by Dark Angel
I hold Caroline snugly against my body. She played her part perfectly and was able to pull the correct information out of her father. Because of her, we now know the true culprit, and seeing her strength makes me adore her even more.
Today, I’m fighting for her. And I never lose.
Chapter 29
Kaden
I’m so fucking ready to put an end to this vicious business. We’re all in a state of shock at discovering Archibald's betrayal.
We trusted our boss. He was like a mentor to me, and now he's turned against us? It's fucking unbelievable. I've been working for a tyrant the entire time.
Caroline, too, is in shock but she's holding up well. She's been extremely helpful at showing us her father's weak points. At this point, I’m pretty sure she knows he’s a total jackass and that he doesn't love her. It’s sad that he cares more about money than his own daughter.
Which automatically makes him my enemy. Anyone who doesn’t love my beautiful Caroline is my enemy.
There’s a part of me that’s always burning with desire for her, aching to consume her in every way. This is a constant factor, a unique connection we have forged in our relationship, so she’s constantly on my mind.
I never would have thought that could be like that. Mr. Fucking Libido, always horny and ready fuck, tied to one woman? Fuck that, right?
But here I am, willing to fight to the death for this woman, for her honor and protection. I would seriously lay down my life for her, and today I'm prepared to do so if it comes to that.
I grip her hand that’s clammy with fear.
"I'm afraid, Kaden. I'm so afraid."
She’s changed so much in the short time she’s been with us, her strength growing day by day, but in this moment I can’t fault her for being afraid. We’re walking into a seriously fucked up situation.
"Shh, baby." I hold her close. "It's all gonna be over today. You will never have to see that monster of a father again."
"I hope so."
She's ready. After witnessing Edwin's deception on so many levels, I know my girl is ready for this. She's so much stronger now than when she first entered my strip club. She was so innocent, and now all I see is this powerful woman becoming her true self.
She’s afraid, but I know it’s fear of losing one of us. She couldn’t bear it. How large her heart is to have room to love seven men, all clamoring for her attention.
She's handled it with grace, and now it's time to close the chapter on her disappointing past. Her father is the ultimate antagonist for her. The man wants his own daughter dead, and that will never make sense to me.
Just like it will never make sense that Archibald has betrayed us and sided with him. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't heard the admission myself.
At least now we’re ready to take them both down. It's not a good day for them. In fact, it’s about to be the fucking worst day of their pathetic lives.
We veer into the neighborhood. Caroline is staring out the window blankly.
"This is supposed to be my home," she says. "And now we've come here to kill my father. How did my life become like this?"
"You're with us now, baby." Apollo is quick to offer comfort. "It has to be done. Prepare to make your peace with it. And just remember, if it's not him it's you. And we’ll all be dead before we ever let that happen."
"There's a strength in you," I add. "You’re so much tougher than you know."
I squeeze her hand and long to do more. My need for her is always at the forefront of my mind no matter what the situation. Even when we’re about to go into our most dangerous operation yet.
We park out of sight, down the street from the mansion. Caroline helps us to sneak past the gates, and we surround the area. Caroline's with Apollo and me, while the other guys are around the perimeter at varying lengths.
After what feels like forever, it's time for the attack. Apollo makes the command. He and I take Caroline and sneak through the windows of the maids’ apartments.
Caroline’s father’s estate is fucking huge, too grand for even Archibald to have enough men to cover all the entrances. Besides, it's littered with secret passageways and rooms.
We can easily get in, but can we easily take down whatever awaits us in there? We’re about to find out.
"Stay here," Apollo tells Caroline, a touch of sternness in his voice.
He fucking means it, and I support him fully. She needs to stay here for her own protection. And knowing what a fireball she is, I wouldn't put it past her to get lofty notions in her mind of helping us.
"Seriously." I hold her firmly in my grip, my eyes pleading. "Do not leave or you could get killed. I have to know where to find you."
She kisses me and ignites my sensual nature. Fucking hell, not at a time like this.
"I want to, baby, but you know this isn't the time." It takes every last bit of willpower I have to say it.
She kisses me and gives me a teasing grin, saying, "Don't die."
And then she kisses Apollo and sends us off with her blessing. What could make her lighthearted at this moment, I have no fucking clue, but it helps to take the pressure off, I'll say that much.
Knowing she's safe and hidden allows us to make our entrance. One by one, we silently and efficiently kill off the bodyguards who are standing at various points around the house.
Then we make our big move. All of us converge upon the room where we find Archibald cowering. He’s here, just like Edwin said he would be. The sight of this goddamn traitor makes me fucking sick to my stomach.
It's a bloodbath as we open fire and spray bullets into the remaining men who try to keep us at bay. Not fucking happening. Not today.
There's no question that we have the upper hand. We surround Archibald and confront him.
“You fucking bastard,” I seethe, shoving the barrel of my gun in his pathetic, whimpering face. “You betrayed us.”
"It's true," he practically cries. "I was against you the entire time. But you have to understand that I’m a weak man, what else was I supposed to do?"
Fucking understatement of the year.
