The first punch to my stomach turns my vision white.
One guy holds me steady from behind so his brass-knuckled friend can beat me without any slack.
The puncher lets out a haunting chuckle, pummeling me again.
The air gets knocked out of me and my knees weaken.
"You're all cowards," Bella mutters. "Beating up a defenseless woman, barely clothed. Your mothers would be so proud."
Someone presses the barrel of their gun into her temple. "Shut up, bitch. Your daddy has his own plans for you, otherwise you'd be next."
I try not to unwrap the meaning of that but Bella remains defiant and unbothered. Then my eyes flick to Ken, who quietly studies me, no doubt enjoying every moment of my suffering.
When the third punch comes, I manage to twist to the side to avoid him hitting the same area. It still hurts, but not as bad as it would have.
I breathe through the pain, refusing to cry for this bastard. Even though this is the end for me, I'll look him in the eye with my bloody smile until my final breath.
That's all he'll get from me.
After the fourth hit, my punisher angles his head. "Not even a tear, baby girl? I guess I need to take it up a notch."
He swings his elbow back for a harder impact just as a gunshot rings the room.
My assailant drops to the ground, a real life Goliath shaking the floorboards. A bullet smack dab in the head.
Everyone looks over to see Brandon standing in the hallway, shielded by the guy who took Nova to another room.
He presses one gun to the man's neck while another one aims at Ken. "Looking for me?" Brandon asks.
Hope swells my chest.
He came back.
The man holding me, tips the point of his knife at my throat. "Put the gun down or she dies," he warns.
"Think about your options, Brandon," Ken says next. "It's eight versus two. There's no way you're walking out of this alive."
As much as I hate to admit it, Ken's right. Every gun in the room is on Brandon. He doesn't stand a chance.
Brandon's eyes flick from his sister to me. "I'll give you the flash drive in exchange for Nataly, Nova, my sister, and my niece."
Ken shakes his head, chuckling. "No. You're in no position to negotiate."
"Says the man with a gun pointed at his heart," Brandon counters.
"You kill me, they kill you," Ken barks back. "No deal."
The man holding me at knife-point growls. "Mr. Lion would disagree, Mr. Scott." He regards Brandon as if they're the only men in the room. "You can have Nataly in exchange for the flash drive, but that's it."
Brandon stares the thug down. "Hey, Matt. Looks like you've risen the ranks since I last saw you. Okay, how about this? Nataly and Nova or else my tech friend forwards the information to the feds in ten minutes."
Ken scoffs. "He's bluffing."
But Matt must know Brandon well enough to know he's not. "Deal."
"Are you fucking mad?!" Ken cries. "You all work for me—not the other way around."
Matt slightly lowers the knife. "Put your weapons down, Donato, and I'll send the girl over." He cuts the rope binding me as a show of trust.
"First, I need to know one thing," Brandon says. "Was it my father's idea to set me up for Lauren's murder or yours?"
Matt laughs. "Your father's, of course. He paid your ex-girlfriend to steal your glock, boots, and clothes so that we could plant them in Lauren's condo. Then all she had to do was give you a false address to place you at the scene. The witnesses were legit."
"So Dani really did betray me," Brandon muses aloud. "Good to know."
"Didn't even blink twice, man," Matt says with a triumphant smile.
Ken bristles with anger. "Enough of this! I want that flash drive now!"
"Alright," Brandon says. "I'm going to lower my weapons at the count of three. Fair?"
"Sure," Matt says.
My heartbeat intensifies as Brandon watches Matt. He slowly releases the man who's been standing as his shield.
"One..." Brandon counts, his eyes finally settling over me, and flaring at my injuries. I see a quiet rage work through the tension of his muscles. "Two..."
Brandon's guns nearly touch the floor. Matt pushes me toward his direction.
"Three."
At that last count, two wild things happen at once.
Brandon hits the floor, shooting the large man in front of him and Matt at the same time. Two beautiful fast and fatal shots.
Bella takes advantage of her guard's distraction by slamming her elbow into him, commandeering his gun, and putting a bullet directly into his chest. Then she spins around to shoot the three men behind her in one clean lineup.
Boom. Boom. Boom
My eardrums explode as I dive to the floor, screaming.
Brandon leans back on his side, using the large thug—who is very much a corpse now—as a human shield once more. He fires shots at the remaining guys, who also shoot rounds at him but fall to the ground one at a time.
I curl into myself, praying a bullet doesn't hit me, forgetting all about the one person I should've never taken my eyes off of.
Ken yanks me off the floor to take a page out of Brandon's book. He uses me as his shield. "I'll kill her, I swear!" A gun presses into my back.
