Chapter Nine

Rhea

Six Months Later

It’s been six months. Six months that Marvin has been on the run. Six months that I have had my biological father in my life. Six months since my mother and stepfather went to prison. They both plead guilty and are serving life sentences for the things that they did to me. Marcus was charged in connection to the murders as his DNA was found on the tools as well. When confronted, he admitted everything. Marvin is now connected to ten murders and at least thirty rapes across three states. It wasn’t hard to exonerate me from any wrongdoing based on Marcus stating that he knew I was tied up in the closet. No one doubted my story, but they still needed to be sure.

I am sitting on the couch working on the edits for my book. It’s nearly finished, and the next step is to hand it off to Anika for the next steps. Everyone should be home soon from running errands. We have fallen into a routine of sorts. At first, we holed up in the house and stayed paranoid that Marvin was close. Eventually, that got old, so we are moving on with our lives. We are as vigilant as possible, but we live our lives.

We go to The Cherry every Sunday night when it’s usually closed. We like taking over the main play area since the private rooms were turned into care rooms. It’s a place where people can rest and relax before and after scenes. Emma found that the private rooms were a security risk, so now there is a camera in there and no scenes are allowed to be performed.

Today will be the first day in six weeks that Quinn, Jace, Rowan, and Max can have sex. The girls and I talked them into getting the same piercings as Theo, so Theo has been the one to take care of Anika and I sexually. Mia and Emma have each other, but Anika and I didn’t have anyone. Quinn offered to do other things, but I felt it would be tortuous. I suggested we all just chill out, but then changed my mind when I realized that sounded awful.

We are all excited to get there. We do our scene and everything, but this time we can actually include sex. I’ve missed Quinn and Jace so much. I’ve missed Rowan and Max too. I’ve grown close to everyone. I love them so much, I can’t imagine life without them.

Having my dad around has been nice. We have talked about everything from my childhood, from the good things to the awful things. He knows every detail of my life that I can remember. We’ve gone over every picture and vowed to make new memories together.

“Hey,” Quinn says when he walks in the door. Everyone else follows in behind him.

“Hi,” I say happily.

“Are you excited or something?” Theo asks me. “You are dressed already.”

“I am so fucking excited,” I admit with a grin as he pulls me up to stand. Quinn kisses me deeply before smacking my ass and making me giggle.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” Quinn says. “I’ve waited long enough.”

“I don’t know. Maybe a few more days to make sure you’re healed,” I giggle. He scowls at me before picking me up and tossing me over his shoulder. I squeal and wiggle as he takes me out to the porch.

“Come on,” Max says to Anika.

“Nah. I think she’s right. Maybe next weekend,” Anika laughs.

“Nika, I will fuck you right here on this porch,” Max threatens. “Go to the car.”

“Okay, okay,” she laughs.

We all load up and start driving toward the club. I am on cloud nine the entire way. Quinn and Jace are gently stroking my inner thigh, and it’s driving me insane. When we pull into the parking spot, I jump out and wait for everyone else to join me.

“Let’s go to the care area and talk first,” Quinn says. “It’s been a while since we’ve all had a full scene, so I want us to all be on the same page.”

“That’s a good idea,” Rowan says. “Even if I do want to rip their clothes off.”

“I’m so excited,” Anika says.

“I told you it would be worth it for their reaction,” Theo tells the guys. “Just wait until they feel you.”

“Okay. Let’s hurry it up,” I say and Theo laughs.

We go inside and sit down in the care room. I am sitting in Quinn’s lap with my legs across Jace. I am wearing a tight white dress that comes down mid-thigh. I feel so amazing in this dress. Six months ago, I never would’ve left the house like this, but I am more confident in my body now. Max and Rowan have been helping me exercise and I haven’t really lost weight, but it has built my confidence significantly. They stressed to me that if I went into it wanting to lose weight that I would get discouraged. I have essentially been banned from weighing myself or counting calories because I just hyper fixate on it. I have lost one size, but I see myself in a different light now.

I have learned to love who I am, exactly how I am. I am short and thick, but there is nothing wrong with that. I exercise and eat well. I take care of myself, and I’m healthy. That is the important thing. None of the guys have an issue with the way I look and clearly enjoy what they see.

“So” I ask.

“What would you like to use?” Jace asks me.

“Uh… Are you comfortable with a whip?” I ask. “I know you’ve been working with Theo.”

“I am,” Jace says. “Let’s start small today though. Pick something under four feet and we can go from there.”

“Those hurt more,” I laugh.

“Yes, but there is less of a chance of serious damage,” Quinn says. “Go pick out two toys for impact and we will come pick something to tease you during the scene.”

