I head down to the kitchen. Max and his guys are all standing around the island talking. When I appear the conversation halts. I know for a fact that Max is in on whatever Elle is doing right now, I saw it in the way they interacted yesterday, the way she commanded him. He would do whatever she asked, and I can’t begrudge him for that, because so would I.
“Hey” Max says tentatively, like he is waiting for me to freak out. Well, not today. Today I am a man on a mission. I pour myself a cup of
coffee and then join the guys at the counter.
“Where are we at?” I ask, taking a sip as I look at each of them. They might do this for a living, might be more experienced, but none of them will fight as hard as I will for my girl.
Max clears his throat, “Erm, we were just going over all of Donovan's real estate, see if we can find any hidden places, he might be keeping Cassie, if not at the main mansion.”
I nod as he talks, “Good idea, any that need checking out? We could split up, I’ll take my guys, you take yours, get through them faster.” None of them respond and all continue to stare at me. “What?”
“Erm, Elle said we should expect you to lose it a little,” Max starts but I cut him off.
“Why? Because you helped her slip out in the night and go after the Donovan’s alone?” There's no point beating around the bush, that is exactly what happened, I’m sure of it.
“I work for her,” he replies like it’s just as black and white as that. Like this whole thing isn’t the most dangerous situation we will ever fucking face. He’s unleashed her on them. Yet, he doesn’t really know the evils of this town, he can’t. You don’t know unless you are born in this city of chaos and raised in its insanity.
“Just because you trained her into what she is today, doesn’t mean she should be doing this alone.” I feel my temper slipping slightly, but I hold it back as tight as I can. I won’t waste it on the undeserving, not when there are so many targets, I can take it out on.
“That wasn’t my choice to make,” he replies solemnly. His words mean nothing, if anything happens to Elle because we weren’t there to have her back, I will hold him personally responsible.
“It wasn’t hers either,” I snap. “She isn’t the only one in this anymore.” Asher comes into the room as I speak, followed by Jace and Lincoln and I smile sinisterly at Donovan's presence. “Besides,” I say smugly flicking my eyes back to Max, “I’m not the one you should be worried about.”
“Brother?” Linc starts judging the situation, “everything okay here?”
“All good with me, brother,” I smile in return as I look at Asher, “You good?”
He looks at me confused, like he is wondering if I am being serious or not. Not too weird of a reaction, we might be on the same side, but it isn’t like we are friends. We never really were. What I am only just realizing, is that it doesn’t matter if we’re friends or not, because we’re family. One made in desperate times, yet more important than any blood and thicker than any real family ties. I will have his back until the fucking end, and I know he will have mine.
“Fine,” he replies in a clipped tone, looking around the room again, “Where’s Elle?”
I feel excited as I respond, knowing I am about to poke the bear. I look at Asher and then to Max, “Max helped her sneak out alone to go get her revenge, she’s probably been gone for hours.” I say the words casually, but they still taste horrific as they roll off my tongue. I know Elle can handle herself, but she shouldn’t have to. We should be fighting side by side.
The room turns deathly silent. Asher doesn’t speak, not one word. His blue stare turning dark as he locks in on Max. I barely blink and he has moved from the entrance to in front of Max, swinging a fist at his face. Lincoln captures it just in time, but then before Asher can protest, he punches Max himself, surprising us all.
What the fuck?
Max takes the hit and I see his team are impressed by Lincoln's strength, and for the first time since the party yesterday, I see the ghost of a smile on Jace's face. This is what we do, what we are good at. We protect people, keep them safe, and now the person we care about the most needs us.
Asher frowns at what’s just occurred, and Lincoln looks at him with a stern face, “You probably have a broken fucking wrist, how about you refrain from punching anyone?”
“I don’t need the help,” he spits his nickname, “fighting my battles for me.” I roll my eyes. They’re so alike it’s comical. I don’t understand why they don’t get along better.
“Really? Because the help is the one who is gonna bring your daughter home,” Lincoln fires back.
“Listen here Blackwell -” Asher starts, but I cut him off.
“Measure your fucking dicks later, we’ve got work to do,” I grunt at them before turning to Max and his guys. “We,” I gesture to my brothers and Ash, “are going to get Elle back and bring Cassie home, with or without your help. Elle isn’t here so whatever she told you is now irrelevant. The only thing that matters to me is those two girls being unharmed. We all need to set our shit aside and fucking work together.”
