Kelsey’s Point of View:
“Meeting, everybody, now!” Bruce’s hard voice was heard from downstairs as it throttled its way around the house, startling me from my sleep.
“Jesus Christ,” Justin muttered from beside me as he wiped his face up and down with his freehand as his other, pulled me closer from my side, “Does he know what time it is?” Glancing to his right, he squinted his eyes to check for himself.
“It’s three in the afternoon, Justin…” I stifled my laugh as he turned to me with a grim loop of his lips.
“So? We went to sleep late last night, the least he could fucking do is wait until we’ve woken up ourselves.” Yawning, he held himself up on his elbows, his eyes searching mine, “Do you want to stay in and I’ll go see what the fuck he’s bantering about or do you want to come with?” His face fell solemn as his fingers traced over the features of my face, his thumb brushing over the skin of my cheek.
“I’ll come with,” I shrugged, “He said everyone and the last thing I want is to get on his bad side. You’re all on edge as it is; don’t want to add onto it.” Throwing the blanket off of me, I tried to sit up but remained down once Justin tugged on me. Looking over at him, I gave him a confused glance, “What?”
“Are you sure? I mean the fucker could understand that you’re tired. I’m used to this kind of shit, waking up unexpectedly and everything—”
“Justin,” I smiled, “I’m fine. I need to wake up anyways, I have a lot of homework to catch up on and I’d lie if I said I wasn’t curious to what he wanted.” Smirking, I laughed at Justin’s obvious expression.
“Of course you are,” He grumbled, letting me sit up as he did so himself. Running his hands through his hair to tame it somehow, he shook his head at me, “Your curiosity will be the death of you.” He countered sharply with a hint of humor to show he was merely teasing.
“Yeah, well, you take it up with Bruce. He’s the one that called us all down to begin with.” Sticking my tongue out, I got out of bed before Justin could grab onto me, laughing at his scowl. “Come on lazy, we’ve got some family business to attend to.”
“Nah, I’d rather sit here and watch the view.” He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows as his eyes traveled down the length of my body.
“Wha—”It was then that I felt a whoosh of wind accommodate my body, waking me up entirely. Looking down at myself, my cheeks heated up at the sight of myself in booty panties and a loose tank-top. “You perv!”
“What?!” He put his hands up in mock surrender, “I didn’t know you were half naked, that’s not my fault! Besides, you’re my fiancé now I have more of a reason to stare at what’s mine.” His tone chilled me to the bone as his eyes blackened in slight possession as his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.
Feeling suddenly insecure, I wrapped my arms around my body, awkwardly looking around the room as I tried to find something to cover myself with.
“Hey,” Justin whispered lightly causing me to jump from how fast he had approached me. I hadn’t even realized he got up from bed. Rubbing my arms up and down, he took me into his arms, “You’re beautiful.” He murmured against my lips, his eyes piercing into mine, warming me from head to toe.
Leaning on my tip-toes, I pressed my lips to his, cupping the base of his neck to pull him closer.
Groaning into the kiss, Justin dug his fingers into my hips, rounding his own into mine causing me to moan slightly.
Clawing my fingers into his hair, I tugged on it earning a growl that made my knees go weak. Pulling away breathless, I re-attached ourselves, our bodies mending as one.
Sliding his hands down to my thighs, Justin latched onto the backs of them before hoisting me up and slamming me into the dresser, his lips hungrily moving against mine as if he couldn’t get enough.
“Justin,” I gasped at the sensation as he placed kisses down my neck, sucking on my collarbone.
“Are you two ready or no—holy shit!” Frantically pulling away with wide eyes, I turned to see Marco standing there with his eyes covered. “I’m sorry—fuck, why does this always happen to me?”
Chuckling, Justin gently put me down, landing me on my feet before hauling me behind him as his body blocked vision of mine. “Sorry man, we’ll be down in a second.” He stated, trying to contain his breathing.
“Fuck’s sake, you better because I swear to God if they send me back up here and I have to walk in on you two again, I might vomit.”
Rolling his eyes, Justin scoffed, “You need to get laid man, you’re such a fucking pussy. Get out so we can get dressed.”
Narrowing his eyes at Justin, he opened his mouth to retaliate but thought better of it. Sighing in annoyance, Marco shook his head, “I’m going, I’m going but you better not—”
“I said I was coming, didn’t I?” Justin spat, “Now leave.” Pointing to the door, Marco shot him a glare before doing as he was told, closing the door behind him.
“I mean it, no funny business!” Marco shouted from down the hall.
“Asshole,” Justin grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck before rounding to face me.
