by Beth Wynne
A slow shy smile spread across her lips as she looked at me. "I should wake up like that every day."
We lay together in peaceful silence until I heard a fraught breath escape her lips. "I'm such a whore, my grandmother was kidnapped and what do I do?" her hands pointing up and down her body, "Spread my legs for some mafia guy."
"Hey!" I took her in my arms, maybe a little roughly, but there was no way she should be so hard on herself. "One: you are not, nor could you ever be a whore. If you call yourself that again I will put you over my knee and smack that sweet ass until it is raw. Two: we're getting your grandmother back today - everything is being done that can be." I rubbed her shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had returned to her. "And three: I'm not just some mafia guy. I'm the next in line. I'm the Under Boss." I said it with mock pride and was rewarded with a small dry chuckle.
"I didn't come back last night just to jump into bed with you, I'm not like that, you know."
I knew she wasn't, but I could see she had a dry wit, and being cheeky seemed to make her laugh. I wrapped my legs around her and wiggled my eyebrows, "Yeah, you did. How could you resist me?" She smiled and playfully slapped my arm.
"Self-praise is no recommendation." she joked.
I heard my phone vibrate from the bedside table. It would be da. I kissed her again, "We need to get ready."
Chapter 34
Bella
I really hadn't planned on sleeping with Jake. A hidden, deep part of me had wanted to, but the good-girl within me kept denying that was the real reason why I’d came back. The bad-girl had the hope and foresight to pack a couple of overnight essentials into my rucksack. By the time Jake was finished on the phone with Carrick, I was dressed and ready.
His face betrayed the fact he was not happy with the plans his father had made. The meeting with Alexander was planned for this morning, with a dozen Kindred Sons already scoping out the venue and keeping watch.
When Carrick arrived with us, there was a convoy of three cars. Carrick was in the first car, being driven and accompanied by two of the men I recognised from the night before. The second car was filled with the other guys that were here last night too, Jake was to go with them. The third car was driven by a man who was introduced as Andy - the man who'd watched and followed as my grandmother went with the McCauley’s. Louise was to accompany me in Andy's car.
If the kitchen had felt cramped the night before, it was positively claustrophobic now. I watched distractedly as each one checked and holstered their guns. The sight was surreal to me: this was a country where carrying any firearm was basically illegal, and owning ones like they had certainly was.
Louise tried to keep me focused on mundane things, asking if I had breakfast yet and whether I wanted some tea. I knew exactly what she was trying to do and I loved her for it, but it didn't stop me worrying. With all those guns, someone was going to get hurt… I just prayed that no one I cared for, my gran, Jake or Louise, got caught in the crossfire. In fact, all the men stood before me could be going to war to save an old, frail woman that until yesterday, most didn't know existed. That made them people I cared for too. They would do this for her because of one thing: family. Blood and Loyalty, I mused to myself. What a good way to live.
"Thank you." I stood as I spoke. I held all their attention. "Thank you for going to help my grandmother." I wrung my hands with the worry. "I’m sorry that don't know most of you. You'll never know how thankful I am that you're doing this…" tears threatened and in the second it took me to swallow them back, Carrick spoke.
"Bella, dear, no one fucks with my family. And you are family now." serious faces nodded in agreement. "And if someone fucks with you, they fuck with all of us." I felt Jake beside me, his hand on around my shoulders. Carrick reached a hand towards me, which I took, unsure of what was happening. He pulled me into a fatherly embrace. "My eldest son is soft on you, and that makes you special to us. You're part of the Kindred Sons family now. Alexander is going to regret so much as speaking to Isabella." He gave me a final tap on the back, which I instantly took to mean our hug was over, so I stepped away. As I did I caught the look of approval between father and son. Any distrust about me was gone.
Carrick looked around to his finest, "Let's get this over with."
As the cars drove to the meeting point, Louise withdrew into herself. When Andy spoke to us I saw that his eyes met hers through the rear-view mirror, an unspoken conversation going on that I didn't understand. Louise seemed to resign herself to something. She pulled something from her coat pocket, "I'm sorry." she said, simply, before stabbing me in the leg with what had been a concealed syringe. I felt my legs turn to lead as my body went to jelly. In the distance I was vaguely aware of someone handcuffing me to the handle inside the car door. Something went over my mouth and I heard a muffled woman trying to talk… was that me? then everything went black.
When I came back around I was alone in the car. Not only was I handcuffed and my mouth taped shut, my legs had been taped together too. In the distance, I could see several people meeting in the center of the disused car park. The warehouse was derelict, completely abandoned and in the middle of nowhere. Perfect, I thought. Just perfect.
I heard a scream and my eyes moved in time to see Louise being pulled by her hair out of one of the other cars. Confusion, as well as nausea, swept over me. she'd been here a minute ago. She was lead to the main group, but she was putting up a fight until a man I recognized from earlier backhanded her. with her head slumped, she complied by walking in the direction she was being dragged.
