Kairo nods. “At first, but then we got to know you. You’re one of us, Ocean. Who cares how we fucking met? What we have is stronger than that.”
“You really think so?” I laugh. “Our whole friendship was based on a lie. We have nothing. Not anymore.”
I turn away and don’t dare look back knowing damn well that if I did, I'll break. If anything, I’ve overstayed my welcome, not that I had any in the first place. I’ll check on Nic one last time and then I’m out of here.
I start walking back to the bar to take my seat beside him, only he’s no longer there. I glance around the large, warehouse-style compound to find him having a whispered conversation with a guy who has a phone glued to his ear.
Nic’s eyes flash up to mine and the look within them nearly tears me apart.
This isn’t my Nic. The man staring back at me is a complete stranger. This is the lethal, dark version of Nic that could rip a man to shreds with his bare hands. This is the version of himself that he’s always tried to protect me from, but something has changed, that need to hide it from me is gone.
I falter, bringing myself to a stop in the middle of the compound. Something screams at me not to take another step, that I should stay away, but as usual, I’m so fucking drawn to him.
I swallow back the confusion and realize the right thing to do is leave. I can’t see him like this. I’ve always known this is a part of who he is. This is his dark side, the side that will have grown men shitting their pants and begging for forgiveness. Seeing him like this … it’s going to crush me.
Nic has always been larger than life for me and while I’ve always known about this, I’ve never had to watch him at his worst and I’m terrified of being scared of him, of knowing just how far he can go. Sure, I’ve seen him beat the ever-loving shit out of a man. I’ve seen the way he dominates every fucking situation, but whatever comes next … that’s going to change it all.
A hard body presses into my back and as hands claim my waist, Sebastian’s low voice sends chills running down my spine. “I’ve seen that look, Ocean,” he tells me, his voice barely a whisper. “You need to go.”
I nod and as I go to step around him a guy starts pulling on a thick chain, pulling the roller door up. The only proper door in the warehouse is slammed shut and locked and Sebastian pulls me back into him, clutching onto me tighter. “Fuck. Too late.”
The deafening sound of Harley’s fill the warehouse as they creep through the roller door, surrounding all sides of the black SUV, the same one that had only rolled past here less than an hour ago with guns hanging out of the fucking windows.
My back stiffens. I really don’t want to be here.
The Widows all start to crowd around, at least two hundred of them, all eager to see how Nic is going to avenge his father. This is his first official move as their leader—defending the man who has led them for nearly thirty years. This has to be big. This has to prove that he has what it takes.
This has to send a message—Kian might be gone, but the Widows will live on, stronger, darker, deadlier. They will not succumb to anybody, especially not the Wolves. This will never be forgotten and they will never be forgiven. This war between them just became fucking vicious.
The Harley’s come to a stop and the SUV is pulled up between them. The bikers get off and instantly go to the back of the SUV. Other’s jump in to help and within moments, three bound and gagged men stumble out of the back and into the center of the warehouse, each one of them terrified for their lives.
Nic strides into the center and the Widows begin chanting his name as the three men glance around in fear, knowing damn well what their fate will be tonight.
Sebastian holds onto me tighter and slowly begins pulling me back into the crowd, trying to protect me from what’s about to happen but I don’t move a fucking inch. My eyes are glued on Nic and although I know I don’t want to see this, something is forcing me to stay, a deep desperation to know exactly who this man is that I thought I knew.
Nic walks behind the three bound men and kicks the back of their legs, sending them all falling to the dirty ground until they’re on their knees before him. They shake with fear but if you want to drive by the Black Widows home and kill their leader, this is the price you pay.
They were fools if they thought that they’d get away with this.
Nic stands tall and looks out at his Widows and the massive room falls into silence, anxiously waiting to see what he’s going to do.
“These men took our leader’s life—My father’s life,” he says, his tone loud and domineering, demanding the attention of the room. “They disrespected us, came onto our turf, and begged for war.”
