“Sell her,” Dad says softly, looking at me. “The next thing he’d do is sell her.”
Chapter Eight
Julian
“Like hell!” I roar. I grip my hair, wanting to pull it out as I start pacing, hoping the murderous urge I have will dispel some.
“Julian…”
“Like fucking hell that’s going to happen!” I repeat.
“Julian,” Dad barks. “Think. Who has her right now?”
No, no! Matthews! Those fucking bastards have what’s mine and Nathan…
“The Matthews are part of an underground seedy network,” Dad says. “They have money. They own casinos. And Nathan…”
“Is a chronic gambler,” Nicky whispers. “Oh my God.”
Stunned, I stare at her, hardly breathing or blinking after the shit that just came out of her mouth.
“You can’t be serious,” Liam says, breaking the tense silence that has fallen over us in the driveway of Mia’s house. The sun is setting low, the thing in my chest is twisting painfully by the second and I can’t move. “You’re lying.”
“Is she?” Courtney says, cocking her eyebrow as she looks at Nicky over my shoulder. “Tell them it’s a lie, Nicky. Go ahead. I know you know your ex better than anyone here, including his own brother.”
“Shut the fuck up, Courtney!” Dad seethes. “Julian, there’s a way we can fix this.”
“What way? If she’s missing, then I’m pretty sure her new owners have taken what they were promised!”
“Jesus, are you hearing what you’re saying?” Liam snaps, gripping his hair tightly. “How can you stand there and condone this?”
“Watch your mouth. I’m still your mo—”
“You lost that right when you hurt, abused and starved Aiden just because he was born special and had all the love and attention you couldn’t get from your husband even after you bought him,” Liam says, cutting her off.
I know if I look at him, I’ll see his face is red with anger, his words are venomous already. Cole is watching me, like I’m a ticking time bomb and Dad, he’s deathly still, looking between his ex-wife and whatever Nicky is now to him.
Nathan sold Mia to the fucking Matthews.
The Matthews want me dead. And now, they have her…
The cruelty of the situation is not lost on me. The prospect of war, now nothing but a grim reality.
I hear someone crying, sniffling and then sobbing.
“Holy fuck,” Cole mutters.
“Where is he?” I whisper. There’s a roar trapped in my throat, a violence raving to go in my bones and my soul shatters, the hungry need to get Mia and take her as far away from the world as possible settling in my DNA.
She told me. She told me to trust her and I…
“Where. Is. He?” I grit out each word, staring at my mother.
“You can’t go after him, he’ll be expecting you,” Courtney says. “And I won’t allow him to hurt you.”
“But you’d allow him to hurt his own daughter, another human being,” Liam snaps. “How fucking hypocritical of you.”
“As much as I hate saying this and would rather count the grains of fucking rice in a silo, Courtney is right, son,” Dad mumbles, looking at me. “You can’t go after Nathan. He’s not yours to handle. He’s mine.”
So that’s how it is, huh?
They’re just going to block me from going after Nathan when he single-handedly hurt and devasted Mia and me to this degree.
“Fine,” I mutter. “I’ll find him myself.”
In the long run of things, none of them will feel the brunt of this devastation or suffer as much.
It’s people like Aiden, who couldn’t fight for themselves.
It’s people like my best friend, Cole, who get abandoned in a dangerous alleyway at only three years old, trying to keep his sister alive in the fucking dead of winter.
It’s my baby brother, Liam, frustrated out of their minds with everything going wrong for the people they care for and deals made in the fucking dark that I want no parts of.
It’s Mia. My Little Minx. The love of my fucking life, the other half of my soul who I hurt repeatedly. Lied to by everyone she loves.
Not any fucking more.
Something’s going to happen tonight. Blood is going to be spilled and guts are going to spill as skulls crack and shatter. And the only thing I know for sure is, Mia is going to have a long life where she’ll never have to fear anyone or anything or make sacrifices or deals to save anyone else.
“J,” Cole murmurs beside me, as if he knows. “Whatever you’re thinking…”
I turn on my fucking heels, and before anyone can say a word, I get in Courtney’s car which is still running and have the car in reverse and peel out of there, one thought in mind.
Knowing I have a minute before Cole or Liam or my father for that matter back up and follow me, I grab my phone, and make a call.
It rings only once before he answers.
“I was wondering when I was going to hear from you,” the asshole says, laughing humorlessly as music thrums in the background. “I was starting to think you don’t give a fuck about what you lose.”
“If you have laid a finger…”
“Oh, I think you and I both know I’ve done more than just lay a finger on that fine bod,” Sean laughs. “Fuck, I can’t wait to feed her my fucking cock and watch her gag on it.”
The blood in my veins rushes hot, my grip on the steering wheel is so tight, I might grow desensitized, but I don’t give a fuck. In my mind’s eye, all I can see is Mia. Hurt and broken, because of me.
“Where is she?”
“I think you know where to find me,” he says, laughing. The blood in my veins runs cold. “I’m at my house, waiting for you.”
My mind races at that.
“Good. Tonight, you die.”
“Excuse me, I—”
I hang up before he can say anything, pulling up to the front gate of my house and punching in the code to access the underground parking. I bet this fucking car has tracking, but I only needed it for one thing. To get here.
Quickly pulling up, I get out, leaving the damn door open and run into the house, straight to my room, making sure not to look at Mia’s abandoned room and yet, feeling the ghost of her absence in my bones.
Not wasting a second, I dial a number.
“Young Fitz.”
“I need untraceable shit.”
“Name it.”
“I need you to track this number and give the location that scumbag is at.” I rattle off his number. I hear clicking on the other end of the line before he answers.
“I’m only able to triangulate where the signal is coming from.”
“Where?” I grit out.
“Right outside Los Angeles.”
“Can you be specific?”
“This is not like before. This phone has location blockers. It’s going to take a bit of time, but I’ll get it.”
“Fine, while you do that, I need something else too.”
I list the shit I need and give him the drop off location, quickly dressing in all black, grabbing all the shit I might needing my room. I can’t even glance at my fucking bed, if I do, all I’ll see is the night Mia came to me, broken and in tears, begging me to let her break even more as she cried naked in my arms, respecting my bed, instinctively knowing what I needed from her and letting me in her soul. I didn’t know I was opening myself up to her too, wanting to taste her, to fuck her, to make her know she was mine.