I grab my gun and Lev is beside me as everyone starts screaming and running in all directions.
I look to see that it's Zayn who is firing his gun above his head and behind him is some tall blond guy who is holding Seb with a gun to his head.
I want to tear his throat out with my teeth. I want to make him bleed and remove his beating heart. Whoever this guy is, he’s a fucking dead man, and Zayn better hope there is a God to save him. Traitors don't die quietly.The fucker.
They move Seb onto the center of the stage and blond guy shouts into the microphone for everyone to get the fuck out. As the final customer and staff members leave, it's a standoff: my brother, me, and our guards, versus the dead men holding Seb on the stage. I've no idea who the fuck this guy is and I don't care anymore. I just want his hands off my property.
“Good, now I finally have the great Kozlov brothers' attention on me. Have to say boys, it was ridiculously easy to get to your boy here. I think you need better security.”
“Cut the attempt at the big guy talk and just tell us who the hell you are and what you want,” Lev shouts to the blond. Zayn is standing off to the side, but his gun remains on all of us.
I’m focused on Seb who I thought would be freaking out, but he seems indifferent. Calm. There’s a little blood on his forehead, but otherwise, he’s unharmed.
In fact, his eyes have a sharp edge of focus in them, and they speak to me.Let’s destroy these dickheads slowly, Baby.
Yeah, let’s, beautiful. I only soften my gaze minutely, to let him know I’m in, but not enough that I’m noticed. I vow mentally not to be my irrational self and panic. I’ve got him.
“I have to say, I’m upset you don’t remember me but fair enough. I'm Damon, Nate's brother. We met when Nate first started working here when I was fifteen.”
I vaguely remember the scrawny kid that Nate brought in a couple of times when working rotation at our house. This is the last thing I expected.
“Don't tell me you have already forgotten about my brother. You killed him. The one who was supposed to be part of your ‘family.’ I'd expected more from you but then again, you are both backstabbing monsters,” he snaps at us, spit flying from his stupid mouth.
“I'd hardly call us the backstabbers. He was stealing and profiting from us on the side. He knew the consequences of that when found out,” I say.
“No! He had to leave his family to work here for you, to provide for us, and now we have lost everything! I’m not going to let you get away with that,” he shouts, losing control of his emotions. The gun in his hand presses harder into Seb’s head.
“You need the facts, fuckface. He was stealing from our club girls and abusing them. He could have come to us, but he didn't. He paid the price and so will you,” I say.
Damon doesn’t get the chance to respond, his focus shifting and looking behind me. He smiles like he has won a victory. I turn to see what has his attention. Katie’s there, holding a gun, pointing it at me.
“Damon, babe, I thought you’d have killed him already,” she whines as she walks towards the stage, keeping her gun trained on me. She gets on the stage next to Damon and grabs his neck for a quick kiss.Well, this is all starting to make a shit load of sense. How the hell did we miss all this?
“Katie, what's going on?” Seb finally speaks for the first time.
She looks at him like he has asked the most stupid question to ever have been asked. “God, you really are slow, Seb, but don't worry, I will explain it to you and dumb it down like I always have.” She pats his cheek. “Damon is my boyfriend. We have been sleeping together a while now, y’know, the guy you suspected I was with when you kicked me out. I love him,” she says as though she’s describing a fairy tale romance to a group of her friends.
Damn, she is more of a psycho than we thought.
“Wait, boyfriend? What the fuck is going on, Katie? I don't understand.”
She dramatically rolls her eyes. “Money. I was hoping to get more money from what your folks left, but as time went on, I realized there must be nothing left. I would have ended things, but Damon needed me to keep you around, so I strung you along. I must say, it was hard work, but I managed to make it worthwhile by selling your mother's jewelry. Got me a pretty penny too,” she coos.
Seb goes deathly still, staring at Katie like he has never met her before.
“What did you just say?” he whispers. “My mom? No, you didn't. How did you find it?”
His voice shakes with devastation that matches his face.
“I'm not an idiot, Seb. I know where you hide everything. Not like it was difficult. I'm not sure why you're so upset. It’s not like she needs it and you just left it in a box doing nothing. It’s the only decent thing she owned,” she scoffs.
“That was not your choice, you fucking bitch!” he screams at her.
Damon tightens his hold on Seb, but that doesn’t stop his anger. “I will kill you myself, Katie, I swear it. I will cut you the fuck up. Wait, did you steal my dad's bikes too? The ones that went missing after the funeral?”
The smile she gives him is pure evil and nastiness. The real Katie has come to play. “Do you know what? I can't remember.” She mockingly giggles at him. “Come on Seb, you gotta understand I needed to survive. I mean, a girl like me needs to be looked after. You didn't exactly treat me like a princess. That apartment for starters, it was a hell hole. I had to make my way to something better and you were the stepping stone,” she explains.
Seb looks like he is about to spiral, his eyes frantically moving in panic and confusion like he is trying to process what has just happened, and I don't blame him. None of us saw this. I know he was close to his parents, but it's not something we ever spoke about as we have only ever been wrapped up in the present.
