Page 148 of Restitution

He nods. “Barry got them for me. We didn’t want to risk… you know. I need to keep my head.”

That’s good. There’s less chance of him losing his marbles then. No one wants an unhinged Tobias Mitchell around Bernadette Sawyer. He’d kill her on the spot and ruin all the fun.

Then he’d hunt down Ewan, mutilate him and force my mum to marry him or some shit.

Dad tosses me another box, and I realise it’s full of my meds. “Barry said you’ve been doing well on those. I tried similar ones for a while when I was a teenager, but they didn’t work for me. I’m glad they work for you.”

I should mentally smash myself in the dick for not even thinking about my own medication. My therapist is going to be fuming with me. That’s if he doesn’t believe I died in the manor’s explosion along with everyone else.

“Mum is going to freak out,” I say. “She’ll be mad we didn’t bring her with us. I’ll reach out before bed and let her know we didn’t burn to death.”

“No,” Dad snaps. “No one tells Aria I’m alive. It’s better if she thinks I’m dead.”

I tilt my head. “What?”

Stacey glances at Luciella, but it’s Base who scoffs and speaksthrough his pain. “That’s just fucking selfish. You want her to suffer, thinking you’re still dead? I would’ve thought a psychopath like yourself would want all her attention.”

Dad glares at him. “The world will think you all burned to death in the manor, soyouare also dead, Sebastian. I’m more than happy to make that permanent. Just because you’re the father of my future grandchild does not grant you immunity. If you ever talk to me like that again, I will fuck you up more than Bernadette Sawyer ever did.”

Base audibly gulps. “Fuck. You are one scary bastard.”

I sigh and shake my head. “We don’t have time for this. I’m going down to the basement.”

“Wait until you’ve slept,” Stacey says. “You can barely stand straight.”

I won’t believe it until I see her. Trapped. No longer vying for me or threatening everyone I love. I want to see the bitch in her place, incapacitated and at our disposal.

Dad throws down his sandwich in annoyance. “Follow me.”

The walk to the basement takes forever. We’re all either limping, slow from exhaustion or Dad is stopping us every minute to show off his DIY work.

It’s pitch-black in the short hallway leading through the basement. I can hear drops to my left as I hold Stacey’s hand. She’s leaning on me a little, limping, and I stroke my thumb over her hand when her hold tightens from the darkness and creaking wood.

We reach the metal door I designed, and Dad enters the code, followed by a beeping sound. The door opens, and I grimace, covering my mouth and nose at the strong smell of urine, unwashed skin and vomit.

The small light in the corner illuminates a thin Bernadette curled up into a ball inside a large animal cage sitting in the middle of the room. There are lines attached to her veins – the blush pink dress I’ve seen her wear loads of times is filthy, and she has an outgrowth of roots, dark against the wine-red hair she always had. She’s pale, make-up non-existent, no expensive jewellery cradling her body.

The sight should make me feel some sort of relief, but the anxiety about her capabilities still rides my nerves into war. She could heal, manipulate one of us, get free and target everyone. She could kill Stacey, rip the unborn baby from my sister’s womb and make sure my dad dies for real.

I let go of Stacey and inch forward. I almost don’t recognise the she-devil as she lies unconscious before us all – the woman who singlehandedly ruined my life, destroyed me in ways I can’t describe. The bitch who killed my brother.

Base comes forward too, but his reaction is totally different from mine.

He snorts out a loud laugh. “She looks like fucking Gollum in a wig.”

43

STACEY

“Iamnothaving sex with you in here.”

Kade groans into my shoulder as the water from the shower pelts down on us, the washroom lined with six cubicles, white tiles and low lights so we aren’t blinded. Our naked bodies are pressed together, his front to my back, and his hands are firmly on my hips as he starts dragging kisses across my shoulders and up the side of my throat.

My body hurts, but the warmth is helping a little – Kade giving me extra attention only relaxes me more, even though we definitely can’t have sex only hours after everything that just happened – not to mention the fact I’m still on my period.

“I’m not trying to have sex with you. Am I notallowed to taste your skin without sinking my cock inside you?”

“Your dick says otherwise.”