by Rebel Hart
She blinked. “I think you need an ambulance more than a phone.”
I strode for her. “Give me a phone. Now. It’s an emergency.”
Her eyes ran down my face. “Yeah. Obviously.”
“And a first aid kit, too. If you have them here.”
She pointed. “Down the first aisle.”
“I’ll tip you forty bucks if you go get it for me and leave your cell unlocked for me to use.”
She narrowed her eyes at me as the entire gas station fell silent. I held my breath, staring her down before she shrugged her shoulders. She slipped her phone out of her back pocket and tapped something along the screen. Then she tossed it to me.
“You want one first aid kit? Or four?”
I growled. “As many as you’ve got over there. And a Mountain Dew.”
“You want a sandwich, too?”
“You make ‘em?”
She snickered. “No, asshole. I don’t. And you got fifteen minutes before I call the cops myself. You’re scaring everyone in here.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Focusing on the phone was a chore. Hell, focusing at all was a chore in the first place. Things faded in and out of focus. Some things were blurry, while others hurt to look at. Like how damn bright her fucking phone screen was. I turned the brightness down just so I could type in Dani’s number. But it was as if the phone kept moving. For every right number I pressed, I got three wrong. So I had to keep backspacing.
“That’ll be sixty bucks for the first aid kits, plus the forty you offered me. So, a hundred bucks and we’ll call it even for the night. I’ll throw in the drink for free.”
I scoffed. “Thanks.”
“Hey, I could’ve pressed the silent alarm button on you.”
My head whipped up. “Did you?”
She nodded to her phone. “Why don’t you place that call and get out of here, just in case. Okay?”
I growled again. “Yeah. Thanks.”
I finally got Dani’s number typed in and I called her. It rang and it rang. And it rang some more. I grew frustrated when her voicemail picked up. I hung up and dialed her right back. Surely, she hadn’t fallen asleep on me in that damn dorm room of hers.
When she didn’t pick up the second time around, I became worried.
“You almost done?” the clerk asked.
I nodded. “One more phone call. It’s an emergency.”
“By the looks of you? I’d say it is.”
I wanted to fly off the handle, but I didn’t. I had bigger fish to fry than this woman who kept flexing her muscles at me. It took me ages to type in Rupert’s number, but I got it. And when he picked up on the first ring, I almost rejoiced with relief.
“Who the fuck is this?” he growled into the phone.
“Rupert. It’s me.”
“Max. Holy fuck. Where the hell are you? Are you okay?”
I snickered. “I’m all right. Kind of.”
“Kind of? The hell does that mean? Tell me where you are. I’ll send someone for you.”
I couldn't dwell on the pain. Even though the weight of my injuries was getting worse, every second I wasted meant Dani’s chances of injury grew. I had to find her, and quickly.
“Rupert, listen to me. They’re going after Dani.”
I heard an engine roar. “I’m close to the school. I’ll go and get her. Now, tell me, where are you?”
“I’m going to my father’s.”
“What? Are you insane? Think rationally for a second. You can’t go there by yourself. I think we can confidently say he has a hand in this. You need backup. You need to let me help. Wait for me or the boys.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. I need to go, and now. Go to the school. If she’s there, get her the hell out of there. Get her out of town, for all I care. As fast as you can, and don’t look back. Then tell John not to come after me. I know he’ll try. And I’m telling you, he won’t make it out if he does.”
He sighed. “Fucking hell, what have we gotten ourselves into?”
“It’s messed up, I know. Trust me, I get it. But I trust you to handle this. Don’t let me down, Rupert. She means too much to me.”
“I won’t, boss. Watch your back.”
I sighed. “You too.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it back to the girl. She caught it with only one hand, and I snatched up the bag. I pulled my wallet out and slapped a hundred dollar bill onto the counter. Then I shoved my wallet into the bag and reached for the drink.
“Anything else I can help you with?” she asked sarcastically.
I paused. “Actually, yeah. There is. If anyone calls you back on that number looking for someone named Max, and their name isn’t Rupert or John, tell them to kick fucking rocks.”
She grinned. “It’ll be my pleasure.”
I made my way out of the gas station and I could’ve sworn I heard everyone collectively sigh with relief. No matter, though. I only had one goal in mind. And that was to get to my father. I knew Rupert would take care of Dani. I knew he’d put her somewhere safe. Now, I had to confront my father. He needed to know that I wouldn't be that easy to wipe off the face of this planet.
And if I got trigger happy enough, I might wipe him off the face of this planet first.
I jumped back into the car that was still running and tossed the first aid kits into the passenger’s seat. I didn’t bother with the seatbelt as I started ripping the plastic off them. I needed Tylenol. I needed gauze. I needed alcohol wipes to clean my fucking face off as I raced down the road. I cracked the small bottle of pills open in my hand and tossed three of them back. I reached for my drink and drove with my knees as I chugged the caffeine down. Hopefully, that did something for the pain. Because a hospital wasn’t in my future until I knew Dani was safe.
Until my father had been dealt with.
“Come on. You can go faster than this.”