“Oh my God!” I screeched when I knew the coast was clear as the recent events flashed through my head, “That was so embarrassing!”
“Relax babe, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like we were fucking naked. Now come on,” Tugging the dressers open, he threw a pair of sweats and a t-shirt at me, “Get dressed. I don’t want to hear their fucking mouths when we get down there.”
Undressing myself, I pulled on each article of clothing before throwing my hair up into a messy bun. Turning to see Justin in a pair of jeans and a loose sleeveless shirt, a snapback supporting his head, I grabbed his outstretched hand as we both made our way out of the room and down the stairs.
“'Bout fucking time!” John bellowed from his seat on the couch, Carly seated to the right of him as her eyes glowered with humor as she took in my shy demeanor.
“Zip it, John, nobody gives a shit. We’re here now, right?” Muttering incoherently under his breath, Justin sat down on the empty chair, pulling me down on his lap, “Now what the fuck do you want Bruce that you had to wake us all up?”
“We’ve got business to discuss.”
Raising an eyebrow, Justin’s arms tightened around me, “Didn’t we discuss that shit last night? The fuck do the girls have to be here for?”
“Because,” Bruce shot back, “It has to do with them so I suggest you stop with your fucking snarky comments and let me do my God damn job. Just sit there and shut the fuck up before I get you a muzzle.”
Placing my hands on top of Justin’s, I eased him down from getting up. “Relax,” I murmured quiet enough for only him to hear, “Don’t cause a scene.”
Clenching his jaw, Justin stayed put but his eyes told a different story—they showed his anger. He was about ready to kill. “Well?” He spat, “Go on, I don’t fucking have all day.”
Growling, Bruce ignored his comment, turning his attention back to everyone else. “There’s no hiding anything now. The Snipers came here from the states ready to cause problems. They want blood, they want revenge, they want to take us down and they will do anything to make that happen. That includes getting to you,” He pointed to Carly, “In order to get to him.” He gestured towards John. “It’s all about showing us that they can get to you whenever they want. I don’t think they’ll react on it but we have to take caution which means, the bodyguards will multiply, you guys will be on lockdown for the next couple of days until we settle this once and for all. I don’t want you stepping foot out of this house unless you have somebody, one of us,” He signaled towards the guys, “or them.” He tipped his chin to Spencer and the guy next to him who I assumed to be Carly’s watchful eye.
“What about school?” Carly voiced my thoughts out loud. “We can’t just not go. We’ve missed enough as it is, I can’t miss anymore.”
“Yeah,” I spoke up, “I missed too many classes. They gave me the benefit of the doubt because I made up a lie saying my dad was sick but they know now that everything’s okay since I gave them the okay that I was going back. I can’t just drop out of sight again, they’ll kick me out.”
“We’ll settle that,” Bruce confirmed, “I promise. I’ll have just have Spencer and Eddie wait outside each of your classes. They’ll dress casual, won’t make a scene.”
“Okay,” I agreed, “I can live with that.”
“Why can’t we just do that?” Justin questioned, “John and I dress casual all the time.” He shrugged as if it were that easy.
“Because they know who you are,” Bruce countered sharply, “I don’t think they would appreciate a gangster in their building guarding the halls.”
Waving a hand dismissively, Justin sneered, “Whatever.”
“Carly will also be living here with us. We can’t make sure you’re safe and have you all on your own in you and Kelsey’s apartment so until this mess blows over, you will reside here.”
Gasping, Carly squealed with happiness, “Are you serious?”
“Dead,” He smiled, “John will take you to go get your things after this, okay?”
Nodding, too speechless to say anything, she anxiously waited, her knees bobbing with evident excitement despite the reason why she had to stay here as Bruce carried on.
“Tonight is the meet. I set it up and they said they’re coming.” Feeling my breath hitch, I listened closely as Bruce continued, “I got everything ready; it’s just a matter of waiting.” Looking at each of us, Bruce arched his brows, “Any questions?”
“Yeah, one,” Biting the inside of my lip as my stomach swooped unpleasantly, I looked at him, “Can I go back to sleep?”
Chuckling, he nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you later.”
Smiling small, I waved to everybody before getting up and walking out of the room, feeling Justin’s eyes burning into my back.
Justin’s Point of View:
“Shit,” I muttered to myself as I watched her disappear from sight, “I’ll see you guys later. I got something to handle right now.” Clapping hands with them each, I jogged out of the room and up the stairs, surprised to see she had closed the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob, pushing it open to see her sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at her hands.
“Kels…” I began and when I noticed she wasn’t going to budge, I frustratingly ran my fingers through my hair, scratching the back of my head. Huffing a breath, I made my way over to her. Pressing each of my hands on her knees, I crouched down, looking up at her face. “Look at me.” I murmured.
