Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
LANA
M y dad paces his office as I sit in one of the armchairs, staring at him with what is no doubt a scrutinizing expression on my face. He’d texted me last night asking me to come to his office first thing, but I didn’t think anything of it until this very moment.
It’s my eighteenth birthday, and I figured he was calling me in here to wish me a happy birthday, but with the way he’s acting, I have a feeling my day is going to be anything but happy.
“What’s going on?” I ask, sitting up straighter and preparing myself for bad news. My mind races as I conjure up a hundred different scenarios in my mind.
Did a mission go wrong?
Did someone die?
What the fuck is happening?
He stops moving and slowly turns to face me, a pained expression on his face, which raises my hackles even further.
“Spit it out,” I grunt, needing to know what’s wrong.
“A…” he st arts, and his throat bobs as he swallows. “There’s something you need to know. I should have told you a long time ago, and I’m sorry I kept it to myself for so long. I didn’t want to hurt you, but you have a right to know… especially now.”
I stare at the man who has been my father for as long as I can remember, the man who took me in when I had no one else, and sigh in frustration.
“What is it?” My tone is flat, and I do my best to school my features, not wanting to show the irritation, hurt, and anger that I’m feeling.
What has he been keeping from me?
“It’s about your family,” he whispers and takes a seat in the chair opposite me, clasping his hands together as his eyes meet mine.
“My family?” I croak, not sure I even want to know what he has to tell me, but I know I need to. I’ll regret not knowing whatever he has to say.
My dad scrubs a hand down his face and looks at me apologetically. “You grew up knowing that your family died and that I took you in, but what you don’t know are the circumstances surrounding it.”
He pauses for a moment, seeming to try and gauge my reaction, but I don’t give him one. I need him to continue.
He sighs. “Your family… they weren’t just anyone, A. They were a powerful family, and they ran in the kind of circles where money is everything. They didn’t just die, honey. They were killed.”
My ears ring as I take in his words, and I force myself to breathe, trying to fight back the tears that are threatening to spill .
“Keep going,” I rasp.
“Your family always had a rivalry with the Richardson family, and when your father had a debt to Callum Richardson that he couldn’t pay.
” He pauses, his eyes darting from mine down to his slacks, where he brushes his hand over the material.
“Callum Richardson killed your family, and he would have killed you, too, if it weren’t for me getting there in time to get you.
He tried to hire our company to take out your family, but we refused.
Still, I just had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, and it did.
Your family were killed, but that didn’t kill the contracts out on you all entirely.
For that to happen, you would need to die too, which is why it’s imperative that we can keep you hidden until we can find a way to deal with the Richardsons. ”
“I…” I start but trail off. I have no freaking idea what to say right now. My mind is blank, and my entire body feels numb.
“That’s not all,” he says hesitantly, and I nod at him to continue.
“You’re eighteen now, which means you’re entitled to your inheritance from your birth family.
I’ve managed to keep you hidden all of these years, but I just got word from a lawyer, who somehow managed to find you, that we need to set up a meeting so you can receive what’s rightfully yours.
Callum may be able to track the money, and since the lawyer has already reached out, there’s no doubt in my mind that Callum is already sniffing around, trying to find out where you are.
Him, and every mercenary out there that’s chomping at the bit to fulfil one of the existing contracts and have themselves a nice pay day. ”
I take a deep breath. “So, what does that mean?”
“It means you’re in danger, A. But I’m not going to let him get to you. I’ve kept you safe for this long, and I’ll continue to do so until I take my last breath.”
I blink back to the present and stare at the mansion in front of me. The drive here was long, but it didn’t diminish the determination I have to get this done.
I do feel bad about drugging Cole, but in my defense, he did it to me first.
Just for a very different reason.
I’ve spent the last two years learning everything I could about the Richardson family, so I know Callum Richardson and his three sons will be at the home, as well as a tight security system and an army of bodyguards.
His sons are between the ages of twenty and twenty-five, and from my time looking into them, I know they’re into the exact same shit as their father.
They like to come across as a well-respected, wealthy family. But behind the scenes, they’re nothing but scum. They buy and sell women, and nearly all of their money comes from illegal means.
Callum Richardson is the reason my entire family is dead, and I’m going to repay the favor.
I approach the fence surrounding the house, knowing that as soon as I start to climb it, the armed guards will appear, and the fight will be on.
Though, I don’t let that stop me. I’ve always known coming here would lead to a bloodbath, I just have to survive long enough for some of that blood to be of the Richardson variety.
I throw my bag filled with everything I could need onto my back and start climbing the fence.
It’s an old, heavy metal fence that really should be updated, especially since the winding patterns in the metal make it easy as hell to climb up on.
There’s barbed wire covering the top, which I just hop right over, and I land in a crouch, listening to the silence surround me and waiting for what’s to come.
It doesn’t take long for me to hear distinct shouts before multiple footsteps approach me. I pull the handgun from my leg holster and take aim. Bullets fly towards me, but I manage to duck and dodge each one, returning fire on those who shot.
