When William froze, I knew I’d hit gold.

“Lies!” Joseph roared. “It’s a goddam lie and you know it.”

I watched William closely, waiting for his attention to be distracted enough for me to shoot him. However, his army training was too ingrained and he didn’t take his eyes off me for one second.

“I’m not sure I believe you, Joseph,” he said. “I know for a fact that you’ve slept with—”

A shot rang out in the night air and a bullet cut William off. He stopped talking and fell to the ground at the same time as a voice yelled out, “Nitro, we’ve got you covered, brother.”

King.

Joseph continued to struggle in my hold, and since I didn’t have William to contend with, I turned and shoved Joseph up against the car. Our eyes locked and in his I saw his huge ego. He didn’t believe it was the end for him.

Pointing my gun at his head, I said, “You think your men are going to come out here and save your ass, don’t you?”

“Of course they are, Rhys. I don’t know why you thought you would get away with this.”

The sound of heavy footsteps filled my ears and then King spoke. “You underestimated my club, Joseph.”

Multiple gunshots sounded from inside the warehouse, and I knew Joseph’s men wouldn’t be an issue. His eyes widened at the realisation.

“That’s what happens when you believe in your own importance a little too much,” I said.

He managed to catch me by surprise when he shoved hard against me. I stumbled backwards, my heart hammering in my chest.

The moment had come.

The one that should have happened nineteen years ago.

My regret over not putting him in the ground then would never ease. Not since I knew the full extent of what he’d done to my family.

As I stumbled backwards, time slowed, and a movie reel of memories played in my mind. All the evil he’d perpetrated. My eyes met his and I screamed my hatred at him silently. Pointing the gun at his temple as he came at me, I shot him.

The reel of memories stopped.

My breathing slowed.

My body stilled.

King’s hand on my arm snapped me back to attention. He didn’t speak. He just nodded at me. Then he said, “I’ll give you a few minutes, but we need to get out of here soon.”

I looked down at Joseph and breathed through my rushing emotions. So many fucking emotions. They flooded my entire body and I didn’t know what to do with them. After two decades of shutting them down, it was like a sucker punch.

“Fuck,” I roared as my body jerked in agony. “You fucking asshole! You screwed us up and I never fucking knew just how much.”

I bent at the waist and placed my hands on my knees. Sucking air down in long gasps, I attempted to gather my thoughts. My head was a clusterfuck and I had no idea how long it would take me to sort through it. All I knew was that everything had changed. Every-fucking-thing.

Straightening, I lifted the gun again and pumped more bullets into Joseph’s head.

I then took one last deep breath.

Joseph was the past.

My future stretched ahead of me and never again would I allow anyone to hurt those I loved.

 

 

44

 

 

Tatum

 

 

“Halo” by Beyonce

 

“Mum!”

Where was she?

I ran to her bedroom to find her.

She wasn’t there.

I searched the whole house.

She was nowhere.

Tears fell down my cheeks as my body crumpled against the wall.

My heart raced in my chest.

She was always home. She never left us alone after school.

Chris entered the room and I knew from his face and the way his shoulders hunched over a little that he didn’t have anything good to tell me.

“Mum’s gone,” he said, waving a piece of paper in the air, his eyes sad. “And she’s never coming back.”

“Vegas, I’ve got you.” Nitro’s voice cut into my nightmare, and I blinked my eyes open.

My heart beat faster as I stared up at him. I wasn’t sure if he was really there or part of my dream. The sunlight filtered through the curtain, though, slanting rays of sunshine across his bruised face.

It was him.

He really was standing in front of me.

My nightmare slayer.

He stopped me when I tried to sit up. Shaking his head, he said, “Don’t move, it’ll hurt too much.”

My mind raced with a million questions and my body felt like it would burst from the happiness rushing through it. “How? When did you get here? Is he dea—”

He placed a finger to my lips, silencing me. “It’s early still. Go back to sleep. We’ll talk later.”

Like fuck.

I’d been waiting for him to come home for days. There was no way I could sleep even if I wanted to.

“I’m not sleeping, so you should just start talking now.” Thank goodness my throat wasn’t as sore anymore. It’d be easier to argue with him if necessary.

His lips twitched. “There’s my girl,” he rumbled quietly. Sitting on the chair that had been Monroe’s for days, he said, “He’s dead.” It was as if the words had been ripped from the darkest part of his soul. I felt every sliver of his torment.

Overwhelming relief hit me like a tonne of bricks. My tears fell uncontrollably, and Nitro reached out to wipe them away. I stopped him and said, “It hurts to touch my face.”

He moved his hand away, and I caught the clench of his fist as he did. His eyes travelled the length of my body before he looked back at my face. “I’m so sorry, Tatum.”

The raw agony I heard in his voice and the devastation I saw in his eyes only made me cry harder. I reached for him, grasping for any contact. It hurt so much to do, but I didn’t care. I needed his skin. His touch. When I found his hand, I linked my fingers through his. The instant calm I felt was what I’d been searching for. “You have nothing to be sorry for. If it wasn’t for you, I might not be here now.”

“If it wasn’t for me, you would never have ended up like this.”

I stared at him, letting my gaze trace his face. This man had been to hell and back for me and his family, and yet he had no care for himself. All he worried about was us.

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one, champ. These bruises and all this shit you see… it will disappear and heal. But my life? You gave me that, in ways you might never understand, and for that, I will be eternally grateful.”