Page 24 of Explosive Union

"Ready, Sissy?" Hayden asks as he slings his arm over my shoulders. The excitement in his voice makes me smile. He and Hayes are so similar.

"Ready," I tell him. "Leon gave me the information this evening. The bastard is in his apartment as we speak, enjoying the company of Deborah."

Hayes chuckles as we leave the house. There are so many people I doubt anyone will notice the three of us missing. "You paid for a hooker?"

I smile. "I needed him home, and it was easy paying the prostitute. She didn't see my face and I paid in cash. Relax, old man. I have this all sorted."

“Jade," Hayden says low. "The whore is probably going to get blamed for this."

I shrug. "Well, technically she's not a prostitute. Just someone who needed extra money. She's also a corrections officer at the prison. She knows exactly what goes on and does nothing to help. So, I couldn't give a crap if she gets blamed for what’s about to happen."

“Well then,” Hayes begins as he hits the unlock button on his key fob. “We’ll make sure she’s blamed for it. No one is off the hook. Every fucker in that place is going to pay for what happened to you, Jade, and it’s going to hurt them like hell.

“The closer we get to the end, the more those fuckers are going to fear what’s about to happen to them. That itself is a beautiful torture. You wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to make them paranoid. They’ll slowly start to go insane, jumping at every sound, wondering if the door they open will be where we’re hiding.” The sheer joy in his voice makes the excitement grow.

I smile. This is exactly why I love my brothers and why I wanted them here with me. They get me; they understand my need for vengeance, and they feed it.

I slide into the backseat of the car. Hayden must sense that I’m in no mood for chitchat as he climbs into the front passenger’s side. “Where are we going, sis?” Hayes questions as he starts the engine.

I give him the address, and then send Leon a message, letting him know we’re on our way.

Me: Tomorrow at ten. Don’t be late.

The message is inconspicuous, so if the cops look, all they’ll see is me telling him to meet me, whereas it’s letting him know I’m leaving the house.

“Leon is working his magic. All internet signals will be jammed, and all security cameras will be offline. We have a very specific timeline. In and out within twenty-two minutes.”

They both nod. “That’s doable. We’ve all killed in less time,” Hayes says. “It’ll be fine, sis. We’ll get in, torture the bastard, end his life, and then we get the hell out of there.”

“Let me guess,” Hayden muses. “You already have an idea of how this is going to go down. I mean, you’ve already worked out the logistics of not getting caught.”

“Maybe,” I tell him with a grin. There’s no way in hell I’m going to ruin their fun by spoiling the ending. They’re just going to have to wait and see.

Hayes drives toward the location, my brothers both suggesting ways I could kill the bastard. I rest my head against the seat and close my eyes. Tonight, I will take back a little of what I lost while I was inside. Tonight, I finally get to unleash the pain and suffering I had to endure on a weekly basis. Tonight, I will show him who Jade Gallagher really is. I warned them that they’d regret this, and they will.

My phone buzzes, and I see that it’s Leon.

Leon: Ten. I’ll be there.

It’s short and to the point.

“Put your foot down, Hayes. We have ten minutes to be within a five-block radius.”

He does as I say and speeds up.

“So, after this is done, pick a place to get food,” I instruct them. We need a reason to be out this far, and my brothers are greedy fucks that’ll eat everything in sight. So, driving thirty minutes to get food isn’t out of the ordinary.

They smirk at one another. “Gianna’s,” they say in unison.

“We have thirty-nine minutes until our window is closed. I’ll order food now and then we can pick it up on the way back.” Hayden reaches for his cell and makes the call.

Within minutes we’re in the five-mile radius, and I sit up straighter and watch as the houses blur as we drive by them.

“Take a left,” I instruct him, and he swings the car to the left. “Park up and get out.” Once the car is parked, I quickly climb out and move toward the beaten-up old Ford that’s waiting for me. I needed a second vehicle so that we could use the excuse of getting food with why we were in the general vicinity, but having our own vehicle be seen at the crime scene is a huge fucking no-no.

“I forgot how conniving you are,” Hayden says proudly.

“Watching all those true crimes shows have really paid off, huh?” Hayes grins as we reach the beat-up Ford.