One Family

by Smyth, R. A

  I don’t say much else as the guys put a plan in place, each of them adding their insights and thoughts as they fine tune it until they’re all in agreement.

  It’s late by the time Oliver takes off with a promise to keep us updated on any developments as we get closer to the weekend.

  After he’s gone, Aiden and Preston sit down at the kitchen table with a map and start talking in quiet voices, probably going over the plan again. Ty makes dinner while Barrett moves from the stool, coming towards me.

  “You okay?” he asks, dropping onto the sofa beside me and wrapping his arms around me. I don’t feel the same comfort from his embrace that I usually get.

  “I’m worried,” I reply honestly. There’s no point in denying it, I’m sure it’s written all over my face.

  “I know, baby girl,” he says, squeezing me tighter against him. “But we need to end this. This is our best shot.”

  “I know,” I agree, burying my face in his chest, “but I don’t wanna lose any of you.” The words come out muffled against his chest as tears gather behind my eyes, threatening to spill over.

  “We’re all right here, baby. None of us are going anywhere. We’ll come back to you.”

  “Come back to me?” I question, pulling back so I can look at his face.

  “Yeah, when we’re done we’ll come back to the warehouse.”

  “I’m not sitting here while you four go out and risk your lives!” I snap. Damn, I should have paid better when they were constructing their plan, because the idiots clearly decided to leave me out of it.

  “You damn well will!” Aiden barks as he scrapes back his chair and comes storming towards us, having overheard me. “You’re not coming with us.” His tone lets me know this is an order that’s not to be argued with, but screw him.

  Jumping to my feet, I glare at him. “Aiden, I am not staying here.”

  “It’s the safest thing for you, love,” Ty tries to placate, joining in the conversation. “We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “And you think I’d be okay if anything happened to any of you? If it’s not safe enough for me to go, then it’s not safe enough for you to go.”

  “We can take care of ourselves,” Preston snorts and I swear if a glare could kill a person, he’d be buried six feet under. Not only from the intensity of my glare, but from the ones Ty and Barrett flash him.

  “You don’t think I can take care of myself?” I shriek. “What the hell was the point of those defense sessions, and the time you’ve spent in the woods training me to shoot?”

  “That was just in case you needed them,” Aiden sighs.

  “Well, we’ve reached that ‘in case’ moment. I cannot sit here and do nothing, while the four of you are in danger. So you either bring me with you, or I’ll find my own way there.”

  No one says anything for several moments, all four of them scowling at me while I glare right back, refusing to back down.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Aiden finally growls, running his hand through his hair and storming away from me. “Fine,” he snarls through gritted teeth, like he’s trying to stop the words from coming out.

  “What?” Preston barks, turning to glare at Aiden.

  “She’s going to come either way. I’d rather bring her with us and keep an eye on her.”

  “This is bullshit!” Preston shouts after Aiden as he storms outside, away to do god knows what.

  Throwing one final glare our way, Preston grabs the map and laptop from the table and stomps off to the small office at the back of the building, slamming the door behind him.

  The three of us sit in silence for several moments, none of us sure what to say.

  “Well, that was a fun end to the night,” Ty sighs wearily.

  ________

  Tensions run high all week, only getting worse the closer we get to Friday. Oliver said Kirk was out of town from Thursday and wouldn’t be back until next week, but we wanted to wait until the weekend to strike. Aiden takes me out every afternoon to the woods, getting me to practice my aim. Preston even tags along a few times, the two of them going over self-defense moves and doing everything they can to get me as ready as possible.

  When we’re not out in the woods, the five of us are gathered around the kitchen table, a map of Crescentwood laid out in front of us and Oliver on speaker, while we go over the plans again and again, making sure everyone knows their role.

  On Wednesday night I wake up alone in the bed. It’s not the first time this week. The guys have gotten up in the middle of the night, nearly every night. I got up the first night to eavesdrop, but since then I’ve let them be. I try to ignore their absence again tonight, but after tossing and turning for what feels like ages, I give up and sneak out of bed.

  I silently turn the door handle, opening the door and creeping out onto the landing. Given the design of the stairs, it’s impossible to see much other than the kitchen floor, but I can hear their voices clearly enough.

  “She can’t come!” Preston growls.

  “Man, I’m sick of having this argument with you,” Ty sighs wearily. “What do you want us to do? Tie her to a chair?”

  They better fucking not!

  I would drive myself insane if they left me here. And I’d fucking kick their asses when they got back. Surviving The Beasts would be the least of their worries.

  “Why don’t we go tomorrow night instead? We could go after she’s gone to bed.” Preston suggests.

  No one responds for several moments. I wish I could see the look on their faces. They better not be considering sneaking out and leaving me behind.

  “She was pissed the last time we did that,” Ty says.

  “She can be pissed all she wants, at least we will know she’s safe. Besides by the time she’s able to ream us out, we’d have taken down The Citadel and most of Kirk’s men, and sent him running for the hills. She can hardly be pissed about that.”

  “He does have a point,” Aiden agrees. Of course he does. The two of them can’t agree on a ham or cheese sandwich, but this they can agree on. “I’d feel better knowing she's here and not in the thick of it all.”

