“I can’t decide if you’re crazy or simply an evil bitch.”
“Who knows? Maybe I’m an equal mix of both.”
Gordon props a mobile on a stand and adjusts it so that it’s pointing at me. “Are you a screamer, Miss Frazier?”
“No.”
He laughs. “Don’t worry. You will be.”
“It’s showtime?” Greer asks.
“Aye.”
She comes to me and bends down so we’re face-to-face. “I want you to know that I don’t take pleasure in this part. The torture, I mean. It’s his condition for helping me.”
“Leith will never recover from seeing this done to me.” Whatever this is.
“It’ll take time but he will eventually. And I’m very patient.”
“If you truly loved him, you wouldn’t hurt him this way.”
Greer slaps my face. “Don’t talk to me about truly loving Leith. You have no idea how much I gave him because of the love I feel for him.”
Gordon stops adjusting the phone. “We’re ready.”
Greer steps away from me and stands behind the phone. “One mention of my name and this will become so much worse for you.”
The smile on Gordon’s face is heinous. “Time to see how much Leith Duncan suffers when he hears the screams of his almost-wife.”
Greer stomps her foot. “Uh, she is his whore. Not the woman that he loves. Not his almost-wife. I’m not going to tell you again to stop calling her by those kinds of names.”
I squirm in the chair, wiggling my wrists and ankles, but there’s little-to-no slack. The zip ties aren’t budging one single bit.
What am I going to do?
Think, think, think.
What would Bleu do in this situation?
Gordon checks the angle of the phone one last time, and then I hear the FaceTiming dialing sound. One ring. That’s all it takes for Leith to answer.
“Lorna.”
His handsome face fills the screen. “Leith.”
“Tell me where you are.”
“A cottage outside of town. I don’t know where.”
“Are you all right? Have you been hurt?”
“I’m fine… but probably not for much longer.”
“Who took you?”
“You remember when The Order members came into the bar and tried to take Greer and me? But one of them got away? It’s him. Gordon Acheson.”
Gordon steps behind me and places his hand on the top of my head, roughly stroking my hair.
“Remember me, Duncan?”
“I remember the two dead Order members a wee bit better.”
Shite, Leith. Don’t taunt him about them.
“They were my brothers and you killed them.”
“After the three of you broke into my bar after hours and tried to kidnap my barmaids. You knew the risk involved with a move like that. Their deaths were warranted by anyone’s standards.”
Gordon grips the top of my hair and jerks my head backward, gripping my jaw with his hand, and squeezing so hard that it feels like he’ll break my teeth off at the roots. “And so is hers.”
“All right, all right, Gordon. Let’s talk about this.”
“I’m not really a talker.”
“That’s okay; I can be the one to do the talking.”
“I’m not really a listener either.”
“You have me right where you want me. That’s what you’re after, yes?”
“Aye.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“To torture her while you watch.”
“What else do you want?”
“That’s it.”
“The thing about revenge is that it’s fleeting. Its intoxication is gone the second that the act of revenge is carried out. It’s like a high that lasts for a brief time—and it’s really good in the moment—but then it leaves as quickly as it came, and you’re left to deal with the consequences of your actions.”
Gordon’s grip on my hair lessens as he listens to Leith. “Do you really think that one second of high is worth what I’ll do to you if you harm Lorna?”
Greer is standing behind the phone, looking at Gordon, nodding her head up and down.
“The expression on your face tells me that you’ve not considered that part—the price you’ll have to pay if you so much as break one of her fingernails.”
“You can’t back out. We’ve come too far now,” Greer whispers.
There’s a slight lift in Leith’s brow. Did he hear Greer’s voice? Recognize it?
“After I capture you, I’ll take you to one of our warehouses where I’ll string you up with your head down and your feet up like an animal at a slaughterhouse. I’ll begin with the cat-o’-nine-tails on your bare back. It really doesn’t take as many lashes as one might think to open your skin and expose the meaty flesh beneath. You wouldn’t believe how fucking loud a man can scream when those open wounds are doused with surgical spirit.”
Gordon releases my hair and takes a few steps away.
“When that’s no longer fun, I’ll begin breaking your bones one at a time. I may or may not make it to your spine. It all depends on how long it takes for me to tire of that. But my favorite thing to do is puncture your lung and watch you gasp for air like a fish out of water.”
One of my kidnappers moves to the window and draws back the drape. “Oh shite. We have company.”
“How in the fuck can that be?” I hear the disbelief in Gordon’s voice.
“I don’t know, boss.”
“Can you see how many vehicles?”
“Three total. Two sedans and a panel van.”
The younger of the two accomplices steps away from the window. “Hey, I didn’t sign on for any of this shite.”
“Neither did I. I have a wife and bairn on the way. I just needed some quick cash,” the bearded accomplice says.
