“Thank you, Brax. I’m ready to kill him. The time has come to end this.” My own pledge is enough for him and I get that smile. The one he always gives me. The one that makes my heart fill with want, need, and love.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Chapter 21
Braxton
We’re outside the warehouse where Miguel is meant to be holed up. I’ve got a team behind me, Tia and Grant on either side, flanking me. We’ve taken four days to plan this, but I know for a fact that Miguel Alvarez is not stupid. He’s not someone who’s going to sit back and wait for us to come at him.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I ask Tia.
She nods. Her body has healed quickly, but her mind is still broken. I see her thoughts drift, and when they do, I’m here to bring her back. I’m her anchor as much as she is mine. I don’t know if this is going to help her or not, but revenge is something we both need.
Slowly, we make our way through the dark building. My heart thuds, echoing in my ears. I wonder if anyone else can hear it. Can she? Does she know how much I want this to be over so I can finally be with her?
“Brax?” she whispers quietly and I turn to her. “Thank you for doing this, I…” Her words taper off and those ice-blue eyes lower to the gravel below our black combat boots. Whenever she turns away from me, it feels as if my world tips off it’s axis. As if she’s my moon and I’m her tide.
The Retribution team behind us are armed and ready for any shit that arises. I’ve told them she comes first. I don’t want anything happening to her. Not again.
“I would do anything for you. That’s how this works, Tia.” The honesty in my tone is clear. This is what I want. She is who I want. The decision was easy. When I told Corp I was ready to move on, he was supportive and gave me everything we needed to take Tia’s father down once and for all.
As we enter the main area of the vast metal warehouse, the lights flicker on and we’re surrounded by men with guns. They’re trained on us and fear grips me. My chest is tight and my heart is about to break its way through my fucking chest.
“Ah! My daughter and her boyfriend. Welcome.” Miguel Alvarez steps forward, his filthy, leery gaze on Tia. I want to rip his eyes out. I know what he did to her when she was bound helpless. She’ll forever have the scars to remind her, not that she was taken and hurt, but that she was strong and survived. That’s what I remind her every day. I don’t want to think about what he did when she was a child.
Bile rises in my throat, burning with need to spew on this monster.
“I told you I’d kill you one day. Today is that day, Father.” My girl’s stare is venomous, her words laced with hatred and I don’t blame her.
A loud guffaw falls from his lips as he regards her.
“Don’t be silly, child, you were always one for theatrics. I suggest you all drop your weapons. My men will be storing them away safely.” He turns to walk further into the bowels of hell and we follow.
But before I can take a step forward, I’m ripped back by the collar of my shirt. “Gun!” A grunt from behind me has anger threatening to take hold. Spinning on my heel, I strike the fucker behind me. Two others step forward, grabbing my arms and I’m met with Ryker’s dark glare. “Hitting your best friend? That’s no way to greet me, Brax.” He chuckles, bringing his gun up and hitting me across the face with it.
Tia’s scream echoes around me and then I hear her father again. “Bring my daughter.” And with that, I’m dragged, along with Tia, leaving my men behind with guns trained on them.
We’re taken into a room lit only by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. “Sister.”
I turn to find an older version of Tia staring at us. Her hair is long and wavy with golden highlights. Everything about her physical appearance is like my girl except her eyes—her hair, her face, even her skin tone could be Tia. They could be twins, but I can tell the difference. What separates Tia from her sister is the strength and fight in her heart.
“This is a good-looking man you’ve got yourself, little sister. Does he know what a whore you are?” She cackles evilly, stalking toward me. Dressed in a tiny leather skirt, and a black tank top that pushes her tits up, she nears me. Leaning in, she grips my chin, and tilting my head to the side with the strength of a man. She runs the tip of her nose up my neck, inhaling me. “Mmm, so delicious. I think I may have to figure out why my sister is so infatuated with you.” Her lips brush against mine and I shudder in revulsion.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I growl.