Lincoln and Asher remain in a stare off until Asher breaks it and shocks us all, “Agreed.”
I nod, “Alright then, let’s do this. Where should we start?”
Max cracks his jaw and then resumes the conversation, “Ash we were just going over all the property owned by your family, is there any helpful information you can think of?”
Asher moves in between two of Max’s guys and starts inspecting all the paperwork they have laid out in front of them. He picks up a pen and starts writing stuff on each of them, varying from numbers and markers, none of it seems to make any sense to anyone but him.
Once done, he takes them and splits them between us, Max and his guys as he speaks, “X’s represent the number of guards usually there, O’s the number of staff and the squares are the security feeds. I have a couple of people on the inside I can speak to, but it will take some time to contact them.”
Max nods along as he listens to him, while his guys look over the locations they were given. I’m not sure how he and his team usually do things, but me and the guys usually work as a unit. Lincoln takes out security and hacks into anything on the inside and then Jace and I go inside and do whatever we need. I doubt any of the stuff we do from here on out will be as simple as that. The Donovan’s and their men won’t be playing, so neither will we.
“My father’s men won’t think twice about killing you all, so be prepared.” Asher confirms what I was already thinking.
“We brought enough weapons and ammo to support a small army, so that won’t be an issue.” Max adds, “Once you’re all ready to go, you can go through them and pick what you are comfortable with.”
I nod along with my brothers, we won’t turn down weapons, that would just be stupid. “So how are we doing this?”
“How we always do it,” Lincoln says, “together.”
Max glares at him, before turning to Asher, “You go with Marcus and his guys.” He nods his head at me, “but I’m taking Logan with me and sending Elijah with you.”
I look at Asher who is giving Max the death stare, but manages to grits out, “Fine.”
“Okay,” I start. “We leave in one hour.” I tell them.
Max and his team filter out at my orders with a few grunts, I wait for them to disappear before I address my guys. “Elle thinks she has to do this alone, that she is protecting us, but she isn’t running from me, from us, ever again. Let’s go get justice and go get our girl.
She thinks she can keep us out of it, keep us safe. She forgets we have been in this since the beginning. Since they put hands on our girl and my dad. I told her we were inevitable but it looks like I have to remind her
It’s time to show her exactly how I became king of the South Side. I’m coming for you baby and I’ve got a whole team of Rebels by my side.
Chapter 10
ELLE
Iused to be afraid of the dark. Now I hunt in it. I was an innocent little girl dragged into the depths of an eclipse and expected to obey. My demise... warranted. My death… imminent. What they didn’t expect is that I would escape the darkness and bathe in the pain until it coated my body like armor. I took the hurt and turned it into my catalyst to fight, and now it’s time for my second act.
As soon as I left the hospital, I started making my plan. I can’t go after my girl when so many of the people who help the Donovan’s are still alive. They need to be
wiped off the board first.
I am sitting in the office of Joseph Kavanagh, clouded by the shadows of the late evening. I knew he would be the first target from my list. He took his law education and has been using it to protect criminals instead of the victims. That stops now. The last thing I need is Elliot Donovan calling in his best attorney to save the day. I won’t give him the chance to have any legal ties to my daughter.
It took me most of the day to put my plan into action, even though it’s relatively simple. He is going to die. Slow, bloody, and fucking beautiful.
At lunchtime, I donned a brunette wig and some office attire to snatch a key card as I flirted with some unassuming intern. Then I spent my afternoon downloading every piece of evidence that Kavanagh has buried for his clients over the years. Every cop he paid off, every witness he discredited and every payment he took from the monsters who controlled him. All of it there in black and white. I also found a sick sense of glee as I used his own office printer to print them all off.
They now sit on his desk in a neat little pile while we wait for him to arrive. See, Joseph Kavanagh knows all about me, knows who I am and what happened to me. He will also know what I have been doing since I came home. But what he doesn’t know, is that I know all about him too.
I know he has three ex-wives who all left him. A variety of reasons were cited in the divorce papers, but after some digging, I found multiple hospital reports from them and even a couple of police reports that had all been squashed. It seems our man of the law has a taste for rough fucking. Whipping, choking, fisting. You name it and he’s into it. No wonder Elliot found himself right at home when he moved to town.