I shoot three guys in the head, another one in the shoulder, disarming him momentarily, and another one in the chest. I shoot towards another guy approaching me, but he’s moving too fast for me get him. He dodges the bullets, pointing his gun towards me before he… throws it?
What the hell?
“Quickly, this way,” he says, and grabs hold of my arm.
Momentarily stunned, I blink at him in surprise before shrugging out of his hold and going to throw a punch. He catches my fist before it can make contact and growls under his breath, “If you’re here to take care of the piece of shit, then let me help you.”
I debate it for a moment before realizing I really have nothing to lose. It could be a trap, and I’d get the audience I came for anyway.
“Fine,” I mutter before following him along the edge of the fence.
“They sent team one to come out and stop you. I took down my team—team two—and put the security tape on a loop so that if team three checks, they won’t be able to see you. For now, anyways.”
“Why are you helping me?”
He chuckles. “You’re Alana, right? I used to work for your dad.
I’ve been on this damn estate for the last seven years, keeping an eye on Callum and trying to intervene when I can.
Unfortunately, after Riko died and the company was taken over, I’ve had no one to report to other than random check-ins with Dare, so I’ve been trying to stop what I can from the inside, but it’s difficult trying to work alone when there are so many other guards. ”
That sounds like something my dad would do, always the paranoid protector, though it turns out his paranoia has saved my life on multiple occasions now.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Reed,” he says and grabs my arm again, pulling me towards a side entrance.
“You know we’re gonna die, right?”
He snorts and shakes his head. “This is the most exciting thing to happen to me in seven years. A little death ain’t gonna change that.”
Well, okay then…
He opens the door and leads me inside. We walk through a dark, narrow hallway that looks like it’s been abandoned for years before he comes to a stop in front of a door.
“This leads into the main building. Are you ready for this?”
I nod. “As I’ll ever be.”
He grins wickedly. “Good.”
He pulls another gun from his waistband and swings the door open, not even taking a breath before shooting the two guards on the other side. The gun he used doesn’t have a silencer on it, and chaos erupts immediately.
“I’ll hold them back for as long as I can,” Reed shouts. “You do what you need to do. ”
I glance past him and see at least six men coming our way from the left, while there’s no one coming from the right.
This might be my only chance, and I’m taking it.
“Thank you,” I murmur, and he nods before focusing his attention back on the guards, and I run down the hallway away from them and towards the main part of the house.
I did it. I got in. Now, I just need to do what I came here to do.
I enter the main foyer and look around in distaste at the gaudy furniture and decorations lining the walls.
What is it about people with money thinking they should decorate like this?
At least Cole’s family doesn’t. I wouldn’t have lasted until Thanksgiving dinner if they did.
Cole.
Fuck, maybe I should have at least stuck around to say goodbye, but it’s well past the time for regrets right now. There’s no turning back.
I hear the noise of a TV, and I follow the sound to a sitting room where Josh, the youngest of the Richardson sons, is sitting on a chaise lounge, flicking through his phone.
I sneak up behind him, not even bothering with an interaction, before pulling out my knife and standing behind him.
I snake my arm around him and slice his neck before he even knows I’m here.
I’m not here for pleasantries; I’m here to get the job done.
He coughs and splutters on his own blood, his body twitching as his lifeless eyes peer into mine. I’m just about to back out of the room to continue my search for the others when I feel something press into the small of my back, not too far from the C that Cole carved into my skin.
I swear, if they shoot me there and ruin his hard work, I’m going to come back from the dead and chop them into pieces.
I slowly turn my head to find Roan, the eldest brother, glaring at me with a fire in his eyes so intense I’m surprised I don’t burst into flames.
“Hey there,” I say with a smirk. “Where’s the rest of your poisonous family?”
“I’m going to enjoy watching him rip you apart, little girl,” he says ominously, and I nod my head.
“Then let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”
He grabs me by the back of my neck and leads me out of the room and through another door where his brother, Brice, waits, twirling a knife through his fingers.
He approaches us and takes my own knife from my hand, inspecting the blood on the blade before looking to his brother.
“It’s Josh’s blood, just in case you were wondering,” I say with a shrug, and he charges towards me. If this is the end for me, then at least I got to kill one of them. I’d have preferred them all to die, but one is better than none, I guess.
“Stop, Brice.” A new voice enters the room, and I glance to the side, only to see the man I’ve hated with everything in me for as long as I can remember. The man who has been at the top of my hitlist since I learned of his existence.
He stands there casually, his hands in the pockets of his slacks as though he doesn’t have a care in the world.
The pressure in the small of my back moves, and my eyes flick to the side, only to see the gun now pointed at my head and Brice sliding in behind me, his knife working its way to my throat.
Poetic, that he’s doing to me exactly what I’ve just done to his little brother.
“You’re a brave girl, Alana,” Callum says as he stares at me, his dead eyes taking in every inch of my body. “And you’ve certainly grown up since I last saw you.”
“You motherfucker,” I growl and go to step towards him, but the blade digging into my neck nicks my skin, and I halt my movements.
“You’re notorious for working alone. For killing alone. And now, you’re going to die alone, too.”