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James is still focused on Derek though. “You had known Mark for years. You killed your own team mate.”
I’m almost startled when Derek laughs, but the mention of Mark has a wave of calm washing over me. It’s as though I am moving past the memory of the trauma and sliding into the darkness that my men love so much.
Derek moves the knife in his hand from side to side, almost in an imitation of a head shake. “Oh, I would love to claim that one myself, but that wasn’t me. That was our Little Darling.” He brushes a kiss against my temple and I nudge my head against his to let him know I’m okay.
James narrows his eyes and after a moment I see it dawn on him. “Little Darling? You’re those junkie whore’s brats?”
Tristan snickers, but jerks hard on James’ hair. “I wouldn’t recommend using the term brat, we aren’t exactly fond of it. Unlike our Little Darling, we do remember you calling us that.”
James winces in pain as Tristan tightens his grip on his hair. "You remember too, don't you?" Tristan says, his voice cold and filled with anger. "You remember how you used to use our mother, how you made her do unspeakable things just to survive."
Derek's hand tightens around the knife as he points it at James. "We almost felt lucky you stopped coming around when Alex’s mother died, but you still pushed your drugs, you still let your men use our mother. She didn’t even last another 12 months before we found her dead," he says, his voice steady. "They separated us, sent us to different families, so not only had we lost our soulmate when our Little Darling disappeared, but we lost each other too. But then we found each other again, and we found a purpose – to protect the innocent, to bring death to those who deserve it, and to make sure people like you pay for your crimes."
James sneers, trying to put on a facade of bravado. "You think you're heroes, huh? You're nothing but a couple of deluded vigilantes."
Tristan's grip on James' hair tightens even more, causing him to wince in pain again. "We may be a little psychotic, but we're not deluded," he says, his voice low and dangerous. "We've seen the worst humanity has to offer, and we've made it our mission to make sure those monsters get what they deserve. Just like you will."
James’ eyes find mine again. “Alex, are you really going to let them do this? We have known each other for years. I thought the legal system meant something to you?”
I can’t stop the growl that comes out of my mouth and Derek rubs a hand against my skin in response. “I can only assume that it was some weird sense of guilt that kept you from doing anything before now. You’re lucky I don’t have a knife in my hands or you would already be dead.”
Derek chuckles and kisses my temple again before looking back at James and resting his head against mine. “I suppose you do only have yourself to blame for how this all turned out though. If you hadn’t turned our mother into a junkie whore we would have been together and started doing much more depraved things from a much younger age. But being separated, we learned to be patient, to watch and collect information and plan our moves.”
I let the smile curve my lips, I did reap the benefits of those skills after all. “I really don’t want to say thank you for how they learnt to stalk me, or how much I love it. But you did get something right in what you said to my mother. Me and them, we make an amazing team.” I slide a hand along Derek’s arm and slowly take the knife into my own hand to point it at James.
Derek seems to take that as the assurance he needs to move away from me, walking over to get a dining chair from my unused table and bringing it back to where Tristan is holding James. Tristan pushes him into it and James must realize then what the future holds for him as his eyes widen, and a look of resignation crosses his face. “You won’t get away with this.”
Tristan laughs at that as Derek starts tying James to the chair by his arms and legs. Judging from the look of pain on James’ face, the bindings are tight. “Yes, we will. You even made it so easy for us.”
These men and their secret plans. We are definitely going to be having words about letting me in on them in advance.
Derek finishes tying James to the chair and turns to me with a mischievous grin. “There are two names that keep appearing in those files that we haven’t allowed you time to explore. Two more people in James’ evil little empire that are perfectly placed to take the blame.”
Well, it is good to know that they have kept distracting me on purpose. So I really can’t blame myself for drawing a blank on what he is talking about. “What do you mean? What two names?”
Tristan chuckles and moves around to stand in front of the chair with James tied to it, his fingers deftly twirling the blade in his hand. James’ eyes don’t leave the knife. I can’t blame him, it is a pretty sight, but somehow I don’t think he appreciates it in the same way that I do. “Has it not rang any alarm bells that certain people are a little too close to this investigation when they shouldn’t be?” Tristan asks.
Derek comes to stand in front of me, raising a hand to brush against my cheek. “If we didn’t need someone to take the blame for all this, I would have killed them myself anyway. Like I said before, Little Darling, no one is ever to touch you or come near you again but us. I would have happily fucked you in their blood like we did with Mark’s.”
Realization dawns on me. “Decker and Travis.”
A wicked smile crosses his lips, as though he’s proud of me for putting the pieces together. “Yes, James knew you were his best bet at figuring out who was behind it all, but of course, they wanted to deal with the killers themselves outside of the law. So he sent Decker and Travis to sniff around your investigation in the hopes of not only finding out the culprits, but recruiting you as a side benefit. They planned to seduce it out of you. But none of them could have predicted what was truly going on.”
I look back toward James, hatred burning through me. "You used them as pawns in your sick game, just like you used our mothers. You deserve every bit of what's coming to you."
Tristan twirls the knife again, and James gulps audibly. Derek looks back to James, his voice is cold and unforgiving as he continues, "Decker and Travis were nothing more than your lackeys, following your orders, while you hid in the shadows, thinking you were untouchable. Do you still feel untouchable, James?”
I barely see Tristan move but suddenly there is a trickle of blood sliding down one of James’ cheeks from a cut just under his eye. James remains silent, no shout or screams to even indicate that he felt it, but I can see the strain on his face.
Tristan leans in closer, his voice low and dangerous. "That’s for the life you stole from me. You see, James, we're not just going to kill you and be done with it. No, that would be too easy. We want you to feel every ounce of pain and suffering that you inflicted on us. We want you to understand what it's like to be at the mercy of someone else."
I take a step forward, holding Derek’s knife in my hand, my anger now burning like a white-hot flame. "You ruined so many lives, including ours. You didn’t even spare a thought for how it would affect us."
James scoffs, and I can see that he has now fully shed the good guy exterior, the evil look in his eyes only reminding me more of the day he took my mother from me. “How exactly was I meant to predict it would make you all crazy.”
Derek steps forward, another knife in his hand that he must have hidden somewhere else on him. He moves the blade just as quickly as Tristan and draws another thin line in the skin of his other cheek. “I think we already established that we prefer the term psychotic. That’s for the life you stole from me.”
I step closer, my heart pounding in my chest, but there's a strange calmness in me now. The darkness that once haunted me is now becoming my strength. Tristan and Derek step back, giving me the space I need to confront James directly. They move to stand beside me, their presence silent but powerful, showing their unwavering support.
