Chapter 32 Declan
Our convoy pulls to the shoulder of an overgrown dirt road not too far from a driveway. We haven’t passed another house in several miles. Woods surround us on all sides. If not for Ronan’s directions, we would not have found this place.
We exit the vehicles. I steady myself on the uneven ground. Focusing on what needs to be done gives me a reprieve from the images of Xavier being hurt.
“I want this fucker alive. The kill is mine.” I growl out as I check my weapons again. I want this fucker to pay, and putting a bullet in him won’t be enough.
“I thought you would. I brought the tranq guns.” Liam hands one to Dad, Conor, and Kieran, keeping one for himself.
“Don’t worry, cousin, you get to Xavier, and we will handle this Kevin guy.
” Liam pats me on the shoulder as we start our journey to save my Xavier.
We stick to the tree line as we make our way.
I want to run. I want to get to him as fast as I can, but if we show ourselves too soon, it may give him time to kill Xavier.
He’s still alive. I know it in my gut. I would feel it if he had left me.
A dilapidated cabin comes into view. The porch is leaning, and it’s missing boards. My A Ghrá doesn’t belong here. He should only be surrounded by luxury. The windows are broken but covered from the inside. I want eyes on him, now.
Dad holds up his hand for us to stop. I have to grit my teeth and plant my feet, so I don’t rush ahead.
He motions toward the front corner of the small yard surrounding the cabin.
Kieran, Liam, and Finn will take the rear, and Conor, Dad, Ronan, and I’ll go through the front.
We’re waiting for Kieran to signal that they’re in place when I hear him.
It’s a gut-wrenching scream of pain. Fuck waiting.
I take off to the front door and kick it in as soon as I reach it.
The sight before me will forever be etched into my brain.
Forever played over and over again like a waking nightmare.
My brain refuses to process what I’m seeing.
Xavier is hanging from chains connected to the ceiling.
His thighs, groin, and stomach are covered in red, angry-looking welts.
I can see blood on the sides of his legs.
I can’t hear anything else. My ears are filled with the moans coming from Xavier.
I finally find my feet and rush to the pulley mechanism on the wall.
Why the fuck are my hands shaking? Fuck, I try again to hit the release. I’m failing him.
Dad comes over to me and takes the chain from my hands.
He hands me a blanket. “Take Xavier when I lower him down.” I see Xavier’s back for the first time.
It’s covered in open wounds. Slash marks crisscross his body, blood dripping down his legs to pool on the floor.
I wrap the blanket gently around him as Dad lowers him.
He whimpers, and his face screws up in pain.
There’s so much blood that I can feel it through the blanket. My heart hammers in my chest.
“I’m here, A Ghrá. I have you. I’ll make them pay,” I whisper in his ear.
Dad comes over and releases him from the restraints.
I’m trying to be gentle with him, but he’s hurt everywhere.
He screams when I lift him into my arms. I continue to whisper that I am here, that he is safe now.
He doesn’t open his eyes. I want to see them, I want him to see me.
“Declan,” he says my name so softly, I almost think I imagine it. Then he goes limp in my arms. I can feel him taking shallow breaths, so I know he is still with me. I won’t allow him to leave me.
Careful not to jar him, I pick my way through the debris on the floor.
“Let’s get him out of here. Ronan is bringing the truck. Kieran will see that the targets get to the compound,” my dad says as he guides me to the door.
A few minutes later, we are on our way. I am still holding Xavier in my lap, angling him so there’s no pressure on his back.
I want him to wake up, to look at me, to say my name again.
I don’t realize I am saying this aloud until Ronan says, “It’s better if he is out right now.
He’d be in more pain if he were awake for it. We’ve got another thirty minutes.”
I hear what Ronan is saying, but I need for Xavier to acknowledge me, to know that he is safe, that no one will ever hurt him again.
I don’t understand the feelings that are flooding me.
It’s making it hard for me to think. My entire life, emotions have been muted, but right now, everything is in technicolor in my head.
I feel, but I don’t know what to do with it.
“Keep talking to him, son, let him know he is safe,” Dad tells me.
So that is what I do. I tell Xavier that I have him.
But my thoughts turn dark, and I start telling him everything that I am going to do to the men who hurt him.
I tell him how I’ll make them suffer, how I want him by my side as I make them scream.
I’m so engrossed in it that I don’t realize that we have arrived at the compound until Dad opens my door.
The compound is where we work on our targets.
It’s in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by electrified fences.
From the front, it looks like a modest ranch-style home.
Underneath it is a different story. We work in the basement and subbasement.
The office downtown is for show and necessary to project what we want the world to see.
But this place—this place is where our true nature can be shown.
Every room is soundproofed, so the screams can’t be heard.
Aunt Alessia meets us at the door. “I have the doctor here waiting,” she says.
I follow her to the infirmary room and see Dr. Wright standing beside a gurney.
He motions for me to put Xavier down. Dr. Wright has been with us for years, so I know he’s good at what he does.
Kieran saved his sister and her kids from an abusive ex years ago.
When I lay him down, he groans, and it takes my dad and aunt both to pull me back from him.
I watch as the doctor starts an IV and hooks him up to monitors.
It’s hard for me to watch him touch Xavier.
“Help me roll him over. I need to see where the blood is coming from.” I move to help. When we roll him over, and the blanket is removed, he screams. The entire back of his body has been ravaged. I hear Alessia gasp.
“Dear Lord.” He starts cleaning the wounds on his back. Xavier groans, and I grab the doctor’s wrist. “I’ve already given him something for the pain. It should be kicking in soon, but I have to get these cuts cleaned. I’m pretty sure some are going to need stitches.”
Alessia grabs my forearm and gently pulls me away. “Let him help Xavier.” It takes everything in me to step back from the gurney. Helplessness saturates me down to my very soul.
“We have the three guys in pens. They are mostly in one piece.” I look up at Kieran.
“Three? I saw two but didn’t pay attention.” How could I when Xavier was hurt?
“Yeah, three. Kevin and two brothers, Brad and Brian Sutherland.” Even in my foggy state, I recognize the brothers’ names.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Do you know them?” Alessia asks.
“Brad was his manager at the café, and Brian is his slimy brother.” I want to go to them, to make them pay, but I won’t leave Xavier. Alessia must see the torn expression on my face.
“Go. I’ll stay with him. He will be out for a while. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.” I nod and leave the room to unleash hell.