"How about stay on the right side, you bastard? You used us to do your dirty work then turned on us at the first sign of trouble. You don’t have one single shred of dignity, do you?" I push my gun even harder against his forehead, taking sick pleasure in seeing his brow break out in beads of sweat.
I just want to fucking killing him, blow his goddamn brains out, and then I can tell Caroline that I was the one to slay the turncoat. The one to keep her safe in the end. The idea of bragging about it to her and making her think highly of me turns me makes me rock-hard.
I want to do it. I crave the blood of my arch nemesis, I want it on my hands, his death by my weapon.
I grab Archibald by the throat and yank him up, pushing my gun so hard against his head that he winces in pain.
"Why'd you do it?" I demand, my voice low and steely.
"Fine. Fine,” he whimpers. “You have me, okay? It doesn't mean we can't make amends."
"Like hell it doesn't," Marshall yells, moving in next to me, and I can tell he's just as anxious to make this kill as I am.
"I did it for the money. That girl has a huge trust fund. I collaborated with Edwin, and this was all a plan to kill the daughter and to take her inheritance. You must believe me, I was going to share it with you. I swear. You’re my Vice Presidents. I never once thought about leaving you out of the deal. Can't we make this right?"
His groveling is disgusting. The man can't even summon pride during his final moments. He’s a sniveling little pussy, and I’m more than ready to end him.
Just then, there's a wound to my shoulder. I've been shot, and it forces me to release Archibald and to drop my weapon.
Edwin walks into the room, taking Apollo by surprise. He holds his revolver close to Apollo's head, and for the first time ever, I'm worried for our leader. Mine isn’t a fatal wound, but if we don’t diffuse this situation right now, Apo
llo’s will be.
"Drop your weapons, boys. Just do it. All of you, or this one dies."
He's got an insane look on his face, and his voice is pitched high with paranoia. This is a man who may have lost his goddamn mind, and that means he's capable of anything.
We exchange looks, and one by one the guys put down their guns and hold their hands up in the air. I’m already on the ground, unprotected and holding my shoulder that's oozing blood.
Fucking hell, this is not how this was supposed to go down.
We do as he says and wait for whatever deranged thing is about to spew from this motherfucker’s lips.
Chapter 30
Samuel
I stare blankly at both Edwin and Archibald as Archibald gets up and moves to stand next to him. Their faces are plastered with a disgusting smugness teeming with an aura of sludgy superiority.
We each have our arms up as Edwin shoves the muzzle of his gun harder into Apollo’s temple. Every time Apollo winces, Edwin’s face scrunches into maniacal glee; he looks like a sociopathic child in power for the first time in his life.
“Look at you little boys!” Edwin exclaims. “Look what you’ve been reduced to by a little plotting and scheming!”
Archibald smirks alongside him. “It was a rather glorious set-up, and I’m rather shocked none of you caught on already. And who wouldn’t believe it? It’s the perfect story. Seven crime lords, renowned for their cruelty of action, turn on their leader then lust after, rape, and murder her beautiful virgin daughter in their compound! Her own grieving father pleads to me to save her, and he braves the compound himself, compelling the staff with his sob story. The crime lords’ own men learn of their disgusting actions and turn on them, but it’s too late! The father is left to grieve over his daughter. Who wouldn’t buy it? And all that’s left for us to do is collect the trust fund!”
The two of them laugh. Their combined chortles and guffaws mix in a disgusting echo across the silent room as they stare at our shocked faces, their eyes wild with madness. It’s all too clear to me that their thirst for power has sent them to the brink of insanity.
But wait. Her daughter? What is he saying?
“That’s right!” Archibald smirks as I narrow my eyes.
“Lucy was my sister, and Caroline’s real mother! And I’ve been getting incredibly fucking tired of sitting under Lucy’s thumb,” Archibald explains coldly. “Edwin and I took care of her ages ago and have been figuring out the perfect way to situate her wealth for ourselves.”
His voice takes on a sinister tone. “What we didn’t know was that her money was left in a trust to her fucking daughter!”
Edwin shakes his head. “Five hundred million dollars…do you realize exactly how hard it was to get all of this information from her, too? Passcodes, pin numbers, defense setups for just such an occasion…Archi here had to torture his sister for days to get it all out.”
“You monstrous son of a bitch!” Marshall exclaims, lunging towards him, his eyes practically blood-red in anger.
Edwin whips his head around and fires at Marshall. The shot ricochets inches away from his foot. He jams the gun back at Apollo’s temple. Apollo doesn’t even flinch from the impact. We’re all reeling from shock at the huge revelation.
Lucy has been our unseen leader for as long as any of us have been with Sin, Inc., but we’ve never met her. She’s always given us direction through Archibald. Now we suddenly learn she’s not only dead, but that we’ve been puppeteered by the name of a corpse?
I think back carefully. It’s not often something like this would slip past me, but Caroline had told us her mother’s name was Lily.
After all this time, not even she knew the fate of her mother…
“I suggest you hold your tongue!” Archibald screams at Marshall. “You were all under my hand anyways. My puppets! And you’ve far outlived your usefulness. Now for the final piece of—”
“Where the hell is Caroline?!” Edwin screams out, interrupting Archibald.
