7

7

KADE

I’m not sure how much longer we’ve been here – a week, a few days, fucking years, but we hear heels clicking, growing closer, the sound grating on my nerves while me and Base share the last cigarette, our stomachs rumbling, both weaker than we’ve ever been.

Aside from the sound of shoes, I hear a manly cough. Great. Archie is here. Can’t wait for him to throw a few comments at me, knowing I’m in no state to punch him like I usually do. His wife walks in first, and guards flood the cell.

“Are we going to behave, boys?” she asks, hand on her popped-out hip as she taps her foot. “Or will I leave you both to fester in your own stench a little longer?”

“I’d rather die of an infection in my chest than behave for you. Wait, did you get even uglier? Unlucky, Archie-pops. I find shoving a bag over her face helpful when she’s being a greedy whore for my cock. You’re not very good at pleasing her, are you?”

As much as his words are cutting, I know Base hates himself whenever he’s sent to her room or when she slithers into his. I know the sickening feeling well. If she didn’t have a fail-safe in place that would see our families and loved ones killed upon her death, we would have strangled her by now.

Her eyes cast to Base, narrowing, the lights from the corridor shining in. “Careful, Prince, or I might need to tell your family you tragically succumbed to your injuries.”

We both look at each other. His brows furrow. “What?”

She sighs. “It seems your grandfather, someone I’ve successfully avoided this far, isn’t very happy that you’re in my care.”

Careisn’t the word I’d use.

Base stands and strides to the bars, grabbing them with one hand. He sneers. “Keep talking.”

She glares at him. But I think she’s used to his forwardness and attitude towards her. “We’ve come to an agreement. You will return to them tonight.”

My friend stands back, glancing between me and the woman who’s been terrorising him for the past year. He doesn’t seem even slightly pleased. “Kade goes with me, or I’m staying with him.”

She smiles wickedly. “I don’t think so. Kade is mine. The deal was – you for two hundred. Only you.”

She arches a brow when we both stay silent. Base seems on the edge of exploding though. “I won’t pass up on two hundred million. You will leave tonight. This isn’t up for discussion.”

Two hundred million? Fuck, Base said his family was rich, but that rich? Damn. They must be like kings and queens over that side of the world.

Yet – they know where he is and instead of blowing the world up to get him back, they offer a deal? It makes no sense.

“No,” Base says through gritted teeth.

“I’ll destroy all the evidence I have on you. A clean slate. It’s part of the deal. You will go, Sebastian.”

“I’m not leaving Kade behind.”

I give a long sigh. “Stop being dramatic and take the deal. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he refuses. “Not fucking happening. You die, I die, remember?”

Bernadette moves forward, pulling Base’s phone out of her purse. “I wonder if you’ll still say the same when you hear this. From a contact called Princess…”

Base straightens.

She inputs the password only she knows and places it on loudspeaker, his voicemail playing. Base is gripping the bars again, with both hands now, as if he’s ignoring the pain in his chest.

I sit up in my squeaky, metal bed as soon as my sister’s voice fills the deadly silence.

“Sebastian,” Luciella sobs, her voice muffled, the sound of a car engine humming around her. “I… Oh God. I… I was only there because I got your text, and then – and then – and then…” She cries out and starts hyperventilating. It causes me to stand up, rage injecting strength into me once more. “I’m so scared. They… they locked me in a trunk.” The way her voice changes, I know she’s covering her mouth as the engine cuts off and a door opens. “I think they’re going to kill me. I never got the chance to tell you how I really feel. I… I’m so sorry… for pushing you away.”

A deep, unintelligible voice sounds in the background, and it’s obvious they’re about to open the trunk.

“Please find me… please, please, please.”

She gasps as the trunk opens, screams and warns them not to touch her. One of them yells in pain and tells someone she bit his cheek. She must grab the phone back, because her voice is once again close. “Sebastian, they traded me for blackmail!” She cries even more, fighting against them. “Your grandfather sold—”

She’s silenced abruptly, and it curdles my empty stomach.

The call ends.