“Oh now, don’t be so picky. Just ask Ryker, I’m a good fuck. Maybe you and Ryk can take me at the same time.” Her deep laugh surrounds me. I have to bite back my anger.
“Just let us go. We’re—”
“Enough!” Miguel bellows, dragging our attention away from his eldest daughter. “It’s time for Braxton and I to get acquainted. Since my little girl wants to be with him, I need to make sure he’s worthy of her. Bring him into the office,” he orders the two men. They obey, dragging me toward a small dark, dank smelling room. Shoving me into a chair, they bind my arms and legs, and then leave the room. “So, Braxton Carter, the man who thought he could fuck with my business. Do you know why I’ve been doing this for so long?” He leans in, his face inches from mine.
“Because you’re a fucking asshole who’s been lucky,” I taunt, met with a dark chuckle from the man before me.
“Lucky? I am a legend!” Gripping my neck, he tugs me closer, ensuring the restraints burn into my wrists. “You see, Braxton,” he spits my name, “I’m going to kill you. Slice you from ear to ear. And you know what the best part will be? My fucking whore of a daughter watching her boyfriend bleed to death.”
“You can kill me, you can do anything you’d like to do, but let me tell you one thing, Tia is stronger than you think. She will kill you.” His guffaw booms through us, but I continue. “She’s no whore. She’s a woman.”
His fist answers for him, smashing painfully into my face. My eyes lose focus and I see black…
“Braxton, wake the fuck up!” Grant’s deep voice drags me from the dark. I crack my eyes. “Man, you better look at me.” His warning has me rousing. When I meet his gaze my heart leaps into my throat.
“What? Where is she?” He’s tugging at my wrists and my arms fall to my sides. The blood rushes through my veins and the tingling sensation wakes my limbs from their slumber. “What happened?”
“He knocked us both out. They’ve got Tia. We need to get in there,” he whispers carefully, his eyes darting to the door. Mine follow. It’s flimsy. The lock doesn’t look like it can withstand much.
“Do you think Corp has a second team on the way?” I ask. Grant nods. I know my boss, and he’s always got a back up. A light shining through the small window close to the ceiling catches my attention. Then I hear it. Gunshots.
“Corp brought Team Two in, we—” My partner’s words fall away when I push to my feet and storm the door. With my adrenaline pumping wildly through my veins, I shoulder it open and find Miguel holding Tia with a knife at her throat.
“Get down!” he orders, but the chaos in the warehouse is at an all time high. My girl’s eyes are flitting around and without a second thought I hear one resounding shot and I see them both collapse. Everything plays out in slow motion. The large metal gate is bashed in and more of the men I trained with swarm the area, taking out Miguel’s brutes. I race to her side.
“Baby?” When she glances up at me, there’s only one emotion in her eyes, revenge. We both dart for Miguel who’s limping away, but he’s wounded and doesn’t get far. Gripping his neck, I tug him back and he stumbles. “Time for some revenge, don’t you think, Tia?” I ask, and she smiles. It’s not her sweet, innocent smile she always gifts me, but one filled with the desire to kill. Hunger to annihilate the man I’m dragging toward the rope hanging from the ceiling.
My woman stalks up to me with unfathomable strength. We work knots around Miguel’s wrists
and with the help of Grant, we heave him up and latch the rope to a hook in the ceiling. The energy in the room is electric. We’ve got the asshole and he’s not getting away again. No more women will be hurt. No child will ever be maimed by this piece of trash.
Moments later, with the help of some of the men, I look toward her and I see it.
I’d call it a vision.
A dream come true.
Revenge in its best form.
Miguel is bound, bleeding, hanging from the high ceiling by metal chains. Tia kneels, gripping the handle of a long, sleek blade—the same one he used on her. She wields it back and forth, and the glint shimmers in the low light from the bulb. “Baby?” I call to her, but she doesn’t hear me. It’s as if she’s in another world. Her world. The place where she’s safe from him and the evils that have haunted her for so long.
