Page 39 of Stained In Sin (The Twisted Trilogy #1)

Dante

Lucien sits in my office, royally pissed off. Astra woke up this morning and she told him why she was in the fucking park. Because she wanted to know who killed her sister.

Someone fucking ratted on me, and that could only be my father, or Alaric Crowe. The only two who knew about the hit. Now that Astra knows I killed Amara, Lucien is now demanding answers from me.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Lucien yells, slamming his hands flat on my office desk.

“Of course I’m fucking serious. He gave me two options, and I did what I had to do.” I cross my arms in front of my chest and lean back against the wall.

“And my father was there?”

“Yeah, he just fucking stood there like the chosen one. I told him it would piss you off, but he didn’t even react.”

“What a piece of shit. He has acted like I don’t fucking exist ever since my Damien died.”

The hairs stand up on the back of my neck at the mention of his brother.

“Any idea who did this to Astra?”

“No. They left nothing behind. Used a burner phone for the text.” Lucien stares at me with an unreadable expression.

I nod. I watched Evelyn last night on her cameras. She turned off her location, so I called Lucien, and he informed me that my princess went to save her friend. I’m not mad that she saved her, but I’m fucking pissed that she put herself in a dangerous situation. Again.

I decided to give her some space today. She was visibly upset last night. She kept pacing her room and running her fingers through her hair. So now, I have something to take care of.

“I have an idea,” I state with nonchalance.

He tilts his head at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

“My father is the one in control. I am his heir. I am his only heir, and everyone already answers to me. What if my father were removed from the equation?”

He stares at me as if I’ve grown three heads.

“You can’t be serious, D. My father will kill you himself if he finds out.”

“Not if he goes down with him.”

We both stare at each other for a moment—the tension lingering on my implication.

“Think about it, Lucien—you and me. We will run everything. We already know how to do the dirty work, and we can easily do the back-end deals. We can’t let them keep fucking with us like this.”

The ball is in his court now. If he agrees, we can do this cleanly. We will be done with our fathers reign of fucking terror.

He paces the room, his jaw tensing as he pumps his fists.

“Let’s fucking do it.”

I smirk and bring him in for a handshake.

“You’re in luck. I have a plan.” With that, we get to work. My father will regret my existence, as it will be the last thing he sees.

* * *

We pull up to the compound where my father holds Bastian. He questioned him weeks ago, but I kept him around, wanting him to suffer a while longer. Now, the tables have turned, and I need to use him as bait to get my father, Alaric, and Lucien in the same room.

It’s funny how the universe works. I didn’t even know why I was holding out on the sorry son of a bitch, but now it all makes sense.

It was easy to get them to agree to meet. It’s business. Bastian had been intervening in our affairs and stealing from both parties. He’s the perfect bait.

Our fathers are already inside; Lucien and I rode together to make our plan air-tight. We step out of my Mercedes and head for the door. We use our access cards to enter the building.

The building sits in the middle of 450 acres and is made of concrete.

It’s about as secure as it gets. The outside is free from windows and features security cameras along the perimeter and inside.

The feeds are intended for use only by my father, Alaric, Lucien, and me.

Lucien’s older brother was also granted access, but he died a year ago.

No one will see the footage except us, making it the perfect place for a gruesome crime.

We make our way through the corridor and down to the elevator. We have Bastian held in the basement.

We walk out of the elevator in the basement and go to room 5.

I scan my card and walk into the dimly lit area.

Our fathers have a few rules for the compound.

One is that no weapons are to be left here, under any circumstances.

Luckily, we brought our own weapons. We know our fathers don’t do the dirty work either, so their weapons are usually simple. A gun.

Lucien and I enter the room, joking around and pushing each other. Our fathers wait on the side of the room. Bastian is chained to the floor in the center of the cell. He is skinny and bruised. Fucker should have been dead by now honestly.

I place my hand in my pockets as I approach Bastian. I kick him swiftly in the ribs, and he groans in pain. He coughs as he tries to spit, but nothing comes out.

I pull out my gun as I grab him by the hair and face our fathers. I press the loaded gun into his temple.

“Tell me again, why the fuck are you here?” I shout the question at Bastian.

He doesn’t respond. I dig the gun in further.

“ANSWER ME!”

He coughs up his answer, “A rat.”

“And rats get exterminated,” I say calmly as I point the gun directly at Alaric and pull the trigger.

The bullet flies into Alaric’s head swiftly, as Lucien rushes to my father. He injects the drug into his neck and keeps his gun pointed at his face, keeping his distance.

My father’s legs buckle as he leans on the wall.

“What have you done! WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE!”

My father tries to charge towards me and collapses to the ground.

I stand over him, kicking him onto his back. I have waited for this moment my entire life.

“It’s called Rocuronium. You can’t move, but you will listen and see everything. Pretty cool. We wish we had known about this one before. It would have been pretty fun for you to torture people with it.”

I chuckle as I remove his gun from his holster. Lucien comes over with the Ambu Bag and begins to pump manually, keeping my father’s oxygen flowing, so the drug doesn’t kill him before I can.

“It will last for 30-60 minutes. The great thing is that Lucien here will keep your lungs pumping so you can stay alive to feel everything I am about to do to you. Then again, I could inject you again and make the pu nishment last longer. After all, mine has been going on for 25 years.”

