by Sarah Bailey
“We need to get Quinn,” Rory said, his expression turning grim.
“I’ll go,” Ash said, getting up and handing Rory my phone.
She was out of the room before I could say a word. Rory looked up at me. I didn’t know what to do or say. If I thought too hard about how much danger Eric was in, I might break the fuck down. All I knew was I had to get to him.
“Where do you think this is?” He pointed at the photo as he held up the phone to me. “Because that picture in the background looks familiar.”
I took it from him and stared at it, zooming in as I realised he was right. Then my hand trembled. The realisation hit me like a ton of bricks. When Julian went to prison, he still owned the house I grew up in. The house where he murdered Mum and Katie. It’d remained empty for twelve years as I refused to step foot in it after Julian had transferred the deed into my name. I didn’t want to sell it because the thought of anyone living in that house after what Julian had done in it made me ill.
“Fuck. Fuck, it’s… FUCK!”
Quinn and Ash appeared in the doorway.
“Show me,” he demanded, coming over to the sofa.
I handed him the phone.
“He’s taken him to the house…”
Quinn looked over the photo and the message. His expression hardened and his fist clenched at his side.
“Don’t reply to him. He doesn’t know we know where he is or maybe he knew we’d recognise it. Fuck. Okay, first, we need weapons, then we’ll go after him.”
“What?” Ash said, her eyes widening.
“You and Rory are staying here whilst we deal with this.”
“You and Xav can’t go after Julian by yourselves!”
Quinn turned to Ash, his eyes dark.
“What else do you expect us to do? We’re not leaving E with Julian. Rory and you can’t help us, you’re both injured.”
Ash looked as incensed as I felt. Julian taking Eric made my blood boil. Hatred laced my veins as well as fear. Fear for my best friend and soulmate.
“I’m calling my dad.”
“What? No, do not call Viktor.”
“For fuck’s sake, Quinn. You’re not going to call the police to deal with it, are you? So I’m not letting you go running off and being all heroic without backup, you hear me?”
I didn’t have time for their argument. I stomped out of the room and went into Quinn’s office. Opening one cupboard, I pulled out two guns, a baseball bat, rope and two sets of handcuffs, stuffing them into a bag. We needed to subdue Julian before he hurt any of us. I didn’t want to kill my father. He needed to go back to prison. But if the worst happened, then I would fucking kill the man before he could kill us.
I walked out into the hallway, finding Quinn grabbing the car keys off the side table. Now the Audi was done for, we only had two cars. I knew Eric would’ve taken the BMW so we’d be in the Range Rover.
“Is she going to call Viktor?”
“Yes… I can’t fucking stop her, but at least she’s not demanding she comes with. I realise she’s upset about it being E, but we can’t afford to get emotional over this.”
Quinn was right which is why I kept a lid on mine. I channelled my fear into anger.
Ash came rushing out of the living room and wrapped her arms around me.
“Bring him home, please,” she whispered. “And tell him I love him.”
“I promise I’ll bring him back, angel, if it’s the last fucking thing I do.”
“Don’t get yourself killed, okay? Please, both of you stay safe.”
I leant down and kissed her, sealing my promise I’d bring Eric back home to her. Ash went to Quinn and hugged him too. He stroked her hair and then we were walking out of the house.
It was fucking time we dealt with my piece of shit father for good. That man was not going to get away with this shit. Not on my fucking watch.
Chapter 8
The pounding in my head was like a fucking base drum. What the hell happened? The last thing I remember was opening the backdoor to the casino to jump in the car and drive home. After that? A complete blank.
I cracked my eyes open finding a man standing with his back to me a few feet away. My head snapped back and I tried to move. Looking down, I realised it would be impossible. My arms were tied behind my back and my legs to the chair legs. As I moved my wrists, it felt like cable ties digging into my skin.
I looked around the room next and recognition filled me instantly. How could it not? I’d grown up in and out of this fucking house.
“I see you’re awake,” came the voice of the man who’d terrorised my best friend’s entire childhood.
Julian turned and stared at me with unnerving intensity. The manic look in his eyes had me swallowing hard. I’d seen that look a hundred times and it didn’t signal good things. It gave me the distinct impression he’d taken me for the purpose of getting back at Xav as opposed to doing it for Russo.
“I thought we could all have a little reunion. Just like the old days, hey? You boys always used to cause such trouble when you were kids. Xavier was always coming home with letters from the headteacher regarding his behaviour. Some might say… like father, like son.”
Xav was nothing like Julian. He wasn’t psychotic. If anything, Xav had more compassion and understanding in his little finger than Julian possessed in his entire body. He might like to joke a lot, but humour was his defence mechanism. He didn’t like to take life too seriously except when it was needed. Like when shit was life or death. Like right now.
Do they know Julian took me?
“If you think Xav is anything like you, you’re fucking delusional.”
Julian threw back his head and laughed. It was maniacal. A chill ran down my spine. Being tied up with a psychotic killer didn’t sit well with me. Who knew what Julian would do. The man was fucking unhinged. I didn’t think prison had softened him. He could hide his darker urges behind a façade if he wanted to. That was part of his charm. Except I knew better.
