Unbound Trilogy Boxset

by Coopmans, Kathy

Shaking my head at the memory, I grip the steering wheel tighter and grind my teeth, that craving of liquid burn I desperately want hisses like fire through my veins.

  The thing is, I crave taunting a man who deserves it a hell of a lot more.

  Revenge. It’s bittersweet.

  “The question of the day should be, 'how’d you come up with that duffle bag of explosives sitting in the backseat.’” I come to a stop, twist around, eyeing the black bag on the floorboard behind him.

  The second Logan dashed upstairs, Rocco told Lane and me a plan he had rolling through his head about how the three of us would take matters into our own hands as soon as we got a name from the warden. We just needed to get Logan to take a pill so he wouldn’t fly out of the house before we had everything set. The only way we knew we’d get it in his system was to offer him a drink.

  I had a plan of my own the minute Rocco said the three of us. There was no way I was letting Lane come. He’d done sacrificed enough for me in his life, same as Logan. Besides, he has Lexi to raise.

  “Wasn’t me. It was Gabe who sent it. One of Lazaro’s guards dropped it off. There’s enough shit in there to blow up half this town.”

  I smirk, Gabe and his family. Always one step ahead when the going gets rough. And, that’s what this has been for Logan. Rough. Years of carrying guilt on his back for something he didn’t do. That’s my brother for you though, sacrificing without complaint. The man always had a conscious even when he claimed he didn’t.

  There’s something about the word sacrifice my troubled mind used to hate. Every time I heard that word, I wanted to hide inside myself.

  No one should have to sacrifice who they are, who they were meant to be for the sake of someone else, but my brothers have. Especially Logan. I’d seen it with my little boy eyes. I heard it, the threats — the greediness encouraged by drugs.

  Vile and I’d turned to something similar.

  Logan would never admit this, but in my eyes, his hardest sacrifice was the day he married Whitney and sacrificed his happiness for a woman he had never spoken to before.

  His reason made me hate that word along with Whitney and Shadow all the more. The thing was, it made that sibling love for Logan grow. And after finally meeting Ellie, I understood why he did it.

  There’s something about the woman that can make you want something when you never thought you’d find it again.

  For a man like me, sacrificing came few and far between. The one time I did, it was the final straw that sent me over the edge and dropping into the unknown.

  For every drink I’d ever swallowed, every dark thought that ran through my mind when I chugged that poison like it was water, I never once gave a shit what it was doing to my body. I only wanted to numb my fucking brain, to stop the screaming in my head. To shut up the voices of many. To put me in a coma so the alcohol would shut everything down and leave me numb.

  It didn’t take long for me to get to the bottom and park my ass there. I sunk into the depths of hell, weighed down by a loss without the possibility of ever getting it back. Life had no meaning to me anymore.

  For years, I’ve consumed myself in grief, guilt, and so much hatred in my veins I’m surprised they haven’t busted wide open to release the toxic and bleed me dry by now. I’ll carry those emotions for the rest of my life. The one that tears a hole in my gut more than anything is the loss of the only girl who meant a thing to me. But my loss isn’t what has me doing this. It’s not what has me walking into some other kind of unknown.

  I’m here because, for the first time in my life, I can sacrifice for my brother, and I don’t plan on losing my life in the process. Not when somewhere between meeting Ellie and seeing how she made Logan happy and thinking ‘fuck, I want a piece of happiness for myself.’

  The day I decided to seek help, was the day I’d reached the thin, tempting line, I’d been wobbling across for far too long. That bitch was ready to snap in half, and it would have if I’d kept on. Worse, the sacrifices Logan made to protect my sorry ass would have been for nothing because pouring that shit in my mouth was the chicken-shit way I chose to die.

  Wasn’t about to do that to him or any other member of my family. What I am going to do is park my ass in front of Shadow and teach him the ways of fighting like a man.

  Sweat drips from my forehead and into my eyes. It doesn’t do me a damn bit of use to wipe it away; it’s pouring out of me. It isn’t from fear of not knowing what the hell we’re walking into; it’s from wanting a damn drink so badly that if I wasn’t about to pay Logan back for everything he has ever done for me, I’d have stopped and grabbed a bottle.

