Page 87 of Mutual Obsession (Rivals of Blackthorn #2)

A fter two days of waiting, we finally got the call we’d been anticipating. The Doughtys were ready to start Gregg’s interrogation, and they were happy for us to be involved.

It’s been five days since Indie was taken, and although she’s healing physically, the emotional scars are far from fading. She’s terrified nearly all the time, and I don’t think that will go away until she knows the threat is gone—which is something I’m only too happy to help with.

Neither me nor Jacob want to leave her, but we also don’t want to miss out on being part of Gregg’s downfall, and this is an argument we’ve had regularly over the last few days. Finally, we agreed to just talk to Indie about it.

As we lay in bed, due to leave in a couple of hours, I broach the subject. I’m reluctant as she finally looks well rested after sleeping for about four hours after her nightmare woke her.

She’s lying beside me with her head on my chest, Jacob curled up beside her with my arm wrapped around them both.

She’s got one hand on my chest, while the other is laced with Jake’s.

Her breathing is slow and calm, for the first time in a while, and I hate having to do this now, but Jake glances at me, confirming now is the time.

“Dee,” I start, capturing her attention so she looks up at me.

“Today is the day the Doughtys are going to interrogate Gregg. They’re confident the last five days of solitary confinement and mind games have softened him up enough that he’ll talk.

I’m not so sure, but we are going to try.

They’ve invited me and Jake along to be part of it. ”

Her breath hitches, and I can hear her heart racing against my chest. Her wide emerald eyes are full of panic as she stares up at me. “I-I…but… I-I don’t…”

Her voice trails off when she struggles to find the words to form a coherent sentence, and my heart breaks when I see her eyes filling with tears.

Jake leans over and strokes her tears away with his thumb, before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Hey, Baby, don’t be scared. I promise, this is good news. Once he’s been interrogated, and we have no more use for him, we can dispose of him for good.”

“Really? He’ll be…dead?” she asks, sounding so full of hope.

I nod as I hold her closer. “Yes. None of us have any intention of letting him live. We can promise you that.”

She lets out a sigh as Jake says, “Bree said that you’re welcome to come, if you think you need to see his interrogation and death for your own healing.”

I shoot a death glare at Jacob, pissed that he brought up something we both agreed wasn’t good for her, which I’m quick to tell her. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Indie. You don’t have to be part of this.”

Jacob returns my hard stare as he shakes his head at me.

“You know as well as I do that in our world, this is how it works. If someone has wronged you, it’s your right to be part of their death, or at the very least have a say in it.

Gregg is without any doubt Indie’s death.

After everything he’s put her through, she’s earned it. ”

Indie lifts her head off my chest and begins shaking it rapidly, looking terrified. “I-I… I can’t… I don’t think… I can’t…kill…him,” she stutters, fear making her words crack.

I place my hand over her cheek, forcing her to look at me, as I soothe my thumb across her jaw. “You don’t have to kill him, Gorgeous Girl. All Jake means is that you, out of everyone, have the most right to have a say in his death.

“You can say you want his death to be drawn out over a week, and for Bree to slice his throat at the end. Or you can say you want me to shoot him in the balls before Jake stabs him in the heart. You can be that detailed, or you can just say that as long as he’s dead by the end of the day, you’ll be happy.

“Owning his death means you can have as much or as little of a say as you’d like. If you want to be involved, you can be, or you can have someone do it for you. There’s no expectation of you, unless you want it.”

Jake nods in agreement. “Sometimes it’s very cathartic to know you were the person who ended them, even if you don’t do it yourself.

But if you don’t feel like it will help you heal, if you think the guilt of being involved will be too much for you, then you don’t need to do anything. We can do it for you.”

Indie lets out a long sigh as she snuggles back into us both, looking less tense. “Okay… I guess that makes sense.”

“It’s all about what’s best for you, Baby,” Jake tells her, pressing another kiss to her temple.

She nods slowly, her face scrunching, like she’s thinking really hard.

After a few moments of silence, she finally says, “I’d like him to die as soon as possible.

I’m happy for either of you to do it, unless Bree does it first by accident.

I don’t care how you do it, but I’d like for it to be painful.