I slip my knife from my pocket and cut through the clothing that covers my father. His eyes are open, and his facial expression remains the same, blank. I trail the knife lightly over his chest, letting it break the skin slightly.

“I remember when you got this tattoo. You told me it was because you loved your family and would always put them first. You made me choose. You made it incredibly easy for me to choose, though. After all, my little whore gave me the idea to seek revenge against you. She made me realize that once you’re gone.

It will just be the two of us. Forever.” I begin to carve off his tattoo that he doesn’t deserve to die with.

“Maybe I will frame this tattoo. As a reminder of the piece of shit I will never be.” His eyes look wild. He wishes he were dead, but we aren’t done yet.

I begin to remove every tattoo that covers his body, and all he can do is watch. I will strip him of all that he once was and leave him as nothing. The way it should be.

It takes me 30 minutes to remove all of the bastard’s tattoos.

Lucien looks like he is about to pass out from all the manual breathing he has been providing.

I decide we can end it now. I take my blade and cut vertically up my father’s chest, exposing him to the elements from the inside out. His eyes are lost. Black.

I then allow Lucien to remove the bag from his face. He will only have about 2 minutes before his lungs give out, but he will feel all of the pain until then.

Before we go, Lucien stalks over to Bastian, who passed out on the floor, and put a bullet in his head. If there is one thing we know how to do, it’s how to kill a man.

* * *

Lucien and I make our way back to his house. He needs to get cleaned up before he visits Astra, and I need to check on Evelyn. She hasn’t talked to me at all today.

“I’m worried about Astra.” Lucien has a hint of sadness laced with his words.

“Is she back to her old self?”

“Yeah. She has been drinking again. I also found a bag of pills in her nightstand last week. She claimed they were old, but I know shes fucking lying. “

He pauses for a second, his jaw tensing.

“I know she is hurt right now, but I can’t keep saving her.”

“When are you going to learn, man? You can’t change her. She will always be self-destructive. That’s all she’s ever known, and now, with the loss of her sister and her injuries, that will only get worse.”

He nods, looking out the window into the dense forest surrounding us.

“Harmony has decided to move in with her.”

“Evelyn told me that she thought Harmony was in danger. Do you believe it?”

“I could see it, but I don’t think it’s a violent threat. I think there has to be something deeper there that we don’t know.”

I nod, accepting his perspective.

“I think I need to give Astra an ultimatum— it’s only fair. I quit cheating on her so she would quit the fucking drugs. Now she is going to have to pick me entirely or the drugs.”

“You really think that will work? Shes fucking stubborn.”

“If it doesn’t, then it’ll be her funeral.”

His cold response reminds me of the man I used to be. Now, I could never wish such a thing on my princess.

* * *

I decided to pit stop by my house to shower. I smell of fucking bleach. We had to clean the cell and dispose of the bodies.

I pull into my garage and I check my phone before heading upstairs. I open my messages, my heart warming at a notification from Evelyn about twenty minutes ago. What the fuck has happened to me? I open her message, and my blood runs cold.

You shouldn’t have saved me the first time.

What the fuck. The world around me isn’t silent. It’s fucking screaming at me. The words suffocate me. I quickly open her security feed.

There she is. Lying too still on top of the sheets, her shirt twisted as if she barely made it there. One of her arms hangs limp off the edge of the bed, fingers loose. Her phone lies next to her with a black screen as if she were waiting for me to talk her down.

I zoom in on the feed and see a bag of pills. Not just any pills. Valium. The bag looks nearly empty.

I quickly rewind the feed and watch her. She sends a message, throwing her phone onto the bed. She stands, looking at the ceiling for a sign. She opens the bag and swallows a handful of pills. Then she sits on the bed. I fast-forward, and she eventually falls back onto the mattress.

FUCK.

I pull out of the driveway and speed to her house. I won’t let her fucking die.

* * *

I sprint up her stairs and bolt inside. I don’t have fucking time. I twist her knob and it’s locked.

I step back and kick open her door, splintering the frame. I shove my way in and freeze.

No.

Images of my sister flash through my brain. Evelyn isn’t dead. I can save her. I rush to her side, feeling her skin. She is clammy, her lips have paled, and her limbs are lifeless.

I slide my two fingers to her neck, checking her pulse.

Weak.

But still there.

“Evelyn.” My voice breaks on her name. Pain erupts in my chest.

Her lashes twitch. Barely.

I grab her jaw and force her eyes open with my free hand.

“Look at me. Open your fucking eyes.”

Nothing.

I release her, turning to her nightstand. I pick it up and throw it across the room as rage blinds me. What the fuck have I done to her? She wants to die. I fucking failed her. I turn back to her.

“You want to die?” I speak coldly. “You want to leave me like this?”

My fingers tremble as I pull her upright, cradling her against my chest as if she were made of glass.

“You don’t get to say goodbye,” I whisper against her forehead.

“Not to me.”

I slide my phone out of my pocket and call 911.

“I’ll fix this. I’ll fucking fix this.”

I press my lips to her temple.

“You don’t get to leave me. Not until I let you go…. And I never will.”

* * *