  I let out the breath that feels like I’ve been holding since Lane and I walked back into the house and heard the name Cole Bates. Along with it comes an internal chuckle as I recall how I decked Lane in the face, knocking him on his ass when he tried stopping me from backing out of the driveway. Once this is over, he’s going to be mad as hell both Logan and me banged up his pretty-boy face.

  One-stop at a gas station and a few Benjamins later, I had an address for Cole Bates.

  “You know Lane is going to show up. Wouldn’t doubt it if he isn’t on his way already. We need to sneak in, find Ellie, and get your ass out before he gets here. We get her, and you take her home, come back and do whatever it is you have to do to blow this fucker up.”

  Rocco’s jaw locks tight as I repeat his words of action from earlier. I can hear the memories of a night I’d much rather keep buried eating at his brain.

  “Ellie’s alive, Rocco, don’t let your mind go there, man. Don’t.” I can’t think about that night, or I’ll lose my head before I get inside.

  Bloodshed becomes profound in the confined space the closer we get, rebounding off the windows and crawling up my spine.

  Pressure coils in my gut as I put the rental truck in park. My phone vibrating non-stop as I turn it on, set it to vibrate and tuck it into my pants pocket. I don’t have to look at the damn thing to know its Lane. Goddamn him.

  Removing one of my guns from the back of my pants and grabbing another I’d stashed under the seat; I cut the engine, the two of us climb out and Rocco heads toward the front with his bag while I make my way toward the back of Cole’s house. Eyes on alert searching for signs of being ambushed as I stay low alongside the bushes up the immaculate drive and scale the side of the house until I reach the back.

  My hands tremble as I peer through a window, ready to blow someone’s head clear off their body. Goddamn, the place is silent and dark. Too quiet for my liking.

  Alarm bursts in my chest when I hear someone behind me, I whip around, ready to pull the trigger on both guns when I swing around only to come face to face with Lane.

  “The hell? I could have shot you!”

  “Yeah, and I could beat your ass for what you did. Now shut up and tell me if the plan is the same.”

  Before I can get a word out, an earsplitting scream comes from above us.

  “Fuck, I don’t know what the two of you have planned, whatever it is, carry on and let me get Ellie.” There’s a distinct nervous bite in his tone; it drowns out along with everything else when the sound of another scream sends a rushing jolt through my brain.

  A bomb of rage goes off inside my stomach. It pulses through my body, leaving me no choice but to kick open the back door — finger itching to shoot anyone standing in my way.

  Another piercing scream slices through my heart. What seems like forever only takes a few seconds for us to find our way to the front of the house where Rocco is already halfway up the stairs. Trailing behind him, we haul ass down a long hallway to an open door and a sight that makes my blood run cold.

  Who I assume is Cole lays in a pool of blood by the door. My pupils widen, my heartbeat slows, and my blood flow hits my upper extremities when I see Ellie on the floor, her legs spread wide. Shadow is kneeling behind her. I lose my shit when I hear the hiss of a zipper.

  I take several silent steps forward. The only th
ing on my mind is saving Ellie.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  I barely recognize her. One of her eyes is swollen shut. Face, wrists, arms have bruises and gashes running up and down them. The shirt she has on is covered in blood — more than likely from the beating she took. And she is covered in a rash — hives all over her.

  Wicked anger shoots flames to my fists, and the visual of him beating Ellie, along with the high possibility he’s raped her again, instinctively sets fire to my muscles. I spring forward, gripping Shadow around the neck, hurling him feet away from her. Barreling at him, I drill a fist into the side of his head, knocking him to the floor. I straddle him and nail another into his face.

  Before he can recover, I wedge a knee under his throat and press into his Adam’s apple. Rage surges. I take pleasure in it as I press down until his face turns red.

  “You are going to die, you pussy ass piece of shit. Until then, I’m going to fuck you up.”

  Tilting his head, he spits blood and what looks like a piece of a tooth at my face.

