I GOT ELIJAH HILL, Zadie’s father, his gig at the state prison for two reasons. One, so I could use Zadie to help manipulate Posie, and two, so I could have eyes on my father and get updates if I needed them. It was never my intention to use him to help break my father out of his confinement, but here we are. Desperate times and all that.
Turns out with Elijah’s help and some assistance from a fairly reluctant warden, it wasn’t as hard as I thought.
Dr. Hill secretly administered a medication that lowered Adrian’s heartbeat so much, it made him appear like he was going into cardiac arrest. For appearances, Hill kept up “life saving” efforts until the warden okayed the entry of the ambulance to pick up the patient. If he didn’t cooperate with me, information about his dirty dealings in his prison would have been aired on tomorrow’s evening news. Before he could dial his lawyer’s number and beg for help, the feds would have been up his ass and deep diving into his suspicious finances. He really thought he was getting away with blackmailing his prisoner’s families and no one knew. It’s amazing how little cash it takes for people to roll on their bosses.
The prison guard who helped push my unconscious and handcuffed father out on a gurney participates in Kason’s fights on his free nights and was more than willing to play a role in tonight’s events for a nice payday of his own.
It is moments just like these when it pays to have the connections I do. Trust me when I say I’m paying heavily for all of this to happen, but I know it will be worth every penny in the end.
On paper and on the security footage, it all looks legit. The paramedics come in and take over CPR, and an armed guard gets into the back of the ambulance with them to ride to the approved hospital. They leave, and on the way there, Adrian Blackwell officially codes and time of death is announced. He is then brought to the hospital morgue where he will later be cremated.
At least, that’s what the story on the reports will say. What really happened was the paramedics administered medication to reverse what Dr. Hill had done, and fifteen minutes from the prison, away from any possible cameras, my father was swapped with the body of a John Doe. Rome was able to pull that one off with a call to his own connection at a morgue. This is exactly the kind of shit his family does for families like the Holloways, and he’s gotten good at it in the last couple years. He deals with a more nefarious set of connections than I do on a typical day. He needs to make those relationships if he’s going to be respected like his father is.
The paramedics and guard each took their bags of money and went on to deliver the body to the hospital morgue. All three know what will happen if they talk. I left a flash drive in each bag with the information I was able to gather on them in the short amount of time I had, and none of it was good. I consider it to be extra motivation for them to keep their mouths shut. I’ll keep additional tabs on them just in case, but I doubt it’ll be necessary. They’re not stupid.
Rome and I loaded my father into the back of the car and took off north to the housing development the Valentinos’ real-estate company is building. This time next year it’s going to be a suburban shitbox full of screaming kids and housewives, but until a nice family moves in, it will be my father’s final resting place.
From the trunk of the SUV comes a sudden thud, and it has Rome’s head turning in the passenger seat. “Someone’s waking up.”
“It’s fine. Opening his eyes is about the only thing he can do right now.” We’d tied his ankles and handcuffed his hands behind his back. The hood over his head keeps him from seeing and the gag in his mouth keeps him from talking. He’s completely helpless and vulnerable, which is exactly how he made Pax feel. It’s a small—minuscule—taste of what he put his child through.
Rome turns back in his seat but not before staring at me for a moment with skeptical eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shrugs.
“Just spit it the fuck out,” I growl, turning up the empty dark street of the new neighborhood. Ninety percent of the houses on this street are nothing but wood framing and poured foundations. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“What? Fuck, no. I literally just stole a dead body for you, and you’re asking me this?”
I look between him and the dark road. “Then what is the problem? Why are you looking at me like that?”
The conflicted look on his face before answering is unmistakable. “The operation you’re building yourself is great and the amount of powerful people you have by the balls is impressive to say the least, but this isn’t your gig, man. You use money and secrets to destroy lives. You don’t take them.” He pauses for a moment. “Did I ever tell you about the first time I killed someone? I was sixteen. My dad took me to a deal, and before we left the car, he gave me a revolver. He said it was just in case things went bad.” Rome’s upbringing couldn’t have been more different from the other kids’ we went to high school with. While the rest were learning how to sail their father’s boats and were attending debutante balls, Rome was attending drug and weapon deals. He was learning how to survive the family business he is destined to take over. “Things went downhill so fast I could barely keep up with what was happening. This guy pointed his gun at my dad and before I knew what I was doing, I was pulling the trigger. I didn’t think about it. Just … did it. It wasn’t until days later when the adrenaline faded that I fully comprehended I’d taken a life. I didn’t regret it, I mean, he was going to kill my dad, but he was still a person. That’s something that sticks with you, so I just want to make absolutely sure that you’re ready for that. If you’re not, I can pull the trigger for you. It’ll be no skin off my back. Not anymore.”