As much as I’d like my own revenge, this is more than I could ever have asked for. My woman is about to exact her revenge and I want a fucking front row fucking seat.
Her hand reaches up, and the silver glints in the low light. I watch it as it slices from his ear to his neck. Blood trickles and dots his dark skin, and I watch it drip, slow and steady. His loud chuckles vibrate through every inch of the space. Dark and evil.
“Father, it’s been a long time coming, but today, you’ll pay.” Her voice is dark and sinister, and when I reach her, she drives the knife into his thigh. She twists it so slowly I feel the twinge in my leg. “You feel that, Daddy?” she bites out in anger. I don’t notice it until I see her other hand move. Another sharp blade slices at his shirt, as it falls away.
“You can’t kill me, little Tia, you love me,” he growls with poison dripping from his tone.
“Love? Love!” Her voice is shrill and when I place a hand on her shoulder, her head twists toward me, and her eyes meet mine. With a dark smirk, she hands me the knife and steps back. “He killed your parents,” she informs me with confidence. I turn my cold, hate-filled gaze on the man in question.
“Of course I did. That fucker didn’t help me when I needed it most. A lawyer? He was a fucking nobody.” The evil piece of shit shouts and my blood boils.
“Fuck you!” I growl and sink the knife that was handed to me into his stomach. A gurgle falls from his mouth, but even then, a sinister smirk is present on his face. When I finally step back, I watch my girl take the lead. She carves into the skin of the man she calls father.
“Do you remember, Daddy?” She spits his name. “When you forced your fist into my body, when I cried and screamed?” With every word, she slices into his skin. Blood drips from the wounds on his body and pools on the floor below him, creating a crimson puddle; his eyes flutter closed.
She recalls scenes from her childhood. She recollects the moments her innocence was stolen. She tells him about the day her body bled for days. With each story my blood boils and it heightens to the point of pain.
“You loved me,” he argues, and suddenly she rears her fist back and it slams into his jaw.
A loud crack resounds from his face and blood oozes from his nose. “I fucking hated you, every moment of my life.” With that, she glances to one of the men on my team and points to the canister of gas he’s carrying. I know we’d planned on burning this place down, but what she does next has me speechless. Gripping the handle, she douses him in the strong-smelling liquid. “Now, you’ll burn in hell for what you did. For raping me, selling me, for making me a whore.” Before anyone can near her, she lights the match and the man she calls father lights up in flames.
“Tia.” My voice is thick with emotion. Shock.
“It’s over now.” She turns to me and meets my eyes with a sadistic smile. “Take me home.”
And I do.
Tia
The room is exactly the same as it always is. Light streams through the blinds, warming me in the chair opposite her. She’s smiling. It’s a smile I’ve seen since I was young. I remember it so clearly, as if all this is real. “Tia, it’s time for you to leave. Are you happy to be walking away from this place now?” she asks.
Glancing around, I take in the paintings, the dark wood desk, even the fish tank that sits against the wall beside the bookshelves.
“I’ll miss you,” I tell her honestly, because I will. My whole life I’ve been alone. I’ve been hidden in a world by myself. My mind had been split in two. I suffered from Bicameralism, where one part of my brain ‘spoke’ to the other, and the second part would listen and obey.
When I killed my father, I broke, shattered even. I was no longer just crazy, I was completely locked away in the world I’d made up. I’ve spent a year talking, telling my story. Brax and I healed each other, but he is my anchor to this world. He’s the one that keeps me in this reality.
That’s why when he told me he wanted to take me home, I agreed. There was nothing more that I could want than to be his wife one day. To have his children. They tested me when I was brought in and my body had healed in a way that would allow me to carry a baby. When I was younger, my father’s doctors told me I’d never be able to have children, they told me I was broken.
“And you’ve told him everything?” She grins with pride on her beautiful face and I nod. He knows everything. I told him about attacking the barmaid in the club when I found Ryker fucking her. My ex boyfriend had to rip me off her, but not before I got my claws into her pale flesh. “What about Laney?” My best friend, or only friend, who had turned out to be a spy for my father.
