Page 21 of To Have and to Hold

Rage raced through me and I stood, towering over my older brother, getting close enough that he couldn’t easily stand, noticing how little he looked like the man I’d thought the worldof as a kid. “Say that again, Charlie. Tell me again that our sister deserves this life because she’s got a pussy and not a cock. Tell me.”

Charlie stood too, shoving me back, so I had to stumble a step or fall on my ass. And though he was taller than me, he was hungover to shit and still wonky, even when he tried to look commanding. “It’s our way, Theodore. Accept it or leave. We give up our freedom just the same, only we’re on the giving end. We give. They receive. Leave, Theo, if you can’t stomach that.”

“You know I can’t leave.”

“Then you understand you have to accept it. She’s just a whore to pass off on someone for gain—”

I punched him across his mouth, grinning when he fell with no resistance. Just fucking hit the deck. A sack of rotten potatoes. His body bounced onto the bed, then off, smacking onto the carpet with all his weight and a loud grunt. Felt good. I wanted to do it again. My stomach squeezed a little at the joy of seeing him groaning and writhing at my feet.

I had a moment to process what I’d done, to relish the feeling of taking him down, when he swept my legs out from under me and smashed his fist across my face as I landed on the floor next to him. Yelling, I grappled with him, enjoying getting out my aggression with punches and blows, both landing and receiving them.

At last, he lay limp beneath me, his arms spread wide and his head lolling to the side, unable to keep fighting. I didn’t know if I was stronger, or just more determined, but it was one of the first times I’d ever beaten him in a fistfight. My hands ached, my ribs were definitely fucking bruised, but it was all superficial stuff. Nothing an ice pack and a stiff drink wouldn’t fix. Beating the shit out of my brother had gone much further in sorting me out than that random bloke from the club.

I straddled Charlie's waist, yanking his knife from his back pocket. He always had one there. Maybe I should feel shame that I was using it when he hadn’t, but fuck him for what he’d said. I pressed the blade to his throat, and through heavy lashes, his eyes met mine.

“Do it,” I demanded. “Tell Father that I’m needed. Call him now. You need more help. You need a damn assistant, a bodyguard, you’re a little shit who can’t do his job, I don’t care.”

“Theo…”

“Do it, Charlie. Do it or I’ll let this knife slip through your skin.”

“You fucking bastard.” He coughed, and my eyes widened with glee as his skin pressed against the short knife just a fraction more. I could push and end him, no longer be the spare. I pulled the blade away, horrified at the thought of becoming father’s heir.

Charlie laughed, a wet, disgusting thing. “You can come with me,” he spluttered. “God knows I’m looking forward to seeing you get torn to tiny pieces by this life.” Sitting up and wiping his mouth free of spit, he glared at me. "You don't know the half of what this church is."

I stared him down, confused, battling to catch my breath. “What do you mean?”

“Give me the phone,” he said, holding his hand out. “You can wait and fucking see.”

I’dwon.Charliehadtalked our dad into letting me go with him, and therefore, with Rafe and his crew. I’d boarded theprivate jet to no fanfare, angry that Violet was already tucked away in the bedroom at the back of the plane. She didn’t come out of that compartment for the entirety of the short flight, but I heard her. One of Rafe’s assistants slipped into the room and quietened her down when she started to cry out in her sleep, and Rafe didn’t even flinch at the sound of her pleas.

Charlie was right, that I would get torn to pieces. But it wasn’t because of this life, whatever plans he had for me to scare me back to Chicago. No, it was the sound of Violet, so desperate and alone, sobbing in fear, and me having to sit there, listen, bide my fucking time. I had to deaden myself, switch off. Become someone else, a man with a tense jaw and stiff muscles and a stone cold heart.

Charlie and I took a separate car from the airport, driving through a town about forty minutes before we reached Rafael’s compound. I’d caught sight of Violet, being carried down the steps of the plane and straight into her own car, and couldn’t even talk without that rage wanting to spill out. The pretense was over for Rafe now. He had what he wanted in her and he was unconcerned with who saw the damage.

Marks ran up and down her arms and legs, all exposed to the cool air. He’d bitten her, hit her, maybe fucking whipped her, and his assistant just deposited her into a car and walked to the other side, not a bloody care. Charlie didn’t even bother to look.

Charlie and I hadn’t had an opportunity to talk again since the hotel room, and even now, in the quiet of the car, with the sun setting on a long day gone, we had ears listening. Maybe always would.

He had a house out here, a small cottage on the same road as Rafe’s compound, but his unfriendly neighbors could have bugged even that with little effort on their part. Our phones, too. It would take nothing for it all to be over before I’d even began. I had to plan this in my head, with no input, no internet searchesor phone calls. No word from Connor, only in the shitty code we’d come up with when this all first started, and that wouldn’t get us far.

He would be pissed to know I’d gone against the plan. But maybe I could speed the whole operation up, catch two birds with one fuck up.

I noted everything that was in the town as we drove through it, but saw nothing that could be helpful. No signs it was overrun with Rafe's buddies or rabid members of his group – I struggled to call it a church, even if that's what they went by. There was nothing righteous about it. So I settled in, staring out the window and dreaming up all the ways I could end Rafe’s life. Violet’s moans kept breaking through, her thighs spreading, her back arched, the way she sighed when I kissed the skin by her knees…

Rafael was destined to die by my hand. Or maybe by Violet’s, if she wanted. He was headed to hell for what he’d done to my sister, and to countless others. I might be following on his heels with the dirty thoughts I had about her, but that was a risk I was willing to take.

The driver took us straight past Rafe’s compound, taking us the extra half mile to Charlie's, where his car and his fiancé were waiting. I knew little about her, only that she was part of the church. Charlie and I shared a look as the vehicle sped off, our luggage deposited at our feet, and a quick farewell given.

Charlie disagreed with me, but I didn’t care. I was coming for Violet, and I was going to kill anyone who got in her way. Our sweet, kind, little sister deserved a good life. Not one at the hands of a monster.

Rafe was going to die. His pathetic church was going to fall. But first I needed to understand it.

Chapter 13

Violet

Theyneverletmeout of my room once I was thrown into it. I paced, wandered in circles, wasted time picking at the scabs on my skin, old and new, and just existed. Existed until Rafael came for me.

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