Page 50 of A Father's Insistence

“Enough.” My father steps forward with Tamara in front of him. His weapon is pointed at us, and we perform a dance around the room. He’s working his way toward the door to escape. The trained men in our entourage try to prevent this, but there’s little they can do with my sisters in the line of fire.

“We have to stop them,” Joanna whispers behind me, and I look carefully over my shoulder to reassure her it’ll be all right, but she’s already moving forward to where my father stands. I instantly want to stop her, but Nicholas prevents me from moving.

“Give her a chance. She needs this.”

Joanna walks between Nicholas and I and slowly lowers herself to her knees in front of my father. She bows her head, and a triumphant smirk crosses his face.

“Maybe I underestimated my skills, after all. Once a slave always a slave. Tamara and Victoria will make great pets for their new owners. Come here.” All I can do is stand by and watch whatever Joanna’s plan is unfold. She gets to her feet with her head still bowed and makes her way to stand next to him. At the same time, I see out the corner of my eye one of Matthew’s men step closer to where the second man has Victoria. He’s the weaker of the two and will be easier to take down. Nicholas slightly nods his head, and in the blink of an eye, the man holding Victoria is on the floor and dead with a bullet hole to his head, and she is free and in her husband’s arms. With the distraction, Joanna pulls her weapon from where it was hidden in her thick jumper and points it at my father’s head.

“Drop your gun,” she orders. He doesn’t move at first, but William and I descend on him with our own weapons drawn.

“It’s over,” I repeat. “Drop you weapon.”

It seems like an age, but eventually my father accepts defeat and lowers his gun. He lets go of his hold on Tamara, and she runs to William while I take the weapon from my father.

“Why?” I ask him.

“Because I could,” my father replies.

I shake my head and turn to give the weapon to one of the trained MI5 men in our group. My father uses my distraction and pushing past me, he tries to race up the stairs. He’s not quick enough, though. A weapon fires, and the bullet goes straight into his leg, causing him to collapse down onto the ground. When I look down, there’s smoke emerging from my own gun. It was me who shot him. Joanna comes quickly to my side while Nicholas and William leave Tamara and Victoria to drag my father back into the center of the room. He’s screaming in pain. Nicholas removes the tie my father is wearing and stuffs it into his mouth to shut him up.

Matthew comes over and secures my father’s hands with cuffs.

“I’ll leave you six to finish this. We’ll start cleaning upstairs. What do you want done about the woman?”

Nicholas looks at me, and Victoria lets out a cry.

“With Theo and Victoria’s permission, I’d like to bury her with my mother and Tamara’s. The three women who’ve given birth to the new generation of the society all together. While the three men: my father, Joanna’s, and eventually the scum at my feet, who gave nothing but their sperm, will be forgotten for the evil deeds they committed.”

“Please, Theo.” Victoria begs as she slides down to sit on the floor. She looks exhausted and weak.

“Of course,” I reply instantly and go to help support her. Joanna comes with me and sits down next to her.

“Is Rose ok?” Victoria asks immediately.

“She’s fine. She has more guards around her than we have here.” Joanna smiles weakly. She’s exhausted as well.

While Matthew and the other men leave the six of us alone with my father, William and Tamara speak quietly in the corner of the room. Pulling the wig from her head, Tamara drops it onto the floor. Then William places his hand over her stomach, and she reassures him she’s all right and wasn’t hurt.

Nicholas stands over my father and addresses us, “I don’t think I need to tell you what happens next. In order to put an end to this, I need to send a message. If you don’t want to be involved, then you may leave with no questions asked. Victoria?”

She shakes her head. “I need closure.”

“Tamara? William?”

“I want to see him suffer,” Tamara announces through gritted teeth.

“I’m with the wife,” William smirks.

“Theo? Joanna?”

I look down at my wife.

“I want to stay.” She gets up from her position where she’s sat beside Victoria and goes to stand in front of my father. He looks up at her and spits. Nicholas kicks him in his wounded leg, and he lets out a scream of pain.

“On your knees,” Joanna commands, standing tall in front of him with her shoulders pulled back, and her head held high. He doesn’t move, so she repeats her order, “On your knees.”

Nicholas grabs him and pulls him up so that he bows low before her.

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