Liberate (The Vindicated Series Book 2)

by Addison Jane

  “This is not what she wants,” I tell him again.

  “And how would you know what she wants,” he yells at me, his chest heaving and blood streaming from his nose.

  “Because she’s still fucking alive!”

  The sudden stillness of the night air and the people around us only reinforces the impact of my words. They can’t not hear me now, they can’t ignore what I’m telling them. If their real mission is to bring us down because of Lily’s death then this is the end. This is where it stops because their mission is a fucking joke.

  I watch as Ares’ eyes flick to where Ezra stands behind me, surprise clearly evident but soon masked by a look of suspicion. “I’ll rip your goddamn throat out if you’re fucking with me right now.”

  I scoff, my body relaxing as I shake off the electricity in my muscles that have me waiting for an attack at any second. “I’d like to see you try. But fortunately for you… I’m not.”

  “Prove it,” Ezra demands. Ares agrees with a nod of his head.

  On a heavy sigh, I nod my head. “She’s a few hours away. You think you can behave yourselves and not give us any bullshit until then?” I turn my body, eyeing both the brothers with narrowed eyes, letting them know I’m not fucking around. “I’m not letting her get caught up in any kind of danger. You hurt her in any way, you try and take her from me… I’ll kill you.”

  “You prove to us she’s still alive, and I won’t kill you,” Ares counters.

  “Fine,” I huff. “Get cleaned up. I don’t want blood in the fucking car.”

  Noah pulls a first aid kit from the trunk, Ezra joining his brother as I move closer to Luca.

  “You think this is a good idea?” he questions.

  I rub away the pain in my ribs. “It’s the only option we’ve got right now. My gut is telling me there’s more to their story. And if they really don’t want to be involved with the Syndicate, then we need to know who the fuck we just pissed off.”

  “It’s strange, but can we really trust them not to out us to Camilla?”

  I hear his concerns, they’re ones that I have myself. But for now, if Lily is really that important to them, we have the power and the men behind us to control them. Which could come in handy soon.

  “Trust me, I won’t be letting them leave the compound alive until we’ve got this mess sorted.” I refuse to let any more people I care about be hurt in this giant mess that I’ve created and refuse to let Camilla get away with this fucking bullshit. She thinks she can play one side off against another, that anger and fear and revenge will fill us all and we will destroy each other before either of us figure out what the hell is going on.

  That’s not what I want. I’m not going to give her that satisfaction.

  This is one win she won’t take.

  Even if it means I have to join forces with the enemy in order to bring her down.

  She thinks we’re all aboveboard, that we won’t do what needs to be done. She’s going to witness firsthand the monsters that she and The Agency created us to be.

  The sun is skimming the horizon when we pull up to the gates of the clubhouse. Half of Falcon’s team went on ahead of us so there was a large number of bikes pulled up outside the club.

  Ares scoffs as we pull through the gateway. “Didn’t think you lot were allowed to associate with criminals.”

  Luca turned from his seat in the front. “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander, right? Can’t really make judgments when you’re the crims that The Agency duped into doing their dirty work.”

  Ares lets out a low growl. “We weren’t duped, asshole.”

  “Yet here you are, about to meet your so-called dead sister for the first time. With us, I might add, the group of people you were so ready to kill to avenge her death,” Luca throws back. “And what’s that… she’s not dead… and we’re the ones protecting her the whole time.”

  I see a light switch go on in Ares’ head. “Was she at the cabin?”

  “She was…” I answer, allowing him time to let that seep in through his thick skull.

  He curses and hangs his head. “She get hurt?”

  I shake my head. “No, but she could have, had my team not been as well trained as they are.”

  He doesn’t reply as Axel pulls the car to a stop. For the first time, I’m seeing emotions from him that I wasn’t sure I was going to find. A part of me does feel as though he genuinely wants to see Lily, but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that maybe there’s still an ulterior motive there. I know I can’t rule that out, but the anguish and self-loathing I’m seeing on his face right now seems very real.

  Real enough to give me hope that if these guys actually feel the way they say they feel, that this means bringing them to our side and using them to bring down Camilla faster than we thought we could.

  We climb out of the vehicle and I round the other side where the two brothers are gathered together again. “You don’t touch her. You don’t speak to her until she says it’s okay. And you keep your fucking attitudes in check, or I’ll give my boys permission to do what they did to your friend Jimmy.”

  A sudden burst of laughter leaves Ezra’s mouth and a smile quirks at the corner of Ares’ lips. “That was you guys, huh?” Ezra asks. “Very creative, I was impressed.”

  The compliment is strange and I raise an eyebrow.

  Ares just shakes his head. “Jimmy had some serious mental problems. We heard about kids in his neighborhood going missing over the last few years, but because of the protection our uncle afforded him, no one ever caught him out on anything.”

  “Fucking hell,” Tanner hisses in disgust. “I wish I’d done worse to the little fucker now.”

  Ezra snaps his head toward her, his eyes lighting up with a mixture of surprise and what seems almost like admiration. “You had a hand in that?”

  Tanner scrunches up her nose and folds her arms across her chest defensively. “Yeah. What’s it to you?”

