“Who?” I shout. “Who the fuck ishe?”
“Her grandfather,”
Son of a bitch, “cut the fucking riddles,”
“I don’t have a grandfather. They’re all dead.” I look up to find Kelsey now standing beside me inside the cell. I allow it, because there’s nothing Lilith can do as she’s restrained to the chair bolted into the concrete.
“Oh, my naive child. Lucius’s father, Henry Vaugn, is very much alive.”
Thepresident? “Then I guess I’ll figure that out when he finds me.”
I take two zip ties and loop them together loosely around her wrists before I remove them from the chair restraints. I tighten the zipties, then release her ankles. “Get up,” I command through clenched teeth.
I lead her towards the stainless steel table and shove her on top of it. “No foreplay?” Her joke lands flat and honestly makes me sick. She’s hella fucked up in the head.
“I’m getting to it.” Just not the way she was intending. I grab her wrists and slam them down above her head, placing the built-in handcuffs around her wrists, tightening them until I know they’ll break the skin. I do the same to her ankles on the other end of the table.
I grab the scalpel off the surgical tray. I can’t tell you the last time this thing was sanitized. Good thing thepatientsI see down here don’t leave, or they would leave with more than what they came in with.
“This will hurt. A lot.” I whisper in her ear. She laughs demonically as I drag the scalpel down her bare arms. Blood bubbles to the surface along the cut. “This is for everything you’ve done to hurt my girl.” I dig the scalpel deeper down her legs. I make it to her knee before a small, soft hand folds over mine.
“Come to save me?” Her voice scrapes my nerves like nails on chalkboard.
“No. I’ve come to finish the job.” Kelsey replies, like the badass I love.
“You’re nothing more than a used-up whore,” Lilith shouts. I step away, entranced by Kelsey’s carvings on her disturbed mother. She doesn’t deserve that title. She never deserved to know Kelsey, and Kelsey never deserved the life Lilith gave her.
By the time Kelsey’s finished, her blood-covered hands shake, and Lilith is painted in her own blood. She’s weakened from the bloodloss and her screams and bitter words died moments ago, although she isn’t dead.
“What now?” She asks. Dried tears cling to her face.
“I’d gladly do the honors of ending the cunt,” Jessie offers from the opposite side of the room.
“We kill her, and I’ll have the clean-up crew dispose of her without a trace.”
“You do it,” Kelsey tells Jessie, and a menacing smirk curves her lips. She’s been waiting for this. She has a lot of pent-up rage she’s been needing to burn off anyway.
She steps up to the table and wraps her fingers around her neck. Her face pinches as she cuts off her air. Lilith is too weak to fight it, but we know when she’s dead the moment her body completely relaxes.
I make my way over to Kelsey and wrap my arms around her small shoulders. She cries silently into my chest, her hands fisting my shirt. “It’s over,” I assure her.
“I love you.” Those three words have my heart skipping beats. I never thought I would hear them from her. Never thought she could love me.
“I love you, too, baby.” I hold her tighter.
I’ve already ordered the crew to be here and start the removal process. A lot of shit was said tonight that we’ll need to discuss. Kelsey is the granddaughter of the president, and she never knew. Her father changed his last name to protect her, amongst other things. He did all he could to try to keep her safe, but they still found her. Not anymore. If I have to, I will kill her grandfather, too. Whatever it takes to keep her safe.
EPILOGUE ONE
KELSEY
Hayden’s been in the hospital for two weeks. He’s still in a coma and has machines keeping him alive. The doctor wasn’t lying when he said he has a long road to recovery if he pulls through this.
I was able to sneak away from the house without my bodyguard, Hawke, noticing. Ryder’s been at the office discussing RAGE things, and I got bored. So, here I am. In the doorway of Hayden’s hospital room. We’ve visited him every day, sometimes multiple times a day, but I needed to tell him something in private today. I know he probably can’t hear me, but I read some articles about people who remembered people talking to them in their comatose state. So a girl can dream, right?
I walk up to the windowsill and place the bouquet of flowers on the ledge next to all the others that we have brought. He can’t see them now, but when he is able to be awakened, he will have a beautiful view to look at.
I turn to face him. They still have his body completely covered from the burns. “Hey,” I say, gently placing my hand over his. “I have a secret, but there’s one rule,” I whisper. “You have to promise me to get better, okay?”
