Chapter 19 Noah
Chapter Nineteen
NOAH
I'm going to kill the fucker.
My hands tighten on the wheel as I head for the casino where his little bitch ass is hiding.
It's been two days, and Summer still has bruises from where he hit her. Which means the fucker is dead. I'm going to put his head through a wall, and that's going to be the least of his worries.
He was dead to begin with when he put his hands on her, but I was going to wait.
I was going to take my time, see what was going to turn up, and then when the other shitshows he's been causing had been dealt with, I was going to kill him.
It was going to be slow, too. He was going to spend days begging for me to just end it all.
Not once did I ever think my entire family was going to turn on me. I thought they were loyal. They were all raised to be loyal.
Robert's the worst, though. He didn't just leave like the others did. He's not working with the enemy; he's trying to become the enemy.
Guess he's about to find out what I do to my enemies.
I pull into the parking lot, coming to a stop in front of the valet stand.
A young man in a black vest rushes to take my keys, slipping into the car and taking off.
As I stalk into the casino, my employees start to whisper. I'm not here often, only when something is happening.
And something is happening.
Robert is sitting at the bar, sipping a drink. A good look for eight in the morning.
I clamp a hand on his shoulder. "Get your ass up and to my office right now."
He looks at me over his shoulder, the smile slipping into a hateful glare as he takes another sip of his drink. He's already sporting a black eye, courtesy of Hector, but it's not enough. I want to hear the crunch of each one of his bones as I destroy him.
Without a word, Robert stands up and stalks to the stairs that lead to the offices. He climbs them, his back stiff, his hands in fists.
More people watch us as we go, their curious gazes burning a hole into my back.
I keep following him, though, not sparing anyone around us a glance.
I snap as soon as my office door is shut behind us. "You put your fucking hands on her. You fucking put your hands on her after I told you to stay away from her."
He smirks, keeping his back to the door. "Maybe she liked it. Did you ever stop to think about that? She was begging for it. She wanted me to touch her. She wanted me to bury my co—"
I don't think.
My fist slams into the side of his face, something crunching. It's not a bone in my hand, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't hurt like a bitch.
Robert laughs, stumbling to the side and spitting blood onto the black carpet. "You're pathetic. You're acting like a child who had their toy stolen, even though I was the one who bought her. She's mine."
"Not fucking likely." I get in his face, hand on his throat as I slam him back into the wall. My fingers press into his vein. "I told you to stay the fuck away from her, but you seem to think you don't have to listen to me."
He struggles to breathe. His eyes are unfocused, the pressure preventing blood from flowing through him properly. "Why should I? Every choice you've made has been the wrong one. You keep putting the family in more and more danger."
"I've pulled back from several attacks. I've hauled our people back and sent dozens of them into hiding, and you think I'm not doing enough to protect them?
" I shake my head, pulling him off the wall only to slam him back into it.
"You don't know the first thing about the burden I have to bear or everything I have to go through to keep this family safe.
You don't know the pressure it puts on my head each time someone dies, and I have to be the one to tell their family. "
Robert laughs as I step back. He slumps over for a second before pushing himself off the wall. "We wouldn't be in this position right now if you didn't need to get revenge. Dad was a piece of shit who didn't care about us at all."
"You're just like him."
The color drains from his face.
It's probably the worst way I could hurt Robert; it's going to throw him off. That one little comment is going to fester and eat at him.
Because I'm not going to kill him today. Even though I should. Even though I want to.
But I can't risk the shit he's working on the side blowing up in my face when I'm this close to ending Aiden.
I just have to figure out how I'm going to keep Summer in the process.
Robert lunges for me, fury written across his face. His punch lands hard, my lip splitting and hot blood tracking down my chin.
The second time he tries to hit me, I grab him, tossing him into the desk. It groans beneath his weight, the papers and computer on top going sailing to the floor with a loud crash.
Robert gets off the desk, groaning and staggering to his feet.
"You're fucking useless as a leader. And you're fucking useless as a brother.
You're still trying to prove you're the boss while your own people are starting to turn against you.
" The color drains from his face as soon as he realizes what he's said.
I punch him in the face, and he trips over the broken computer, going to the ground. "What the fuck do you know about that?"
He shakes his head as I drop down, pinning him to the ground.
I deliver one punch to his head after another, his blood splattering.
I lose myself in the moment. The sound of flesh hitting flesh. It's addicting.
"Boss!" Hector grabs me, hauling me off Robert. "You're going to kill him."
I wipe the blood from my fist on my pants, not that it helps much. My knuckles are split and still bleeding.
When I get home, I'm going to have to see if they need stitching up, but they probably will.
I wonder how good Summer is with a needle and thread.
I look down at Robert, giving him one hard kick to the ribs, grinning when he curls up in a ball around himself. "You're going to want to remember this for the next time you go against my orders."