When I jerk away, Ken holds me tighter until my skin burns. "Let me go!"
Brandon and Bella come together, aiming their guns at Ken. But there's no way to get a clean shot.
Bella lowers her gun. "I don't want to accidentally harm Nataly."
Brandon refuses to give up, though. He keeps a steady aim at us, eyes alight with rage, breaths ragged with...fear?
Is Brandon afraid of losing me?
"Back up or she's dead!" Ken threatens.
Reluctantly, Bella listens to my stepdad. But Donato doesn't move an inch.
"Didn't you hear me? I'll kill her," Ken emphasizes.
Brandon still doesn't move. "I'm not going anywhere."
The conviction in his words ignites within me like a firework. As if it's his way of apologizing for leaving me earlier.
Ken digs the gun into my back. For a moment, it's just a standoff between them until—
"Daddy, don't!"
We all look over to see Nova careening down the hall, her eyes full of tears.
Everyone turns to watch Nova except Brandon. He uses the moment to shoot Ken in the leg.
Ken drops the gun, crying from shock.
I push away and catch Nova in my arms.
Brandon detains Ken. Then I hear him mutter, "A quick death is too good for you. I promised Nataly we'd do this her way."
Ken sighs with relief.
Too bad he doesn't know what awaits him after his prison sentence.
True to his word, David Jennings notifies the authorities.
The police come immediately and the news cameras are right there to film Ken's walk of shame.
Since I'm nineteen and Nova's closest kin, they tell me I can file the papers to take full custody. It will be a process, but I eagerly look forward to becoming her legal guardian.
Before the police take Brandon, they allow us one quick goodbye. He stands with his back to the car, handcuffed. Something about it drives me mad with desire. Even in my bruised state.
"Why didn't you tell me last night that David lived in Portland?" I ask, leaning into him.
Brandon grins down at me. "I'm sorry, princess, but I took a vow never to expose him to anyone. He's got like a million federal-issued warrants out on him."
I roll my eyes. "He trusts you...."
"Because I promised I'd never tell," he says.
"But why did you need to see him? I still don't understand."
There's a soft sigh. "I went to him for you, sweetheart."
"Huh?"
"Seeing you crushed last night crushed me. I may not be able to take down every bastard on the dark web but he can track down images and delete them."
My heart skips and I loop my arms around him. "You mean...?"
"Yes, Nataly. I went to David to demand he track down every fucking photo and video of you through Ken's dark accounts. He found some images right away and destroyed them. He's still working through it all, though."
I hesitate. "...Any of Nova?"
Brandon shakes his head. "So far, no."
I draw in a breath. "Brandon I can't thank you enough for—"
"I thought I'd be right back. I didn't mean to scare you," he says. "But Miguel wasn't responding to my texts, which meant something was wrong. David tapped into his surveillance cameras, which showed my greatest fear. He alerted my guys to help him out while I headed back to Bella's. I already knew my dad had found us but I didn't realize how late I was until I saw the SUVs in the driveway."
"I almost thought—well, we thought—you'd abandoned us," I admit, putting my head down. "I shouldn't have doubted."
Brandon meets me with a kiss. And after a long, impassioned one, we break apart, aching for more.
"I'll never go anywhere again without telling you first," he promises.
"Do you know if you'll get in trouble for escaping the prison transfer?" I ask.
"Jennings already forwarded a sample of what's on the flash drive to the feds," he says. "My lawyer's on it too, so if the government wants all of the information on that drive, they better be ready to negotiate a sweet deal for me."
Watching him climb into the back of the police car is more painful than I expect. My eyes sting—my whole body and soul miss him already. It's a punch to the heart, not knowing when I'll see him next.
And I've taken enough hits for one day.
Gradually I make my way back inside the house. Bella sits at the dining table with the girls. I'm once again thankful Cate left for school right as all of this went down. At least that's one less traumatized person in the house.
"Thanks for letting us stay here until I get my life in order," I tell Bella. I also want to thank her for killing three men for us today, but not with the girls in the room.
Earlier, Brandon explained that they grew up around guns and know how to use them with terrifying accuracy and speed. It shouldn't have surprised me but seeing them in action was both frightening and exhilarating.
"As far as I'm concerned, you guys are family now," Bella says, hugging Nova beside her.
Family.
It's been so long since I've used this word. But I'm looking forward to having one again.
I know Mom did the best she could. She chose Ken because she saw that he could give us the world.
But sometimes kids don't need the world. Sometimes they just need someone to see them. To listen.
I will do everything in my power to do that for Nova.
WC: 1910