Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 5

Friday – A few seconds earlier

Matt

“Should we just knock and say housekeeping?” Rob asked as we stared at the door with Magnus King’s name on it.

“What kind of shoddy hotel has housekeeping coming around this late at night?” Tanner said. “Utterly ridiculous.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Obviously.” Tanner pointed to his chef’s hat. “A late night snack.” He knocked on the door and yelled: “Room service!”

“What the hell are you doing?” I said. “We didn’t come up with a plan yet.”

“I find it better to just act on impulse. I rarely plan anything. It always works out okay.”

Of course everything worked out okay for him. Because he knew some kind of weird technique that put people to sleep almost instantly. Or killed them. I still wasn’t entirely sure.

“You don’t have any food trays,” Rob said. “Magnus is obviously going to know you’re lying. Besides, won’t he know you’re not the chef at this hotel?”

“Magnus King is rich. He barely pays attention to who’s on staff.” Tanner shrugged. “Look at me. I have no idea who cooks my meals on a daily basis.”

“Isn’t it Nigel?” I asked.

“Oh. Right. Yes, probably. But I don’t know the particulars. He may hire it out for all I know.”

I was pretty sure he made everything. Or else he wouldn’t have asked me how much meat I wanted in my lunches. I shook away the thought. What the hell was I thinking about right now? “But won’t he recognize you? You said you’ve been working on setting him up with someone.”

Tanner shrugged. “He definitely won’t recognize me. I just have one of those faces that blends into a crowd.”

“Do you though?” I asked.

“Of course. Trust me, he has no idea who I am.”

“But you just said you were helping him…”

“Forget about that. And don’t mention it to him. I blend in. Trust me. It would be rather impractical to stand out everywhere I went.”

“Then you should stop wearing neon green tuxes with zigzags all over them,” Rob said.

“That’s not me, Young Robert. How many times do I have to tell you? Look at the very normal tux I’m wearing right now. And definitely don’t mention the colorful tuxedos or man bun to Magnus. It will confuse the poor lad.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Rob asked.

Tanner just shook his head.

“Fine, maybe he won’t recognize you,” I said. “But what should we do? Should we just stand here?”

“To the side.” Tanner pushed Rob away from the door.

Rob wasn’t expecting to be pushed and almost fell over. “What the fuck, man?”

“I’ll distract Magnus with my charm. And then you two rush him? Good? Good.”

I ducked to the side right as the door opened.

Magnus King, the guy from Nigel’s video feed, answered the door. “Who the hell are you?”

Yeah, this was a terrible plan.

“I’m Chef Rhodes,” Tanner said. “Ask anyone from the kitchen.”

Why the hell did he tell him his name?! Now he was definitely going to recognize him.

“Chef Rhodes? There is no…”

I didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. I rushed in and slammed my shoulder into his stomach.

The guy was built like a brick wall, but Rob jumped onto my back to add to my momentum and all three of us toppled to the floor.

“Matt!” Brooklyn screamed.

I turned my head to see her. She stood up, but immediately tripped and fell to her knees. She had a towel wrapped around her and her wrists and ankles were still bound. But she was alive. She was still breathing. The relief I felt was quickly erased when King slammed his fist into the side of my jaw.

Blood flew out of my mouth.

King grabbed me in a headlock, wrapping his arm around my throat.

Fuck.I clawed at his arm.

Rob scrambled to his feet and looked around for something to help. “Do something!” he yelled at Tanner.

“But Matt told me not to kill anyone!”

I gasped for air as King tightened his arm around my throat. I silently pleaded with my eyes to Tanner. Help me.

“I don’t know what you want me to do!” Tanner yelled. “Is murder okay now?”

Rob pulled a lamp from the socket and slammed it down on King’s shoulder. The glass shattered into a million pieces.

“What the fuck?” King groaned and released me from his grip.

I sat up and then slammed my elbow into his face.

“Son of a bitch,” he said and grabbed his jaw.

I stood up and was about to kick him when I saw a glint of metal out of the corner of my eye.

“Enough,” said a deep voice.

We all froze. There was an older man standing in the corner of the room with a gun pointed in our direction.

He smiled. “Matthew Caldwell. Your family has snubbed mine for years. Do you think you’re better than me?”

I’m not a mobster, if that’s what you mean. I wiped the blood off my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m just here for my girl. Let her go and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Ah yes. Brooklyn Pruitt.” He walked over to Brooklyn on the floor, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pulled her to her feet.

She didn’t scream. But I saw the tears biting the corners of her eyes.

I swear to God. I took one step toward him, but he turned the gun to the side of Brooklyn’s head.

No.

“Take care of Jacob,” she mouthed silently at me. “Promise.”

I couldn’t lose her again.

“Please,” she mouthed again. She didn’t look scared.

But I was terrified. I couldn’t live without her. Not again.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks now. “Matt. Promise me.”

I nodded. Of course I’d take care of her son. But I couldn’t lose her. I’d only just gotten her back. Baby.

