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As he starts crashing to his knees, several things happen at once. He finally drops the gun, and Olivia’s foot swings out to kick it as far away from him as she can. He roars again, cursing at us as I finally manage to grab both of his arms and yank them behind his back.
With the threat of the gun removed, the fight has suddenly become a lot easier. Olivia and I both grew up hearing the stories of how my uncle and her dad got shot, and we both know how fast it can happen and how devastating it can be when it does.
It’s why we were both doing our best to stay out of any possible bullet’s way, but with the gun sliding to a stop several feet from us, almost anticlimactically, we can finally both do what needs to be done without being worried about having a piece of metal ending it all in a split second.
As relieved as I am, the fight is far from over. Justin’s still writhing, screaming obscenities, and kicking and stomping in his attempt to free his arms from my grip. Olivia suddenly straightens up again, pulling her arm back and letting her fist fly right at his face this time.
There’s a crunch, and then he howls and blood flows from his mouth and nose. Satisfaction shines from her eyes when she does it again, and when her knee comes back up at his balls and her fingers jam into his eyes, I finally feel the resistance starting to drain from him.
“Holy shit,” I call to her as I grip his wrists tighter, at this point really just holding him back for her to be able to do her thing. “You really are a badass. You just beat up a guy with a gun while wearing your fucking bikini.”
She rolls her eyes at me but then spins and grabs a robe she left hanging over the chair earlier. Smoothly yanking the belt out of it, she brings it to me and smiles sweetly. Her chest is rising and falling fast and her cheeks are flushed, but otherwise, miraculously, she seems okay.
“I had a little help from my friend,” she says as she joins me behind him and starts expertly tying a knot around his wrists. He’s only half-conscious, I think, but she doesn’t stop until she’s got his arms tied nice and tight.
He flips over onto his back, still kicking and mumbling shit, but one of his eyes is swollen almost completely shut already and there are various streams of blood pouring down his face. “How can you do this to me?” he grits out, his voice harsh. “I did this for you, Vincent! You said they caged you! You said you wanted out.”
He spits blood from his mouth, snarling at me as he fights against the restraints even as Olivia starts tying his ankles together with one of my belts. “You’re my brother. We were meant to be in each other’s lives. We’re practically fucking twins.”
I arch an eyebrow at him, shaking my head as I reach for my phone and press one on my speed dial. “We’re nothing alike. We’re not twins, and I already have a brother. I don’t know what shit your mom has sold you on all these years, but your dad was a murderous, kidnapping pig, and your mother doesn’t deserve a single cent from us.”
“Hello?” Mike’s voice comes through the speaker on my phone. “Vincent? You’re in your bungalow. I’m on my way.”
“No need to rush,” I say, trying to keep calm as the adrenaline starts leaving my body and a tremor takes over my hand. “Just, uh, you might want to call the police. We found Justin, but we’re okay.”
“I’ll be there in two,” he yells, and I can already hear footsteps pounding against the ground filtering through the receiver.
Olivia marches over to the gun and kicks it even farther away, not picking it up but making sure it’s well out of his reach before she glances back at him. “Why did you come here today, Justin? If you wanted Vincent to run into the sunset with you, why didn’t you just send him a message asking him to meet you somewhere?”
“Fuck you,” he sneers. “Like he could ever have gotten away from you without my help. I’m not stupid. I know you monitor all his accounts. Any message I sent would’ve been deleted before he could even see it.”
I snort. “Dude, I’ve been seeing your messages. Not responding to them was my choice.”
“No!” He grunts, but he seems to have realized there’s no point in trying to get out of Olivia’s knots. “You’re all going to be sorry for this, but especially you, Vince. Especially fucking you. Don’t you see they’ve brainwashed you? They turned you against me, but I’m the only one who really cares about you.”
My eyes widen, and a pang of genuine pity shoots through me as I look down at the guy. In another life, I could’ve grown up hearing stories about Full Moon from an addict of a mother who chose to believe the bullshit rambling of a madman. He and I were conceived pretty close together. It’s only by the accident of my birth that I was born to my parents instead of his.
I mean, obviously, I know it’s not quite that simple, but it’s only in that moment that I realize how lucky I’ve always been. Olivia, James, and even Emma often talk about how lucky they are to have become part of our lives, but I’ve never really understood it.
Sure, I’ve been jealous recently of the connection Olivia and James share because of it, but I’ve never really gotten why they keep going on about it. As I look at Justin now, though, I realize that I’ve always taken my family and my circumstances for granted. It just… it is what it is. It’s not like I asked to be born into the family I was. I just… was. But now… now I’m wondering who I might’ve been if I wasn’t.
I’m realizing that Olivia, James, and Emma weren’t born into this. They were chosen, and if they hadn’t been, where would they have been right now? Not here. That’s for fucking sure.That’swhy Emma was so afraid to tell Maxim how she felt for so long.That’swhy James and Olivia are always talking about how blessed they are.That’swhy Maxim didn’t want to take a shot with Emma if it might not work out.
God, how have I been so completely oblivious all this time?
My thoughts are interrupted when Mike and the rest of the security crew burst through the door, kicking the damn thing right off its hinges even though it was unlocked. Mike’s gun is drawn, and there’s a deadly scowl on his face until he gets a good look at us.
Trying to envision the scene through his eyes, I imagine the mess in here. The shards of the lamp I broke and the bloody, beaten man now lying between them, tied up, snarling, and thrashing around again now that they’re here. Olivia has gone to sit on the bed, carefully guarding the gun beside it but still not touching it.
And me. The Supreme Ignorant Idiot, only now realizing that I need to change the way I’ve been looking at the world. Drastically.
I’ve been growing up since Olivia and I started hanging out, sure, but that’s really not good enough. I need to start using my power for good, and I need to start doing it soon. I can’t stay in this self-obsessed, self-destructive bubble I’ve been in. My self-destruct button hasn’t been used much recently, but I can’t say that I haven’t been looking forward to the stalker being caught so I can go back to my life—with Olivia, obviously. But the going out all night, the drinking… Part of me has been planning on going back to that as soon as I possibly can.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Mike snaps, and when I focus on the room again, I see that Olivia has gotten off the bed and is now walking over to give her dad a big hug.
“He was here when I got back from the pool,” she explains. “I tried to keep him calm. Pretended to accept him just like you said. It worked too. He was going to force Vincent to leave with him if I didn’t stop him.”
Mike seems stunned, but he manages to holster his gun and waves a hand for the others to do the same before he folds his arms around his daughter and holds her to him. “My God, Liv. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