Biting her lip, she shook her head, refusing to meet my eyes but she and I both knew I wouldn’t take that for an answer.
Grabbing her chin, I gently tipped her head back, forcing her eyes to meet mine, “What’s wrong? Are you mad?”
Shaking her head, I felt my chest tighten at the sight of her eyes watering. “No.” She whispered.
“Then what is it baby? Talk to me.” I gently coaxed, wishing she’d just open up to me about these kinds of things.
“I…” Pausing to recollect her thoughts, she sighed, “You just recovered from a bullet to the chest.” She quietly stated the obvious as if speaking any louder would break me. “And… I’m scared.” She admitted, “I know you have to do this and I’m not saying not to because I know you don’t have much of a choice… I just didn’t know it would be so soon. I thought you’d wait a couple of days or something.” Shrugging, she looked down at her hands, “I guess I’m just being stupid.”
“No, you’re not.” Cradling her body into my arms, I sat down on the bed, laying her on my lap as I held her tightly. “You have every right to be afraid, okay? Look,” Pursing my lips, I shook my head, “I know this is hard for you but I need you to trust that I know what I’m doing, okay? They need to pay for all the hell they’ve caused.”
“I know,” She nodded, “I just don’t want anything bad happening to you.” Sniffling, she shut her eyes tight, digging her head into the nape of my neck as she sobbed quietly.
Brushing her hair back, I wiped her tears with the backs of my two fingers, “Nothing bad is going to happen to me.” I breathed out, “I promise.” Taking her hand in mine, I pressed it to my chest, right where my heart was located, “Do you feel that?” I whispered.
Wiping her face with her free hand, she gazed up at me, her brown eyes swirling with sincerity as she swallowed hard, slowly but surely nodding her head.
“It’s beating pretty damn fast but it only does that when you’re around. My heart beats for you, okay? Without you, there’s no feeling here, there’s nothing but a void space. You fill it up; you give it a reason to beat every day. You give me a reason for living every day and nothing is going to take that away.” Cupping her face in my hands, I brought her up until we were eye to eye, “Okay?”
Hovering her hands over mine, she gave them a squeeze, pulling them from her face and holding them down on her lap. Playing with our fingers, she laced them together before pulling away and repeating while looking deep in thought.
Taking her hands up to my lips, I gave her knuckles gentle pecks, reassuring her that everything was okay and that she had nothing to worry about.
Sighing, I nudged her neck with my chin before burying my head at the nape, nipping at the skin, trying hard to get her to come back to me.
“I’m sorry.” She finally whispered, her heavy eyes meeting mine.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Kissing her forehead, I leaned back, “I just—the fuck?” A crash downstairs cut me off as curse words flew from the mouth of one of the guys downstairs.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I muttered, feeling the anger build up inside of me. That was twice in one fucking day that shit was being thrown everywhere. “They’re going to tear this house apart.” I growled in annoyance, hoisting Kelsey up on her feet before leaving the room and charging down the stairs to see Bruce lean in to grab another glass before I stopped him from doing so. “What do you think you’re doing man?”
Pulling out of my grasp, the glass met the other side of the room, shattering into a million pieces on the floor.
Turning to John, I gave him an incredulous look, “I’m gone for five fucking minutes and all hell breaks loose? What the fuck happened?”
Putting his hands up, he shrugged, Carly hiding behind him. “I’m just as clueless as you are. He got a phone call and well, you clearly know the rest.” He said while gesturing around the mess Bruce caused.
“What phone call?” Looking at Bruce, I shoved him back hard, snapping him out of it, wanting answers and wanting them now. “Who was it?”
“Dean,” Bruce spat harshly, his hands balling into fists at his sides. It was evident that whatever it was Dean said wasn’t what Bruce was expecting.
“And?” I urged for him to get to the point.
Running his hands up and down his face, he threw his head back and let out a howl of aggravation. “We had a shipment running tonight that was supposed to travel to Vancouver and arrive by tomorrow morning. Dean was on watch to make sure it all went smoothly and when he sent it, it didn’t go as expected.” Turning to face us, he shook his head, “It all went into flames—all of it. Everything, the boat and the people in it are gone, not an ounce of anything left.”
“We had a lot of money riding on that shipment! How the fuck is this even possible?” I hissed, “We keep that all on lockdown until the day it’s due to go out. The only people who have access to it all are us, Dean and the others, nobody else and Dean’s never let us down before.”
