by Mia Michelle
I wave at Pops’ guard, Lucky, at the end of the hall and walk on past him. One good thing about being the boss’s kid is hassle free entry. I am just about to make the turn into my father’s office when I notice the door is almost all the way open. His deep, authoritative voice spills out into the hallway. Hanging back, I hug the wall behind the door and listen carefully to his conversation.
“Yeah, I already had the first package delivered to Thorne. He should have it by now. We’ll wait to see what his next move is. Hold off on what we talked about on the girl for now. Trust me, I have major plans for her later. She doesn’t know it, but her days are numbered too. I can’t allow her to stick around waving her cunt around at everyone. She’s fucked my son’s life up enough as it is. She’s got to go, just not before she and I have a little chat.”
What did he just say? There is no way in fucking hell he is touching her.
I don’t realize that I bump the door until I hear the thud against the wall. My father pulls his gun out of the holster on his chest and points it at the door, ready to take out whoever it is.
“It’s just me, Pops,” I say, holding my hands up as I walk into the room, closing the door behind me. I don’t want anyone walking in on our conversation.
Immediately, he tosses the gun on the desk and runs his hands through his salt and pepper hair.
“Jesus, Brandon. Don’t do that shit! Are you trying to get yourself shot?” he yells as he walks over to pour himself a drink. My heart pounds and my mind races. I can’t put this off any longer.
“What were you just talking on the phone about?”
“Nothing you need to be concerned with.”
“I think I deserve to be a part of whatever it is you are doing. That son of a bitch ruined almost a whole damn year of my life. If you are taking him down, I want in.”
“You aren’t going to do a damn thing. You’re going to let me handle it. Neither Thorne nor the girl matter. Besides, do you want to end up back in jail? Next time, I won’t be able to get you out. There’s plenty of pussy out there, Son. She ain’t worth it.”
“What are you going to do with her?”
“Let’s just say that I have big plans for Ms. Rose. The less you know about it the better… Trust me.” He smiles, taking a long drink.
I know that look. That coy, powerful, intimidating look that I hate so fucking much! There is no doubt about it. He wants her for himself. Rage fills me, and for the first time, I’m not scared.
FUCK! I don’t know what this shit is that Lenny gave me, but I am going out of my mind here.
He won’t have her. I won’t let him. NO! He can’t do that to me.
“I asked you what your plans are with her?” I demand again. He turns back to face me and quickly moves in my direction. His face is full of anger and fury. He stops right in front of me.
“And I told you! It’s not your concern!” he roars, but I don’t back down. He studies me for a long moment before he speaks.
“You still have it hard for the bitch, huh? Hmm, she must be something else to have everyone chasing her for a piece of ass.”
And there it is. That fucking sly smile. I know my father and he wants her in his bed. It won’t be the first time he took a girlfriend from me. Sick as it is, he likes proving to me that all they’d ever wanted was the power and money. He loves to show me that he has that kind of hold and control over me. Well, not with her. I won’t let him.
Before I can blink, I pull my Glock 26 out from behind my back, taking aim at my father’s head. The adrenaline courses through my body. The drugs have me feeling invincible and I am tired of taking his shit. I have always been his disappointment. The son who always seems to fuck everything up. I can never be what Mikey is in his eyes, no matter how hard I’ve tried to prove myself over the years.
“You realize you are fucking dead to me now!” he roars which only feeds my anger.
“Shut the fuck up! You were dead the minute you said you were going to hurt her. She’s MINE, Pops! MINE! There is no way I’m letting you have her as your own.”
“You’re such a goddamn waste! If it weren’t for the embarrassment of you being behind bars, I would’ve let you rot in that prison. I should’ve let them have their way with the pretty boy.”
“I handled myself just fine in prison. No one ever messed with me.”
“And why do you think that is? I’ll tell you why. It’s because I paid enough people in there to make sure no one did. My reputation had been on the line and I wasn’t going to be the laughing stock of Austin, when it got announced you’d been made the girlfriend of some other inmate.”