  “Cute, Shadow. Fight me back with those hands you used on Ellie, I dare you. I’d let you up if I thought you’d be man enough.” I’m seething — a red river of ire.

  “Well if it isn’t Seth, Logan and the fucker who couldn’t protect his girl the same way Logan couldn’t. Should I be pissed the wrong Mitchell brothers are here, or happy big brother will live his life tucked inside a straitjacket and drooling out the side of his mouth while his brain bounces off four white padded walls? The three of you might have found me, but after what I did to Ellie, she doesn’t have much longer to live. I pumped her full of so much heroin after I stuck it to her good, I’m surprised her heart hasn’t burst yet.”

  Fuck.

  “Is she breathing?” I ask, ignoring Shadow as he laughs, his eyes turning savage, silently telling me he planned to do something worse to her.

  Crazy psycho was going to kill her.

  “She has a pulse. It’s faint.” This, coming from Lane.

  My lips thin into a frown. The noise coming from behind me raises the hair on the back of my neck as I hear Lane speak softly to Ellie, telling her he’s here and promising she’s going to be alright. It’s what I hear in his tone that distinct unsureness that scares the hell out of me. I know Lane’s trying to soothe her, but fuck me if he’s not in a roundabout kind of way telling me he’s not sure if she’ll come out of this alive.

  “Get Ellie the hell out of here now, Lane. We called the doctor; he should be at the house by now. Check with Rocco to see how long it’ll take him to set up and get a hold of Gabe,” I yell, nailing another punch to Shadow’s face. This one splaying blood and cracking bones in his nose.

  “Ah, I see the Mitchell brothers are still afraid of getting caught for all the bullshit you’ve done to take someone you supposedly care for to a hospital. Fucking pussies.”

  Shadow doesn’t deserve a response, not after the things he did to Ellie. Not after every crime I know he’s committed against other innocent people.

  His savage eyes show no fear whatsoever, only the same desire to kill stares back at me.

  When a sudden stabbing sting strikes my thigh, I look down to see the handle of a straight razor embedded into my leg.

  Shit.

  “Tell me; you wouldn’t happen to know where my sister’s dead body is, would you?” he chokes out, reaches for my face, and presses his fingers into my eyes, distracting me long enough for him to pull the razor out and slice me in the arm.

  That shit only angers me more, so I nail another punch into his face. As the blade falls out of his hand, I swipe it, jerk him up and slam him face-first into the wall. His head flings to the side to where he spits out another piece of tooth.

  “Don’t know, don’t care. Cunt is rotting is all that matters to me.”

  As he fights to get out of my hold, I take hold of his wrists and slice two fingers clean off.

  On impulse, my lips twitch as he screams like a newborn baby. I’ll gladly tell him where she is as soon as Lane gets Ellie out of here. Me? I’m not going anywhere. I plan on making this psycho wish I’d put a bullet through his head.

  Chapter Ten

  Logan

  “Logan, I’m going to need you to step away from the bed. I’ll let you and Lane know when you can come back into the room.”

  The doctor places his hand on my uninjured shoulder, giving it a little reassuring squeeze. I’ve lost count of how many times he’s done this. Every time Lane and I walk out, we slump against the wall, both lost in thought. This time though, I’m not going anywhere.

  I don’t answer. Instead, I shove up from the chair, and settle my ass on the floor directly across from the bed, leaning my head against the wall, my fingers already angry from the loss of holding Ellie’s hand.

  Ellie shouldn’t be lying here in our bed cocooned in cold compresses that the doctor, Renita, and Norah are changing about every fifteen minutes, running a fever, a rash that, thank God has started to fade from what Lane said, and the doctor confirmed from bloodwork is heroin.

  She should be sleeping peacefully in my arms is what she should be doing — having sweet, sweet dreams.

  The beating she took to her backside isn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. Still, she’s going to be hurting. That, plus, the fact remains, Shadow whipped her, punched, and hell if I know what else.

  I shake my head — clearing the tiredness from my mind. I’m exhausted, mentally and physically drained, but I’m not closing my eyes or thinking about anything else until she wakes.