Bruce took a deep breath, his jaw tensing at the thought of our money sinking down the drain. “I don’t fucking know. All I know is that whoever did it better fucking pray I don’t find them because I’ve just about had it with this bullshit.” Grabbing his phone and shoving it into his pocket, Bruce walked over to the closet, taking out his jacket and putting it on. “I’m gonna go check it out and see for myself. Try to figure this out because Victor’s waiting and I’ve got nothing for him.”
“I’m coming with you.” I suggested.
“What about—”
“She’ll survive, this needs to be taken care of.” Turning to Carly, I motioned towards her, “Can you keep Kelsey busy while we’re out?”
“Yeah, sure, just be careful.” She smiled softly, “I know that’s something she would say.” Giving John a kiss, she patted my shoulder before leaving to go upstairs.
“Let’s go.”
“What happened and don’t leave anything out.” Bruce warned as he approached Dean and the rest. His eyes held something inside of them that I haven’t seen before. He was furious and the tension was evident in the air as Dean awkwardly cleared his throat, intimidated.
“I, ugh, fuck,” Scratching the back of his head, he shrugged. “I don’t know man. I did what I was always told to do. Everything was running smoothly, I had it all packed up in the warehouse. Don, Cam and I took them out an hour before shipment was due to board. Jessie was on guard all day and he said nobody was around.”
“Yo, Jessie!” I whistled him over, waiting as he hurriedly made his way over to us.
“Yeah boss?”
“You were guarding the shipment today?”
“Yes sir,” He stiffly nodded, “I was right at the entrance, and Bobby was at the back. I neither heard nor saw anything. It was quiet until it was time to take it out and by then, we were just doing business as usual. Dean put in the passcode and he got what it was that was meant to be shipped to Vancouver, the rest stayed.”
“It wasn’t until the boat left that we noticed somebody had done something but by then, it was too late. Cam smelled the gas and I could feel the boil that was about to happen and before we had the chance to warn the guys, the boat blew up.”
“Shit,” I spat, kicking a nearby box out of the way as I looked out into the harbor, the remains of the boat floating along the water as the smoke still swirled in the air, leaving the stench of death and revenge marking the area. “You said you were watching the warehouse today?” I pointed at Jessie who was quick to answer yes. “Was anyone here last night?”
Opening his mouth to respond, Jessie quickly shut it, his eyebrows furrowing in deep thought. “Not that I know of… why?”
“That’s when whoever did this must have toyed with the delivery. They figured out the code, got in, attached a detonator on the shipment and waited for today to blow it up.” Laying my hands on my hips, I took a look around, trying to find anything out of the ordinary.
“Who would want to do that?” Dean questioned.
I smirked, “Anyone trying to make sure our business fails and I only have one guess on who that could be…”
“No fucking way,” John growled; his mind doing wonders as he realized who I meant, “The fucking Snipers?” When I didn’t say anything, John took that as a yes, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“This is ridiculous,” Bruce spat, disgusted, “I’m going to fucking rip them to shreds.”
“What I don’t understand it, how did they do it? Bombs aren’t exactly their style.” John pursed his lips, trying to place the pieces of the obvious missing puzzle together. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“They didn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Both John and Bruce looked at me.
“They didn’t do the bombs, they got help and I have a pretty good idea on who they called to do the job for them.”
Raising his eyebrows, John narrowed his eyes, “Who?”
“Who do you think?” I spat, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins as the various memories flashed through my head of the bastard that nearly destroyed my life, “McCann.”
“No way,” Bruce shook his head, “We called a truce a long time ago Bieber. He helped us get rid of Delgado.”
“Which I recall backfired because Luke ended up surviving. McCann doesn’t do truce boys, he gets even.”
“You mean he planned it all?” Marco stepped in, confusion written all over his face.
“Hell yeah, every single thing that went wrong that night and everything that happened today is all because of that piece of shit.” Shaking my head, I laughed bitterly to myself. “He hates me and he certainly knows I fucking hate him. He killed Jazzy, kept Luke alive and it’s because of him that our shipment is gone.”
“The little bastard,” Bruce growled in anger.
I scoffed, “I told you since day one that he stepped into our house he would cause nothing but trouble but you didn’t listen now he’s back and meeting ties with Lyndon. It’s only a matter of time before he helps them destroy something else of ours.”
“I’ll deal with McCann, alright?” Bruce snapped, “But for right now? My targets on the Snipers and I think our little meeting tonight won’t go exactly as I planned.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that anything goes wrong and shots will be fired. I’ve been devoted enough to make sure we all stand guard and keep out of worry but now they’re not only messing with our lives but our livelihood and I won’t have it. Not anymore.” Turning to Dean, he cocked his head to the side, fury flashing in his eyes, “What do you say you boys join us on a little trip tonight?”