I want him to die full of fear, knowing that’s how he forced me to live for years. ”

As a tear trails down her cheek onto my chest, I don’t wipe it away. I let her embrace her feelings as she makes one of the most difficult decisions she’ll ever face. “You sure?” I ask her after a few minutes.

She nods, sniffling as she pulls in a ragged breath. “I’m sure.”

“Such a brave, beautiful girl,” Jake whispers, pressing kisses along her neck. “Will you be okay with both of us gone?”

She freezes for just a moment, colour draining from her cheeks, and it’s clear when she speaks that her answer doesn’t match the way her body just responded. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you will be,” I tell her, despite knowing it’s not true. “But I’d feel better if we had Chloe come over and stay with you. Would that be okay?”

Relief flashes across her face, but she quickly pulls her features into a scowl. “I don’t need a babysitter,” she snaps.

My stubborn girl, I think to myself, and I can see Jacob is thinking the same.

“We know you don’t, but Chloe has been harassing us about coming over to see you again, and it would make us feel better knowing you weren’t alone,” Jake explains, trying to pacify her enough to drop her stubborn attitude.

Although she narrows her eyes, her gaze flicking between us, I notice the hint of a smile on her face. “Fine. It would be nice to see Chloe again.”

I lean over and press my lips to hers, pulling back far sooner than I would have liked. Yet another deal both me and Jacob agreed to… No sex until Gregg is gone and Indie’s feeling a little better.

Though she doesn’t appear too happy with our plan, and has tried to take things further on a couple of occasions over the last two days.

“The sooner we get going, the sooner we can come back to you,” I tell her, smiling as she pouts at me.

Jacob kisses her too, though he seems even more reluctant to pull away than I was. He fixes her with a pointed stare, as he gives her the smile he knows she loves. “Last chance. Do you have any special requests for us to do to him?”

She pauses for a moment, her head tilting as she thinks. “I trust you both to make him suffer for me. I don’t want him to hurt anyone ever again. But I also want all of his colleagues to know the man he really was.

“I don’t want to hear that his death was a great tragedy, and that they’re mourning the loss of a good man. I want him to be stripped of his mask for all to see before he dies, otherwise the police will just make him into a martyr.”

My lips tip up into a devilish smirk as I tell her, “Don’t you worry, we’ve already started the process. He’ll die with everyone knowing what a piece of shit he truly was. Nobody will hero worship him or turn him into a martyr, we’ll make sure of that.”

Indie leans over and kisses me again, but this time when she pulls away, there’s a genuine smile on her face. “Thank you for slaying my demon for me.”

“Anytime,” I tell her, holding her close for just a few more minutes before we have to get up.

Gregg may be Indie’s demon, but he’s also the cause of a lot of my pain. Because of him, the girl I love was forced to run from me, leaving me with a broken heart. Without him, she’d never have left me in the first place, nor would she have nightmares every night.

He didn’t just take her from me once; he stole her again recently, and it terrifies me. The thought of losing Indie was too much to bear, and I never want to face that sort of fear again.

So, yes, this kill is for Indie, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get my version of revenge along the way.

Marcus, Jacob, and I arrive at the Doughtys’ warehouse an hour later, having left Indie with Chloe for the day. Marcus insisted on coming with us, and we didn’t feel the need to argue.

He won’t stand in the way of our revenge, but as joint leader of Blackthorn, he has just as much of a stake in the information Gregg shares as Jacob does.

While Marcus is looking out for the best interests of Blackthorn, Jacob is here for Indie, and he’s made that very clear.

We’re greeted at the door by Kian, who is still wearing the same bright, energetic smile that he always has. He leads us through the warehouse, into a very plain-looking room. Most of the wall opposite is taken up by a large window, that I quickly realise is actually a one-way mirror.

I quickly scan the rest of the room, risk assessing the situation as I do.

There are two large couches, one along the back wall, the other against the side.

In one corner, there’s a large desk that’s almost covered with laptops and monitors, with Kellan sitting in the computer chair, hunched over them.

There’s a fridge and a small kitchen area set up on the opposite side, and I notice there’s a row of mugs with steam pillowing from them. Liam is standing beside the small kitchen area, stirring a spoon in one of the mugs.

He turns to us with a nod, holding up a mug. “Coffee?”

“I won’t say no,” Jake replies, stepping towards Liam as both me and Marcus accept his offer too.