  Norah and Renita appear at the door with more wet towels; eyes troubled as they take in the doctor who starts to remove the previous ones giving us a view of Ellie’s backside. There are a couple of spots where her flesh is gaping open; a few will likely leave scars. Physically, she’ll recover. It’s the traumatization to her mind that scares me more than anything.

  Fearful tears form in the back of my throat. I hold them in, saying nothing as I hold my breath, hoping Ellie would wake this time when the doctor looks her over.

  She doesn’t move at all, the same when Renita and Norah cleaned her up. If it weren’t for the rise and fall of her back, I’d think she was dead.

  Once the doctor moves to the other side of the bed, I move right back to the same spot and cup one side of her battered face.

  Angling my head, I gently glide my hand down until I hit that fluttering pulse in her neck. It’s slower than usual, but it’s there. Vibrating to let me know she’s alive.

  I take in her slightly parted mouth as it blows out slight wisps of air. She’s so out of it in her fragile state it frightens the fuck out of me. Her gorgeous face took the worst of it.

  After seeing how badly she was covered in bruises and blood when Lane rushed through the door, up the stairs and laid her on the bed. The way the doctor started working on her right away, the anger I had toward Rocco and Seth after I collected my thoughts from when Renita shook me awake to tell me Lane was on his way here with Ellie, dissipated.

  My brothers and Rocco schemed behind my back, but if they hadn’t, Ellie would likely be dead by now.

  “Once I’m done, I’m going to need one of you ladies to talk to her; the other to hold her hand while I check her over elsewhere. Her eyes are responding to stimuli, which is a sign she’s coming around.”

  I stiffen. Both relieved and reining in an infinite amount of emotions I’m unsure how to handle. He’s going to check to see if they raped her.

  Fuck.

  My gaze flicks to Lane who is hunched over, his hands on his knees and breathing out of his mouth. He straightens, glances toward the door, and with a lift of his chin and relief in his eyes, I know without looking that Gabe is standing outside of the room.

  My muscles release the helpless tension stored in them over the past few days as Lane strides toward the door.

  “How many years have you wanted to kill Shadow? How many times have you mentally slaughtered him in your he
ad? How long have you protected Ellie? Too long, Logan. It’s time to end this so you and Ellie can move on. Seth and Rocco are holed up at Cole’s house with Shadow. Either you can go there and finish him off or I will. Cole was dead when we got there. How he died isn’t irrelevant. What matters now is killing Shadow and giving Ellie peace of mind when she wakes that he’s gone.”

  Those were the words that came out of Lane’s mouth as I held Ellie’s hand while the doctor worked on her, hooking her up to an IV, drawing her blood and sending it off to have it checked.

  I told him there wasn’t a chance in hell I was leaving her until she woke. I knew all it would take was a call to Seth, and he’d kill Shadow. Knew he and Rocco would wait me out for as long as it takes for me to get there. But I don’t blame Lane for wanting me to leave. It was his way of killing two birds with one stone — me not to see Ellie like this, and to exterminate a long-time plan that took too many sharp turns. The good thing is, one of those turns brought me to this woman who has forgiven me for my sins.

  The longer I kneel, the more my thoughts darken. There is something about finally having Shadow right where I want him that sets me at ease. That deep sense in my gut that there isn’t a chance in hell Shadow can get away this time, that I could end him once and for all.

  I jerk when a scream rips from Ellie’s throat. It’s raw and brutal as if she’s having a nightmare.

  Panic swells in my chest, crushing my soul.

  “Oh, God. Am I home? Is Logan okay? Please tell me Shadow is dead, please.” The sound of her voice knocks the breath out of me. It’s rough, dry, and frightened.

  Doesn’t stop the chuckle that escapes, nor the shaking of my head. Here she is worried about me after everything she’s been through. Typical, along with another reminder of the type of woman she is — the perfect one for me.

  “I’m right here, Ellie. Much better now that I have you by my side.”

  The room suddenly falls silent—this time, I welcome it.

  She swallows, frown lines appearing as she struggles to open her eye. The lid on the other one is about the size of a golf ball and at least ten different shades of purple.