“This is the place?” Dean pointed over to the rundown warehouse, his eyes in awe that somebody who could cause so much damage attended business in a place like that.
“They’re trying to stay low key. Not too bad to be honest, it keeps the cops from searching.” Turning the car off, Bruce swung the keys into his jacket pocket. “Are you guys ready?”
Taking out my gun, I popped it open, making sure I had enough bullets before putting it back behind the waistband of my jeans. “Yup,” Winking, I hopped out of the car with the rest following.
“Aye, don’t use that thing unless it’s deemed necessary okay? I know your temper so try to keep it down while we’re in there.”
“You don’t gotta worry about me, John on the other hand… not so much.”
“Shut up,” John spat, “I’m ripping their throats out only if they attack first.”
Rolling his eyes, he pushed us forwards, “Come on,” Leading the way; he crossed the deserted area over to a boarded, closed off area. Kicking the wooden door that was attached to the fence that surrounded it, Bruce signaled with a finger to his lips for us to keep quiet as we all passed through.
Walking to the entrance, Bruce stood up tall, his chin held in the air as he pressed his palms against the surface of the doors. “Dean, you Cam and Bobby try not to be seen too much. Stay hidden for as long as possible. We want to see what they have to say and what exactly they have planned tonight. The moment you see things aren’t going right, you guys come in.”
“Will do, boss.” Dean smirked, “It’s been a while since I’ve killed someone.”
Focusing on the doors, Bruce pushed them open as we all stepped in at once.
“It’s about fucking time,” A voice came from a distance, a silhouette of a figure slowly stepping out into view. “We’ve been waiting for you bastards to make a show.” Cole wickedly grinned as he gazed over at us.
I felt my skin crawl at the vision of him just a few feet away from me. My teeth grounded together as my jaw clenched tight. Just the sight of him made me want to kill someone.
“Good to see you’re still standing Bieber,” His cold blue eyes met mine, a cynical smile taking place. “It’s such a shame though. Guess one bullet to the chest wasn’t enough.”
Stepping forward, I nearly attacked him right then and there when Bruce sprung his arm out in front of me, blocking me from doing so. “Relax!” He barked, pushing me back before taking Cole on himself, “Where the hell is Lyndon?”
“He’s coming, had some business to take care of.”
“I bet,” I snarled, “What? He’s too busy ruining ours because he’s too much of a punk ass to do his own dirty work?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sneered though the look in his eyes told me otherwise.
“You little—” Moving forwards, I was shoved back once more by Bruce.
“Enough! Cool off,” He barked, knocking me into John who looked like he was ready to kill, paying no mind to me.
Shaking him off, I growled under my breath but said nothing as Bruce approached Cole head on.
“Where’s Lyndon, Cole and don’t fucking lie to me.”
“I told you he’s finishing some business. You would know how long that takes, patience is a virtue as they say.” Crossing his arms against his chest, Cole leaned back confidently, “He’ll be here, no need to get your briefs in a twist.” He said as Sammy and Peter entered from the back.
“Nice seeing you again Bruce,” Sammy acknowledged as he stood by Cole, Peter not too far behind as he stood to the left.
“Yeah, how about we skip the pep talk boys and get right to business, hm?” John spoke up, his cool slowly riding off as his temper rose. “I’m here to set you fucking assholes straight and I’m going to do it with or without Lyndon.”
“No,” Bruce spat, “You’re not.”
“I’ve had just about enough of you fucking assholes coming into Stratford,” Pushing past, John rolled his shoulders back, looking Cole square in the eye as he approached, “trying to look all high and mighty when it reality you’re all a bunch of pathetic, low life scums who have to threaten my girl in order to get to me.”
“Ah, Carly,” Cole smirked, knowing she was exactly what he needed to piss John off. “That’s what you’re here for?” When John didn’t say anything, Cole took this as his opportunity to strike, “What a pretty face to look at. I’m sure she must be crazy good in bed too… with those long legs of hers wrapped around you… I could only imagine the things she could do.”
Death flashed in his eyes and before any of us knew what was going on John grabbed Cole by his shirt, lifting him into the air, “I’d better watch that mouth of yours, Santangelo or the next thing to enter it will be my gun.”
Cole chuckled, “Or your girl’s mouth will be wrapped around it.”
“You son of a bitch,” Throwing him across the room, John was about ready to attack when Sammy got in the way, holding him back as Peter attended to make sure Cole was alright.
Knocking Sammy to the floor with a fist to the jaw, John tumbled across, grabbing Peter and discarding him to the right before grabbing onto Cole’s shirt once more and slamming his head against the ground.