  Ares jabs his brother in the ribs with his elbow, bringing his attention back. “Get a handle on yourself, dick.”

  Ezra leans in closer and I hear him whisper, “I think I’m in love, man.”

  “All right, all right,” I interrupt. “Can we get this shit done already? I haven’t got time to fuck around.”

  Ares nods sharply. “Lead the way.”

  I walk ahead with Luca, Tanner and Axel bringing up the rear as we lead the brothers inside the clubhouse.

  Falcon is waiting at the door. We stop briefly and he dips his head close to mine. “The boys are all armed, they try anything and they’ll be flattened within a millisecond.”

  I pat Falcon on the shoulder. “Thanks. We’re probably going to need a room to talk this shit out. It would be good if we could have a couple boys in with us. Lily is priority.”

  “I got you,” he answers as he steps back, allowing us to pass through, but not before he shoots a glaring look at the two brothers. Having strangers inside the clubhouse is a huge no, especially ones that only a few hours ago were the enemy. I can guarantee that Falcon’s men are all feeling a little nervous and maybe a tad trigger happy, which to be honest, I’m glad about.

  Falcon has gone out of his way to help us, and I know the moment this shit is said and done, that I’m going to do everything within my power to find Kenzi for Axel. Many of his brothers here think he’s crazy, they think he’s chasing after a ghost that doesn’t exist. But I know him, and I trust his instincts. They’ve kept us safe on more occasions than one, and if he thinks that Kenzi is still out there somewhere, we’re going to fucking find her. I owe him, and the club, that much and more and I know that the day will come where they call on us to repay them for what they’ve done here today. I’m not stupid enough to think that their support is entirely out of the goodness of their hearts. We will owe them a marker after this, and if everything plays out the way it should, then I will do anything to repay that debt.

  As we step inside the clubhouse, the atmosphere
is easy and light. People are gathering their breakfast from the kitchen, sitting at tables, chatting and eating. But as soon as they notice the strangers and us at our back, the room falls into silence.

  I see Molly standing with Lily at the bar. Molly notices me first and Luca takes a step back, pressing his hand against both the brothers’ chests and stopping them in their tracks. Molly’s eyes widen and she pulls at the hem of Lily’s shirt to gain her attention.

  Lily is still smiling as she turns to face me, her eyes lit with joy as she sees my return. She takes two large steps forward, ready to leap into my arms, but as her eyes flick to the two people standing behind me, she falters, freezing mid-step. Her face falls, and I rush forward but she backs away.

  I manage to grab hold of her hand before she can escape, they’re already sweaty and shaking.

  “Wha…What the hell is going on?” She tries to pull away again, her eyes flicking between her brothers and me, searching for some kind of answer.

  “This was the only way,” I answer.

  “To bring them here?” she asks in disbelief. “I thought this was where we were going to be safe. You said they wouldn’t find us here.”

  “We aren’t going to hurt—”

  “Shut up,” I snap, turning to give Ares a cold look over my shoulder. He returns it with just as much vehemence but keeps his mouth closed.

  I turn back to Lily, her eyes are still alight with fear and uncertainty. She lowers her voice to a whisper, “What if they’re just like him?”

  “Then I will make sure that neither of them leaves here. That they will never be able to hurt anyone,” I assure her. “But right now, we need to find the real answer to that question so we can be sure. They will not touch you, I promise. You can either… come in and sit with us, or not. I had to prove to them that you were alive and breathing.”

  The room is still in silence as Lily contemplates what she wants to do. I pull her in to my chest and her arms instinctually wind their way around my waist, clutching at my clothing. Her face settles against my chest and she takes in a deep breath. “You smell like smoke,” she mumbles dryly and I chuckle.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  I press my lips to the top of her head, her hair still a little damp from her morning shower. It feels good against my skin.

  “I want to hear what they have to say,” she finally admits, and I hear a sigh of relief come from one of the boys behind me.

  Falcon sweeps past us. “Use the meeting room. There’s a couple of boys already in there waiting for you.”

  I take Lily’s hand and lead the way, the trudge of footsteps is heard following behind us down the corridor. When we reach the room, Ruin and Mack are already waiting inside the doorway with semiautomatic weapons.

  I have to grin as I step past them and lead Lily around one side of the table, Noah directing the brothers to the other side. We silently take seats, the sound of the chairs scraping against the floor as they are pulled back and the sharp click of the door as it closes echo around the room.

  It’s not tense so to speak, but there’s a strange feeling filling the air, something that tells me this could change a lot of things.

  Axel, Noah and Eli stand behind the brothers while Tanner joins us on our side.

  Ares taps his finger on the huge table. “Does someone want to explain what the fuck is going on?”

  I shrug. “Here’s your proof.”

  He looks at Lily before turning his attention back to me. “Yeah… I see that. But that still doesn’t explain what the hell this is all about.”

  I place both my palms on the table and take a deep breath. “Basically, you were used as scapegoats. Camilla didn’t like that I’d gotten close to Lily, so she fabricated some shit about her being a part of the Syndicate in order for us to take her out so she wouldn’t distract me anymore.” The brothers latch onto my words, listening intently. “We ran and the team came after us. But once we found out what was really going on, we faked our deaths so we could hide out and make a plan to protect Lily. And that plan is to bring Camilla down.”

