Chapter 26 Damon #2
“Michael?” she asks.
“Don’t listen to him, Kait. He’s lying. I’m trying to save you. They’re here to hurt you. Look what they did to me!”
“We wouldn’t have had to do this if you didn’t point a gun at us,” Jace says like he’s talking to a toddler. “Now, what did we learn about aiming weapons at people when you don’t know if they’re armed, or what skills they have?”
Michael just glares at him.
“Tell me why.” I let go of Xave’s hand and stand. “Why did you do it?”
He shifts his glare to me but doesn’t say anything.
“We have ways of making you talk.” Jax lowers his knife and gently runs the tip of the blade over Michael’s cheek, leaving a streak of red behind as it slices his skin. “Ways that will leave you alive and conscious for a long time.”
He freezes, and his glare melts into a look of pure terror.
“My brother is right,” Jace says as he places the tip of one of his butterfly knives against Michael’s neck, right over his carotid artery.
“Remember when I said we don’t like liars?
We don’t like people who hurt our friends either.
So pick your words carefully, otherwise you’ll get to see exactly how it feels to have your fingers cut off one by one. ”
“I’d listen to them,” Killian says as he and Felix stand by the couch. “I hate liars even more than they do.” He lifts the side of his jacket to show off the gun and holster he’s wearing. “And I know a half-dozen places I can hit you without drawing enough blood for you to pass out.”
Michael is as white as a sheet, and Kait looks like she’s about to be sick, but all I feel is calm.
“Why did you do it?” I repeat. “Why did you try to have me killed?”
His eyes dart to Kait.
“Did she ask you to do it?” Xave asks.
“No!” Kait cries. “I’d never do anything like that. And neither would Michael. Damon, please. This has to be a mistake,” she pleads.
“It’s not a mistake,” I tell her. “Did you have anything to do with it?”
She shakes her head so hard her blonde hair flies around her face, and a hank gets stuck to her lipstick. “No. I swear.”
“Tell our friend why you tried to have him killed,” Jax says to Michael. “Otherwise I’m going to get bored. And trust me when I say you don’t want me to get bored.”
“You really don’t,” Jace says conversationally. “My brother isn’t nearly as patient as I am. And I’m about two seconds away from peeling your fingernails off with my friend here.” He wiggles one of his knives. “So either start talking or prepare for a manicure you’ll never forget.”
“I did it for you,” Michael practically shrieks, his eyes on Kait.
“What?” She blinks at him a few times, her face going even paler.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Felix says. “You thought that if you had Damon killed, then Kait would inherit everything when her old man dies, and since you’re the side piece, you’d get to share the bounty because you could finally be together properly.”
He glares at Felix.
“I think it goes deeper than that,” Xave says, his voice dark as he stares Michael down.
“You were going to take out Damon, not so Kait could inherit everything, but because you know the girls would get everything Damon has, and their father would most likely have things set up so the company would be passed down to his children and not his spouse. But they’re so young that someone would have to step in and run the business for them while they’re still underage, and since you’re with Kait, you could fill that role, and it would give you years to find a way to make his empire yours. ”
“Michael?” Kait asks softly, her eyes shimmering with tears.
“I did it for you, for us,” Michael says, his gaze desperate and seeking as he looks at her. “To protect you from him. To protect the girls from him.”
I take a step toward him, but before I can even figure out what I’m going to do, Jace drives one of his knives into Michael’s thigh.
“Oopsie,” Jace says as Michael howls in pain.
“Did I do that?” He yanks the blade out and wipes it on Michael’s arm to clean it.
“That’s what happens when you insult one of my friends and insinuate that he’s a predator.
Got anything else to say about him? Or are you going to stop testing us and answer his questions? ”
Michael’s pale and panting from pain, but he just stares at me defiantly.
“Was it for the money?” I ask. “Did you do it because you wanted my money?”
He doesn’t answer, but given the flicker of regret in his eyes, he doesn’t have to.
“Are you bored yet?” Jax asks, using the code phrase he came up with to ask if I want him and Jace to finish taking care of things.
I nod, and it feels like all the fight leaves me in a rush. “Take him out back. We don’t have any neighbors close enough for anyone to hear him scream.”
“Roger that,” Jax says.
“You got it, boss,” Jace adds, and the two of them haul Michael up and drag him out of the media room.
“I’ll go make sure things don’t go too off the rails,” Killian tells us. “Stay here, okay?” he says to Felix.
Felix nods, and Killian leaves the way the twins did.
“You really had no idea?” I ask Kait.
She shakes her head as tears stream down her face. She looks like she’s been through the wringer, and I feel a pang of sympathy for her.
Who knows if Michael actually loved her or if he was just using her, but it has to be traumatizing to not just find out her boyfriend tried to kill her stepson, but to watch him be brutalized like that.
“You’re not sending the girls to Hendrix next year,” I tell her.
She lifts her eyes to mine. “What?”
“Izzy called and told me you were talking about sending her and the girls to Hendrix Academy. That’s not happening. They need to be here with you. And I don’t know if you actually know anything about Hendrix, but they’re never setting foot on that campus. Not while I’m alive.”
She blinks a few times. “Okay.”
“Do you have someone you can call?” I ask, my tone gentler. “It’s probably best if you weren’t around for the rest of the night.”
“What are those boys going to do to him?” she asks in a small voice.
“Kill him,” Xave says simply.
“And you’re sure he did all those things?” she asks.
I nod.
“No one will ever know he was here,” Xave continues. “We’ll take care of things and make sure to keep you out of it.”
“I had no idea,” she says as she stands. “I didn’t know anything.”
“I believe you,” I tell her. “But I need you to promise not to tell anyone about this. You might not have done anything, but you were here, and you’re the reason he did what he did.
You’re involved, even if you did nothing.
We’ll make sure this doesn’t come back on you, but you need to promise that you’ll make sure it doesn’t come back on us. ”
“I promise,” she whispers, and even though it’s clear she’s in shock, I believe her. “I’m going to get freshened up and call Jacqueline,” she says, her voice wooden. “I’m so sorry.”
I nod to tell her I understand. “Me too.”
Without warning, she launches herself into my arms and gives me a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, and I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I hug her back, and I can feel tears pricking at my eyes when she pulls away.
With a quick look at the couch where Michael was sitting, she hurries out of the room.
“You okay?” Xave puts his arm over my shoulder and pulls me against his body.
“Yeah. It’s finally over.”
“Yeah. It is.” He presses a kiss against my hair, and I lean into him as I soak up the comfort he’s offering.
It’s actually over, and it feels like I can breathe for the first time since the night I found out what was going on.
I’m still not exactly sure why all of this happened, but I know deep down in my soul that Xave is it for me.
We may not have been together for long, but we fit together, and he was made for me, the same way I was made for him.
“I love you,” I say quietly, needing to tell him how I feel.
His arm around me tightens, and he inhales sharply as he presses his forehead against mine. “I love you too,” he whispers back. “And I’m never letting you go.”
“Good.” I turn my face to his for a quick kiss. “Because I’m never letting you go either.”