Nic pauses as his Widows yell for revenge and he pulls a knife from within his jacket pocket, a jacket that is stained with his father’s blood. “This will not go unpunished,” he roars, making the Widows roar right along with him as my blood runs cold. “If it’s a war they beg for, then it’s a war we will give them, and we won’t stop until every last one of them are buried in our backyard.”
I step back into Sebastian’s chest and he holds me tighter, knowing I need his support.
Nic steps up to the bound man on the right, his knife glistening in the light above their heads. The man tries to strain his neck to keep an eye on Nic but Nic’s not having it. He grabs chunks of the man’s hair and tears his head back until his neck is completely exposed.
I swallow hard, my heart racing with fear.
Oh, Nic. Please don’t do this.
“Are you their shooter? Did you kill my father?”
“No,” the man rushes out, his eyes flicking to the man in the center. “It was Brock. I swear, I was driving. I didn’t shoot at anyone.”
Nic roars a dark laugh. “So I should just let you go, huh?” he says “I should take the word of a man who so quickly threw his brother under the bus? Where’s your fucking loyalty?”
The front of the man’s pants become wet as he starts begging for his life. “Please. I’ll do anything?”
Nic grips his hair tighter. “What a shame, you’re shit outta luck. My tolerance for disloyalty went out the fucking window the second you drove past my clubhouse. The Widows do not grant favors. A life for a life.”
With a flash, the knife slices deep across the man’s throat, and blood spurts out like a fountain. A loud gasp pulls from deep within me and as the man falls to the ground, Nic’s eyes snap to mine.
They widen just a fraction but the darkness swirling within them has him stepping to his next victim, not giving a shit that I’ve just witnessed him taking a life.
A massive pool of blood begins spreading around the dying man’s body, staining Nic’s shoes and the knees of the man that he just threw under the bus, but it’s as though they don’t even notice.
Nic wipes the blade of his knife on the middle guy’s shoulder, slicing the side of his neck in the process. “So, you’re the mother-fucker who killed my father.”
“Kian Garcia was fucking scum. He deserved to die and I’ll fucking die a happy man knowing that I was the one who had the pleasure of taking him out.” he spits, making the whole warehouse erupt in protest.
Some race forward, wanting to end him themselves while others desperately hold their brothers back, knowing damn well that this is Nic’s kill.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” Nic says, a dark laugh in his tone. “Don’t be fooled. I’m going to take my fucking time and it’s going to hurt.”
A guy steps into Nic’s side and hands him a pair of wire cutters and Nic takes them without hesitation. He grabs the shooter's wrist and tears it high above his head for everyone to see, twisting his shoulder in the process and dislocating the joint. He puts the wire cutters around the base of his pointer finger, his trigger finger, and grins wickedly.
“This is going to be framed in my fucking office,” he says before pressing down on the wire cutters and tearing the finger free. The guy screams, a loud ear-shattering wail as his finger is cu
t off.
Bile rises in my throat but I hold it down, unable to look away from the monsters before me. Blood spurts from the shooter’s hand, mixing with the blood of his fellow Wolf on the ground as the finger splashes down into the puddle at his knees.
What is this? Is this really Nic? The guy I thought I was in love with? This is a monster, not a fucking hero. I’ve always known he was capable, but never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d ever be pushed to these limits.
Without warning, his knife slams down over the guy’s chest and I’m instantly reminded of the way the silver dagger protruded from both my father’s and Charles’ chest. The guy attempts to double over with the pain and as the momentum pulls him forward, Nic grabs the top of his hair and tears his head back before slicing his knife across his neck in the same way he’d done with the first guy.
Tears stream down my face and I don’t know why. These guys deserve death. It’s just the way things are in this world, especially if you make a move like this against the Black Widows, and killing their leader is as bad as it gets. Maybe the tears are for Nic knowing damn well that the old Nic is gone. He won’t come back from this and now that I've witnessed it, I'll never be able to look at him the same. He’s not even hesitating, just going straight in for the kill without even thinking about it. How dark does one’s soul have to be to do something so wicked?
