Page 44 of The Aftermath

“Not going to say hello to your big brother?” His voice grinds through me, and I begin to tremble. He grabs my hair through the hood and jerks me to my feet.

“What do you want?” I cry.

“There’s a lot I want, but I need you to get it,” he seethes.

“I don’t have anything!”

“No, you don’t, but your husband does.” He drags me with him. I hear other voices and Tamsyn sobbing.

“Take the back way,” Tom calls out to the others. We are led out the back way of the hotel and shoved into the back of a car. Tamsyn and I sit closely together, our bound hands behind our backs. The men don’t talk at all, just take off driving.

We sit in silence. The only thing I can hear is the beat of my own heart in my ears. I’m not sure how long we drive when the car comes to a stop. I hear the doors opening and then we’re pulled from the car. The hoods are yanked off our heads as I glance around to see where we are but I don’t notice the surroundings. My stomach drops when I see the car. Tamsyn spots it, too, and begins to scream when a hand is wrapped around her mouth.

“What do you think, sister? Think they survived that?” Tom asks coming to stand in front of me now. Tears fall down my cheeks as I look at the mangled wreckage in front of us. I’m gasping for air as it is when I see him.

“Levi? No!” I scream as I try to run toward the car. Tom lets me go, and when I’m close enough, I see why. “No. No, no, no, no!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I fall to my knees. Levi has blood coming from his mouth and ears. His eyes are half closed but still visible. I cry. I cry so hard my stomach hurts, and then I heave. Tom walks over and yanks me to my feet as I cry harder.

“So? What’s your guess, sister? Did the other two make it out alive?” I can’t stop crying. I can’t stop the tears, but I turn to face him and spit in his face. Tom backhands me before wiping the spit up with his fingers and shoving them in my mouth. He shoves them down my throat far enough I start gaging again. He pulls them free right before I throw up on the ground in front of me.

“I thought you liked it when someone choked you?” he hisses at me. I’m numb. I feel numb. I don’t feel a fucking thing, and that scares me.

Without another word, the hoods are back over our heads, and we’re placed back in the car. I will never unsee that. I will never get the look of Levi’s face out of my mind. Never.

The two of us sob as the car starts driving again. My heart’s broken. He didn’t even want to come and now this? Now he’s gone. There’s an ache in my chest that will never go away, and I know it.

I hate Tom. I’ve hated him for years for what he did to me that day, but that hate is stronger now. He took something from me not once but twice. He took Levi from all of us. How could he? Wasn’t what he did to me enough?

I bite my cheek to keep from crying out from pain. Pain that rips through my chest. The car keeps driving for what seems like forever when it finally comes to a stop. Tamsyn and I are dragged out of the car and up a few stairs before I think we’re inside a building.

We are walked across what I assume to be a room and then forced to our knees. I listen intently, hoping to hear a sound or anything letting us know where we are, but there’s only silence.

“Now that we’re all here,” Tom announces. Then, I hear people moving around the room. I sniffle right before I hear a groan. Silas? It was Silas.

“Silas!” I scream his name right before I’m kicked forward. I fall on my face not able to use my hands to catch myself. I can taste blood in my mouth.

“Angel? Don’t you fucking touch her!” He roars.

“Hasn’t everyone touched her?” Tom taunts, and I cringe.

“I’ll kill you, you motherfucker! I will fucking kill you!” I hear what sounds like chains swinging, and then Silas screams.

“No! Leave him alone!” I cry louder this time. I’m jerked back upright on my knees when the hood is pulled off me. My eyes frantically search for Silas when I see the two of them on their knees across the room with hoods on their heads. I want to call out to him but I don’t. Instead, I glance over at Tamsyn as she stares blankly at Rylan.

“What we have here is a quiet group. Missing one, of course,” Tom declares as my stomach trembles again. “What should have been an easy out just wasn’t. When we came up with the plan to get rid of you six, it was smart. We had a plan, and you fucking ruined it!” Tom screams.

“Let me elaborate,” Matt says, stepping into the middle of the room. Off to the side, I see Hunter and Hoax. What the hell? Did they help them? Did they tell them we were here? I catch Hoax’s eye but he doesn’t give anything away, just turns back to the center of the room.

“We knew this was going to come down at some point in time. We weren’t sure when. When Silas asked to wait until after the ceremony, I had a hunch something was up. When I saw what you four would go through for each other, I knew you had to be dealt with. I removed your brands and dumped you in the middle of nowhere, praying that would be enough to make you stay away. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.” No one speaks as Silas and Rylan sway on their knees. They’re not good, but they’re alive. That’s what I keep telling myself. They’re alive.

“What we did for power, for money long ago has come back to bite us in the ass, as they say. There were things I didn’t plan on, and one was the lengths these men would go to for you girls. We couldn’t let it go on any longer.” My stomach cramps again, hearing his words. They didn’t think the guys loved us the way they did.

“The time has come for this all to end. Frankly, I’m tired of it. I lost my leadership role over this, over the things I’ve done. I almost lost my wife over this, and to be frank with everyone, I’m not a losing man.” He nods toward whoever is behind us, and they grab hold of Tamsyn and me, dragging us across the room. They drop us right in front of the guys before pulling the hoods off their heads. Another sob chokes me as I look at Silas’s face. There are cuts, blood, and swelling. I can’t pull my eyes away from him.

Silas blinks as best he can through his swollen eye and finally sees me.

“Say your final goodbyes. You’re lucky I’m even giving you that,” Matt says. Silas’s eyes never leave mine. It’s almost like he’s branding me all over again. I can feel him in me as tears roll down my cheeks.

“No crying, Angel. I told you once I’d come into the depths of hell for you, and I meant it. Death can’t keep us apart. Hell, the devil can try if he wants to, but we all know I’ll end up on that throne just to save you,” he tells me. My heart aches. This can’t be the end. It just can’t be.

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