CHAPTER 20

NAVY

Blaze, Bond, and I slowly made our way to the house. I didn’t expect that there would be any push back from Julian, but it was better to be safe than sorry and we’d treat this as we would have any op. It wouldn’t have been easy to take Derek out, so I had to assume that Julian had had help.

Every light seemed to be on in the house. I knew that Gia would be safe with Cairo which meant I didn’t have to worry about her, and I could concentrate on getting us into the house, then clearing the house so that we could get Derek and Tristan out and get them medical treatment if needed.

The closer we got to the house, the louder the music is.

‘What a prick!’

Not only did he bully and terrorise Gia, but he seemed to think that she’d jump to his orders.

It didn’t take us long to get to the back door. Taking hold of the handle, I turned it expecting it to be locked but it turned easily under my hand.

“Fuck me, this guy’s a knobhead,” Blaze muttered under his breath. “Lucky for us, though.”

“Ready?” I ask.

“We’re good to go,” Bond assured me.

“Okay, you two clear the house, then find the others in the cellar. Be careful. He had help. There’s no way he would have taken Derek without it. We’re not leaving anybody alive, so make it look as natural as possible. If you find him before me, don’t do anything. He’s mine.”

“Gotcha,” Blaze said, “see you on the other side.”

Not wasting any time, we worked our way through the house. It didn’t take long to clear it and pinpoint where Julian was. We’d already taken care of the two others that had been with him. Sending Blaze and Bond to get the others out of the cellar, I walked into the lounge, shaking my head at what I found.

Not only was the music so loud that he hadn’t heard us. They’d had themselves quite a party by the amount of the drugs that were spread out on the coffee table in front of Julian. Everything from pills to heroin. Julian was passed out in an armchair, a rubber band wrapped around his bicep and the needle still in his arm.

I knew just how I wanted to set this up. Pulling my gloves up my wrists and prepping another syringe, I filled it, knowing this would cause a fatal overdose. It wouldn’t be the revenge I wanted or even needed because he wasn’t likely to feel any of the pain or anguish that he’d once caused Gia, but I’d get the satisfaction of knowing he would never touch her again.

Squatting down next to him, I removed the used syringe from his arm. His arm, hand, and from what I could see, his neck were covered in track marks. He’d obviously had a problem with drugs for a long time. He woke just as I was injecting the second syringe into his arm.

“Who’re you?” he slurred.

Giving him a sinister smile, I replied, “I’m Gia’s husband, you fucking wanker.”

“Gia,” his head rolled towards me, saliva dribbling down from his mouth as he tried to speak, “she’s a cunt. Hate her, she’s coming and I’m going to get rid of her.”

Smirking at him, I tell him, “You keep thinking that.” Pushing the last of the drug into his arm, I leave it as I’d found him.

Going to the table, I make my selection. I’d heard the others leave a few minutes ago so I could finish this off. Going to the kitchen, I set a pot on the stove, dropped some of the drugs into it before scattering some on the kitchen table.

In a frying pan, I added cooking oil and lit the hob under it, turning it up high. With it being a gas stove, this made it easier for me. Opening up every single one of the valves, including the oven, the faint smell of gas permeated the room. Then lighting the hob under the pot I hurried out the kitchen, closing the door behind me.

Going room to room, I did the same to every gas fire I found, my hope was once it blew up it would look like an accident. Just a bunch of druggies who forgot stuff lightthe stove after turning on the hob.

Knowing I wouldn’t have much time, I run back down the stairs, passed the kitchen and out the front door, hurrying around to the back of the house to check through the window, smiling as I watched the pan of oil on the stove catch fire.

Taking off through the woods towards where we’d parked the cars, I started shouting as soon as I saw my brothers standing there. They didn’t waste any time once the first explosion hit. My heart was pounding, and it was the most alive I’d felt in years.

Nothing like a bit of murder and mayhem to get your adrenaline pumping.

Jumping into the Land Rover that held Cairo and my Gia, I was on a high. They’d all made it out okay. As we sped down the dirt road and then out onto the main road, Cairo slowed us down to the speed limit as soon as we hit the tarmac of the main road. It wouldn’t do to have us caught now.

Catching Cairo’s amused eyes in the rearview mirror, he shakes his head and grins at me. I’m surprised that Gia isn’t asking questions, but when I turn to her, she just shakes her head and holds up her hand, “I don’t want to know what you did. The only thing I want to know is if we’re now safe?”

Not wanting to touch her with the gloves I wore to kill her stepbrother, I pull them off and opening the window I let one flutter out and away then the other to get lost amongst the debris on the motorway. Littering I know, but at this moment in time I didn’t care.

Leaning over between the front seats, I cup her cheek.

“You’re both safe now, sweets,” I assure her.

“Good,” she murmured, lips pressed to my palm.

Not long after that, the first of the fire engines sped past us. We continued on towards Crow Manor.

It was our time now.

Time to live.

Time to love.

Time to build a family.

It had taken me a long time to get here, but I was ready for whatever life threw at us next. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect what was mine.