A guard grips my arm as I step forward, but I tug it out of his grasp. “Fucking let go of me.”

Bernadette crosses her arms and smiles at Base. “I’m sure you probably already know who has her. It’s quite bizarre that your own family would buy you from me yet easily traded the woman you care for – I wonder why? Maybe they saw that she was significant to you. You are sickeningly obsessed with her, and it got her recognised by someone even I wouldn’t like to stand in front of.”

I narrow my eyes at her, looking over at a very silent and pale Base, then back at Bernadette. “Who?”

“Shut up. You’re not involved in this.”

I take a step forward with clenched fists, but I’m stopped by a gun to my head. “She’s my fucking sister. Who has her?”

“Blood is just that… blood. Meaningless. My daughter decided to fight for you and hit her father the night of the auction – even though you were only sleeping with her because you wanted me to pay you less attention and not because you cared for her. Poor little lamb is probably in a worse position than your whore of an ex.” She chuckles dryly, her eyes on me. “I guess there’s no wedding on the cards now. Don’t be too disappointed – you’ll still be mine.”

I flinch away as she tries to tap my cheek with her palm.

“You’re insane,” Base says blankly.

“And impatient. We have an important matter to attend to. Take him to the medical wing and have his injury seen to. I can smell the infection from here.”

“I’ll find her,” Base says to me as someone grabs him. “I’ll need to go back to my gramps and agree to whatever his terms are. I’ll… take up my position and find her.” Then my friend scowls at Bernie. “Togda ya ub’yu tebya.”

Her eyes light up as she translates his words. She knows some Russian.

“I’m sure you will try to kill me. So, before the Prince family causes me any more trouble and gets in my way, you will leave tonight, after we have dinner. We’ll send you to Moscow on the jet Kade oh so nicely gave us, and if I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.”

Base doesn’t respond – he’s staring at me, his eyes wide as he’s slowly taken out of his cell. “Fuck. I’m sorry, man.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I say, shrugging away from a guard who attempts to take my arm again and walking out of my own cell on shaky legs, trying my best not to appear weak and on the brink of passing out. “Just find my fucking sister.”

Once we wash, sharing the shower room while guards watch us, they hand us clothes. I wait in the medical wing for Base to get treated, downing bottle after bottle of water before we’re led to the main dining area. I glance out the window on the way instead of taking in the fancy decorations – it’s just trees upon trees upon trees.

We’re in one of Bernadette’s many properties.

But not far from my apartment – I could escape here and run there within half an hour, once I get my strength back. I could get on my bike and start searching for Stacey. Fuck the consequences.

It’s around midday, going by the height of the sun, and my eyes struggle to adjust to the daylight after being locked away for days in darkness. Minimal compared to past punishments.

One time, Bernadette buried Base in her yard and I had to find him. If I was even a minute later dragging him out of the soil, he would be dead now.

I beat Archie up for that. I think Bernadette gets off on seeing him bruised and bloodied. She gave Base a week off because he was so fucking traumatised and put all his duties on me. I think I killed more than my usual body count that week.

They’re sitting in front of us, workers and guards standing along the walls as servers bring in food in silver dishes. All fancy and ridiculous. Just the way Bernadette likes it.

She was born into wealth, a silver spoon in her mouth. So was Base.

Fuck, so was I, in a way. But my mother never let us be brats about it and made me and Luciella work if we wanted something.

A waiter lifts the lid of a dish in front of me and my stomach growls painfully.

I’m past caring about being drugged through ingesting food or drinking poisoned water. My stomach aches just looking at the steak and mashed potatoes – everyone can probably hear it growling. I devour it all, Base doing the same – we’re like fucking animals after being starved so long.

The first time she starved us and locked us up, I thought I was dying by day three. Eventually, I just got used to it. But right now, as I swallow each bite and down more of the water, all I can think about is what’s for dessert.

I’ve lost a lot of weight over the past few months. My muscle mass is still decent, but I’m not anywhere near the same shape. More lean than bulky, I’m not working out as much as I was, since she refuses to let us half the time, and of course, our eating habits have been fucked up. Not to mention the drug use.