The shooter’s body falls heavily to the ground, his blood mixing with the first as Nic disregards them as though they’re not even there.
He steps up behind the last guy and just as he had done earlier, cleans off his blade, but instead of doing it over his shoulder, he swipes the knife across his cheek, leaving a red smear for the world to see. It’s as though it’s some sort of badge—a message.
“I guess you’re the lucky one,” Nic tells him as he violently shakes, the fear of death rattling him. “You’re going to run home and tell your boss exactly what happened here. Tell him how we took their pathetic lives, tell him how my knife sliced across their throats, tell him there’s a new fucking boss in town, and tell him that I’m coming for him. You took our leader tonight and we won’t stop until we have yours. NOW RUN.”
He scrambles to his feet and takes off like a fucking rocket, but Nic isn’t about to let him get off that easily. The guy gets through the roller door when Nic’s gun rings out loud and clear. The bullet pierces the guy's shoulder, exactly where Eli had been hit. He falls to the ground with a pained groan and we all watch as his desperation has him stumbling back to his feet and running through the pain.
I can’t help but look back at Nic with the two bodies lying at his feet and as he stands as the king in his castle, fear sinks into me. I tear out of Sebastian’s hold and without looking back, I run out through the roller door and dive toward Colton’s Ferrari, hoping to God that I never see them again.
Chapter 27
Tears stream down my face as I push the Ferrari to its limits.
How could he do that? What kind of monster is he? That wasn’t the Nic that I’ve come to know and love. He's a stranger. The kind of man that nightmares are made of and Kai, Eli, and Sebastian just stood back and watched him do it as though what he was doing was okay, as though he’d done it a million times before.
Has he? Is this the kind of man I allowed into my heart, the kind of man I allowed in my bed?
The Nic that I knew would have had me removed before handling his shit. He would have protected me, but it’s as though he didn’t even see me when he looked at me. He saw right through me as though the girl he’s so used to protecting wasn’t even there.
I understand it, I really do. He’s a violent guy and was presented with the men who had just killed his father, the leader of the Black Widows. His soul would have been aching. I know the feeling. Losing a parent is the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me, but add the pressure he would have been under from his gang to avenge his father, and it would have been torture. But to murder those men in that way … it was brutal. I wonder if he even feels guilt over it or if to him, it’s just another Saturday night.
Is this the type of thing he would do before coming and sneaking into my bed, pretending that he’s a good guy and touching me with hands that had just dealt death? Don’t get me wrong, I was never completely in the dark. I’m well aware that all four of the boys have ended someone’s life, maybe many lives, but I’ve never witnessed it. I’ve always been protected from it, but the look in Nic’s eyes … that was easy for him. He didn’t flinch, didn’t show a damn sign of guilt, and sure as hell didn’t ask himself what the fuck he was doing.
That’s not the man I know and certainly not the one I love.
He’s a fucking murderer … just like my father.
Mom was right all this time. I should never have let them into my life, but I was young and dumb. There were four incredible guys inserting themselves into my life, treating me like their queen and protecting me with everything they had. What kind of fool could resist that?
Headlights appear in my rearview mirror and at first, I think nothing of it until the car moves right in behind me, too close to be coincidental. My heart rate picks up and my eyes remain locked on the headlights until the car moves in beside me and I recognize Kairo’s beat-up shitbox.
I take a breath. Had it been anyone else who had witnessed that, I’m sure the Widows would have been after them. They would have killed them to ensure their silence, and I’m sure had Kian been alive and I’d witnessed him do the exact same thing, he still would have killed me. He would have just gone about it in a way that Nic and the boys didn’t know about until it was already too late. But just like the three men who just lost their lives, that’s the game you play when you involve yourself with the Black Widows.
My phone blares through the quiet car and my eyes drop to the screen.
Kai.
Great.