“Oh, Eric, you’ve changed. What happened to the shy timid boy who liked to follow my son around like a puppy dog?”
He grew up and learnt how to stand up for himself.
I clenched my jaw shut. Talking to Julian wouldn’t get me anywhere. What did he have planned? A reunion? Too bad he wouldn’t get that. If Julian had contacted Xav, then it’d be him and Quinn who came after me. Rory still had his concussion to contend with. And Quinn wouldn’t let Ash out of the house.
“No wonder Xavier sat up and took notice. Can’t say I’m surprised the four of you stayed together. Not as if anyone else gave a shit about you, especially not your parents.”
I flinched. Julian had known them. And even though I hated it, he took me in since he didn’t have an issue with my sexuality nor Xav’s. I wouldn’t ever be grateful to the man in front of me. Not when he beat his own children and wife before murdering them. Not a day went by I wasn’t thankful Xav had been out with us that night. If he hadn’t, who knows if he would still be with us today.
“What do you want?” I ground out.
He waved his hands around.
“So many things.”
“Care to narrow it down a little?”
His sly smile chilled me to my very core.
“I want my son to pay for putting me behind bars.”
“So what? You want him dead?”
Julian shook his head and paced away.
“Oh no, no, no, no, no, Eric. I don’t want to kill Xavier. I want him to suffer. And how can I do that, you ask? Oh well… many, many ways.” He turned back to me, the wild look in his eyes returning. “Starting with you, of course… Now, I wanted to take Ashleigh, but she never leaves your house. You’re all so busy trying to protect that girl, you forgot to protect yourselves.”
It’s not as if we didn’t view Julian as a threat. We’d been actively trying to track him down, but it didn’t mean we could neglect our buisne
sses. The only reason I’d gone to the casino alone was to meet with Geoff regarding an urgent financial matter. There’d been a need to pull out of one of our investments before it went south.
“Congratulating yourself on taking me unawares, are you?”
I shouldn’t be baiting him, but, quite frankly, I’d had enough of being treated like I couldn’t handle myself. I’d known Julian most of my life. Whilst he scared me on some level, I also knew he’d want Xav here to witness my suffering. He wasn’t going to do anything too drastic just yet.
I hoped.
“Perhaps.”
“What’s the hold up then, Julian? Afraid to hurt me?”
He advanced on me and grabbed me by the face, staring down at me with no small amount of hatred in his eyes.
“You think you’re so fucking smart, do you?”
He let go of my face and backhanded me, causing my head to snap back. It hurt, but not to the point where I thought it might bruise. It was clear he didn’t like me smiling at him when I looked at his face as he stalked away, clenching his fists.
“Calm down,” he muttered to himself. “Not yet… not yet.”
“Have you even told him where we are?”
Were they coming for me? No doubt Quinn and Xav wouldn’t hesitate if they knew where Julian had taken me. Not that Xav ever wanted to set foot in this house again. Hell, we were in the room where Julian had taken Erin and Katie’s lives. Of course, the blood no longer remained, but the atmosphere in here suffocated me. Ominous.
How is he going to cope with being here again?
“No, and I’m not going to. He needs to learn a little lesson in humility.”
I almost scoffed. Xav could never be called humble. He had an ego the size of England and wasn’t shy about it. Probably why he and Quinn were always at odds. Their clashing egos had always been a problem in our household. Which was why it’d come as a surprise the two of them had buried the hatchet when it came to Ash. Though now I knew. Ash had that way about her. She kept the peace as much as I did, if not more now we were all together.
My heart sank. I missed the fuck out of her. Last night after Viktor had left, she’d put Rory to bed and crawled into her own, quickly followed by me and Quinn. Whilst we hadn’t gone any further than just kissing and touching, we’d all fallen asleep together like it was the new normal. It seemed the closer we got, the less the four of us cared about sharing beds. Ash had been nestled between us this morning, her blonde hair a mess over the pillows and her face at peace. She’d looked so damn beautiful. At this rate, we were going to need bigger beds to accommodate our new sleeping arrangements. That’s if I even got out of this fucking situation I was in with Julian.
“Does he know you have me?”
“Of course, I sent him proof so he knows I’m not fucking around.”
I had to hope Xav wasn’t losing his shit right now. All of them probably were. My heart ached at the very thought of it.
“And what are your plans now?”
Julian glared at me.
“As if I’m going to tell you that.”
I smiled, which I don’t think made him any happier. Julian was far too easy to rile up. I had to be careful not to push him too hard. Didn’t want him to snap and hurt me worse than he already planned to.
“How long was I out for?”
He glanced down at the phone in his hand, which was mine. The fucking bastard had taken it. Probably how he got in contact with Xav.
“An hour or so, perhaps. Took time to bring you here.”
“Oh yeah? How d’you manage it?”
Julian looked like he was preening himself as he grinned.
“Oh well, I took your car, after all, the keys were on you. You’re not so heavy I couldn’t stuff you in the back.”
Julian was built like Xav even though his son was far bigger in terms of muscle mass.
“And how did you even escape the hospital?”
