Arms attempt to grab me, but I throw my elbow back. I hear a grunt of protest but ignore it.
“Twisted fucking bitch,” I shout, stepping back and kicking her in the chest.
Hands wrap around my waist, and I fight to break free, but I’m squeezed tighter. “She deserves this and more, Dove, but we need answers,” Lev’s voice soothes.
I know he’s right, but it doesn’t stop the rage roiling in my stomach. Inhaling, I take in my surroundings. When Owen called and told me Thomas would bring me to meet them, this wasn’t what I expected to find.
We’re in a barn. There’s a table to the left filled with all types of tools. I remember seeing weapons like these in the storage room at the building my Dad used to train me. My eyes land on a baton. It’s one I recognize. It doubles as a taser.
“Okay,” I raise my hands in surrender.
“If I put you down, will you behave?” Lev probes.
I side-eye him. “I promise to try.”
The second my feet hit the floor, I take a step in the direction of the table. Wyatt sees me and smirks, shaking his head, but doesn’t signal for me to stop. Instead, he winks and dips his chin, encouraging me to take another step. “How would getting rid of the Bradfords help?” Wyatt inquires, bringing everyone’s focus back to a very bloody Vivian at the center of the room.
She sneers, her once-white teeth stained red. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Those were my orders if I wanted to havemySebastian. This cunt and her family were just a means to an end.”
I snatch the baton off the table and click the charge, standing away from the table when Wes’s gaze lands on me. His eyes narrow, and I shrug, careful not to touch the wand to my leg.
“At least they were until you touched Bastian,” Vivian snarls. “Now, I’m going to enjoy making this bitch suffer.”
I take another step forward. “How do you plan on doing that? Your dumbass is tied to a chair,” I taunt.
“You think I can’t get out of this?” Vivian quips.
I burst into laughter. “I’d love to see you try. It would make my day if you got free, believe me.”
Sebastian clears his throat, and Vivian’s attention refocuses on him. “Who wants the Bradfords gone?”
“Not the Bradfords— just...” Vivian purses her lips, refusing to say anything else.
Wes storms up to her. “You just said they wanted all of them gone. Quit fucking playing around. Which is it?”
Vivian tilts her head back and spits in his face. Wes rears his hand back but drops it at the last minute. Cursing, he stalks off, giving me the opening that I needed.
“He won’t hit you, but I will,” I growl, pulling the baton from behind my back and swinging it three times across her face. Her body jolts, foam forming at the corners of her mouth, and her head slumps. “Dumb bitch,” I mumble, turning off the wand and dropping it to the ground.
“I thought you were going to behave?” Lev asks, and I turn to see him scratching at his beard in an effort to mask his amusement.
“She’s not dead, is she?” I state, pointing to the rise and fall of Vivian’s chest.
Lev snorts, “No.”
“Then, I behaved. You didn’t say how I needed to behave,” I retort.
Owen and Wyatt’s laughter fills the room.
“She’s got you there,” Wes says, striding back into the room, his face now free of blood.
Turning, I finally ask the question I’ve been wondering since I walked in here. “Why did you call me out here?”
“Payback,” Sebastian explains, and a smile creeps onto my face.
Payback.
* * *