They look at each of us in turn and are met with blank stares and shrugs. I respond in kind, holding my hands up towards them, but glancing behind me to plop into an armchair nearby.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Edwin yells wildly at me.
“If you guys are going to keep talking and asking questions, there’s no reason for me to not be comfortable right?” I shrug.
Edwin glowers but Archibald places a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s not important right now,” he says, calming the heated man. “Tell us where she is and everything goes much smoother. You know we’ll find her no matter what.”
We each glare back at him silently, taking in the whole situation very slowly. We’re each fully confident the others will not speak a word, and Archibald knows it. Edwin doesn’t quite get the hint.
“Where the hell is my daughter?” Edwin screams. He’s very clearly coming unhinged. Nobody says a word in response. His face screws up in a grimace of unbridled anger that’s befitting of someone who so desperately wants power, but has none.
He turns his gun to Justin and fires it into his leg. Justin grimaces but doesn’t say a word or scream out in the slightest. Rage begins to cloud Edwin’s face and he swings over to me. He shoots again, and the bullet connects with my foot dangling off his own chair. The pain sears through my foot, but I don’t break eye contact with Edwin, not giving him an ounce of satisfaction. Edwin’s eyes go wild with fury and he starts firing randomly into the ceiling and walls of his own study.
“TELL ME WHERE SHE IS YOU STUPID GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKERS!”
Archibald sighs and walks over to Edwin’s security system. “You do know you have cameras for a reason, right? Idiot…”
He begins to pour over the display screen, searching for Caroline somewhere within the house. Every few moments he clicks to change to the next camera display.
In obvious frustration, he starts to click thorough more rapidly, then suddenly stops short and clicks back a few.
His eyes grow wide as he realizes where the camera he’s looking at is pointed: directly at the outside of the doorway to this very room.
“I’m right here,” Caroline says from the door.
Everyone in the room whips their head around, wide-eyed in surprise. Caroline has a gun raised and is pointing it directly at her father.
Edwin screams and points his own gun at her.
My heart nearly stops and time seems to slow down as he pulls the trigger repeatedly, firing wildly at his own daughter.
But fortune is on our side as Edwin shrieks in frustration at the realization that his clip was emptied into the dead space of the room only moments prior.
Chapter 31
Caroline
Five minutes earlier…
I'm in hiding right where the guys told me to stay, tucked away within the mansion that I once called home. No one will think to look for me in the maids’ quarters. I try to crouch down and remain silent, but fear is coursing through my body.
I'm concerned less for myself and more for my seven protectors. These men have become everything to me. When life knocked me down and when my father totally abandoned me, it was they who picked me back up and allowed me to live again. They’ve taken me to the heights of ecstasy, to the stars and beyond, and our connection grows deeper still by the day.
I know they feel it too, each in their own way. That’s why I know I can’t stay here a second longer, hiding from my pain, my past, and most of all from Archibald Cox, the man who’s become a threat to my very existence.
I creep away from my spot in one of the maid’s rooms and down the hallway towards the voices that are becoming increasingly threatening. I have to find out what's going on in there. I pick up a handgun from one of the dead bodyguards and listen in.
I press my back up against the wall in the hallway at the back of the house. I can hear my dad and Archibald confessing everything. They say how this whole thing has been a setup to kill me and
the men I love. And then they mention my mother.
I reel back against the wall as I listen in, barely believing what I’m hearing. There’s no way my mother was a crime lord. There’s no way my mother is dead! Tears well up in my eyes as I grip the gun tight in my hand.
So many random, out of place details of my life suddenly fall into place. The meetings, the codes, being shuffled around so I never saw certain rooms at certain times. I never thought much about it because it was just the way life always was.
Thinking back, I also realize something even more important: My mother trained me for this. In her own way, she made sure I was prepared for this day. She told me I would one day have my own throne. That one day she would be gone and I would sit in her place. I always thought these were just stories she would tell me to calm me down as a child, but it all makes sense now.
Today is the day I strike down false demons. Today is the day she told me about. The day I take back what’s rightfully mine. I lower my eyes in renewed resolve and grip the gun tight in my hands.
My mind flashes back to when my stepmother died, and it makes even more sense now that my father barely flinched at her collapse. He’s a cold-blooded killer and that’s something I never thought I would have to contend with.
Now he's threatening these men, the loves of my life, and it’s just too much. I hear them trying to keep me a secret as my father repeatedly demands to know where I am. No one will confess; they won’t give me up. Then there are gunshots, and I’m terrified some of the guys are wounded. My heart clenches inside my chest. Who is it? Who’s been injured? I pray to God that it’s not fatal, that none of them die.
Edwin demands yet again to know where I am, and this time, I know what I have to do. I have to come forward to save these men. I can't have any one of them giving their life for me.
I step out of the shadows and say, "I'm right here."
Archibald and my father have looks of pure evil vengeance on their faces, but what they don't see or expect is the gun I'm wielding behind my back.
My father screams out and points his gun directly at my face. He pulls the trigger wildly at his own daughter, but I don’t flinch at all as the gun clicks away. Not a single bullet is left.