  His words ignite a flicker of guilt, but I shove it down. Of course I don’t want to make this any harder on them, but I also know I can’t sit back and do nothing while they could be getting hurt, or worse.

  Just thinking about what we’re about to do has my heart rate spiking and my stomach roiling. I don’t want any of us to do this. I wish there was another way, but if we are doing this, I have to be there with them. I have to be close by if anything happens. There’s no way in hell I can stay here, not knowing what’s going on.

  Not wanting to listen to them argue back and forth about what they think is best, I crawl back into the large, empty bed, my head a riot of jumbled thoughts.

  I keep wondering if there’s another way. A different plan that would save all of us risking our necks. I’m still wide awake, but I pretend to be sleeping, when the guys crawl back into bed. Aiden pulls me back against his chest, wrapping his thick arm around my waist. I sink into his embrace, soaking in his touch, the moment only steeling my resolve. I can’t let this be one of the last times he holds me like this. That any of them hold me like this. I have to find another way.

  Chapter 43

  The rain hits my face as I stand in the dark, taking in the oppressive building in front of me. This mansion has never been a home to me. Taking in the ominous dark structure, it’s crazy to think the worries I’d had my whole life, about money, food and bills, were instantly resolved; however, they were replaced with far more concerning ones. I know how to survive with no money, living with the daily uncertainty and scrounging to make ends meet, but going up against a criminal organisation and powerful rich old white guys? Yeah, I’ve no idea how to go about doing that.

  We’ve made good progress over the last few months, systematically taking down the one-percenter families, but I won’t risk my guys' lives by letting them storm into The Citad
el. I’ve been thinking about it, running the idea over and over in my head all week, and I think I’ve come out with an alternative plan. One that doesn’t put any of them at risk.

  Hence why I’m standing out here, alone, in the dark. With my father being out of town, there should be hardly anyone in his mansion. It’s the perfect opportunity to get in and find some evidence against him, like we had originally planned with The Citadel. There’s no way my father doesn’t have something incriminating in his office.

  I snuck out when the guys were all sound asleep. I know, it’s a shitty thing to do, especially after giving off at them for thinking of leaving me behind, but there was no way they would have let me come here alone otherwise, and it will be much easier to do this by myself. One of them would have insisted on coming instead, but I know the layout of the house better than any of them.

  Now that my father no longer has to keep his true identity a secret and keep out prying eyes, he’s gotten lackadaisical with his security, replacing the paid security company with his own men. It only took fifteen minutes of watching them to see that they don’t take their job as seriously. The guys manning the gate tonight are too distracted with whatever they’re watching on their phones to pay attention to the cameras, so no one stopped me when I climbed one of the trees close to the wall and used it to launch myself over the top, dropping down into the garden.

  Sneaking through the grounds, I approach the darkened mansion. Not a single light is on inside, so I’m hoping the place is completely empty. I move towards the side of the mansion where my father’s study is, pushing on the windows until one of them opens.

  Climbing through the open window, I find myself back in the same room where I watched the traitor die and where Aiden and Ty were tied up. Quietly making my way across the room, blocking out the horrible memories being here is bringing up, I press my ear against the door, listening for noise on the other side. Not hearing anything, I slowly open the door, peering into the darkened hall before scarpering across to my father’s study and slipping into the room.

  Without my father’s overbearing presence, the office isn’t as intimidating as it usually is. Still, it isn’t exactly welcoming. Not wanting to spend any more time in here than necessary, I turn my phone torch on and make my way to his desk. Flicking the light over the surface, I see the desk is surprisingly bare, with only a few folders and loose pages in a pile to one side.

  I rifle through the pile, but the little that I actually understand seems unimportant. I pause when I come across a folder with a list of various properties around Oregon and California. That in itself doesn’t seem important, but looking at the pictures of the properties, each of them are large buildings in what looks like remote areas. Could these be potential locations for other houses like The Citadel? Snapping a quick picture with my phone, I quickly move on. I’m not sure what exactly I’m looking for, just something that ties my father and The Beasts to The Citadel. I’m hoping I’ll know it when I see it.

  Not finding anything else that stands out as promising in the papers on his desk, I move to check out the drawers, pulling them out and searching through them. The first drawer is filled with stationary, but the second drawer is locked.

  Bending down, I pull out Ty’s lock-picking kit. I can’t say I ever expected to use the skills, it just seemed like a fun thing to learn how to do, but I’m suddenly thankful for it.

  I’m working away with the picks, trying to get the angle just right to disengage the lock, when I hear a noise from out in the hallway. Pausing to listen, I hear another faint sound from somewhere else in the house, followed once again by silence. When I don’t hear anything else after another few minutes, I get back to the task at hand. I doubt it’s Thomas up in the middle of the night, so there must be someone else here. I wasn’t stupid enough to expect my father to leave the house empty while he was away, but I’m hopeful only a few of his men are here.

  The click of the lock disengaging rings throughout the room, filling me with a deep sense of satisfaction and pride. Tucking the kit back in my pocket, I pull the drawer open, but I don’t get to look inside it as the study door flies open, banging against the wall.