“SHUT UP!” My mind is spinning. I think I’m going to be sick. My pulse throbs harder in my neck. My heart is going to explode if it beats any faster.
“You better shoot me because the minute you lower that gun, you’re dead.”
I know he means it. Even if I am high, he’ll never let it slip. Blood or not, I’m dead.
With trembling hands, I keep my aim locked on his head. No one can say I can’t shoot. He knows I am more than damned good at that.
“DO IT!” he screams at me, taunting me to pull the trigger.
I don’t know what is stopping me. This room is soundproof, so no one is going to hear a thing.
“You are such a piece of chicken shit! I can’t believe you are my son!”
His words level me. The previous rush of the drugs has stopped and now my body is starting to bottom out. The room spins even faster, and my face drips with sweat.
“I’ve always known you were a pussy. I should have known only pussies come from whores.”
And with those words, I snap. One pull of the trigger and I land my shot square in the center of his forehead. He falls to the floor and a pool of blood forms beside his lifeless body. Walking over to him, I’m careful not to step in the blood. His glassed over eyes remain open, and I can’t help but silently gloat about what I’d just done. He might have been my father, but I don’t think what I grew up in was love.
My father’s phone chimes from his coat pocket, so I ease down and retrieve it. It isn’t anything important, but it gives me an idea. Smiling, I know I hold a key no one else will ever suspect. I hold the key to becoming Maverick Larson. Scrolling down his contacts, I send his guard a text from him.
MAVERICK’S PHONE: Go ahead and call it an evening. Report to Brandon in the morning. I’m heading out of town on business. Tell the boys he & Mikey are in charge until I return.
LUCKY: You got it boss. Goodnight
Tucking the phone in my pocket, I turn back to my father. I laugh at the irony of how he is laying there where so many others have before him. Adrenaline kicks back in and I go on autopilot, doing everything in the same routine I would if I were disposing of a body for my father. The black tarp and duct tape are kept in the side closet, along with the cleaner. Quickly, I open the tarp and unfold it out on the floor before rolling my father on top of it. I pull out his wallet and keys from his pockets and then begin rolling his body in the tarp. When I’m done, I secure it with two rolls of duct tape. Taking the cleaner, I roll up my sleeves and begin cleaning the blood from the wood floor before tossing the contents into a black garbage bag. The next step is loading him on the elevator. There are cameras from the elevator down to the garage.
Hurriedly, I move to the computer like I have many times before. Accessing the security cameras, I type the password in and the recording ceases. I hit the keys to perform a maintenance check and then hurry on to the elevator, pulling his body inside. I know I have twenty minutes before those cameras start back up again, so I have to move fast. Looking around, I don’t see anything out of place, so I hit the button to the basement.
Thankfully, a black van is always right here beside the elevator as a precaution. If I told you how often this kind of thing happens, you’d cringe. Looking around, I double-check that I’m alone. I’m still struggling to get my father’s heavy body in the van when my brother, Mikey, s
uddenly appears from behind me.
“Need some help, Bro?” he asks and I almost fall over.
I try to calm myself, but I can’t. He doesn’t speak as he lifts the other end of the body and hoists it inside the van, shutting the doors behind it.
“Whew! He was a big one!” he says, wiping his brow.
“Yeah, um… he is,” I stutter, trying to contain my nervousness.
“Relax, Brandon, I know you aren’t that out of practice,” he jokes, slapping me on the back.
I’m going to be sick.
“Want me to help you dispose of it?” he asks, but I shake my head.
“No, I got it.” I quickly reply.
God, why won’t he just leave!
“Well, I’m heading home then. The guys just dropped me off to get my car. Is Pops still here?” he asks, nodding his head towards the door.
“Um… no, he had to leave on business. Told the crew we were in charge until he got back.”