“Would you like to know what’s inside of the van that just parked outside? Fellowship foot soldiers who will surround this cottage, preventing your escape. But that’s not really who you should be afraid of. Kieran Hendry is here with his M24, and he is going to shoot to kill if Lorna doesn’t walk out of that front door within the next thirty seconds.”
“I’m done. I’m out of here.”
“Me too.”
Both of their goons leave the cottage through the back door and Gordon goes to the phone, ending the FaceTiming.
“Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!” Gordon turns on Greer. “This is your fault. You got me into this fucking mess.”
“You’re the one who wanted revenge.”
“I was moving on with my life until you showed up at my door, talking about how I could make Leith Duncan pay for killing my brothers. You’re a dumb bitch with a shite plan. I don’t know why I listened to you.”
“We can’t just roll over after all of the planning that we put into this,” Greer shouts.
“Maybe you can’t, but I can.”
“Don’t do this to me, Gordon.”
“What part of this do you not understand? We’re about to be surrounded by foot soldiers. The Order’s top assassin is right outside this cottage with an M24. He doesn’t miss. Ever. The only way to walk out of here alive is with weapons on the ground and hands in the air.”
“I thought you were an Order member, but you’re nothing more than a pussy.”
“Maybe so but at least I’ll be a living pussy and not a dead one.”
Gordon places his gun on the sofa and squats at my feet, cutting the zip ties around my ankles. “Will you tell them that I didn’t hurt you?”
“Yes.”
A shot fires, and Gordon falls to the floor at my feet. “I can’t believe that he turned out to be such a pussy.”
“What are you doing, Greer?”
“Taking matters into my own hands just as I should have done from the beginning.”
“Leith is outside.”
“I know. And that’s why Gordon panicked and shot you. I knew I’d be next, so I wrestled the
gun away from him and shot him to save myself.”
She lifts the gun and points it directly at my chest. “You can thank Bleu for teaching me how to do this.”
“Don’t, Greer.”
“I have to. I don’t have a choice now.”
And then there’s a loud pop.
Chapter 15
Leith Duncan
Gunfire. A single shot.
I thought that my heart couldn’t beat faster but I was wrong. It barely has time to relax before it contracts again.
“Move, move, move now,” Sin orders.
A second gunshot.
Fellowship foot soldiers file out of the van and move around the cottage, surrounding it from every side. No one within the house can escape without coming face-to-face with an armed brother. Although I want Gordon and his accomplices to pay for what they’ve done, that isn’t my concern at the moment.
Lorna. I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t include her.
I won’t live in a world that doesn’t include her.
Kieran places a bipod on the boot of the car and leans down to adjust its position. “Gordon Acheson is part of The Order, but he’s violated our alliance with The Fellowship. The wrong is against his brotherhood and yours but more so you and Lorna. She is your woman so this is your call: dead or alive?”
Torture would be the only reason to leave him alive, but I’m not that person. Inflicting pain upon him would bring me no pleasure.
“Kill him.” And let us be done with this forever so Lorna and I can move on with our lives.
“That would be my choice as well.”
“His dispute is with you. You should be the one to do the talking,” Sin says.
“Gordon! I’m here. What is your decision?”
No answer.
I don’t like this game. “What does no response mean?”
Kieran lifts his face away from the scope and looks at me. “It’s not unusual for them to go radio silent once they realize that they’re defeated, most especially when they’re cowards.”
“He’s right. I’ve seen it happen this way countless times. Call out to him again,” Sin says.
“I said that I’m here, Gordon. Are you going to make this easy, or are we going to do it the hard way?”
The front door opens and Lorna slowly emerges from the cottage with her hands in the air. “It’s me. I’m coming out.”
I’ve never been so relieved in my life. Until I realize that it’s not Lorna coming out of the house.
Greer? She was kidnapped by Gordon too?
Greer falls to the ground on her knees, sobbing, and looks up to the sky. “He shot her. He killed her,” she screams.
No.
Fuck no.
Greer is wrong.
Lorna isn’t dead.
She can’t be.
I run toward the cottage with Sin, Jamie, and Kieran close on my heels. Greer stands and reaches out, trying to stop me from going inside, but it’s not possible for anyone to keep me from getting to Lorna.
“Don’t go in there, Leith. You don’t want to see her like that.”
I burst through the door and see that Lorna is slumped in a chair. Her head is dropped back completely, and her wrists are zip-tied to the arms of the chair. And there’s blood. So much fucking blood. I didn’t know that a person had that much in their body.
Pale skin. Toneless. Unmoving.
Lifeless.
Sin kicks the limp man at her feet away and takes out a blade. He cuts the plastic ties from her wrists, and I catch her limp body when she slides from the chair.
“Lorna… baby. Can you hear me?”
No response. Not so much as a twitch.
I look up at Jamie. “You’ve got to save her. Please.”
“I need her on her back on the floor.”
“Gunshot wound to the chest.” Jamie presses his finger against her neck and places his ear over her mouth. “She’s breathing and has a pulse. Both are weak but they’re still there.”
“What?” I hear from a female voice behind me.