  My head snaps towards the sudden noise, seeing a large shadow taking up most of the doorway. In the darkness, it’s impossible to make out who’s standing there, but I don’t need to know who it is, to know I’m so screwed.

  “Well, well, what do we have here?” Says a hoarse voice, roughened by many years of smoking. The person turns the light on, momentarily blinding me as I repeatedly blink, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness.

  Once I’ve adapted to the light, I find a large man looking down at me with a malicious grin on his face. He’s dressed in jeans and a Henley, with a thick beard and bald head. I’ve never seen him before, but he’s clearly one of my father’s men.

  He doesn’t say anything, smirking down at me, knowing damn well he’s caught me red-handed and enjoying watching me squirm in front of him.

  “You must be the slut that turned my son against his family,” the man says, as I stand to my full height in front of him, not willing to let him see me as weak, or think he’s intimidating me.

  Recognition sparks at his words, making me realize he’s Aiden’s father, Trey.

  “I’m his family,” I boldly state, watching as his features harden, the grin slipping off his face, only to be replaced with a disgusted scowl.

  “I am his family. The Beasts are his family. He’s young and stupid and got distracted by some easy pussy.”

  I shake my head disbelievingly. “You robbed him of his childhood and raised him to be a soldier for your army.” That’s not a family. Family doesn’t do that to each other. If you care about someone you want them to be the best version of themselves, not mold them into who you want them to be.

  “You tried to make him into you,” I snarl, absolutely furious on Aiden’s behalf for having this shithead as a father. “But you failed. He’s nothing like you. He couldn’t be further from who you tried to turn him into.”

  Sneering, he steps forward, reaching out to grab me, but I move quicker, pulling out my gun and pointing it at him. My hand is steady, my head held high, showing him I’m not afraid to shoot him.

  He stops moving towards me, stopping a few feet away, keeping his hands in the air. “You’re not going to shoot me girly.”

  “Oh yeah? Make one more move and find out.”

  Surprisingly, he doesn’t move, but he doesn’t back down either. I actually have no idea if I’d shoot him or not. Part of me really wants to, but as soon as the gun goes off, anyone else in the house will hear it and come rushing in this direction, and the chances of me escaping will be next to none. Equally, if I let him get his hands on me and restrain me, there’s no way I’ll get out of here alive. Shit. What the hell am I meant to do now?

  I’m too busy trying to navigate my way out of this, that I don’t immediately notice as he shifts his weight, adjusting his stance before diving towards me, grabbing the wrist of my outstretched hand and gripping it painfully until I cry out in pain, reluctantly dropping the gun as my bones grind against one another.

  The second I’m no longer pointing the gun at him, he spins me around, slamming me against the wall as he pins my hands behind my back, shouting out to whoever else is in the house.

  “Get me something to tie this bitch up!” He snaps to whoever came running at his demand. Whoever it is scurries off, returning a few minutes later with zip ties which are quickly fastened around my wrists behind my back.

  None too gently, Trey grabs me by the upper arm, yanking me over to my father’s desk and shoving me down into the chair opposite it. With another two zip ties, he binds my ankles to each of the chair legs, all while I am freaking the fuck out inside.

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out once and for all just who my son is loyal to,” he sneers down at me before walking away. It takes me a second to cop on to what he means, but as soon as I do, the extent of how
badly I’ve fucked up hits me.

  “Wait,” I shout out, making him stop halfway to the door. “My father will kill him,” I plead, hoping some small part of the fuckhead cares, even a little bit, if his son dies.

  “No son of mine would throw his family aside for this,” he sneers distastefully, waving his hand at me. “The day he chose you over us, he signed his own fate. He deserves everything that’s coming to him.” His eyes are hard with the same conviction that’s evident in his tone.

  He turns away from me once again, dismissing me as he strides towards the door, turning off the light as he brings his phone to his ear. “Boss, it worked, we have the girl,” I hear him say as the door closes behind him, leaving me alone in the office.

  Fuck. How am I going to get out of this?

  As soon as I’m alone, I pull against my restraints, trying to snap the ties, but I only succeed in rubbing my wrists and ankles raw. I have a small knife strapped to my ankle, which thankfully Trey didn’t feel through the thick fabric of my boots, but regardless of how I twist and turn, I can’t reach it.

  Casting my eyes around the room, I notice Trey took my gun with him and I can’t see anything else that would be of any use to me. Realizing there is nothing I can do but sit and wait, conserving my energy for the right time to fight back, I settle back into the chair, biding my time.

  This is a really bad situation I’ve managed to get myself into, but it’s not the first time I’ve been held against my will. Last time I killed Kurt and came out stronger than I was before. This time, I’m going to take down my father and Trey, and as many members of The Feral Beasts as I can.

  Chapter 44

  I must have dozed off at some point, and when I wake, I can sense it. That feeling of no longer being alone. I scan my eyes around the room, but nothing immediately jumps out at me. It’s still dark outside and there are no lights on. The room is cast in shadow, causing me to peer into every dark corner. Something definitely isn’t right, though. I’ve experienced that feeling of eyes on me often enough since moving to Crescentwood, that it's like a sixth sense at this point. Someone is in here with me.