I doubt Stacey would even be able to look at me and feel the same way. I’m trash, tarnished, and my mind is broken – why would she like me anymore?

Bernadette smiles at me when I look up. I know that smile. I’ve become haunted by it. As soon as I finish, she’ll order me to go to her bedroom, Archie will probably follow and Base will be sent to Russia to his family.

At least he’ll be safe. I think.

If Luciella is with the Russians, then where is Stacey?

I straighten my spine and drop my cutlery. “Do you know where Stacey is?”

She stares at me, her smile slowly turning faker and more demonic. “Why would you like to know?”

“Just cut the bullshit and tell me.”

“She was seen on CCTV being taken out of the manor by her buyer before the fire started. I don’t currently know her location, but my team is on it.”

I lose my appetite instantly.

Base nudges me with his knee. A sign to tell me he’s here without her seeing. We always do it, letting the other know they aren’t alone when we’re being forced into a void or when we’re so fucked up we can’t think straight.

She clicks her fingers, and a server brings in three files. He lowers them in front of Bernie. “This is the fun part. I’m going to refund your bidder’s money and send you on a little… adventure.”

I blink once, twice, three times. I haven’t done a kill contract in a few weeks.

Taking someone else’s life has become so normal to me, I almost missed the power of seeing the light go out of their eyes, especially if they’re bad people. Which most are.

The first contract I was ever given, I had no idea what to do. I mean, I wanted to run, to ask for help or just say no, but no one said no to Bernadette Sawyer. I held the file in my hand and tried to set fire to it, to hand it in to the nearest station, to fucking beg the person to run and hide.

But I killed the guy. In cold blood.

I pulled the trigger, my entire body jolting with the kickback from the gun, and I ran. Bernadette gave me hell for leaving so much of a mess. Then she handed me another file. Then another. Then training. More contracts. It became endless. Familiar.

Three Manilla folders are sitting on the dining table between us. From the deprivation of my senses the last few days, my vision is still unclear and not properly adjusting, so I can’t read the names on them.

“I think it’s time to make a decision. You’re distracted. Massively. And I don’t like it. You lack focus on me and don’t give your all to your missions. So I’ve decided to do something about those distractions.”

She crosses her arms, lounges back and smirks. I raise a brow when she doesn’t elaborate on what the fuck she’s on about. “Meaning?”

Base is still eating beside me, but his eyes are on Bernadette.

“You need to assassinate one of them, Kade.” She opens the first one and pushes the file towards me.

It opens, and my eyes widen as she says, “Your father.”

She does the same with the next. A picture of Base. “Your best friend.”

My eyes lift to her, and I glare as she opens the third. “Or your lover.”

I glance down, and my teeth grind together when I see numerous images paperclipped at the corner. They’re screen grabs from CCTV. Stacey being pinned to the wall by her buyer, her thigh up his side, his masked face buried in her neck.

The image beside it is them in a lobby.

Holding hands.

He isn’t short, or an overweight, sweaty man like Bernadette threw in my face. He’s… built, muscular, and my height. He doesn’t have grey hair; it’s brown, and she almost seems comfortable with him. In the second image, she looks like she’s half-smiling.

Some of my panic subsides.

I know exactly who that is, but I’m not going to give Bernadette ammunition by telling her my father has Stacey. I look back up. “Hmm.”

“Hmm? That’s all?”

I shrug.

I won’t look back down at the pictures, because they’re fake. My dad would never do that to me or my mother. He’s putting on a facade to try to get her out of there.

My lips almost curl at the corner. He burned the manor down too.

Fucking psychotic genius.

I keep my stare blank. Base is still eating – he probably thinks I’ll choose him since he isn’t my father or the woman I love.

“I’m waiting, Kade.” She strums her acrylic nails on the table, impatient. “Who?”

I lean forward. “Why is Base here?” I point at his file. “If you struck a deal, why is he here?”

“He’s a disruption. You kill him, that’s not on me. As long as I have proof he left here and his death isn’t on my hands, then I’m not responsible – you are.”

