“Fuck her,” he screams. “Do you think I don’t know how the cops found my cut and knife at the scene? Ayita told me she’d seen Oliva snooping around my old room at the club. If I see the conniving cunt again, I’ll put a bullet through her head—just like I plan to do to you someday!”
Before Bear died, I knew I could never go back to Blade. I did love Blade, but my heart has always belonged to Bear. No matter how much I tried to fight it. It always had. I fell in love with him before I understood what love was, and my heart never completely let him go. I thought for a while I could be happy with Blade—but then, I didn’t really know him. He and Bear had too many secrets. Secrets Bear should’ve made me aware of. In a way, everyone I’ve loved or who should have loved me, has let me down. I’m alone and that’s how I’ll always be. As I listen to Blade scream, that feeling solidifies inside of me. I have no one but myself. There’s a calm that overtakes me with that realization. If I had held out any hope that I would live my life and try to find love with Blade, like Bear asked me to do, here is positive proof that will never happen. Blade hates me as much—if not more—than he does Douglas.
I hear Douglas practically cackle right before he orders Fitch to bring me out. “Come see your ex-lover, Olivia. He’s dying to see you again,” he demands.
“Remember, bitch. You pull this off, or you end up just like Bear. Plus, your father will die. Give Eyeball what he wants, he can live,” Fitch—my brother's newest asshole follower—mutters, his putrid breath brushing against my ear.
“And I get my freedom,” I respond, needing him to confirm it, even if I have my doubts that Douglas will ever keep his word.
“You and that bastard you’re trying to protect get your freedom, but only if you do what he wants now. Got it?”
Nodding, I feel cold all the way to my soul, but I don’t argue. I just want this over. There’s a slim chance I’ll get my freedom, but I do know that for whatever reason, Douglas wants to keep my father alive. I have no idea what it is, but he’d keep me alive to take care of Dad—he’s done it before. Douglas has been bitching for the last two and a half years how expensive it is to keep Dad in that home and how nosy they’re getting. It’s my only hope in hell that I might get free, so I cling to it.
I walk in front of Fitch directly to my brother—which is not easy. The bastard has me dressed up like I’m going to a fucking nightclub instead of a woman who has spent the last couple of years of her life in a five-by-five cell wearing nothing but rags. Still, I make it beside the throne-like chair that Douglas is sitting on—barely keeping the disdain out of my features. We’re in the middle of a deserted old farm that is nothing but weeds, a collapsing house and barn, and rusted machinery. Yet, for some reason, Douglas has a fucking throne chair. I lean down to kiss his cheek—as I was instructed to do earlier. I bring my lips to his ear. “You’re a fucking moron,” I whisper. I feel his muscles tighten against me. I know I’m going to pay for that remark later, but it’s worth it. Sure, I was promised my freedom and the chance to be with my father if I went through with this stupidity, but I have my doubts he’ll deliver. Mostly, I’m doing this because if I didn’t, Douglas would kill my dad. I definitely believe he’ll do that. I should feel guilty, but Blade is nothing to me anymore. It’s good he hates me. I don’t hate him, but I want nothing to do with him. That man had me in his bed and didn’t bother to tell me who he really was. If he had, I would have confessed who my brother was. Maybe then things would be different. I’m not sure. What I do know is that he lied to me even when he had several chances to tell me the truth. There are other reasons, but those are definitely the ones that keep swirling in my head.
“Lying, fucking cunt,” Blade spews at me.
“Look who’s talking,” I murmur, barely sparing a glance at him. I admit, I don’t like to see him in the shape he’s in, but after spending so much time trying to pull Bear back from the brink of death, wounds don’t really bother me anymore. I’m just a shell of a person anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. Nothing does.
“She looks good, doesn’t she, Blade? Lucky has been enjoying her quite a bit. Demon keeps wanting her back. They were pretty hot for each other back in the day, but Lucky doesn’t want to share her just yet,” Douglas says with a sick joy that only a true monster would derive. “Didn’t know you had such a whore in your bed, did you?”
