Page 43 of Before the Fall
I open my mouth to thank him for standing with me, but Ryker’s already moved on to Cason for his opinion. “And you? Those two can say what they want, but it’s your father and my brother we’re talking about getting rid of here. What do you think?”
I’m more than ready to remind my cousin what his father did when he kidnapped Lily and Lukas. I don’t know how everyone seems to forget the shit Victor has pulled just in the past few years. It’s like the whole family thing cancels out every terrible deed of his for the two of them.
Still looking down at the floor like he hopes to find the answer there, Cason sighs and simply shrugs. “Whatever you guys want to do is fine with me. The person I considered to be my father ceased to exist a long time ago.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for taking action right now, but it’s better than nothing.
Happy we might finally stop sitting on our hands when it comes to Victor, I stand up, ready to go. “Great! Then what’s the plan?”
The other three men in the room don’t move. Kane and Cason appear to be waiting for Ryker, and he’s still sitting stone-faced behind his desk. It’s enough to make me want to whip out my gun and start shooting up the goddamned place.
Just as I start to ask what the fuck is the hold up for the umpteenth time, Ryker’s phone begins to ring. It’s one of those old-fashioned black landlines you see in movies from before cell phones became a thing. It makes no sense that he keeps it, but then again, nothing he does makes sense to me lately.
As soon as he answers the call, the blood drains completely from his face. He quickly puts the call on speakerphone, and it doesn’t take long to realize why he looks like he’s going to be sick.
“So let me guess. Cason is there, of course. Jaxon? I’m guessing he hasn’t found the time to kill his girlfriend’s parents, which was the deal when I let him go the other day. And good old Kane, your trusty sidekick, right, Ryker? Did I get all the players correct?”
The sound of Victor’s voice makes me want to fucking punch something, but Ryker seems distinctly upset. He doesn’t answer his brother’s question, so Victor continues to talk.
“Good to know. Well, as I said when you answered the phone, I’ve got some family visitors myself sitting right here in front of me. Want to talk to them?”
Ryker takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly through his nose. “I’ve been respectful about who we are to one another up to this point, Victor. Whatever you’re thinking about doing, you better reflect long and hard on it.”
I don’t understand why we care at all about whichever long lost cousins have dropped in at Victor’s house, but then I hear a voice that makes it all clear. “Ryker, we’re fine. He hasn’t done anything bad. I don’t think he will.”
Kaia sounds terrified, but the way she said we’re fine makes my heart skip a beat. Tia was with her when they went to the store.
“Your lady is being a bit optimistic, Ryker. I bet you like that about her, though, don’t you?” Victor asks with a sadistic laugh.
“Don’t hurt her,” Ryker says in a low voice that sounds like he wants to go through the phone and gut his brother like a fish.
Ignoring him, Victor says, “And she had a friend with her. Jaxon, how’s that job you’re supposed to do for me going? Now that I have Tia here with me, I’m thinking you’ll get moving on it. Tick tock, kid. Which will it be? The parents or the girl?”
Rage explodes inside my brain, and I march over to where Ryker stands near his phone. “You hurt one hair on her head, and I swear I will make your death so fucking painful people like us will be writing textbooks for years to come talking about the most agonizing fucking way to kill someone.”
The call falls silent for a second, and then I hear Tia’s terrified voice. “Jaxon, I’m okay. Kaia promises me everything will be okay. I love you.”
Laughing, Victor gets back on the phone and says, “You guys must have a thing for these sweet girls. I’ve never had one. What is the appeal? Maybe I should find out. Now before that, let me tell you why I called. No, it wasn’t to let you know I’m going to have a good time with your ladies, although I am. It was to say I know what you’re thinking of doing, brother, and I’d advise against it. I killed your snitch, but before I did, he was in enough pain to tell me what you’re up to. So I thought I’d take out two insurance policies to ensure you don’t do anything stupid. Ta-ta for now. I’ll be in touch.”
The line goes dead, and I swear I want to kill someone. Turning to look at Ryker, I ask, “So is it fucking time now? He’s got Tia and Kaia. You know him. They aren’t safe there. So what’s it going to be?”
He sits down behind his desk without saying a word, but in his eyes I finally see the rage I’ve been waiting to see for months regarding Victor. Opening his desk drawer, he takes out his Glock and sets it on the top of the desk.
“It’s time. My brother has gone too fucking far now, so we have to take care of him. I want to hear any ideas about how we’re going to do this, but it has to happen today. We can’t risk Kaia or Tia being hurt.”
Thrilled he’s finally ready to move on his brother, I push down my real fear that only Kaia will make it out alive. Victor wanted Tia dead before and did his damnedest to succeed at that. Now he’s got her right there where he can do whatever he wants.
He better fucking pray he makes the right choice because if he doesn’t, being gutted like a fucking fish is the very best he can hope for from me.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tia
Every part of me quakes in absolute fear that at any moment I’m going to die. I’ve never felt this terrified in my entire life.
Jaxon’s words about sending me away echo in my head, as do my claims that I’m tough enough to handle his life. What a fool I was to think that!
Kaia sits next to me tied to her chair like I am mine, our hands bound behind our backs and our ankles to the legs of our chairs. She seems so calm compared to me. I want to ask her how she’s making it look like she’s not scared to death, but Jaxon’s uncle and some other guy about the size of a car are too close by for us to talk at all.