He wouldn’t be asking me this if he knew the full reason I’ve decided to finally deal with my father. Rome knows when he should and shouldn’t ask questions, and when I told him I was finally dealing with Dad, he simply said, “What can I do to help?” He’s not dumb. He knows something has triggered this sudden response from me, but he’s not prying for information. Even if he did, I wouldn’t give it to him. Pax waited all this time to trust me with his secret, and I’m not going to betray him a mere three days later.
If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same for him in a heartbeat.
“I need to be the one who does it,” I tell him, pulling to a stop in front of the house we’d chosen yesterday. We looked at his uncle’s construction company’s schedule and know it’s due to get the concrete slab floors of its basement foundation poured tomorrow.
The team will show up in the morning none the wiser of what we’ve done to their construction site. They’ll put the rebar down and pour the concrete over it. Just like that, my crime and all the evidence will be permanently entombed.
Keeping my headlights on so we’re not out here in complete darkness, I cut the engine. Climbing from the car, I make my way to the trunk to open it.
Rome meets me there and we both stare at the bound and gagged man before us. He wears his ugly tan prison uniform and is barefoot. We’d removed his shoes when we transferred him into my trunk. On the off chance he was stupid enough to run, we didn’t want to make it easy on him.
Adrian’s hooded head jerks in our direction at the sound of our arrival. His chest and the rounded stomach he’d acquired in prison heave with anxious breaths.
I bet I’m the last person he expects to be here. He’s always falsely assumed he had scared me into submission, and that I’d never try something like this. He doesn’t know the only reasons for my compliance were both taken away. There’s nothing stopping me anymore.
Jaw clenching so hard, I’m worried I’m going to crack a molar. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and forcibly drag him from the back of the car. His bound ankles stop him from being able to keep his balance and he lands with a harsh, satisfying thud in the dirt.
His strangled groan cuts through the quiet night air as he awkwardly rolls onto his back, but it’s cut off when my boot presses into his throat. He freezes for a moment, his fear of the unknown making him turn rigid underneath my sole. This obedient state doesn’t last long because his fight or flight response kicks in and he starts to struggle. Tied up, all he can manage to do is wiggle like a fucking worm in the dirt and mud.
It’s a pathetic sight.
Keeping my foot firmly in place, I bend down and rip the hood from his head. It takes his eyes a second to register what he’s seeing, but I know the second he realizes it’s me. His eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and his mouth gapes around the gag.
“Miss me?” I ask, head cocking. “I decided it was time we had a family reunion.”
Nodding at Rome, he takes Adrian by his arm and helps me haul him off the ground. He resists us the entire time we drag him across the lot. We reach the lowest side of the foundation wall that’s already been built. The entire basement level has been dug into the earth and there are concrete walls surrounding the perimeter. We stop in front of the side that is only four feet or so deep, and I bend down to cut the duct tape around his ankles.
With his legs now unrestricted, I stand at his side and gesture with my chin toward the incomplete basement. “Jump.”
His nostrils flare and a familiar anger reflects in his eyes.
“You’re sorely mistaken if you think you have any fucking power or control here.” A sinister grin pulls on my face when I point the end of my black switchblade to his throat. It’s the same one I held on Posie, but it feels right using it on him. “It’s my turn.” Behind us, Rome easily jumps down. “Fucking jump.”
With stiff, reluctant movements, he turns around and follows Rome. Only his descent isn’t as graceful. With his hands still bound, he ultimately ends up tripping and crashing to his knees. My feet crash into the dirt right next to him, making him jump when I make the leap.
Adrian looks like the guy I used to consider my father, but now all I can see is the sadistic monster that’s always lurked behind the mask. I see exactly who he is now and I’m ashamed of myself for missing it for so long.
Not bothering to wait for him to get to his feet, Rome and I drag him on his knees to the spot with the waiting shovels and tall piles of dirt. We were here until the sun started to rise this morning digging this hole. Since it’s a Sunday, our activities have gone unnoticed by any construction workers. The storm that is brewing in the sky will wash away all the footsteps and signs of recently moved dirt. Bright and early tomorrow morning, they’ll get back to their work and any traces of us will be long gone.
We drop him at the edge of his future grave and leave him in a hunched over heap.
Rome nods at me, silently telling me he’s here if I need him, before climbing back up the wall to stand by the car and give me some time alone with the monster disguised as my father.
I pull the gag from Adrian’s mouth, and let it hang around his thick neck.
He spits into the dirt before turning his head to look up at me. “You missed your old man so much you broke him out of jail, huh?”
