Page 36 of The Thief

Sick and burning with the kind of rage I’d never felt before in my life.

This man would die today, and I was going to be the one to kill him. There was no doubt about that.

“She’s going nowhere,” I growled, using my body, lying across them as Jess clung to Ava and pulled me closer to her. The three of us became one as I faced him off. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” I snarled, and then spat in his face, using the only thing I had to force him back and away from Jess and Ava.

“You know what?” Two said, wiping the saliva off his face with his sleeve and glaring at me. “You’re really starting to piss me off.”

“Good,” I barked, spitting at him again.

He growled in anger, grabbing me by the collar of my boilersuit and dragging me into the middle of the room.

I didn’t care.

By goading him, I’d done exactly what I’d set out to do. Get him away from Jess and Ava. That’s all I’d wanted. I didn’t care what happened next.

I could hear Ava crying harder now as Jess called out, “Please, don’t hurt him.”

But Number Two wasn’t listening.

None of them were.

Two forced me onto my knees in the middle of the room and stood over me, his gun pointed right at my face. But I kept my head up. I wasn’t scared of dying. But I’d definitely be taking him with me today.

“If you want to play the hero for your girls, let’s show them what happens to real heroes.” He took a step forward, moving the gun to my forehead as he hissed, “And just so you know, in my story, the hero gets his brains blown out, and then the villain... that’s me... gets to fuck the girl.” He tilted his head, and his eyes glazed over as he spoke like he was high. “Make sure you’re watching this,” he said, turning to look directly at Jess.

“Please. You don’t have to do this. Please, let him go,” Jess pleaded, but Two shrugged. Then he grinned as the others stood beside him, their guns pointed at me too, ready to take me out.

“Four guns, one hero. It’s going to be quite the bloodbath,” Two announced smugly. “Do you have any last words? Anything you’d like to say?”

My breath was ragged. My mind racing as fast as the heartbeat that thrummed in my chest, my ears, my very soul. I stared into his eyes, praying my last words would be his downfall. That he’d know what he’d done today wouldn’t gounpunished. That he’d signed his death warrant the minute he’d walked into this bank. But by his own vile, vicious actions, he’d made that death a million times worse, and I couldn’t wait to watch it all unfold as I haunted him until the day he took his final breath.

“You will never know a minute’s peace.” I spoke calmly. I wanted him to know I meant every word. “I will haunt you. My brothers will find you. And when they do, you’ll be begging,beggingthem to go easy on you. But they won’t.”

“Whatever you say,” he mocked, but I shook my head.

“I might have four guns pointed at me, but I have four brothers who’ll take great pleasure in carving you up, hacking you into pieces, and delivering you back to your family with a message attached to each and every part.”

“And what message might that be?” He smirked, pressing his gun harder into my forehead as the others gave a weak laugh beside him.

“That nobody fucks with the Soldiers of Brinton Manor.”

It was the last thing I said before the gun went off.

The last thing before everything went black.

Chapter Fourteen

JESS

It all happened so fast.

Everything was a blur.

One minute I had Ava asleep in my arms, and Tyler was next to me, talking to me, soothing me, and giving me hope that all this would come to an end.

And then, it did.

In the worst way.