I don’t know if I can talk to him but history tells me that he’ll keep calling until I do. Either that or he’ll force me to pull over so he can say what he needs to say. There’s no bullshit when it comes to Kai. He’s black and white. There’s no grey area where he’s concerned.
Being shit outta luck, I reluctantly answer. “I’m not in the mood to talk, Kai,” I say. “And don’t even think about asking me to pull over. I said I’m done. I just want to go home and … forget.”
There’s a short pause before his raspy, deep tone finally comes through the phone. “I know,” he says with a whisper. “I don’t want to talk. I just … I need to make sure you get home okay. Just let me drive with you.”
My gaze flashes out the window and I meet his concerned eyes through the glass. “Okay,” I finally say, turning back to the road. I hear the soft music from his sound system coming through the phone as I drop it to my lap and put it on speakerphone.
We drive side by side for two hours and not a damn word passes between us. Tears silently track down my face the whole way home as the heaviness of my day sits on my heart. I can’t stop glancing up to make sure he’s still there. I don’t know why though. I made it clear that I was done, yet my heart still aches for my boys. I need them in my life, they’ve been my support system for so long. I don’t know how to be without them.
After what feels like the longest drive in history, I finally pull into the driveway of the Carrington mansion. I key in the code and watch as Kai pulls in behind me. The big iron gates slowly peel open and as I speed down the driveway, Kai keeps right behind me. “Whatever you do, wherever you go,” he murmurs, his voice coming clearly through the phone. “We love you, Ocean. We always will. Don’t you ever forget that.”
The tears turn into violent sobs and I hastily end the call, not wanting him to hear just how broken I am, but it might be too late for that. Kai follows me all the way to the top of the driveway and by the time I’m bringing the Ferrari to a stop, Colton is standing there waiting.
I throw the door open and run toward him. His eyes widen in horror, desperately searching my
face for some kind of answer as to what has me so messed up. I crash into him, falling into his open arms as I hear Kai’s tires on the driveway slowly pulling around the circle.
“Shhhh, Jade,” he soothes, rubbing his warm hands up and down my arms as I try to find the willpower to calm my broken sobs.
I don’t dare look up but somehow I know Kai’s eyes are on me, making sure that I’m well taken care of. I don’t doubt that the second he’s gone, he’s going to have the boys on the phone, giving them the full report and letting them know just how fucked up I was over this.
After the longest moment, Kairo finally hits the gas and I watch as his tail lights disappear into the distance, taking the final piece of my soul with him and leaving me completely empty.
This is it. From this moment, I’ll never see them again. It’s over. All of it’s gone in one fucked-up night.
“What’s going on?” Colton asks, his voice dark as he watches Kai’s car fade away. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?”
I shake my head, wiping my tears against his shirt as I look up and meet his eyes. There are so many things that I could say, but I find myself searching his eyes, desperate to know one single thing. “Did you know?”
His brows furrow as he looks me over. “Did I know what?”
“That my father was a low-life who sold me to your father to pay off a debt.”
Colton’s face falls and he gently shakes his head, his face turning white. “You’re fucking kidding me? That can’t be true.”
I nod. “The fucking paperwork is in the car. I’m your property, Colton. You own me.”
“No,” he says, taking a step back and looking absolutely horrified. “He wouldn’t do that. My father was a sick man, but this … no. He wouldn’t take it that far. He couldn’t have ...”
I meet his eyes and see nothing but disgust within them and just like that I know he’s telling the truth.
Colton’s hands fall to my waist as his lips press against my forehead. There’s a silence between us and it’s clear that he’s deep in thought, but I welcome it as it finally allows me a chance to calm my raging emotions. “It’s true, isn’t it?” he murmurs. “That’s why you just showed up out of the blue, why you were sent to school, why he welcomed you in like family. He’s never done that with staff before and I could never figure it out.” I shrug my shoulders and he pulls me in tighter. “Fuck, Jade. I’m so sorry. If I’d have known …”
Cocky F*ck: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 2) Page 28