“Braxton did a background check when I went missing. He remembered her from the nightclub and found out she was put in place by Miguel and Isabelle to keep an eye on me.” My heart hurt so much at that. Apparently, her boyfriend was one of my father’s men. I recall his nickname for me now and why I hated it so much. His father used to call me that when he... when he was at our house, raping me. He hurt me more than I had ever imagined. The first man to make me bleed besides my father of course. My subconscious obviously remembered the word, Pussycat, but not the reason why I hated it so much.
“That was the last time I saw her at the nightclub,” I confess, and she nods again. Pushing off the chair, she walks over to the cabinet and opens it. Lifting something, she turns and holds it out to me. It’s a photo. Her, Belle, and me. I remember when it was taken. Just before she was brutally murdered by my father.
“I love you, Tia, but it’s time for you to go now. Live your life. You don’t need me anymore.” Her voice is sad, filling my heart with a similar emotion. I want to mourn her. To cry and wail. To drop to my knees and beg her to stay. But I know I can’t. It is time for me to go.
“I love you too, Mom. I’ll always remember you,” I promise and she nods.
“I’ll always be here …” She presses her fingers to my chest where my heart is and I blink, allowing the tears to fall. “Goodbye, my Tia.”
Epilogue
Braxton
“Are you sure she’s ready? She’s not going to lose it?” I ask the doctor.
He nods. “She’ll have moments of confusion, but you’re there. You’re her grounding anchor.”
Shaking my head, I recall how my girl’s eyes lit up when I told her we were going home. The day I walk out of here with her has finally come and it’s the happiest fucking day of my life.
When she finally killed her father her mind snapped. It was as if a cord had been cut and we had to bring her in. Every day, I’ve been in this hospital, in this ward where they keep other mental patients, because of her, because of us. Retelling her everything about us and what happened, I waited with baited breath until she’d finally looked at me the way she did before her mind retreated into a world she’d created to escape. She doesn’t know or remember when we first met as clearly as she once did. If I were her I would block it out as well. But all those times I sat in the stark room telling her our story, she let the words permeate her mind.
Now that her father is dead, we’ve managed to bring down his organization. Hundreds of workers, men
that had helped him sell girls, drugs and weapons were either killed when they attempted to flee, or they’re sitting in a maximum-security prison. We freed many girls. Corp had them housed in an old school where they’re learning to read, write, and work. Learning life skills that they’ve never been taught.
Isabelle was locked up along with Ryker for kidnapping my girl, among other charges that have put them away for life. The crimes that they’ve both had filed against them are horrific. It’s sad to see Tia’s sister spiral that far down and hit rock bottom. Her father’s influence took over and he created a monster by using his oldest daughter as a bargaining chip.
When team one took the warehouse where Miguel was being held Corp had a backup, which I didn’t know about. If it weren’t for him, both Tia and I would be dead. Now that we’re free of the evil of her family, and this place that’s kept her in something resembling a goddamn padded cell, I’m going to make sure her life is as normal as it can be.
I want the white picket fence and the children; I even want a damn dog.
It’s been a long year for her, the therapy sessions, the medication, and even I ended up doing time with the psychologist to understand her mental health as well as mine. Yes, Tia will need constant care, but I’ll be there for her. No matter what.
Now that my girl is ready to walk out of here with her mind intact, I’m ready to take her and make her mine. Marry her.
When they told me it was time to leave, that she was ready to be released, I knew what I had to do. I planned and made sure that we had a place to go. Somewhere we can call home. Her body is so fragile, almost as delicate as her mind after everything we’ve been through, she’s been through, but she needs to live her life now.
I step into her room and find her standing at the suitcase I brought this morning. “It’s time for us to go home, Tia.” She nods with a smile. I’ve waited for this day for twelve long months.
The Shattered Girl Page 13