Let him think he's going to survive this. It's going to make killing him that much better in the end.
Before I can turn and leave the room, there's an explosion. The sound ricochets through the casino, everything around me shaking.
Screams echo from below.
The casino plunges into darkness.
Hector has a flashlight out in a second, looking around the room. "You good, boss?"
I head for the door. "Yeah. Let's go. We need to find out what the fuck that was."
Hector nods and opens the door, smoke already choking the air.
We stay low, going down the stairs, which are somehow intact. Sirens scream in the distance, people are shrieking, some are sobbing.
The staff is already doing what they can, trying to get people up as fires spark on the far side of the casino. There's a gaping hole in the wall.
I suck in a sharp breath. "Hector, go help people get out. Look for anyone trapped and make note of them so we can be sure they get help first."
"Worried about a second bomb?"
I nod. "I'm going to look. If I don't come out of this, get Summer and take her back to her family. Don't let Robert get his hands on her."
If she can't be mine, she should be with them.
Hector disappears into the crowd, pushing people along, his voice ordering the staff around and getting everyone organized.
I move through the casino, heading closer to the hole in the wall. As I round a bank of slot machines, a gun finds the center of my head.
Aiden is standing in front of me.
"Where the fuck is Summer?" His finger is on the trigger, a wild look in his eyes.
My ears are ringing as sirens get louder. "Not here. Why the hell would she be here?"
He presses the gun harder to my head. "Where is she, then?"
I glare at him. "At my house. You fucker. You bombed me."
"She's not at your fucking house." Another gun meets the back of my head, Royce's voice carrying above the noise.
Aiden glares, moving the gun to the underside of my jaw, pushing my head back. "You're going to want to tell me where the fuck she is right now. I'm not going to keep playing games with you."
"She's at the house." I smirk at him, but inside the gears are going into overdrive.
They sound confident that she's not at the house, which means somewhere along the line, she slipped out. It'd be the perfect time to do it, too. She knew Hector and I would be gone for the day. I told her this morning over breakfast.
Aiden scowls. "She hasn't been answering her messages today, which means she's not at the fucking house."
Even though it's not the time, I can't help but laugh.
Zoe slipped her a phone. She had to. There's no other way Summer would be able to talk to Aiden if she didn't.
I should've seen it coming, but there was a foolish part of me that wanted to trust my family.
Thankfully, that part is dead now after dealing with Robert.
Aiden looks over my shoulder to Royce. "Go tell the others to start looking for her. I want her found and brought home before he has the chance to track her down again."
Royce's gun lowers. "You're really going to trust that he's telling the truth?"
"Don't have much of a choice, and we need to get out of here before the cops arrive." Aiden's gaze locks on mine. "You're alive right now because I'm allowing it. But if you're lying to me about where she is, I'm going to hunt you down and make you wish you'd never been born."
"I bet you say that to all the men." I smirk, stepping away from him as the sirens outside blare. "Good luck getting to her before I do."
Before he has the chance to change his mind about letting me go, I take off, running for the back door.
There's an underground tunnel system that starts just behind the dumpster and leads to a safe house. Once I'm there, I'll be able to go after her.
I thought she was done with the escape attempts, but it seems like she's still not smart enough to go back to her family when she gets away from me.
Shame. I'm going to have fun punishing her when I finally catch up to her.
Summer's hair whips in the wind on top of the Empire State Building as she leans against the railing and looks down. She's got one leg crossed over the other, her ass looking phenomenal in those jeans.
The door shuts behind me, and I grab a rod leaning to the side, stuffing it through the handle, preventing the door from being opened.
She hears the noise and turns to look at me, her eyes widening. "How did you know I was here?"
"You told me you like to come up here." I cross the distance between us, grabbing the back of her neck and forcing her to look down at the ground below.
Her breath is sharp, and she tries to pull back, but I hold her in place.
It might not be easy to toss her off the side of the building with the crisscrossed railing and the spires that climb high above our heads, but I could do it if I felt enough motivation.
My lips press against the shell of her ear for just a second. "I really should just kill you for all you're putting me through."
It would end all my problems.
I don't think I could, even if I wanted to.
Still, I could lift her up and toss her over the railing. She'd struggle. It wouldn't be easy, but she'd be dead when she hit the bottom. I wouldn't have to fight with Robert about her anymore. I wouldn't have to worry about the moment when her family comes after her and finally takes her from me.
But I'd have to throw her over the edge, and the tighter I hold the back of her neck, forcing her to stare at what could be her death, the harder my cock gets.
No, I'm not ready to kill her yet.
She still needs to be punished.
Even though I'm going to be through hell if I keep her alive, the thought of tossing her over the side is more painful than I care to admit.
I'm fucked.