“Can’t you do CPR to make her heartbeat stronger?”
“I can’t, Leith. If I make her heart pump harder, she will bleed out. We have to apply pressure to the wound to keep her from hemorrhaging and get her to the Royal Infirmary now. She’s going to need urgent medical care, more than I can provide.”
“Anything she needs.”
“We don’t have time to wait for an ambulance. Pull the van around to the front door. We have to move her now. There’s not a minute to waste.”
“You heard him,” Sin tells a few of the foot soldiers.
Lorna is moved into the back of the van and Jamie holds pressure over the wound at her chest. I hold her hand, stroking the top, and I’ve never felt more worthless in my life.
I lean down and cover her ear with my mouth. “This changes nothing. You’re still going to be my wife and the mother of our children. And you win. I’ll give you as many babies as you want—a dozen if that’s what you decide. I just need you to stay with me. Please don’t leave me, Lorna. It’s finally our time to be happy.”
The drive to the infirmary is the longest of my life, and I’ve never been more relieved than when I see that red emergency department sign. “We’ve made it to the infirmary. You’re going to be just fine.”
The medical staff assess Lorna’s injuries and she is rushed to surgery. Everything from the time we entered the emergency department doors until now is a pure blur. I only remember telling Lorna over and over how much I love her.
“Leith.”
I turn at the sound of my name and Greer is sitting beside me. “Did you hear what I said?”
“No.”
“I’m going to take care of you through this tragedy.”
She’s going to take care of me through this tragedy? “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Lorna told me to take care of you after she died.”
She must be fucking insane to say something like that to me right now. “Lorna isn’t going to die.”
“Gordon shot her in the chest. Things don’t look good. Even if the doctors aren’t saying so, you must know that the odds aren’t in her favor.”
“Lorna is going to survive and we’re going to be married. That’s the only thing that I know.”
“Denial is a normal step in the grieving process.”
“Shut your gob before I come over there and shut it for you,” my mum says.
“I just think that everyone should be realistic about her chances and how slim they are. She wouldn’t want us to have false hope.”
The smacking sound of my mum’s hand against Greer’s face is loud. And then the waiting room falls silent. “Leave. Now. You are not welcome here.”
“Leith…”
“You heard my mum. Get out.”
“Everyone is under a lot of stress. I’ll step out and give you some space to absorb what’s happening.”
Sin leans over after Greer leaves the waiting room. “Bleu and I have been talking about the kidnapping, and we feel that something is off about it.”
“Like what?”
“Gordon didn’t mention a word about kidnapping Greer. Why not? Having two of our women would have given him an even bigger advantage.”
“Aye, it certainly would have.”
“It’s been so long since you killed Gordon’s brothers. It doesn’t make sense that he waited all of this time to retaliate.”
“I hadn’t considered that.”
“Understandably; Lorna is the only thing on your mind at the moment. But I’ve decided that I’m going to take Greer by surprise with an impromptu debriefing about the kidnapping.”
“When?”
“Now. I think it’s better to do it when she isn’t expecting it.” Sin gestures toward Bleu across the room. “And the human lie detector is going to sit in on the questioning with me. I want her input on Greer’s responses and body language, whether it’s truthful or d
eceitful.”
“She can tell if Greer is lying?”
“Absolutely. That woman has mad skills.”
“Greer was really pissed off about my engagement to Lorna. She threatened us right after we announced that we were getting married.”
“I’m aware. Lorna told Bleu and she told me.”
“I didn’t mention it because I saw it as an empty threat. I didn’t think that she had the power to touch us.”
“She doesn’t have the power on her own, but it’s a different story if she had the aid of Order members.”
I don’t want to think that Greer could have played a part in this. “Lorna was concerned about Greer’s threats, and I brushed them off as though they were nothing. I’ll never forgive myself if I find out that Greer was to blame for this.”
“If she is responsible, you can’t blame yourself. You had no way of knowing that she could be capable of something like this. And we still don’t know that she was behind it. She could be a victim and innocent of any wrongdoing.”
His face says something different. “Your gut tells you otherwise?”
“Aye, but I place my trust in Bleu’s training more than my gut. We’ll get down to the bottom of it.”
“What will happen if she’s to blame?”
“Let’s not worry about that unless the time comes.”
A woman wearing scrubs comes into the waiting room. “Frazier?”
“That’s us.”
“Dr. Stuart would like to speak to the immediate family.”
“My mum and I… we are her family.”
“You’re her husband?”
“I would have been today. It’s our wedding day.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“How is she?”
“That’s a question for the physician to answer. Come with me, please.”
Mum and I follow the woman through the maze of halls until we reach the physician’s office. “This is Lorna Frazier’s family. Her fiancé and his mum.”
“Aye, come in please and have a seat.”
The doctor stands and reaches across his desk to shake my hand, but I’m not interested in introductions. I need to know how Lorna is. Now.
“What is Lorna’s condition?”
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