by Ruby Wolff
"She was in there when I left."
"What did you say to her?" I demand. I need to find her. When Ann doesn’t have an answer, I look over at Vinny. "See if you can find her phone!” She knows she shouldn’t leave without someone with her. The fucking Midlands are still around here.
I thought that since she’d finally let Vinny in, she might be willing to talk to me. Vinny told me today, she just wants to be left alone. I don't want to upset her, especially today. I don't want anything to upset her, but I need to tell her I'm sorry, sorry for everything.
Drew also mentioned Alice knows why I stood there and did nothing, but Alice didn't say anything to her about it, which only made me think she won't talk to me at all. I might have to walk away from her so she can have time to think about us.
"She's on her way to your dad’s," Vinny says.
Before I can hear anything else, I'm out the door with the guys behind me.
"Warren, call dad," I command as I throw the keys over to Pike to drive. "Why would she go there and not come to one of us?" I ask myself than anyone else, but I know the others heard me.
"Dad’s not answering," Warren says from the back.
I look down at my phone to see if Dad will answer my call. I lean my head on the seat and light up a cigarette. I listen to the ring tone, and there’s nothing. I look up to see how far we are from his house and I’m glad to see we’re not too far.
I need to somehow talk to Alice, if only to tell her she needs to let Vinny know where she's going. She can't leave by herself. People are still looking for her, and we still don't know why.
As I walk into my dad's house, I look around for Alice, and I see her walking out of his office. She looks over at the kitchen where Ellie and Gwen are for a moment, then continues to walk towards the door.
Alice starts to walk past me, but I grab her hand. "I know you hate me for what I did, and I don't blame you. I'm never going to forgive myself for that, so I don't expect you to forgive me. But, Alice, I need to hold you through this. I need you to know that I don't see my life without you in it." I take a few steps closer to her, and she doesn't move away from me. "Just give me a minute to—"
"Angel, you don't need to explain. Drew told me and, if I'm honest, I still don't know how I feel. Right now, all I feel is lost, lost that Ben's no longer here, lost that…” She stops and blinks, and I wipe away the tears on her cheek. "I thought you would… I never thought this would happen, and now…"
"Alice, I love you. I love you so fucking much, that nothing, and I mean nothing—"
"Get down!" Pike shouts.
I look around as the windows shatter and bullets fly through the house. Alice starts to drop to the ground, but I grab her before she hits the floor. She starts coughing, and I see it… Blood. She's been shot!
"How the fuck did they get through the security?" I shout as I begin taking my jacket off to place on Alice’s wound. "Alice, look at me! You’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.” I’m not sure if I'm trying to make myself stay calm or her. She tries to talk, but I tell her to stop and focus on breathing.
The bullets keep blasting through the house, and I quickly look over to the kitchen where Gwen and Ellie were. Their security's around them, so I turn back to Alice. She’s trying to say something to me, but I can't hear her.
"Someone get Doc!" I shout as I press the side of her stomach. I look up at Pike, who’s standing in front of me, covering me.
He takes control, telling everyone in the house what to do so I can focus on Alice.
"Angel, she needs to go to the hospital," Vinny says. I look up at him and shake my head.
The family are making their way out of the house. The bullets are slowing down, telling me that the fight's coming to an end.
"Call Doc," I shout again.
"She needs to go to the hospital!" Vinny argues.
"I don't trust them. Get me Doc!"
"She needs to go to the fucking hospital! She's pregnant," Vinny shouts.
Everything stops for me, and I stare at him. Pike pushes me out the way, and he looks over at Alice. My eyes still on Vinny, I’m frozen in disbelief.
"She was going to tell you. Today, she needed to think about Ben."
"Get her in the car," Pike shouts, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Call Doc. I want him in the room!" I look over at my dad, who's getting in the car behind me.
Sitting in the car, I press my jacket to Alice’s side. I lean down to her ear and whisper, "I'm sorry."
I watch as Alice tries to breathe. Her eyes keep closing then opening again. I hear Vinny on the phone, and I can only guess it's with Alice’s family, letting them know what's happening.
Alice is rushed in as soon as we arrive at the hospital. I tell Doc to make sure he's watching everything they do.
I turn to the family and demand, "How the fuck did they get through the system? What did Alice what to see you about?" I ask my dad. He's the only one who has the answers to all these questions at the moment. Someone has to give me answers.
I watch Pike and Vinny pacing around the waiting room. They look over at my dad, waiting for him to say something, the same as me. He knows something, and he's hiding it.
“We'll talk once we know about Alice—"
"No, you’ll tell me what the fuck is happening, right now! There was something she needed to tell you, something important enough to risk her life to tell you. I want to know what it was!" If he thinks that right now's the day to tell me to wait, he's very wrong.
"Ben sent her something, something that told us who the mole is." I watch my dad dig the laptop out of a bag on the chair. "Ben found out who the mole is. Alice wants them dead," he says as he starts tapping.