There was once a time I’d feel shame at having my brother announce just how easily he allowed my continued rape and abuse. Now, it bounces off me. I check out so much lately, even Lucky has begun to bore with playing with me. Which makes me glad. Apparently, he has his eye on some girl the Feral Kings captured when going after a rival club a few days ago. I don’t hear a lot, but Lucky likes to talk a lot when he’s wasted. I hate it for her, but I’m damn glad it might mean the end of his torture for me. It will work out if Douglas lets me go. If not, I will find a way to survive until I can kill Demon and anyone else that I must. Then, I will get away. I’ve been slowly forming a plan. Since Lucky’s growing bored with me, he’s getting lax placing guards on me. I think because I’ve stopped fighting him, he thinks I’m too broken to escape and just conditioned to take what he gives. He couldn’t be more wrong—even if I play that angle up a little more. I even moaned and acted as if I enjoyed it for the last month. The first time I did it, Lucky froze, and I didn’t have to endure him quite as long. I think he needs my fear to stay hard.
“You’re a fucking cunt. Bear loved you, and this is how you repay him?” Blade growls, bringing my attention back to the here and now. I almost zoned out too long, and I see the displeasure on my brother’s face.
I put my hands on my brother’s chair, needing it to remain standing and to stop the way they’re trembling. That’s the last thing I need Blade to notice. “My brother asked for my help, and I just did what I needed to do. If you want to be mad at someone, look in the mirror. You made it ridiculously easy to do everything I needed to do.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“You can try,” I answer.
“You know what, sister of mine?” Douglas asks, somehow sounding even more unhinged.
I turn to look at him, feeling a knot of tension form in the pit of my stomach. “What?” I ask, although this time my words don’t sound as calm. This is off-script, and I know better than anyone what happens when Douglas suddenly changes carefully laid-out plans.
“Fitch? Do it,” Douglas orders, and my heart kicks into overdrive. Fitch walks over to Blade. He places a foot on Blade’s back as the men who were holding him down on the ground step back. Then he leans over and offers Blade a gun.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Blade asks, sounding confused.
I, on the other hand, know exactly what my brother is doing. It wasn’t freedom he was offering me at all. He wants Blade to kill me. The bastard is getting the last laugh. What he doesn’t realize is that I welcome death. If there’s any justice, it will be a quick death, and I can find Bear once more. Maybe we will get the life we should have down here, in the afterlife.
I smile, knowing for the first time in a long time I will be free.
“There’s one bullet in the chamber, Blade. You get to choose. You can end your own pathetic life, or you can kill Olivia. The choice is yours, but you should choose wisely,” Douglas tells him, his voice a mixture of glee and self-righteousness.
Blade takes the gun, staring at it like he can’t believe it. He does something with the gun. I imagine checking to see if there’s a bullet in it. I don’t doubt that there is. My brother is a bastard, and it’s his way—to make me think I’m going to be free and then have me killed. I’m okay with it. I know death is the only true way I’ll ever escape Douglas. Honestly, at this point, it can’t happen soon enough.
From the sinister look on Blade’s swollen face, he discovered I’m right. I step away from the chair to give him a better target. “Do it. Shoot me if you’ve got the balls,” I snap, tired of it all. I don’t want him to chicken out at the last minute. I’ve learned to use a man’s anger. Blade will react quicker and without thought when he’s angry. I watch as he aims the gun. It’s a little off-center, but it should do the trick. If I don’t die right away, the pain might be bad, but nothing could compare to what I’ve already lived through. When Blade still doesn’t shoot, I get impatient. “Just do it!” I cry. Blade lets out a cold, bitter chuckle. Any other time it would freeze the blood thrumming through my body.
“Oh, I’m going to kill you, bitch. I’ll make you beg for death, but first I’m going to watch you cry over your fucking brother.”
Suddenly he moves the gun with precision accuracy and aims it at Douglas. I see my chance for escape leaving me. “No,” I cry, moving so I can jump in front of Douglas. I can’t live like this anymore. I need out …
I make it, but I don’t feel pain. I don’t hear the powerful boom of the gun going off. I hadn’t even realized my eyes were closed until I hear my brother’s sick laughter. Fitch pulls me away, and I look to see Blade tossing the gun to the ground.
“A dummy round. You’re just too easy. Did you really think I’d give you the chance to shoot me? Fucking pussy. You deserve to rot in prison. I’m going to have my men take you back. Don’t worry. Officer Issacs is waiting on you. He’s going to take great joy in punishing you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy every minute of it.”
“You son of a bitch. Are you too scared to face me one on one? Get your fucking ass down here and face me like the man that you pretend to be!” Blade screams. From my peripheral vision, I see Douglas motion to one of his men. In the next few seconds, the guy takes a baseball bat to Blade’s head. Blade goes out like a light. I don’t even flinch.