“Fuck,” I hissed, running over to John as I pried him off. “Don’t,” I warned, “We didn’t come to kill them. Not yet.”
“Yeah, listen to your little bitch John,” Cole spit as he stood back to his feet, smoothing his shirt over with his palms.
“Fuck off,” I sneered.
“That’s all you got?” Cole laughed, “You’re a joke in this town. You do understand that, don’t you?”
Locking my jaw tight, I remained at John’s side, the veins in my arms pulsing as my hands itched to kill.
“It’s funny how you think any of you could stand a chance against us. It’s just a matter of time before you lose everything.” Stepping to me, Cole held my gaze, “And by everything, I mean,” Leaning forwards, he smirked, “Everything, from your business to your house and even your girl. I’m going to take it all away from you and I’m going to love every second of it.”
“You and I both know you don’t have the balls to do shit.” I snarled, “You’re just as sad as the next guy who tries to bet up against us. You’re living on thin ice at this point and I’ve just about had it with you. I should’ve killed you when I had the chance.”
“Then why didn’t you?” Cole questioned with humor dancing in his eyes.
“I could ask you the same question.” I countered bitterly with a smirk of my own. “You had the chance to shoot me about one hundred times yet you ran away like a bitch and then came back and tried to finish the job but instead of bringing a gun, you brought a pillow to suffocate me but guess what? You didn’t even have the balls to do that.”
“I would’ve killed you if it wasn’t for that sad excuse of a girlfriend you have. Pretty faces only go a long way; her mouth on the other hand needs a little work. I could teach her how to stuff it with something far more tasteful to shut it if you’d like.”
Having had enough, I swirled my gun from behind, taking it and slamming it to the roof of his chin, the cold metal pressing against his skin, “You wanna repeat that?”
A click was heard as a gun was brought to the back of my head, “Put it down Bieber or I’ll be the one to put a bullet through your fucking skull.”
On instinct, John took out his gun holding it in his direction, Bruce moving to get his just in case anything happened.
Grinning to myself, I knew exactly who it was, “Lyndon what a lovely surprise, we were waiting for you.”
“Put the gun down.” He warned.
“I don’t think so.” I laughed, making sure to put on a show of digging the rim of the gun farther into Cole’s chin, loving the look of hatred in his eyes as he stared down at me. “But you could start with explaining to us why the hell you thought it was okay to threaten Carly.”
“I didn’t threaten anybody.”
“She told us everything so I think it’s time you both stop trying to play dumb and revel up to the shit you do or candy boy over here take’s a bullet to the brain.”
“What kind of shit do you run here Bruce? I thought you wanted to talk.” Lyndon growled as he maintained a tight grip on his revolver, glancing over at Bruce.
“Yeah and I didn’t think you’d blow up my shipment either so I guess we’re even.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“We know you did it just like we know you targeted Carly. Be a fucking man Lyndon, grow some balls and fess up already.” I hissed venomously, my face tightening as I fought to maintain myself control.
“I—”
“That’s it.” Removing my gun for a split second, I rammed the stem of it to the side of Cole’s face, sending him backwards as I shoved him up against a post, my arm pinned against his neck, my gun now pointed to his cheek. “Start talking Lyndon.”
“Or what?”
Wavering my gun to the right, I blindly shot, aiming for Sammy’s leg and with a howl and a hiss of pain coming from his direction, I knew I succeeded. “That’s what,” I snapped before retrieving my hold on the pistol back to Cole. “Talk,” I warned, “Now.”
“Jesus Christ,” Lyndon muttered, wanting to attain to Sammy’s wound but knowing he couldn’t. “Alright, I talked to Carly, told her some things that weren’t exactly a lie.”
“What did you say?”
“Told her what she didn’t already know.”
“And that would be…?” I trailed off, telling him to continue. “I don’t fucking have all day and I’m pretty sure Sam over there will bleed to death if you don’t hurry it up. I’d hate to see him suffer.” I drawled in sarcasm, chuckling to myself.
“I’m sure you would.” Cole strained as he coughed, my hold on him tightening.
“Did I fucking ask for you to talk?” I hissed, bringing my knee up to his lower abdomen as he tumbled over in pain before I held him back once more.
“I told her it’d be easy to take her however or whenever I wanted and there’s nothing she could do about it. She could run and she could hide but no matter what, I will find her and I will claim her.”
“Over my dead body” John reverberated, attacking Lyndon at the same time a shot was fired.
“That can be arranged,” Lyndon sneered at John who clutched his shoulder, blood dripping from the spaces in between his fingers.