“Really? He never mentioned any business.”
“Yeah, it was really sudden. He left about thirty minutes ago. You just missed him.”
“Well, fuck, I guess I’ll talk to him when he calls tomorrow.”
I nod, nervously waiting for him to leave.
“You sure you got this?” he asks me once again and I wave him off.
“Go on, I got it under control.” I try to reassure him. I do have it all under control. Finally, I have things going my way for a change.
“All right then, Bro. I’m out of here. Be safe.”
“Always,” I reply, climbing into the van’s driver side.
The tires spin as I squeal past my brother, pulling out onto the street. Before I know it, I am taking the exit and getting onto the interstate, heading to the abandoned warehouse with a plan whizzing through my brain.
Whistling as I drive, an excited feeling overtakes me. Everything is going to work out perfectly now.
Sebastian
We’ve been back a few days now, but no one needs to know that just yet. I want to enjoy my wife as much as I possibly can before we have to return to reality. Since our return, she and I have done nothing but sleep and make love. Unfortunately, I have a meeting today that I couldn’t get out of, so I reluctantly leave my beautiful wife in the bed sleeping, and begin dressing for the day. As I stand over her, I feel my heart tug. I certainly don’t want to leave her, but I know I’ll see her when she stops by work later today. Brushing her soft curls away from her face, I gently kiss her on the head and leave for the office.
The pile of mail on my desk is fucking outrageous. I have no doubt I will be here all afternoon dealing with this shit. Sara says that she sorted through it, but now I am beginning to wonder if she did anything at all. If she calls this sorted then I don’t want to see unsorted.
I open up a few long envelopes and examine their contents. There are a few legal documents, and a few event invitations. Another box holds our new cell phones, both programmed with new numbers. Call me selfish and jealous, but I don’t like Lucas having my wife’s number anymore. I don’t regret throwing our phones in the ocean. I couldn’t risk him telling her about Brandon before I did.
Brandon is a topic that I still haven’t been able to bring up yet. Cowardly, yes, but each day, I keep putting off the inevitable. She is just so happy that I didn’t want to ruin things by bringing it up. Surely after I explain myself, she will forgive me for keeping this from her. No matter what though, I am telling her tonight. Now that we are home, I can no longer run the risk of someone else telling her first. That would never end well for us after everything else we’ve been through together.
“Mr. Thorne, your Skype conference is ready to go when you are. Mr. Jennings just confirmed he’s logged in.” Sara’s voice echoes through the phone speaker.
“Thanks Sara, I got it.” I reply as I turn to log on to my laptop. Calvin Jennings is a good friend of mine from New York. He just needs to confirm some design plans with me.
His face appears on my screen, and I laugh at the sight of him digging something out of his nose. He wasn’t prepared for me to log on so quickly, I guess.
“Hello Cal! How’s that fishing going there?” I yell, making him jump.
His face flushes red and I know I’ve embarrassed him.
“Asshole!” he replies, shooting me the bird.
I laugh and shake my head.
“So how’s NYC buddy?”
“Things are great. You need to bring that new bride of yours up here one weekend. She and Krissy can go blow our money shopping while you and I grab a game and some beer. I’ve got courtside seats waiting for you.”
“That sounds great man!” I reply, grabbing another long FedEx envelope in my hand.
“So, what were you thinking about those last designs I sent you?” I ask, while opening the envelope in my hand. Calvin’s words fade in the distance. My mouth drops open when I look down at what was in the envelope. Terror fills me, chilling me down my spine. In my hand is a newspaper article with four words written on the bottom.
Someone has a secret!
My blood begins to boil. Only one person could have sent this.
Lucas.
But how in the fuck had he found this out?
“Sebastian? Hey!” Calvin’s voice shakes me back into reality.
“I… I gotta go, Cal. I’ll be in touch.” I say nervously.
“Wait! Seb-”
I cut him off as I put an end our Skype chat.