The sound of his voice instantly puts me on edge. Unlike Pax, he didn’t visit me in my dreams, and I had found a way to push my memories of him to the back of my mind. I focused more on Posie and my mother than I did Adrian, but hearing his voice has those ugly moments forced upon me in his office thundering to the surface. They’re combined with the stomach-turning images I’ve been painting in my head since I learned what he did to my brother.
Just as the cocky grin splits his face, my fist slams into it. The bones of his nose crack under my knuckles. “Nope.”
He falls to his side, and I yank him back up so I can do it again. It feels good. I envisioned doing this so many times before, but the crunch of his nose is more satisfying than I pictured it. I’d go to bed dreaming of bashing his head in with one of his expensive bookends weekly, and I never thought I’d get the chance to make him bleed.
His gushing broken nose and busted lip aren’t enough to satiate my bloodthirst.
I want to see him suffer—to be in agony before he dies.
Holding him by the strands of his hair, I force him to look at me as I bite out, “I know what you did to Paxton. I know what you took from him.” His sense of safety, his peace, and most importantly, his innocence. “What kind of man does that to his child?”
His bloody lips curl in a ghost of a smile for a second before it disappears and his chin lifts defiantly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. That kid was always a liar. You shouldn’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth. He took after that pathetic mother of his.”
Of course, he’s going to deny it. I’d expect nothing less from him. He probably wants me to argue with him and come to the defense of my mother to buy him time so he can try to talk his way out of this. Letting that happen would be a waste of both of our time.
I lock eyes with him as I squat down in front of his kneeling form. “I’m going to kill you,” I promise darkly. “I’m going to put you in the fucking ground for what you’ve done to my family.”
“I don’t know why you’re blaming me for what your mother did to herself. You should be blaming that whore girlfriend of yours for taking that video. Had she minded her fucking business, your mother would still be alive.”
“It was never Posie’s fault. It was yours.” The true and only villain in this story will always and forever be Adrian. That truth is so blatantly clear to me now. “Mom’s death will only ever be on you, Adrian, and I want you to remember that during the final moments of your life.” Standing, I hold him by the back of his shirt collar and lean him over the edge of the six-foot-deep hole. “While you suffocate on mouthfuls of dirt, you will regret ever laying a hand on Paxton. While your body is being crushed by the weight of the soil, you will realize that you only have yourself to blame. While you rot here, you will become nothing.”
“You don’t have it in you,” he pants as he’s forced to stare into the dark, cold abyss of his future grave. “You’re not a killer.”
“But you are.” After his criminal treatment of his wife, and later his kids, he might as well have put the pills down Mom’s throat himself. “You once said you were trying to raise me to be just like you. Congrats. You got your wish.”
Rome’s warning should have me concerned about how I will feel about myself when this is all said and done, but I’m not worried. Not for myself anyway. I know that I will be at peace with it and that I’ve done the right thing for my family. I can already feel the weight lifting from my shoulders as I stand on the brink.
My one concern is for the people I love the most and how they will be affected by what I’m doing. How will they look at me knowing I’m now a killer? Will it change me in their eyes? Can Posie still love me knowing what I’ve done? This isn’t like any line I’ve crossed before with her. This is ending a life.
Not liking where my brain is heading, I shake off those thoughts and steady myself. This has to happen. He can’t live after what he did to Pax. You will find a way forward with Posie. You always do.
“You motherfucker!” Adrian bellows as my grip loosens on his prison shirt. “No, no, no!”
“I’m sure my brother once begged you to stop too.” Saying those words aloud makes my stomach roll and fury burn in my veins at the same time. “I’m going to ignore you just like you did him.”
I’m about to let him fall face-first into the grave when the sound of car doors closing cuts through the air. Voices I can’t quite make out quickly follow and movement in the beams of my car’s headlight has my head turning.
“Where is he, Rome?” I hear her before I fully make out her figure. “Where the hell is he?” Posie demands with a little more force.
Rome throws his hands up as Pax and Posie push past him. “What the fuck, Pax? I didn’t tell you where we were going to be you could show up here. The doc said you needed to keep your stress down and I was trying to be helpful. I mean, fuck, dude, your texts were starting to stress me out.”
Pax ignores him and jumps down to where I am. He turns to help Posie, but she’s got it covered. She lands gracefully on her feet before running to me.
“Well, look at that! It’s the dirty whore herself,” Adrian croaks when he recognizes her.
“Fuck you,” Posie seethes, barely glancing at him before pinning me with her full attention.