“You even think to put your hands on her and I’ll fucking rip you apart by the seams, do you hear me?” John breathed hard, ignoring the pain that most likely shot up his neck. “I will take you myself, skin and burn you alive, do you understand me? I will make you suffer to the point where you will be begging me to spare your life.”
“It’s so sad how one thing said or done to your girl, you lose control.” Cocking his head to the side, Lyndon smirked, “You can make all the threats you want but I know what I’m doing and the only one who will be begging anyone to spare life here will be you.”
“What about the shipment? Hm?” Bruce spoke up, “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out?”
He shrugged, “I knew you would that’s why I sat here waiting all day to see how long it would take for you to figure it out. Accidents happen all the time though, right?”
“Yeah, they do…” Bruce voiced out as he took a few slow steps towards him, “And when I do this, I guess it’ll be considered an accident too.”
“What are you—” Before Lyndon had the chance to finish, Bruce landed a solid punch to his face, catching him off guard enough for John to trip him over and send him landing on his ass.
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Taking this as his opportunity to strike, Cole clocked me in the face at the same time he reached for my gun.
Fighting over it, I slammed my elbow into his face, straddling his body against the ground as my fists began rumbling one after the other, hitting him wherever I could manage as all the anger I had built up inside of me since the day they arrived came out.
Somehow managing to take my hand in his, Cole struggled to take the gun away from me once more knowing that with my leverage over it could easily kill him. Digging his fingers into my wrist, Cole threw it down against the ground, repeatedly hitting it on the cold surface until my hand released its grip, my gun flying to the other side of the room.
Shoving me off, Cole wiped the blood that dripped from his nose as he spit some to the right of him, scrambling to his feet at the same time I dove forwards to take my gun back.
Kicking me with force so that I lost my breath for a split second, Cole took my gun, holding it in my direction as he pinned the tip of his boot to my side, rolling me onto my back.
Groaning, I looked up at him with pure loathing.
Smirking, Cole rounded my body, loving the control he had as he stood over my body with ease, contentment evident on his face. “I’m going to love putting my bullet through your chest again, this time making sure you die.”
“Son of a bitch—” Moving to sit up, Cole tisked, shaking his head as he pressed his foot to my chest shoving me back down hard as a pain shot up, my heart constricting under the weight. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He hissed.
“When I get my hands on you—”
“You’re going to what?” Cole chuckled, making a show to dig the heel of his boot into my skin, knocking all my breath away as I fought to breathe again, death raging in my eyes as I took hold of his ankle, trying to pry him off of me. “You can’t do shit Bieber. You’re a weak, useless waste of time and I’m going to make you pay for what you did.”
Groaning, I clenched my jaw, trying not to show the pain I was currently undergoing as I raked my brain for a way to land him on his back to gain full control of the matter.
“But I’m going to do it painfully slow so that you can experience it all first hand.” Leaning down, with his foot now held to my neck, he wickedly grinned, “First, I’m going to shoot your business down to the ground, leave you with nothing to go back to then I’m going to strip you of your money, leaving you without even a cent left in your name and after I’m done with all of that, I’m going to tie you down to a chair and make you watch as I fuck your girl senseless and then kill her, right in front of your eyes. You’re going to watch as your life falls apart by the seams and I’m going to love every second of it.”
Mustering all my strength into the grip I had on his foot, I twisted it to the right, thrusting it outwards so that Cole tumbled back, his head banging first onto the surface of the floor, my gun leaving his grip.
Forcing myself to stand up with the amount of power I had left, I held my chest, walking over to where my gun lay as I picked it up, pointing it in Cole’s direction. “You can come after me all you want but you’re going to leave Kelsey out of this. If you even think for one second, I’ll allow you to even touch her, you’re delusional.” Kicking him on his side as he did to me, I grabbed him by the throat, hauling him up against the wall, choking him to the point where he was turning purple. “You won’t have to worry about John skinning you alive because I’ll do it myself. I’ll be the one to tie you up and make you wish you never crossed my path. I’ll burn you to the point of unconsciousness and then when you wake up, I’ll rip you apart and make you wither in pain. I won’t make it easy for you. You see, I could kill you right now and just get it over with but I’m going to have so much fun taking you on.”
“Justin,” Bruce groaned from behind as his hand cupped my shoulder, pulling me back, “We have to go. I think they got the message.”
Turning my head to look around, I was surprised to see every member of Lyndon’s group on the floor, groaning in pain as each of them held a wound that won’t be too easy to mend.
“We’ve got to go take John back to the house, he’d bleeding out.”
Snapping my vision over to John, I hissed under my breath at the amount of blood seeping through his shirt.
“Fuck, alright, I’ll meet you outside.”