I ripped open alcohol wipes with my teeth and wiped at my face. I was coated in blood and it hurt to breathe. My nose sat crooked on my face. One of my eyes was completely swollen shut. Too bad none of these first aid kits had a knife or a scalpel in them. Because I could’ve used my other eye. No matter, though. The alcohol wipes helped to clean off my face. My lips. My neck. My hands. I even tried to wipe some of my shirt off, since it was practically caked in blood.
Not all of it mine, though.
The closer I grew to my father’s house, the more I smiled. I couldn't wait to wrap my hands around that man’s throat. I couldn't wait to choke the life out of him and see that light dim behind his eyes. Never in my life had I wanted death so badly to fall onto someone. Never in my life had I lusted for blood like this before. I pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor as some of my pain started to subside. Even the swelling in my eye receded a bit.
A few more pills can’t hurt much. I’m a big dude.
I fumbled around for the pills in the passenger’s seat. I picked up two more and tossed them back before chugging more of my soda. My vision finally focused for good. I felt my feet planted firmly into reality again. The clouded fog of pain lifted, allowing me to think clearer. See clearer. Carve out a path in front of me quicker.
And as I raced by the signs ushering me into the city limits, I diverted quickly to the left.
“I know a better way than that,” I murmured.
I raced along the backroads that I knew cops never policed. There were no stoplights. No cop cars. No stop signs. Nothing. Just winding, open roads that carried me closer to my father’s house. Closer to that hill he sat on top of. Closer to that looming house off in the distance. The full moon mocked me as it hung heavily in the sky. The gray clouds slowly covered it up, completely darkening the world below. If there were ever a perfect night for my father to come out and play, it was tonight. A full moon, and yet the world was still dark.
Like his soul.
I’m coming for you, Dad. This is the last playdate you get.
I charged around the corn
er and skidded onto the main road. My father’s wrought iron gates came into view and I made a split second decision. There was no time to punch in the code. And it sure wasn’t tactically safe for me to alert my father to the fact that I was here. So I gripped the steering wheel, gritted my teeth, and watched as the speedometer needle in the SUV clocked a buck-ten.
Straight through those fucking gates.
37
Dani
I still couldn't process it. It was like my brain refused to accept the truth right in front of me. This dark, cold, wicked man who had sentenced me to death was Max’s father. What a fucking piece of work. This man held me captive like an animal. Tied to a chair, like a pig on a spit over a roasting fire. How in the world did the man I love come from this monstrous man? How was that even possible?
I didn’t see any part of Max in him. They didn’t look a bit alike. Right down to the fishy little lips on this asshole’s face.
Except for those eyes.
The man walked toward me, closing the distance between us. I felt sick to my stomach as the scent of his cologne approached. I wanted to slash him across the face with my nails. I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. His men gave him a wide berth, stepping back the more he stepped forward. From beyond their sunglasses in the dead of night, I saw the fear in their eyes. The whites of their eyes, widening the more he approached me.
They were terrified of him.
And so was I.
“You really aren’t what I expected.”
He stopped in front of me and he was so close I felt his body heat.
“What did you expect? A model?”
He chuckled. “Nonsense. My son has never been into such trash before. But he usually does take his women a bit more… nonsensical.”
“You mean dumb?”
I looked up and saw his grin widening into a plastered-on smile.
“I suppose that’s an apt word, yes.”
I nodded. “I’ll take the compliment, then.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to do that. You do have some traits my son seems to gravitate toward.”
I flicked my hair away from my face. “Yeah? Like what?”
“For starters, you’re a virgin. Or you were, at least. Correct?”
I froze. “Why the hell do you care about that?”
He sighed. “My son enjoys a few of the finer things. Not many of them. But he does have a taste for… soiling the innocent.”
“He didn’t soil me. If anything, he showed me who I truly am.”
“Oh? And are you proud of where this ‘new you’ is currently sitting?”
I wanted to kick this man right in his balls.
“At any rate, Max has always been selfish. Always thinking of himself before anyone else. I mean, if he had considered you--even for a second--the two of you would’ve never kicked anything off.”
I lunged at him. “I don’t give a shit what you think.”
He smacked me across the face. “Well, you very well should. Because even though you don’t like the reality of your current situation, that doesn’t make it any less real.”
My head wrenched to the side and I moaned in pain. Holy shit, that hurt. I groaned as I moved my jaw around. I felt something warm trickling against my skin. I whipped my head around and looked up, watching as this disgusting man pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Wiping his knuckles. Removing my blood from his hands before he slid a golden ring off his finger.
And began polishing it in front of me.
The rings. Didn’t Max say something about rings?
“I must confess, it would’ve been interesting getting to know you.”
I snickered. “Enjoy that one-way road by yourself.”
He slipped his ring back on. “But desperate times call for desperate measures. And Max never did enjoy learning lessons as a child. He was my most stubborn one. Then again, all younger children are. Or so I’ve been told.”
He tossed his handkerchief onto my lap and I parted my legs, watching it fall to the concrete at my feet.