“And you think I’d kill my own father?” I sneer at her. “How sick are you?”

Not to mention, my dad is a fucking tank. He’d beat my ass to the ground without even blinking.

“Blood is just blood,” she says again, shrugging. “Choose, or I’ll order them all to be killed.”

I sit up straight. She’s serious. She’s horrific that way. If I don’t choose one, she’ll definitely take them all out and make a show of it too. She’ll order high-value hits on them all that no assassin will refuse. If I reject this, they’ll all die anyway.

I look back down at the three files, chewing my lip nervously, hating myself as I reach for one and stop, reaching for the other and pulling my hand back.

Fuck, I can’t. If I choose one and don’t complete it, they’ll send someone else to finish the job.

But she’ll kill them all if I fail.

Archie releases a dragged-out sigh. “Just fucking pick, boy.”

I want to stab him. I will stab him one day. I’ll rip his jaw clean off.

I itch the scar as I stare at each file. Whoever I choose, it’ll be my last kill for her. If I pick my dad, he could help me. He could hide me and Stacey and deal with Bernadette. He’s Tobias Mitchell, for fuck’s sake.

If I choose Base, he won’t be able to save my sister. Plus, he’s my best friend.

“I do this, I want my freedom.”

Bernadette smirks, and part of me knows she’s lying as she says, “Deal.”

I take a deep breath, and Base spits out his water as I grab one of the files.

While Base waits for his flight to Russia, I sit on the bed, my elbows on my knees. In sixty minutes, my best friend will leave for the jet. He’ll find my sister, and I’ll start my hunt.

He asks if I’m okay, but I keep staring at the carpet between my feet, my knees bouncing, fingers twitching, eyes blinking.

I can’t stop the blinking. It’s new – and constant.

“I’ll do what I can to get you out of this, alright?”

I don’t reply. There’s nothing that will make Bernadette release me from this hellhole.

“I… How do I contact you?” he asks, crouching in front of me to grab my attention. “There’s not a chance I’m going over there without knowing what’s happening with you.”

“I know your number,” I say in a whisper. I’m still not looking at him – in fact, I’m looking straight through him as my mind races. “I’ll call from another phone.”

“Do you know where you’re going first?”

I shake my head. “I’ll go get my motorbike. It’s parked at my apartment.”

“And you’re actually going to kill…” He trails off, not wanting to say it.

Nodding, I lace my fingers together to stop them from trembling. “I have no choice. I can make it quick. If I don’t do this, Bernadette will drag it out.”

I lift my eyes to his, and he drops to his haunches. “I don’t want to leave you, man. I… We’re a team, you know? There’s no me without you or you without me. How do I… How do I just go away and not fucking worry?”

I grab the back of his neck and press my forehead to his. “I need you to forget about my situation and focus on finding my sister.” I shake him. “Please find her.”

His bottom lip trembles. “Fuck, man. Fuck.”

“Maybe I’ll be standing by your side as the best man at your wedding,” I lie, talking shit to make him laugh. “Get my sister, marry her, fucking give her the life you both deserve, even if she’s a bitch to you half the time.”

I won’t be there – once I do this, there’ll be no reason for me to live.

He snorts. “More than half the time.” A tear slides down his cheek.

There’s a knock at the door, and he grabs my shoulder. Squeezes. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he says in a low tone. “Because I sure as fuck don’t.”

I yank him into an embrace, slapping his back. “Who the fuck knew you’d be worth two hundred million though?” I laugh, and so does he. “You kept me slightly sane, Base. Thank you.”

He pulls back and wipes his eyes with his good hand. “I’m worth a lot more, just saying.”

We both stand and grab our bags as the guards knock again, heavier and impatient. We step towards the door, and I grab Base once more, hugging my best friend tighter but being careful not to hurt the wound in his chest. I hug him like it’ll be the last time.

“You die, I die,” he whispers.

I can’t say it back.

I pull away and yank the new black material up and over my mouth, concealing the scar that makes everyone flinch. The fabric covers my neck too.

“Can you see it?” I ask Base, and when he shakes his head, I sigh in relief. “Good.”