  “She know you’re all in on this?” Ezra asks curiously.

  I shake my head. “No, which is why she brought you in. She couldn’t just destroy The Agency’s most important tactical team and not have people asking questions. So she went to you and made up some bullshit, I guess, about the team killing Lily in order to get you to do her dirty work and make it look like they were killed by the enemy.”

  Ares’ jaw begins to tick as he clenches his teeth together tightly. “So why does she want your team taken down?” he forces out.

  “They’re too good at what they do and they know too much. That combination makes them very capable of taking her down. Even if she had them removed from The Agency, people would question it and they would still be able to come after her. So the only option she had was to have them killed.” I can hear the annoyance in my own voice, the hatred I already feel toward my mother, growing stronger with every reminder of the kind of woman she really is.

  Lily takes my hand under the table and squeezes it softly and I almost laugh. Here she is, sitting in a room with two brothers she never knew she had, not knowing their true intentions and she’s offering me comfort.

  This woman.

  “So we were lackeys?” Ezra asks, curling his hands into fists as he says the words. “We were fucking stupid.”

  “No shit,” Tanner cuts in. “You put my… I mean, you put Blair in the fucking hospital. He’s lucky to be alive!”

  “Tanner,” I warn her. “We’ll deal with that later.”

  I notice the brothers don’t offer up any kind of apology, but at this stage we’re all just floating around in the wind, trying to feel each other out. I have no doubts that they’re still suspicious of us. They hear what we’re saying but are they really listening.

  Ares is focused on Lily and the moment she looks over and meets his eyes, he lets go. “I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

  She shuffles uncomfortably for a second, licking her lips as though preparing herself. “I don’t even know you. Why do you care so much about whether I’m alive or dead?”

  Ares’ face scrunches up at the harshness of the question but Ezra seems unfazed. “You may not know us, but we know you. We’ve been keeping track of you since you were a kid.”

  Lily surprises me by laughing. “That’s a little stalkerish.”

  Her words break some of the tension in the air and the brothers can’t help but smile.

  “Let’s just throw it out there… Dad was a cunt,” Ezra roars, taking everyone aback for a second. Ares simply smirks and shakes his head at his brother. “What? We all obviously know it’s true.”

  “What stupid is trying to say is… Gael was a top notch asshole.”

  “Cunt,” Ezra corrects.

  Ares rolls his eyes but continues, “He used to beat the shit out of us when we were kids. We’d come home from school at least once a week to find him gone and Mom bleeding. He tried to get us to fight back, I guess hoping that it would simply make us angry and hateful human beings, hoping the darkness he held would live on inside of us.” His words feel honest and truthful, and out the corner of my eye I see Lily leaning forward, listening intently to this insight into the man who gave her life. “The mistake he made was the fact that there was two of us. His plan could have worked if we were alone and isolated, but instead of the hellfire and anger taking over, our protective instincts kicked in. The older we got, the more we fought to protect and defend each other. And the thicker our disdain for him grew.”

  “You said we did you a favor. If you weren’t for the family business and the Syndicate, why did you show up tonight?” I question, leaning back in my seat.

  Ezra spoke this time. “When our dad died, our mom married our uncle. He used her and made it impossible for us to walk away. If we left, we left her in the hands of a madman, and we didn’t know what he’d do to her if we weren’t a
round.” His eyes move to Lily. “We’ve always wanted to get to know you, have some kind of relationship. And then when we heard about your death, it was like that had been torn away from us.”

  “So why didn’t you come to me before this?” Lily asks, a deep frown on her face. “Instead, you just decided to seek revenge on my behalf without knowing anything about me or what I would want.”

  Ares inhales deeply, meeting her eyes. “Our uncle doesn’t know you exist. It was far safer for us to keep our distance than lead him to you and possibly drag you into his bullshit. We thought we were doing what was right.”

  I can tell Lily is conflicted. A part of her wants to know them and hear their story. It’s a connection to a side of her genes that she never knew she thought she wanted. Now having them here was testing her. Gael in her eyes was hateful and vile, but speaking to these two boys, I can tell she’s starting to feel like maybe their connection could run deeper if given a chance.

  They were right about one thing, Lily never let her bloodline determine who she was as a person. While her father was exactly as Ezra had described him, a cunt, Lily was compassionate, caring and a beautiful human being with a strength inside her that I don’t even think she realizes. The other part of Lily is still very cautious and suspicious of the brothers. I don’t blame her for that, they came at the people she cares about and hurt them, so it’s going to take more than one meeting for her to forgive them for what they’ve done.

  “We thought that you guys had just found out about Lily from Camilla,” Noah cuts in. “How have you known about her for so long?”

  Ezra looks sideways at Ares, a quizzical look on his face.

  Ares nods. “It might sting. I don’t know if you’re ready to hear what we have to say, and I sure as hell don’t want to destroy this before you really get to know who we are.”

  “Tell me,” Lily demands sternly. “I want to hear it.”