I want to know who the fucking arsehole is so I can put a bullet in him. I don't need anyone to tell me to kill them; I was going to do that without even thinking about it.
"Angel, there—"
“Who is it?" I demand.
I have no idea why he thinks he needs to talk to me like this. The mole killed Elijah, killed Ben, told them everything about Alice, and has now put my queen in hospital. She's fighting for her life and the life of my unborn child. I’ll kill them.
I take the laptop from his hands and hit play on the video my dad has ready to watch. I watch carefully at everything as it happens right in front of my eyes. I listen to every word of the conversation, wishing I could turn the camera to reveal everyone’s faces better.
"No, you help me finish them, then I get London, not you. Robert thought I was just a woman in his life. I wasn't allowed into the business. Angel thought I was a whore. I'm going to show them that this woman can do so much more. This woman can take down the king of London, and make sure he never gets up. London's about to have a new queen, me." I look up at my dad and Warren watching this unfold in front of us. What the fuck's happening here?
"All we want is the girl. We're sure her father gave her something with information about us. We need to make sure it's all gone and never seen again," Mitch says.
I look at Vinny as he stands, listening next to Pike.
" I gave her to you, but you fucked it up."
I know the voice, but until I see the face, I won't believe it. There's no way she’d do this to us. I hear heels tapping on the floor, and there she is, the woman who fought with me and told me she loved me. She's broken me in more ways than she would ever fucking admit.
The mole is my own fucking mother.
I throw the laptop against the wall, and I glare at my dad. "You said she wouldn't talk," I growl, trying to keep my voice low so no one around the hospital knows what's happened.
“Angel—"
"Don't! Don't you dare say anything! Because of her, I lost my brother, you lost your son, and Alice… If anything happens to her... I fucked up with Alice before, standing there as they killed her brother. Now, you tell me what the fuck to do." I lock gazes with my dad, and he just stares at me. Nothing in his eyes tells me what
he's thinking. I turn Warren and wait for him to say something. "I want you all to leave me the fuck alone. I turn my attention back to the door, waiting for Doc to come back and tell me something about Alice. Anything will do right now.
My life is so fucked up, and the only person I can talk to isn't here.
Chapter 25
Angel
One week later
"We've found her," my dad yell’s from behind me as I punch this guy's face. I take a step back for a moment and look over my shoulder at my dad.
All I've done for the last week is kill man after man, trying to find my fucking mother. The Midlands have all done a fucking disappearing act, and I can't seem to find them, either.
I spent a few days sitting in front of Elijah's grave, talking to him, and hoping he‘d give me answers about what the fuck I should be doing. I've lost my queen and my baby. What's the point of even breathing? She was my air; she was the blood running through me. Without Alice near me, I don't see the point.
The more hours I spent out there talking to him, the more I could hear his voice in my head telling me I know what I need to do; that I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and do it. It was as if he were there next to me. It felt as if someone pushed me to walk away and get back to business.
My first job was to find my mother and put a bullet in her head. Then, I’d work on the Midlands.
"Where is she?" I ask, wiping the blood from my hands. I give Craig a nod, telling him to send the fucker back to his family. This week, I wanted to kill. I wanted to make sure no one left my warehouse alive. Then, I thought of a plan, and now that I've found my mother, the plan might finally be ready to be put into action.
I’ve sent every man back to their family. I'm going to hold a big meeting with all the families and tell them that they either help me, or next time, I'll send the bodies back in pieces. I'll scare them, put fear in them, make them not able to sleep at night thinking about when I'll come for them. I know families will give in, and someone will tell me what I want to know.
"France. I've sent a team out to get her," my dad says as I leave and make my way back to my office. "Angel, none of us have said anything about your mother, because we’ve all see the…"
My dad stops when I look over at him. None of them know what the fuck's going through my head at the moment. The only person who knows how it feels to lose someone you love to the war we bring to this family is Elijah, and he's not here to tell me everything will be fine.
"We all just want to know what you’re planning for your mother."
"To kill her," I snap at him as I look at everyone in the office. My gaze stops on Ellie. "Why's she here? You know you don't come here when there's business going on." Even though I try to keep my voice calm, it's loud enough to show I'm pissed off.
"She's not just your mother, she's their's too."
I chuckle acidly and shake my head. My dad's an idiot. "She stopped being my mother a long fucking time ago,” I say. My gaze moves to Warren and Ellie. "And you two, I'm going to tell you now that I don't give a fuck what you think about this. I'm going to put a bullet between her eyes and smile while I do it. I'm not sure when the fuck you forgot, but she's the reason Elijah's dead—she’s the reason everything happened to Alice, and she's the reason Alice…" I clear my throat. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill her?"
I fill my glass up as I wait for them both to say something, but they only stare at me.
"I'm with Angel," Warren says. I look at him for a moment. I really thought that if anyone was going to fight me more, it would've been him. “She's fucked us over way too much for me to forgive her. The things she’s done are unforgivable."