Overtaken by anger, I slam the lid of the laptop closed, cracking both the top and screen. One swipe of my hand sends everything on my desk flying. Snatching up the article off the floor, I storm out of my office with one destination in mind… Lucas Drake’s office.
Skylar is chatting with Sara when I turn the corner. Normally, just the sight of her calms me, but right now, nothing will, except putting my fist through Lucas Drake’s face.
“Sebastian?” Skylar calls for me, but I ignore her and wave her off.
The elevator is a little delayed when I hit the button, and it gives her enough time to catch up to me.
“Sebastian?” she says softly, her hand touching my back.
The elevator door opens and I turn to face her.
“Not now, Skylar,” I bark at her.
Her beautiful eyes look so hurt and confused. She nods and backs away. The instant her hand leaves my body, I feel like someone has punched me in the stomach. The last thing I see as the doors close is her head hanging down in defeat and her turning to walk away.
Fuck me! I am such a fucking asshole.
I need to head right back upstairs, take her into my arms, and tell her how sorry I am for acting this way, but I can’t. She deserves to know what is going on, but right now, I have to confront Lucas and make him understand just whom he is dealing with.
Lucas
I know they were home now, because I’ve talked to Kylie again. The reality of her being married still hasn’t sunken in yet, and honestly, I’m not sure if it ever will. According to Kylie, Skylar doesn’t even have a phone anymore, and that fucking pisses me off. I know exactly who is responsible for that one. He may think he’s protecting her, but she doesn’t need protection from me, but from him.
Maverick has already set our plan in motion. He’s keeping me a little too much in the dark for my liking, though. He won’t answer my phone calls and only replies through texts. I don’t want to be involved in something this big and not know just how deep in that I am. I am beginning to wonder if he is even planning on making this all blow up in my face. Either way, if it protects Skylar, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.
Suddenly, I hear a loud commotion in the hallway.
“Sir, you can’t just go in there!”
“Like hell I can’t!” he says and I know immediately who it is.
My office door flies open and an enraged Sebastian and I come face to face.
“You motherfucker! Who the hell do you think you are sending me thi
s shit?” he says, tossing some sort of news clipping in my face.
As I examine it closer, I see that it is from a newspaper article regarding Sebastian’s wreck. Maverick is obviously behind this one. I have to give it to him. He knows how to strike a nerve with this asshole.
“Well? Are you going to fucking deny it?” he screams at me, shoving me back hard with his hands.
“Mr. Drake, should I call security?” my secretary nervously asks, now standing in the doorway of my office.
“No, Carol. Everything is fine. Please just leave Mr. Thorne and me to talk,” I reply and she hesitantly turns, closing the door to my office behind her.
“Do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on?” I shoot at him.
“That! You are going to seriously deny sending me that?”
“I’ve never seen this before. Why in the hell would I be sending you anything?”
“You know damn well why. I don’t know how you got that article, but this ends now! She picked me, Drake! She married ME! Now, get over yourself and your bruised little ego!”
“I don’t fucking care what you think, I didn’t send you this article. I don’t know anything about it.”
“Don’t give me that, Lucas! You threatened me at the hospital that you were going after me. So, don’t stand there now and lie to me. I want to know right now how you found this!” He is beyond furious. I’ve seen this man lose his cool before over the years, but nothing like this. There is no doubt in my mind he would kill me if he had the chance.
“Like I said, I didn’t send you that.” I smirk and he snatches it out of my hand.
“Oh really? Well, who the fuck did then? Your secretary out there?” He moves forward, knocking over the leather chair and taking me by the lapels of my jacket.
“I’m only going to ask you this one more goddamn time. Where did you get that article?”
I furiously knock his hands away.
“Get your fucking hands off me! I told you I didn’t send that to you. But since you seem so pissed about what that article says, I suppose it’s true then. Sebastian Thorne really is a fucking murdering coward!”