The men started a heated discussion then, with lots of flaying arms and shouting. A sliver of light amongst the weeds behind their argument took my attention. Then everything slowed down. A man slumped to the ground as I heard a gun shot. The guys who had dragged Louise moments earlier had now pushed her to the ground. Her hands hadn't been handcuffed as they'd looked and she pulled a handgun out, shooting one, two, three of the McCauley men. Carrick and most of the others had run for cover, but a Kindred Son was still near Louise, covering her as she reloaded. Where was Jake? Where was my grandmother?
Two of their cars sped off, with their tyres being shot at. The second careered and sped straight into a tree. A thin trickle of smoke started to trail up from the car - but no one got out.
I screamed when the tap on my door came. Andy was pulling open the door that I was handcuffed to. With the tape around my ankles, I landed awkwardly on my ass. He un-cuffed me quickly, slicing the tape from between my ankles with one stroke of a stubby knife. He forced the handcuff keys and the knife into my hand. "We've got your granny out - she’s already on her way to a safe house, but there's a few more fuckers that want to play. It's too dangerous here for you. Go to that car there," he pointed to another of the convoy, "and let Jake out. I'll cover you from here."
Adrenaline surged through my body and I ducked as I heard the whistle of a bullet close by. It was followed by several coming from where I’d just been. Andy was true to his word because no more bullets came near me. When I opened one of the front car doors I found Jake in the same way I had been in the back. Thankfully they hadn't taped his mouth. I spoke to rouse him and only then realised the tape was still over my mouth. I didn't even feel the sting as I ripped it off. "Jake! Wake up!" I needed him conscious, he was too big to open his door without him carrying his own weight.
Nothing.
"Jake! Wake UP!"
Still nothing.
They must have given him a really heavy dose. Carrick clearly didn’t want either of us to know his real plan to use Louise as bait. Having seen the close relationship between Jake and Louise, I couldn’t say I was surprised at that. What had surprised me was his willingness to use his niece so easily.
I reached back and started shaking Jake, which brought him back almost instantly. I crawled through the seats and reached over him to release his handcuffs before slitting the tape around his ankles as Andy had done for mine. The look of confu
sion on his face would have been comical if it hadn't have been for the situation. “What the…”
"Andy says they need you." I spoke quickly. "he says gran's ok, but they could do with your help."
The warrior within him rose. "These cars are bullet proof, stay here." he reached under the seat and pushed a handgun towards me. "The safety's off, just point and pull the trigger if you need to." He looked at me with crazy eyes before kissing me roughly. "I love you." and then he disappeared.
I’d never seen a firearm in real life before - except for the ones the cops carried. I did the only thing I knew how. I crammed as much of my body as would fit onto the floor of the car and closed my eyes, praying the Kindred Sons would be alright. I didn't know that everything was over until Jake came back to the car and pulled me into his arms. "It's over, baby." he held me so close, and so gently like I was made of the most delicate crystal.
Andy ran over to us, "Jake, one car almost made it away, but our guys further along the road got them." he spoke proudly, "We knew all the other faces, except for one guy - thought you'd wanna take a look in case you can place him."
I didn't want to go, but Jake refused to let me out of his sight. As we walked, I tried to cast the images of the blood and the fallen bodies from my mind. This isn't real. I recognised a face, "Denver." I stated.
"No, honey, but that's his brother." God forgive me but I was disappointed. I had wanted the guy to pay for the things he'd tried to make me do - the things I knew he'd blackmailed so many other vulnerable and desperate women with. He spoke with pride, “Denver is over there,” he pointed to a bundle laying further away, “piece of shit. I made sure to give him your regards.”
We walked to the corner of the warehouse, where a bullet-ridden car had been driven into the building. What once might have looked like an empty place to me now seemed to be a space for… encouraging someone to talk. Wrenches, hammers, an odd chair, lay strewn inside the vast echo-y structure. When I walked around the car I saw two guys preparing to do just that. They had their backs to me and appeared to be tying the arms and legs of a man to a chair. He was putting up a fight - it just wasn't enough.
I recognised the sick laugh before I seen him and I knew exactly who was in that chair before I looked him in the eye. But the sound didn’t have the hold on me that it once did. I had no reason to fear him anymore, he lost control over me a long time ago.
The Kindred Sons looked to Jake to see if he recognised the man, which, as I already knew, he didn't. it was as if they didn't see me as they discussed whether it was worth trying to get information from him.
"I have one question for him." The place fell silent and everyone turned to me in shock. "I'd like to ask him something."
Jake looked at me blankly. "Do you know this man?"
"Oh yes," a twisted smile played at my lips as I moved closer to the captive. "Oh yes, Jake, I know this man. I've known him for a long time… in fact, I haven't seen him in a while." I spoke directly to him. "I remember you being bigger… you're a bit disappointing really when I look at you now."
I watched the fear build in his eyes, as he looked at me and back to Jake. "I'd just love to ask him one, teeny, tiny, question." I stood again, right in front of the chair. Jake moved right beside me, towering over him. I regretted leaving the handgun behind, but that would have been too quick an end for Robert.