“Get the hell out of here!” I yell at the pair as they approach. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Posie opens her mouth to argue but it’s Pax that speaks up before her. “No. I’m not leaving. Not yet.”
Adrian’s cackle turns into a strangled sound as he chokes on some of the blood still pouring from his face. “Come to see your dear ol’ dad off, son? Or maybe you’re here to help me and put an end to this debauchery.”
My skin crawls with disgust at the way he talks to him. “Shut the fuck up! You’re not allowed to speak to him.” I turn my head to look at my brother. He looks better than he did three days ago. He looks exhausted, like he’s had a bad case of the flu, but otherwise the signs of his usual inebriated state are gone. I knew Posie would take care of him while I was away. “Pax, you need to leave. I don’t want you to be here for this.”
My brother stands his ground, and Posie looks between us with a terrified look on her face. “I don’t want to be here either, but this is my only chance to get an answer. I need to know.”
As she’s always done, Posie shifts in front of him and acts like a protective barrier between Adrian and Pax. “Are you sure?” she questions him.
“Let him ask,” Adrian says. “I’m curious.”
Everything in me screams that I shouldn’t let this happen, and the look on Posie’s face tells me she agrees, but if this is something Pax needs to get some sense of closure, should we deny him that?
Yanking Adrian back from the hole in the ground, I nod my head at my brother. “Make it fast. Then you both need to go.”
Posie turns to face me as Pax pushes past her a couple steps. He keeps a healthy distance between us, refusing to get too close to the man who abused him for so many years.
There are so many emotions in Pax’s eyes as he stares down at Adrian, it’s impossible to pinpoint each one. His fingers create anxious fists at his sides and his breathing has quickened in pace. The silence between us all is heavy before he speaks.
“Why me?” he asks the man who was supposed to be his father—his protector—but ended up being the monster in his nightmares.
He doesn’t have to clarify what he’s asking. Everyone understands what he means. Adrian had two children but chose to do those horrific things to only one. I’d be lying if I said that question hadn’t crossed my own mind a handful of times since I learned the truth. While he hurt me, Adrian never attempted anything like he did to Pax with me.
Like he’s really thinking over his answer, Adrian’s head cocks to the side. “Honestly?” he starts, not a single hint of denial in his voice this time. He’s finally figuring out there’s no point and he’s going in the ground regardless. “I knew you wouldn’t fight back.”
The blood in my veins turns into liquid fire and it burns me as it floods through every inch of my body. My plan for him seems too pleasant now. If I had more time, I would be loading him back into my car and finding a place where I could skin him alive, but to ensure I don’t get caught, I can’t move to a second location. No matter how emotionally driven this is, I have to be smart about it.
The rage that is on Posie’s face is something I’ve never seen before. It doesn’t look natural on her. Meanwhile, the look on Pax’s face is … empty. The emotions I’d seen reflected in his eyes have all but disappeared and he stands there like a statue. I couldn’t even begin to guess what’s going through his head.
His head lifts stiffly when he redirects his attention to me. “That’s all I needed. You can do it now.” Turning, he walks away.
“What? You’re just going to let him do this?” Adrian fights against my hold as he yells at Pax’s back, but I’m not going to let him go anywhere. “I’m your father! I’m the only goddamn parent you have left, and you’re going to let him kill me?”
“You stopped being his father the second you laid a hand on him,” I snarl, hauling him back to the edge. Glancing over my shoulder briefly, I find her still standing there. “Posie, I need you to go with Pax.”
“Help me!” Adrian yells at her. “Don’t just stand there, you useless cunt! Do something!”
I flip the blade in my hand and press the tip to the soft spot under his chin. “If you don’t keep your fucking mouth shut, I’m going to cut out your tongue.”
Refusing to look at him, Posie ignores his plea and name calling. Her gaze is still locked on me. The fury that had been there a moment ago is gone and the concern from before is firmly back in place. “Rafferty,” she says my name calmly. There is no urgency or panic in her tone despite the situation. “I need you to stop for a second and look at me.”
“No, I can’t stop. This needs to happen.”
I hear her footsteps move closer. My stomach rolls at the thought of her being near him. It’s not safe for her here.
“Raff, please look at me.”
The please is what finally has me turning to her. “I need to do this. He can’t continue to breathe after what he’s done. Prison isn’t enough of a punishment. He would have gotten out in nine years, and then what? He just gets to continue on with his life? Fuck that. He needs to feel the same kind of pain he put him through.” The same kind of pain he put us through.
“I’m not disagreeing with you on that. This is exactly what he deserves.” She takes another small step forward. “But I just need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you will be okay if you do this. Tell me that when you wake up tomorrow, you’ll still be able to look at yourself in the mirror. You have to promise me you won’t let this change you. If you can’t do that, we need to come up with a different plan. I won’t let him hurt you any more than he already has. He’s done enough damage.”