“Justin—”
“Just go!” I spat, watching as Bruce reluctantly nodded, walking away from me as he helped John out of the warehouse.
Looking at Cole, I tightened my grip around his neck, “I’m giving you one last chance to leave this town Santangelo.” I whispered maliciously, my face an inch apart from his, “or I’m coming after you.” Shoving him back hard, I let his body slide to the floor before turning to leave when a voice that didn’t belong to Cole spoke up.
“Tell the girls I said hi.” Lyndon spit as he held his side, his brown eyes that locked on mine telling me he wasn’t done.
Kelsey’s Point of View:
“Where are they?” I exasperated as I paced the floors for the hundredth time tonight, my nails bitten to the core from the nerves that swarmed my stomach.
“I’m sure they’re on their way Kelsey, please, can you just sit down? You’re making me more nervous by doing that.” Carly sighed as she leveled herself down on the couch, looking up at the ceiling.
“How can you be so calm about this?” Kelsey hissed, “John’s with them you know, God knows what they’re doing or what’s going on right now.”
“If I thought about the what-if’s, I would drive myself crazy just like you are right now. I trust John and his instincts. He’s smart, they all are. Have faith, will you? You of all people should know how this works.”
“I know, I know… I just—it’s past one in the morning… what if something bad happened? What if Justin—”
“Kelsey!” Carly scolded like my mother would every time I’d, and I quote, “use God’s name in vein”.
“Sorry,” I bit back as I sat down on the couch beside Carly’s feet.
Playing with my fingers, I bobbed my knee to my own rhythm, trying to keep myself calm enough to find something to occupy my time when the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway captured my attention.
Snapping my head up, I ran towards the window, glancing through the shades to see that the guys had made it home. “They’re here!” I ushered past Carly who stood behind me to get a peek in herself as I opened the front door, running out barefoot.
“Justin—” Stopping at the foot of the pathway, I felt my stomach drop as I gasped out loud, cupping my mouth at the sight of all of them beaten. “What in the world happened to you?” I gushed as I cupped Justin’s face in my hands, noticing the way he held his palm to his chest.
“I’m fine,” He croaked, “I’m okay, we got into a bit of a mess but everything’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not worry—John?” My eyes widened at the sight of blood smeared across his shoulder and hand, “Oh my God, are you okay?!”
“I’m alright, just need to be cleaned and patched. Don’t worry about me,” He forced a smile though the emotions behind his eyes gave it all away.
“Carly’s going to freak when she sees you,” I breathed out, shaking my head.
“I’ll handle Carly, okay? You just head on inside with Justin, he’s had a pretty rough night as well. We all did—”
“John?” Carly whispered, her eyes filled with tears as she shakily stood a foot away from us.
“Carly…” John murmured, knowing she was frightened, “Don’t cry baby, I’m fine. I’m alive… I’m breathing. Come here.”
Running into his arms, she sobbed into his shoulder, clutching onto him for dear life, afraid to let him go. “What happened?” She asked as she pulled away, completely disregarding the blood that now stained her t-shirt. “I thought you said this was a meeting—”
“It was.” John cut her off, “But they didn’t want to talk, they wanted trouble.” Sighing, defeat crossed his face as the tension in his muscles showed, “I don’t want to do this right now, okay? You have nothing to worry about. We settled it, it’s done. Let’s just go inside—”
As if on cue, a series of screeching car tires startled us as we turned to see a black van driving aggressively down the street. Before any of us had the chance to process what was going on, the windows to the vans rolled down uncovering several machine guns.
“Shit, get down!” Justin screamed as he wrapped his arm around me, throwing me on the ground as his body shielded mine from the various fires being shot in our direction.
Covering my ears with my hands, I felt the warmth of Justin’s body against my own making me feel safer as the sounds of glass breaking and pots falling to the floor rattled in my ears.
When the coast was clear and the noise subsided, Justin withdrew from covering me as he slowly raised his head from my shoulder, looking around to see our entire front lawn ripped to shreds, the cars we drove with several bullet holes in them.
Lifting himself up off the ground, I grabbed onto his outstretched hand as he hoisted me up onto my feet. Brushing myself off, I turned to him with a grave expression, “What the hell was that? I thought you said you handled it?!” I shrieked.
“We did,” Refusing to meet my eyes, Justin stared off into the distance the van drove off in, his eyes darkening over as a thought occurred. Clearing his throat, he shared a common understanding with all of the guys. “Guess they didn’t get the message.”
“What do you mean?”
Looking at me, I froze under Justin’s intense gaze as a series of chills ran down the length of my spine, “They’ve just declared war.”