He grinned wider as he paced away, putting his hands out.
“Easy, one of those stupid guards didn’t notice when a nurse smuggled me a phone. Got in contact with Russo, told him everything he needed to know to guarantee my escape and here we are. Pretty simple to wind people around your finger when you’ve got as much charm as I do.”
I stifled my amusement. He was so fucking full of himself. Even though I hated comparing Xav to Julian, you could see how much they were alike. Xav wasn’t psychotic and whilst he might act like he was the dog’s bollocks, he was still endearing, kind and understanding. Julian didn’t have a good fucking bone in his body.
“I’m sure.”
Keeping him talking about himself was probably the best way I was going to buy myself some time. And I needed all the time I could get if Quinn and Xav were ever going to find me.
“Just because I’ve been in prison for twelve years, don’t mean I haven’t seen a woman. The female officers find me endearing. Some of them can’t believe I could kill so brutally, but I suppose they don’t know me quite like you do.”
Too fucking right.
“If you want me to congratulate you on fooling half the fucking world, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
As he turned, I could see the gleam in his eyes.
“They’ll realise just how much of a bastard I am when they find you… They think I have the capacity to change. Fools.” He scoffed. “This place has seen so much blood… and I wonder how much more it’ll see before I’m done. I love the smell of it, watching it seep into every nook and cranny. It’s so beautiful. Crimson red… but you know what’s more beautiful?”
I didn’t move, feeling more than a little ill as he approached me.
“It’s the look in a person’s eyes when they realised they’re going to die.”
I swallowed hard. If Xav and Quinn didn’t find me soon… I was pretty sure they’d be left with pieces of me rather than a whole alive version judging by Julian’s expression.
I had to fucking hope and pray they’d get here before that happened.
Or I’d be utterly fucked.
Chapter 9
My leg bounced as I scanned the houses whilst Quinn drove. He kept glancing at me as if he was worried I might trash the car in a rage or something. Hell, I wanted to but right now, I had to focus on us getting to Eric in time. The only person who deserved my ire right now was Julian.
“Can’t you drive fucking faster?”
“And what, Xav? Earn us a fucking car chase from the police? I don’t think so. We need to stay fucking calm.”
“How the fuck do you expect me to be calm when E is in danger a-fucking-gain?”
After the incident with fucking Gregor Bykov, I’d sworn to myself I’d never let Eric get caught out like that. He shouldn’t have gone to the fucking casino alone. We lived in dangerous times and none of us were safe. We needed to stick together. And once I got him back, I wouldn’t bloody well let him go out alone until this shit with Russo was over.
You sound like Quinn.
Who gave a shit? Eric was everything to me. I couldn’t allow anything to happen to him. My fucking soulmate was in trouble and it killed me.
Quinn’s phone started ringing and he tossed it to me. It’d been going off for the past five minutes, but he’d been ignoring it up until then. It seemed he’d finally got fed up with it.
“Answer it.”
I fumbled with it for a moment before putting it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Xav… where’s Quinn?”
“He’s driving, angel.”
Should’ve known it would be Ash calling. She hadn’t wanted us going after Eric alone.
“Are you there yet?”
“No, we’re about five minutes away.”
I wished we were fucking there so I could damn well make sure Eric wasn’t in danger any longer. My heart felt tight and my hand shook in my lap.
Focus. Don’t fucking let yourself get
emotional. Don’t do it.
“Tell him we have a problem.”
“What? What’s happened?”
“You know how he was complaining about Mac McCarthy earlier? Well, Geoff called Rory when he couldn’t get hold of Quinn. Mac is at the Syndicate demanding an audience.”
“For fuck’s sake! We can’t go. We have to get to E.”
“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, glancing at me again.
I put my hand over the speaker.
“According to Ash, McCarthy is at the casino demanding we see him.”
Quinn slammed a hand down on the steering wheel.
“Jesus fucking Christ. I do not need this shit.”
“What do we do?”
“He can fucking well wait. I am not leaving E with your psychopathic father under any circumstances.”
It’s what I’d hoped Quinn would say. We couldn’t leave Eric with Julian any longer than we had to. No telling what he’d do. My question was why the fuck was McCarthy getting on our case? The man was a fucking fool.
“Did you hear that, angel?”
“I did… Xav… he’s not just demanding an audience…”
I felt my stomach drop. We didn’t need any further shitty news today, but apparently, the world was having a laugh at our expense.
“What exactly is he doing?”
“He’s holding up the place… at gunpoint.”
I took a breath.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, Geoff is there. He’s locked himself in the main office and is monitoring the situation. Rory is still talking to him.”
I turned to Quinn, who looked thunderous. He would blow his fucking top off when he learnt of this development. And I didn’t want to be the bearer of such news, but fuck it. We now had two fucked up situations to deal with.
“What does that Irish cunt actually want?”
“He’s been asking me for a meeting ever since he found out who I was,” Quinn gritted out. “Says I owe him for all the trouble we’ve caused his fucking operations. Wouldn’t have fucked with him if he wasn’t one of Russo’s main suppliers of drugs and weapons.”