Locatelli gripped her hair tighter, pulling her head back so I couldn’t see her eyes anymore.

For years I couldn’t remember the hue of her eyes. I didn’t want to forget again.

King pushed himself off the ground. “I really think we should talk about this,” he said.

“Well, this has been fun,” Locatelli said. “But it’s time to take care of the trash.”

I grit my teeth. Isabella had said something like that to Brooklyn once. When she’d found out that Brooklyn’s uncle was the janitor. And no one was allowed to talk to Brooklyn like that ever again.

“Let her go,” I said as evenly as possible. “If you think it’s been bad being snubbed by my family, just wait until we reign hell on you.”

“Your family won’t lift a finger unless they want to be next. The city is mine now. As soon as I end the Pruitt line.”

What the fuck was he talking about?

“Luigi,” Magnus said and lifted his hands to his sides in peace. “We really should talk about this. Teaming up with Patricia Cannavaro is a mistake. You can’t trust her.”

Patricia Cannavaro?Was he talking about Mrs. Pruitt? Mother fucker. I should have known she was behind this somehow.

“Did someone order room service?” said someone from behind us.

I turned around to see a very bewildered guy in an actual server’s uniform holding a tray of food.

Tanner pulled off the cloche to reveal a steak dinner. “Ah. Perfect. Just what I was looking for.” He lifted up the steak knife, spun it around, and threw the knife. It sunk into Locatelli’s forearm.

He screamed and dropped his gun.

A shot fired off, the bullet landing in the drywall.

“Fuck!” Locatelli yelled and released his grip on Brooklyn’s hair so he could pull out the knife.

Brooklyn fell to the ground. “Matt!” she yelled as she somehow managed to kick the gun toward me with her bound ankles.

I grabbed it off the ground and held it in front of me.

Locatelli dropped the knife from his hand and stared at me.

I’d never held a gun before. I’d never even imagined killing someone before. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I used to dream of offing Mr. Pruitt for what he did to Brooklyn.

But this guy in front of me? Practically a complete stranger? I clenched my jaw. He’d kidnapped Brooklyn. He’d been seconds away from killing her. He deserved to die.

The gun shook slightly in my hand.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“Get over there,” I said to Magnus King. “With him.”

“I’m not with him. I don’t agree with anything he’s fucking doing.”

“Over there. Now.”

Magnus kept his hands in the air and walked over to Locatelli. I saw him eyeing something on the side of his desk. It looked like there was a button hidden at the top of one of the legs. A panic button probably. But he hadn’t hit it.

“Matt, don’t,” Brooklyn said. She’d grabbed the knife off the ground and was working on cutting through her restraints.

“Rob, help her.”

Rob hurried over and grabbed the knife. He quickly got her free and helped her to her feet.

“Get her out of here,” I said and held the gun a little tighter. I didn’t want her to see this.

Sixteen years ago, Mr. Pruitt took Brooklyn away from me because he thought I couldn’t protect her. He thought Miller would do a better job taking care of her than me. But Mr. Pruitt was fucking wrong. I could protect her. I’d do anything to keep her safe. But the fucking gun kept shaking in my hand.

Rob tried to pull Brooklyn out of the room but she refused.

“Matt,” she said.

I took a deep breath and stared at the man I was about to kill.

“Matt, it’s okay. We can just call 9-1-1.”

Nothing about this was okay. “Miller wouldn’t have even hesitated.” So why the fuck was I hesitating?

“You’re not Miller.” She gently put her hand on my arm.

I can protect you too. I clenched my jaw. I had to do this.

“This isn’t you,” she said again.

But it needed to be. For once in my life I fucking needed to show up. The gun started shaking more in my hand. I just needed to pull the trigger. I needed to show her I’d always be there to protect her.

“I don’t want you to be anyone but you, Matt. Please.”

I turned to look at her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her beautiful blue irises were rimmed with red. I refused to ever forget the color again. I refused to let anyone ever take her away from me. The gun kept shaking in my hand.

Brooklyn wound her fingers around my arm. “I love you exactly the way you are.”

I felt tears falling down my cheeks.

And a gunshot echoed in my ears.

No.

Blood splattered on the wall behind Luigi Locatelli’s head and he fell to his knees. The shot had gone clean through his forehead.

I didn’t.

I stared at the gun in my hand in horror. My stomach churned. I was a murderer. I was just as bad as her father.

Brooklyn let go of my arm. She looked…horrified. Disgusted. By me. She was staring at me like she didn’t even know me.

I didn’t mean to.

I dropped the gun. All I’d ever wanted was to protect her. I’d wanted to be enough. Because no matter how much I wanted to live in the present, I was haunted by the past.

She’d chosen Miller. And I knew a piece of her wished that he was the one standing beside her right now. I’d never fill that hole in her heart. I’d never be what she truly wanted or needed.

Especially now, based on the way she was staring at me.