There was laughter from a corner when someone noticed the wet patch beside the chair. "He's pissed himself!" I looked down to the gathering pool and laughed dryly.
"What do you want to ask him, babe." Jake was serious, ready to do whatever was needed.
"I'd like him to tell us why he tried to kill me."
Jake seemed to get bigger as he loomed over him. "That's an excellent question, pet." He put his arm around me, kissing me on the forehead. "Why don't ye tell us all about why you tried to kill the woman I love?"
Shock rippled through me - he'd just referred to me as his love? A huge grin exploded on my face as the realisation hit.
He reached a rough hand down and pulled the tape off the captive's face. "Love that bitch?" he spat. "That whore's had more cocks in her than I’ve had hot dinners." I stepped forward before Jake could react.
I tutted. "Ahhh, Robert, you know what happens to little bitches that talk back, don't you?" the memories flooded back of him saying that to me so many times. "Mouthy little bitches get lots of stitches.… isn't that what you always said?"
I remembered the stubby knife Andy had given me earlier and took it from my hip pocket. "So where first then?" I felt a sick pleasure as he seen what I held. "How about your stomach? Or…" I laughed, "Your back, or your legs?" I spun around. "Wouldn't want to pick somewhere that lots of people could see, eh?"
I held the knife close to his jaw. "Maybe, just this once, it should be somewhere that people do see. Y'know, for a change." His faced was ruddy with anger, there was no remorse there. Not even the slightest bit. I thought about the baby he'd killed inside me when he'd beat me last. "I do have another question."
There were no other noises in the area. Even after all the gunfire, I didn't hear a single police siren. The people in the warehouse stood, silent, behind me.
"Why did you kill a defenseless child, still growing in her mother's belly? What did she do to you?"
He laughed manically. "Becuase that thing was the product of you spreading your filthy legs with dozens of other men. Think I was going to be tied down to some bastard you threw out of your cunt?" he coughed, "Besides, did that thing a favor - imagine having you as it's mother… be even worse than that excuse of a whore that was your mother."
Jake punched him, knocking Robert to the floor, still tied to the chair. I looked at my hand in shock, the knife was gone.
A sick gurgling sound came from him, and I realised the knife had been knocked into his neck. It didn't matter how it happened, but with the amount of blood now pooling around him, and the desperate noises, even I knew that was it. But we all just stood there, in ambivalent silence as the life ebbed from his body. Later I would wonder if it was me or Jake who had killed him. Later still I wouldn’t care.
Jake pulled me into his arms. "He's gone."
Chapter 35
Jake
Dad had left the scene before Robert had been brought to the warehouse. He'd insisted on going with Isabella as our doctors checked her over. it wasn't until that evening that I actually got to meet her.
Usually we clear up our messes - no bodies left behind. But when so many of the McCauley’s died, we decided to just leave them where they lay… let them collect their own and let the Triad know our strength. The only one who was disposed of was Robert. We have a specialist guy, a trained butcher, who works well with making sure bodies that may be of particular interest disappear.
I watched Bella for any signs of shock, and yes, she had been shaken up, but nowhere nearly as badly as I expected. I phoned da on the way back to my house and he let Bella speak with her grandmother. That pacified her enough that we didn't have to go around right away, which was just as well. We both looked like hell after the fight. Well, I looked like hell, Bella looked beautiful as always.
We showered and changed quickly... but not too quickly. I got to experience the real Bella in my shower and the way she wrapped her lips around me was infinitely better than what I had fantasised it would be. When we were dried off and dressed I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. I loved how big she made me feel - big and strong. I would kill everything that stood in her way.
"So I've decided ye're staying here with me, then." I smiled into her hair.
"Oh, really?" she spun around, looking at me playfully. "And what makes you think I’d want that?"
"Simple, it's because I love ye, that's why." I shrugged my shoulders. "And I'd do anything for ye, and I'll do everything to make ye mine." It felt freeing to say it out loud. It felt right.
She shook her head and looked away, "You're forgetting something there." P
anic shot through me and my heart stopped. Had today been too much for her, was she really going to leave as I said I would let her? I didn’t think I could. A smile played on her lips before taking over completely, "I'm already yours, and you're already mine." her hands reached around my neck to pull me down for a kiss. "I love you, Jake."
When we arrived at Windsor House, Isabella was already holding court, regaling anyone who'd listen - which was everyone - with stories about Bella as she grew up. "Granny!" Bella squealed and she rushed to the old woman, all but crushing her with a hug. "Are you alright? What did the doctor say? What did they do to you?"
"Give the critter a chance to breathe!" da laughed. He'd taken his old chair in the corner of the room and was swirling what looked like whiskey in a glass. Mum was standing close by him. "She's had several once-overs by three different doctors, the woman's in as fine fettle as she was when she used to clip me over the ears as a wean." I looked at him in shock.