I shift my gaze to Ellie, and she looks at me, her eyes telling me everything she wants to say, but is too scared to utter. She doesn't want this to happen but also knows I don't care.
"Now that's finished, tell your men to put her in the basement when they get here," I tell my dad. When I look over at Pike, he shakes his head.
We've been trying to get in touch with Vinny, but haven’t been able to reach him yet. I told him he didn't have to leave and he was a part of the family now, but he said he needed to go, and I didn't stop him.
"Ellie, there's no reason for you to stay now," I say as she wipes her tears away. Glaring at me, she gets up and storms out of the office. I take my drink and down it without looking at anyone. "Any other news we all want to share?"
"All the families have been told to meet tonight, or worse will be coming their way. They’ve all said they’ll be there. What are you planning?" Warren asks.
I just look at him, thinking. I’m thinking about nothing, really, just working out how I plan on finding Harvey. Someone knows where he is, and tonight, someone's going to tell me where he is, or they’ll all die.
Chapter 26
Angel
I make my way into the restaurant for the meeting with all the families. Today’s the day I'm going to make sure everyone knows there’s only one person they need to fear in England. Me.
I stand at the end of the table, looking into everyone's eyes. My lips curl into a small smile when I see the fear in their eyes. I've had a member of every single family sitting in my basement this week, and I made sure they went back looking like hell.
"Where is he?" I ask them. I few of them start looking at each other. "I've sent back your family members in one piece, but they might not be so lucky next time." I hear a few chair legs scratch the floor.
"My family don't know where he is. We've never done any business with the Midlands, but word is that Mitch is back in the Midlands," a member of a northern family says.
I take a drag of my cigarette and look at all the other members, waiting for someone to tell me something useful. It doesn't look like they're ready to talk just yet. In one way, I can understand. I've just hurt members of their families to the point that I don't think they’ll be walking anytime soon. On the other hand, I'm surprised they aren't talking for that very reason. They know I’l continue to hurt them.
"This is what I'm going to do. You have one hour to call Pike and tell him where I can find Harvey. If I hear nothing, then I’ll be taking a member of each of your families. This time, they might not be so lucky," I tell them, then leave.
Making my way to the car, I turn to Pike when he settles into the driver side.
He turns to me and asks, "You want to talk about something?"
"No."
He wants to talk about Alice; I don't. He wants to talk about the woman who calls herself my mother; I don't. There’s nothing to say about either one of them, and the sooner my family realises that, the better.
I lean my head against the headrest as Pike starts the car. I light up a cigarette and just close my eyes, something I don't do much. Every time I close my eyes, I see Alice. I see her smiling, I see her cuddling next to me, I see her lying in the hospital bed, something I never want to see again. My stomach feels sick, knowing she won't be next to me when all this is finished.
“Angel—"
"Pike, I don't want to talk about it. I want this finished. I want the world to know they crossed me. You’ll never live without fear again," I snap and hope it’s that last I have to hear about it.
"You know we're just worried. You're not talking to anyone. All you do is drink, smoke, and beat people," he says, and I choose not to reply because I don't give a shit what anyone thinks at the moment.
My phone rings and I answer it without checking to see who it is. "Hello?"
"They have her, and they’re on the way back."
"How long?"
"They left a while ago, so another three hours before they arrive."
"Tell them not to stop. Call me when she gets here," I say, ending the call. For the last week, my dads been the worst out of them all. He keeps trying to get me to see things differently about everything. He even got Uncle Ronnie to talk to me, but there are only two things I want to do right now. That's where my focus needs to
be. Kill Harvey, and find out why my mother betrayed her family, then kill her.
I sit in the car, ready for my evening with my mother, wondering what I want to say to her. Do I even want to know why she did it? A part of me just wants to put a bullet in her head and walk away, but I think Warren and Ellie need to know the truth.
"Are you going to let Ellie be there?" Pike asks.
I shake my head at his stupid question. “She's going to hate me after this. Killing her mother in front of them both… She’ll never even look at me again," I reply. I know Ellie thinks I should leave this, let her walk away and live in fear, but I can't do that. I can't let it go.
"She doesn't hate you—she’ll be fine after a while," Pike adds.
I light up a cigarette and look out at the night sky. I don’t want to think about anything right now. All I want to do is remember the way Alice smiled, the way her lips felt when they touched mine, the way she made me forget the evil that runs through me.
***
I look over at the door and see Ellie walking in with Gwen. I didn't want them here. There’s no reason for them to be here, but Dad said they had to make their own mind up about coming. It wasn't my choice to make. Ellie lost a brother; Gwen lost her husband. They should be here to hear what she has to say. I wasn't in the mood to have a fight with him about it, so I agreed to let them choose.
My eyes move over to Pike the second the phone moves away from his ear. I told the families they had one hour. Within ten minutes, one family agreed to help me, and that if I could give them a few hours, they’d find Harvey for me. This better be the phone call with my answers.
Pike looks around the office at everyone. The moment he looks at me, I know the answer. It’s the one I didn't want.