The same fears she has are the ones that have already run through my head. They’re completely valid and her concern is more than understandable. She isn’t here to stop me from taking a life, she’s here to make sure that I will be okay after I do. Posie truly is exceptional. There’s no one better out there for me. This just further proves to me that I can’t live without her any longer. I need her in my life. Forever.
“The only thing I care about is whether or not you’ll be able to look at me the same after.” If she tells me she can’t, I will take Rome up on his offer. I’m not going to jeopardize us again.
“Nothing you do will change the way I look at you or the way I feel about you. I’m not going anywhere. If this is what you need to do, I’ll support you.”
My hand tightens on Adrian’s shirt. “I need to do this.”
Of course, Adrian doesn’t listen to my warning and opens his ugly mouth again. “No, you fucking don’t! You don’t have to do anything. Just let me go. We can pretend this never happened.”
His begging falls on deaf ears.
“Okay.” Posie nods once, fully accepting what is about to happen. “When you’re finished, I’ll be at home waiting for you.” Finally dropping her gaze, she glares at Adrian. “I hope he makes it hurt. You’ve earned a painful death.”
“Fuck you,” Adrian spits, lunging for her. My knife’s blade pressing into his jugular has him freezing in place.
Posie turns halfway like she’s going to leave but something has her thinking better of it. Spinning on her toes, she marches toward us. Her foot slams into Adrian’s dick with unrestrained force. His scream fills the night, and he tries to double over from the pain. The sudden movement causes my blade to slice the skin on his neck.
Bending close, she gets right in his face as she seethes. “No, fuck you.” The venom in her voice matches the raging fire in her brown eyes. For just a second, I recognize the chaos that storms beneath my skin etched in her features. This side of her is rare, and I can’t help but like it.
Standing to her full height, she gives me one last look before leaving me with her blessing and support. Rome, who’s moved from his place beside the car, helps her over the wall before switching places with her. Hands tucked in his black jacket pockets, he waits for my word.
I don’t make another move until I hear Pax’s car pulling away. With both of them gone, I can finally put an end to this.
“Hold him still,” I order Rome.
My friend takes over for me, holding him in place while I move to kneel behind Adrian. With my free hand, I press down with my whole weight on his calf muscle to keep him still while I line the blade of my knife up just above his heel. The scream that escapes him when I slice through his Achilles tendon only lasts a split second before Rome shoves the gag back in his mouth.
Adrian fights us harder when I move on to his other leg. This cut isn’t as clean as the last one, but I get the job done after a moment of struggle. He’s crying and yelling in pain, but the sounds he makes only come out as pathetic choking noises.
“This will keep you from trying to climb out while we bury you alive,” I explain when I move to stand before him again. “With each shovelful of dirt, your body will be crushed. Eventually, you won’t be able to move your limbs and you’re going to suffocate. While that happens, I want you to remember that’s exactly how you made him feel. You can try and call for help, but just remember, the more you open your mouth, the quicker your lungs will fill with dirt.” I pause, thinking that last sentence over. “Maybe that will be a good thing for you. It’ll put you out of your misery sooner.”
Reaching into his back pocket, Rome hands me the key to take off the handcuffs. I want to give him the false hope that he’ll still be able to dig himself out before his chest is crushed and he runs out of air.
Rome steps back so I can be the one to push him in. Adrian tries to turn his head to look at me and his mouth opens around the gag like he’s trying to say something. Hooking my finger around the torn fabric I tear it free from his mouth.
“I was too easy on you,” he bites at me, already out of breath. “I should have beaten the fight out of you! Maybe then you’d have some fucking respect for me, and you wouldn’t think you can get away with this!”
Till his very end, Adrian Blackwell has held fast to the idea that you only get respect through pain. The narcissist in him doesn’t allow him to take any responsibility for his cruel actions. He doesn’t understand he only has himself to blame for his early grave.
I couldn’t save Paxton back then and I couldn’t help my mom, but it gives me peace to know that I’m getting justice for them now.
“You’re going to rot, Adrian.” Hands on his back, I shove him. He lands at the bottom of the six-foot-deep cavern with a solid thud. The fall could have broken his neck right then and there, but the low moan that comes from the darkness tells me he’s still breathing. Good. He needs to feel every agonizing second before his lungs give out.
“Ready?” Rome asks, handing me one of the shovels.
I nod at him. “Let’s get this done. I need to go home.”
She’s waited almost six years for me already. I don’t want to keep her waiting for me any longer.