“Oh, please make it wax,” I say.

“Maybe,” Quinn grins. “Go on. Quicker we do this, the quicker I can fuck you.”

I jump up and lean down to kiss them. Theo grabs me before I can leave and pulls me down for a kiss. “I am proud of you for wearing that dress, Rhea,” he says softly, patting my ass.

“Thank you,” I say cheerfully.

“Go do what they told you,” he encourages.

I leave the room and go to the play area. I search through everything before choosing a four-foot black leather whip and a black leather crop. I set those items on the table before walking back toward the care area. I hear a noise behind me, and I spin around, knowing that no one else should be in this building.

“Rhea,” Marvin says with a snarky smile. Panic stabs through me when I see him.

“Quinn!” I scream as loudly as I can. When I open my mouth to scream again, Marvin raises his pistol. Instead of pulling the trigger, he strikes me in the side of the head with the butt of the gun. My scream comes out as a grunt as I stumble backward. I am dazed and the room is spinning now. I need to get to the others. I can’t let him hurt them.

I turn and hold on to the wall, trying to get to the others. I turn the corner, and Theo catches me in his arms. “Oh my God! What happened?” he asks hurriedly.

“M-Marvin,” I mutter. “He’s here.”

“Marvin,” Theo says with wide eyes as he looks behind me. He tightens his grip on my waist, but as he starts to pull me behind his body, a shot rings out.

I let out a blood-curdling scream when Theo’s body collapses to the ground. I fall to my knees beside him, and I keep screaming his name. “Theo! No. No. No. Theo. Please, no. Please, wake up.” My sobs are hysterical as I try to wake him up. He’s not going to wake up, though. Even in my state of distress, I know he’s gone.

Theo has a small hole in the center of his forehead and a trail of blood has leaked out and is running down to drip to the floor. His eyes are wide, and his soul is gone. His eyes are empty and devoid of anything recognizable.

I sense someone step over us, and I realize he’s headed for everyone else. “Marvin, no!” I scream as I jump up. Theo would understand why I am abandoning him. I can’t let the others get hurt. I can’t lose them too. I can grieve him later, but I have to save everyone.

My whole world falls silent when two more shots ring out. I am dizzy and hardly able to walk. I’m using the wall as leverage to make my way to the back of the club. I keep screaming for Marvin to stop, but my voice is hardly audible. Once I finally make it to the room, everyone is on the ground except for Quinn and Marvin.

“Please don’t do this,” I sob. “Please, Marvin. Please.”

“You took everything from me, so I’m taking everything from you,” Marvin hisses.

“No!” I scream, my voice breaking, when another shot echoes through the room and Quinn drops to the ground.

“This is for you, baby,” Marvin says with an evil grin. I take a step toward him, and he immediately puts the gun in his mouth. I am completely disconnected by the time his body hits the floor.

I’m looking around the room and seeing everything I’ve ever known lifeless on the floor. My entire world went up in flames in this building. One minute, everything was perfect. We were together and happy. Now… now I have nothing. He took everything. He took them all. I loved them more than anything in this world. He took my best friends. He took the opportunity for revenge.

How am I supposed to live in this world alone? How do I move on knowing that their deaths are my fault? It should be me on that floor dead, not them. Why did they have to lose their life? Why couldn’t he just kill me instead?

I stumble over to pick up the gun. I’m not surprised to find that it’s a nine-millimeter. Ten rounds. Ten people. There should be one round left for me. I could go on and try to find a way to live with myself, but I don’t want to. I’m tired, I’m sad, and I don’t want to fix it. I don’t want to find a way to survive without my family. I want to be with them, even if it’s in death.

I make my way back to Theo. He is still laying the exact same way that he was earlier. I can’t let him be out here by himself, so I grab his arms and pull his body. I am weak, but I don’t stop. I push myself as hard as I can to get his body with the others. I cannot leave this world without him close by. Once I manage to get him into the room, I pull everyone over so that we are together on one side, and I leave Marvin’s body by the door.

I lay myself between Quinn and Jace. I gently rest my head on Quinn’s chest before grabbing Jace’s arm. I pull as hard as I can to move him to his side so I can drape his lifeless arm across my body. I feel safe with them surrounding me. They’ve always protected me and I’m glad that when I pass on, they will be by my side like they have been for my entire life. I don’t know what’s next, but I know that I will be with them again soon.

As a final tear slips down my face, I close my eyes and press the gun to my temple. It is sore from being hit, but I don’t mind the pain. “I love you,” I speak softly to my family before taking a long, deep breath. On my exhale, I squeeze the trigger.