Chapter 54
Gabriella
Despite the chaos surrounding the Devil’s, life slipped by relatively uneventfully for the next few days. And around three weeks after I’d first arrived at the compound, I found myself once again at the breakfast table with Rachel.
The morning had been chaotic from the moment it started. Bee hadn’t wanted to wake up and go to school, she said her tummy hurt. Heather had pulled out some of her special medicine, which Bee would only agree to take if me and Rachel took it as well.
Heather had practically forced the spoon into our mouths, and me and Rachel had done our best not to spit it back out again.
Safe to say, I thought less of Heather for that. The stuff was fucking vile.
Then Axel hadn’t wanted to leave his sister and had screamed bloody murder until Heather finally relented and agreed to let him join them.
“Are you sure they should be going to school?” I asked Rachel once they left.
“She’s in a bulletproof car, Heather is trained and armed, and the car also has a tracker. They should be fine.”
“Should?” I questioned.
“Will. They will be fine,” she sighed heavily.
“I don’t know what else to do, Gabriella.
We already have social services sniffing around, Bee’s voice is coming and going depending on her moods.
If I rip her out of her routine, she’s likely to retreat back into herself.
I need her to still believe her home is safe. I want her life as normal as possible.”
“How far away is the school?”
“Ten minutes, if that. And the school have already been instructed that they will be arriving a little later than everyone else so we can keep an eye on her without the busy crowds.”
“It will be fine,” I reassured her, squeezing her arm.
“I know.” She offered me a shaky smile. “I know it will. And some of the guys are following them, so they will keep an eye on things. It’s just hard to let them go.”
I squeezed her arm again, and she straightened up, shaking off her sad mood.
From there, we seemed to feed the entire club and their old ladies their breakfast. Just when I was beginning to think I needed a nap, everyone disappeared to start their days until it was just me and Rachel.
“I’m fucking exhausted,” she sighed, flopping down into her seat and sliding a cup of tea over to me.
“This morning seemed more hectic than usual, right?”
“Thank you! I thought it was just me getting old or something.”
“I’m older than you,” I pointed out.
“I think after today we’re on even footing.”
“I’ve aged just as much. Plus, I have Vienna to deal with every day. He’s hard work.”
“Oh, no you don’t!” Rachel huffed. “I’ve had him for the past three and a bit years. We are not on the same level.”
“I had teenager Vienna. I needed the break,” I laughed back.
Rachel shuddered. “Yeah, I’d probably shack up with a psycho as well if it meant a break from him and—oh, shit, Gabriella, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think!”
“It’s fine,” I said, waving her horrified expression away.
“It’s not fine. It’s one thing to bring dark humour when I’m speaking to the lads. It’s completely different to do it to you. I’ve just become so comfortable with you and—”
“Rachel,” I said, placing my hand over hers.
“It’s because you’ve become so comfortable with me that I’m telling you I don’t mind.
A few weeks ago, I thought I’d never be accepted.
I certainly never thought I’d get to the stage where I liked you of all people.
And yet here we are, gossiping and teasing like life-long friends. It’s fine, I promise.”
We were laughing together when my phone interrupted us, its loud ringtone blaring out.
“Is that… please tell me that’s not Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye, for fuck’s sake,” Rachel cackled.
“Fucking Vienna,” I muttered, pulling my phone out. “He’s always changing this sodding thing. And now look,” I said, showing her the screen. “He’s calling me on a withheld number. If he asks what my favourite scary movie is, you better lend me that potato peeler of yours.”
I brought the phone to my ear, pressing accept. “Vienna, this is getting ridiculous.”
“Gabriella,” a familiar voice rasped in my ear.
My entire body froze.
“Nico,” I whispered, feeling the blood drain from my face.
Rachel’s head shot up, and she gestured for me to put it on loudspeaker before standing up and rushing over to the camera in the corner of the kitchen. She waved at it three times, letting Hacksaw know that this needed to be concentrated on, and then came back to the table.
I put Nico on loudspeaker and placed the phone on the table.
“I’ve missed you, princess. God, your voice. I’ve missed your breath on my skin. Tell me you’ve missed me.”
“Go fuck yourself, Nico,” I said, feeling my strength return as Rachel wrapped her arm around my shoulder.
Nico laughed in response. “Oh, the fire is back. I loved breaking you the first time. It would be my fucking pleasure to do it again. But that will need to wait. I’m not ringing for you, I’m afraid.”
“Vienna isn’t interested in what you have to say, either.”
“I don’t want that bastard,” Nico spat, losing some of his composure. “Where’s the old lady?”
“Old lady?” I asked, sharing a puzzled glance with Rachel.
“The blonde bitch with big tits. Where is she?”
“I take it you mean me?” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. “And they’re not just big tits. They’re fucking fabulous big tits.”
“I can see that. They’ve done a phenomenal job,” Nico said, and I could practically hear the manic grin through the delight in his voice.
“I beg your pardon?” Rachel asked.
I didn’t like where this was going. I didn’t like this at all.
“It must have taken a lot of milk to feed a kid like this. Exclusively breastfed, was he? He’s a big lad.”
I stopped breathing.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Rachel hissed, snatching the phone up and waving at the camera more frantically.
“Check your phone, sweet cheeks.”
She pulled her own phone out of her pocket, and an animalistic growl ripped from her lips.
“Where the fuck are my children?” she yelled. “What the fuck have you done to them?”
I rushed over to Rachel, looking down at her phone as Nico began to cackle.
There was a single picture of Heather, her throat slashed so heavily she was almost beheaded lying in the back seat of her car.
I zoomed in, noting that the car had been rammed by something, the side of it crumpled and smoking.
“Gabriella,” Rachel whispered to me, her voice shaking. “Go to the front room. Behind the TV, there is an alarm box. The code is 6530.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I ran into the room, repeating the code under my breath as Rachel continued to question Nico, all the while frantically dialling Dante on her own phone.
I reached over the TV and pressed the numbers.
“Shit!” I hissed when nothing happened.
I tried again, only to get the same result.
I stepped back out of the room and rushed to the kitchen.
“Rachel, it’s not working. It’s—”
The room exploded with activity. Man after man piled in, each of them with a weapon in their hands.
I stepped back, almost intimidated by how ferocious they looked.
“It’s okay, Gabriella. That code isn’t an alarm. It sends an emergency alert to their phone with the location. There’s a few of them around the compound,” Rachel explained, looking completely ashen.
I nodded. “And the kids?”
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Nico hung up.