“So, I suppose we should get right to it, yes?” he asked.
I shrugged. “You’re the one obviously stalling for time.”
His eye twitched. “Is that so, little bird?”
“If anything, I’m a little deer. But who’s keeping track?”
“My, my. You really do have a mouth on you.”
He cocked his hand back and I flinched. My fear took hold and I cowered away from the man. I didn't want to give in to my fear. I didn’t want to show him how absolutely frightened I was.
But I also didn’t want to be hit again.
“A good beating always solved things with my oldest son. John. I believe you’ve already met him.”
The man put his hand down and my heart broke for the two brothers.
“He was always so… nosy. I really had to do a number on him to get him to find his place. Max didn’t take to that, though. He never liked staying in his lane.”
I nodded. “Sounds like the Max I love.”
He sighed. “Ah, young love. It’s always so romanticized. Tell me, Miss Young. Is this romantic to you?”
He held out his arms as my eyes scaled his body.
“I don’t know. I guess, in the right context, this could be considered foreplay.”
I heard one of the bodyguards let out a small bout of laughter. And as quick as lightning, Max’s father had his gun out. He pointed it at one of the men in back and pulled the trigger, causing me to scream out. My eyes widened. I watched the shadowed man drop to his knees. I heard him gurgling. And as my eyes widened, I watched him fall face-first into the grass as dark liquid tainted the ground beneath him.
“Anyway, where were we?”
I drew in ragged breaths, trying my best not to panic. But I couldn't pull my eyes away from the man on the ground.
“Holy shit, you killed him,” I said breathlessly.
“Focus, little bird. We don’t have much time.”
My eyes whipped up to his. “You killed him!”
“And you’re not giving any consideration as to why I brought you here tonight?”
I’m so sick and tired of being compared to hunted animals.
“I take it you’re going to tell me. So get it over with,” I said.
His frown grew on his face as he walked toward me. I leaned away from him, but it didn’t get me out of the way of his touch. His finger traced along my jawline, where his knuckles had connected with my face. He brushed something away and I winced. Then he cupped my cheek.
Making me jerk away from his touch.
“Don’t you dare,” I growled.
He patted my cheek softly, causing me to wince.
“I have recently discovered that you are quite special to my son. Which is interesting, since it’s been so long for him. I haven’t had any access to any real leverage against my son. Max keeps himself locked up tight. Like a vault. Again, not like my eldest. Not like John. John was easy to manipulate.”
I shook my head. “You’re a monster.”
He nodded. “I suppose most would consider me as such. But that’s not the point. The point is, now I have you.”
He turned around and faced me with a wolfish grin on his face.
“I now have access to leverage in Max’s life. Through you. And I’ve waited years for it. That boy has defied me for far too long. He’s disobeyed me for far too many years, has hated me his entire life. He never did learn to fear me the way his brother did. To respect me, the way John does. All he ever wanted was to be what I’m not.”
I hissed. “Because he’s better than you. And he always will be.”
The man chuckled. “No. Because he’s a fool. Because he doesn’t have what it takes to be something more. Because he’s willing to let other people overshadow him while he plays in the kiddie pool with his little Red Thorns. Destroying what I created. Dismantling what I willingly handed over to his brother.”
I blinked. “You cr
eated the Red Thorns?”
He put his hand over his heart. “Oh, that wounds me. I see Max doesn’t talk much about it.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t even know what you looked like until just now. I still don’t know your name.”
“Such rudeness. Allow me. My name is Ashton Ryddle. At one point in time, I was the president and owner of the Red Thorns. I created them after leaving a crew I was part of. Want to know why I left?”
“Because you’re a monster and they wanted no part of your existence?”
He snickered. “So judgmental. But no. I left because I wanted no part in their drug smuggling operations. Not quite my taste in crime.”
“A murderer with morals. How quaint.”
“Do you know what they did to me, little bird?”
“Deer.”
He took a step toward me. “They chained me to the ground, like an animal. They beat me. Kicked me. Gagged me, so I could barely breathe. They took hot irons from a fireplace and burned their tattoos clear off my back. Leaving nothing but roped, thick, disgusting scars I walk around with every fucking day of my life.”
I bit my tongue as I heard the man’s anger growing in his voice.
“I paid a high price to leave that club. To leave them behind. To this day, I’m the only person to walk away from them. And in my anger, I focused. I established the Red Thorns and ushered them into greatness. I did so well with them that it opened up other doors for me in the business world. Other doors I would’ve much rather walked through. So it only made sense to pass the crew onto my eldest.”
I grimaced. “You mean, the one you can control.”
“Of course. It’s my club, after all. At their peak, those men made five figures a month with contract work and running weapons. Dealing in shipping artifacts from continent to continent. They were living the high life. Until John decided to get himself wrapped up in a turf war.”
I blinked. “Is that why he walks with a cane?”
He waved his hand in the air. “Ah, some shooting. Some accidents. A coma, I think. He really should’ve known his limits better. Left him unable to ride his stupid bike, so of course he handed my precious club over to Max.”
“The one who doesn’t listen.”
