Page 84 of Vendetta

The lights appeared off, and I cautiously reached for the handle after not spotting any movement coming from inside. Turning it slowly, I kept my steps silent as I moved through the hall, hearing multiple voices as I neared the massive formal living room at the back of the house where we had shared tea with Amelia.

Keeping my back pressed to the partition wall, I tried to make out what they were saying to no avail. Instead, I slowly peeked my head around, not enough to be seen, but just enough to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

I spotted two grown men dressed in all black, dark bandanas covering the lower halves of their faces. Even with halfof their faces being concealed, I could tell that one of them must be closer to middle-aged, while the other looked to be about my age.

And in between the two of them was Cashton, down on his knees with his hands locked behind his head in surrender. The younger man stood at his back, gun aimed directly at Cashton’s temple.

This was bad. This was very, very bad.

My heart raced, mind running a million miles a minute as I tried to figure out what to do. I had tried calling Kaptan and Zayn on the way here, neither of them having answered the phone. I was completely on my own. I knew coming into this that I would have no idea what I would be facing, but I couldn’t let anything happen to the man I was falling for. I had lost my mom and then my dad, and I wasn’t losing Cashton too. At the very least, I would go down fighting.

I was so focused on trying to find the best possible way to get the jump on them that I didn’t feel the movement behind me until it was too late. A large arm clamped around my neck, my hands shooting up on instinct to grab it.

“Well, well, well—What do we have here?” a deep voice whispered into my ear, my heart sinking to my stomach as he dragged me out from my hiding place and into the living room.

The men turned to face us, assessing me as I remained trapped and helpless in his hold. Cashton’s wide eyes met mine, a look of panic and despair like I had never seen taking over his features.

“Landry, what are you doing here?” he asked through clenched teeth, trying to sound calm though the panic in hisvoice gave him away. I opened my mouth to speak, but the arm around my throat only tightened, restricting my air.

“Well, if it isn’t Landry Andrews,” the older man in the center of the room teased, turning from Cashton to face me. Cashton’s panic was laced with rage as the man approached me, his jaw clenching as he practically growled “Don’t touch her.”

The man paid no mind to Cashton’s threat, his eyes roaming over me. I couldn’t see the lower half of his face due to the mask, but I knew he was smiling.

“Well, isn’t this perfect—Two birds with one stone. You just made our lives so much easier by delivering yourself right to our door. Thank you for that.”

“Who are you?” I growled, the arm around my neck loosening just enough for me to choke out the words.

“The funny thing is, Landry, that you and I have crossed paths on multiple occasions. I wouldn’t expect you to remember, of course. It wouldn’t hurt to be more aware of your surroundings, you know. And the night of New Year’s Eve—Well, I wouldn’t expect you to remember that one since you were out cold. I actually thought you were dead when I left you there, so imagine my surprise when I found out that you were attending Ivybrook this semester.”

I stopped breathing, and it had nothing to do with the arm around my throat.

“You were the one who ran me and my mom off the road,” I ground out. This was the man who had taken my mom away from me, who had tried to take my life as well. And now here he was, standing right in front of me.

“Let her go. I’m the one who dragged her into this, I’m the one who convinced her that there was more to it. You can killme, but let. Her. Go,” Cashton pleaded, his gaze hardening as every muscle in his body tensed from silent rage.

We were outnumbered, not to mention the fact that they had guns and we didn’t. Quite frankly, we were fucked.

The older man seemed to think over Cashton’s request, tilting his head to the side in consideration.

“Nah. But here’s what we can do—I’ll kill her first, so that you get to watch,” he concluded with a mocking lilt.

One look from who I assumed to be the leader and the man holding me tightened his arm once more, this time harder than before. My airways were completely cut off as he lifted me, my nails desperately clawing at his arm as my feet kicked, meeting nothing but air.

“Motherfu—” Cashton started, attempting to stand as the younger male behind him grabbed him by the hair and forced him back onto his knees, pressing the gun firmer into his temple.

This was it. This was how we were going to die.

I desperately tried gasping in air, my lungs aching as I continued to struggle, stars beginning to dot the edges of my vision. I tried to reach for the man’s face, scratching and clawing at anything I could to get him to release his grip to no avail. Instead, he only chuckled, the entire room watching as my life slowly began to fade.

I let my gaze fall to Cashton’s as he sat there helplessly, the pain and desperation in those beautiful green eyes of his causing an ache to fill my chest as my heart began to shatter.

The sight of him offered me a brief moment of clarity, the emotions in his eyes wilder than anything I had seen before. I wasn’t going to let this be our ending.

Forcing myself to let go of the arm around my throat, I reached my hand down to my lower back, reaching for what I had placed there earlier. Sliding the kitchen knife out of the plastic sheath that I had haphazardly duct-taped to the inside of my denim shorts, I swung my arm with what little strength I had left and embedded it into the man’s forearm.

He released me instantly as I fell to the floor, taking the knife with me as my feet hit the ground and the man staggered backwards. Commotion broke out on the other end of the room where Cashton had used the distraction to knock the gun free from the younger man’s hand and was now in the process of bringing him down to the ground.

The leader still stood a few feet in front of me, and I watched in horror as he reached for the gun tucked into the back of his pants and raised it directly at me, the barrel staring me dead in the face.

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