Page 47 of Free

“No. Those are our girls, and more specifically, that one is mine,” I roar as I point to Addison. Her lips part as she stares at me, unsure what to say. Our eyes lock, and I can see the shock in them. She didn’t know I couldn’t let her go. I never told her, but losing her? Fuck, losing her took something from me. It took a part of me I wasn’t sure I was going to get back and now here she is.

“She was going to end up here, Free! You know it, and I know it. I just made it happen a little faster than usual.” He tries to justify his actions. I raise my gun and aim it at his head. I’m sick of this shit, of his lies, his deceit. How could he do that? How could he take what didn’t belong to him?

“You’re wrong, Jamie. That decision was all hers until I decided she belonged to me!” I roar as a few of the girls cry louder. “Get the girls out of here. Leave his girls alone,” I tell the others. The guys move, some remaining to control the other men and the rest moving to take the girls out of the room. I watch them go before I feel her hand on my shoulder. I know it’s her. I can feel her.

“You stay, Addison.” Her hand stays on my shoulder before it slowly slides down my back and latches onto the back of my cut. I know she’s scared and doesn’t want to be here but I need to hear it, what happens next.

“You’ve got this all wrong, brother,” Jamie tries again, keeping his hands in the air.

“Do I? Or did you give my girl my fuckin’ drugs without my fuckin’ consent?”

“She liked it, Free. She liked being with her.” My teeth clench, and my jaw aches. He forced that shit on her. He made her do this. Which isn’t much different than what I’ve done to her. Fuck me. That’s done. I’ll never again force a woman to take those drugs for my sick reasons.

“It’s done. All of this is done. The drugs are over,” I tell Jamie. Addison gasps, but I don’t turn to look at her. Instead, I keep my eyes on Jamie. He’s the one who benefits the most from all of this.

“You can’t do that. We have a deal,” he screams as I shake my head.

“Deals off. In fact, there’s a lot that’s off. You fuckin’ stole from me, Jamie. I don’t take that shit lightly,” I remind him. He looks around the room and then chuckles.

“What could you possibly do to me?” he asks. I lower the gun and pull the trigger, shooting him in the leg. Addison jerks before me but doesn’t make a sound as I step toward him, forcing her to release her hold on me. I step into his space, motioning to Van to pull him back to his feet. He does, and that’s when I press the gun against his chest.

“You don’t fuck with what belongs to me, and that girl,” I say, looking over my shoulder at Addison, “is mine.”

“You won’t kill me, Free.”

“You know that for a fact?”

“We’re brothers, Free. You can’t do this,” he pleads, sounding a little more afraid now. Good. He should be afraid.

“Addison?”

“Yeah?”

“Did he touch you?”

“He … he was going to.” Before I can think about what I’m doing, I motion to Van to move out of my way, and I pull the trigger. Maybe I’m sick. I’m a dumb bastard for taking my own brother's life, but he broke that bond. He stole from me, and whether that girl wants to be with me or not, I made my decision.

Jamie’s body falls to the floor as I watch the blood pool around him. Van shakes his head before looking up at me.

“You good with this?” he asks, pointing at my dead brother.

“Better than good. Figure out what to do with the other girls.”

“You’ll let them leave?” Addison asks. I turn to face her and nod my head.

“They can leave.” She nods her head once as she wraps her arms around herself. Will she look at me differently now? Now she’s seen what I really do?

“I’ll get someone to clean this shit up,” Mask offers before pulling out his phone. I stalk over to Addison, grab her around the back of her neck, and pull her lips to mine, and I fucking kiss her.

When I can’t breathe anymore, I pull away from her and wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side as I walk us out of the house. As soon as we step outside, Bunny comes running, but Addison curls into me. I don’t know what the hell happened in there, but I know this isn’t right. She was friends with Bunny.

“Not now, Bunny,” I tell her. She looks from me to Addison before nodding her head and shuffling back to the van. I watch her climb in with some of the others, but Addison stays clinging to me.

“You’re going to hate me, and I’m so sorry, Free.”

“No. You should hate me. I fuckin’ made you use that shit. I was wrong, Addison. So fuckin’ wrong.”

“You didn’t know he would do this,” she murmurs.

---