AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s over now,” she tries to reassure me.
“It’s not, Cole’s gonna kill whoever did this and you just saw for yourself where his head’s at. Do you really think he’s gonna be smart about it?”
“Let’s not think about that now. Garrett and Wade will look out for him.” Maisie smiles sadly, tucking my head into her neck and trying her best to offer me some comfort.
Islam my fist into the Mason front door and when Joe answers it, he looks surprised to see me.
“Your father in?” I shove him out the way so I can find out for myself and, sure enough, I see Ronnie Mason sitting in his chair in front of the wood burner.
“What’s this?” He fumbles for his stick to try and stand up and I stride over to him, grabbing the back of his neck and throwing him toward the fireplace.
“You like making people suffer, huh?” I retake his neck and force one side of his face against the wood burner door. The scream he makes sings to my fuckin’ soul. I’ve been yearning to hear it for a while and as the weak old fucker thrashes his body against me, I take in the scent of his burning flesh.
“Please… Please.” He groans and when I look over my shoulder and see Joe just standing there and watching, I wonder why he isn’t trying to fight me off too.
“You took this too far. I had to bide my time, but now your time’s run out.” I drag him away from the fire, leaving half his face stuck to the black cast iron as I lay him out on the rug.
“You are pathetic.” I kneel over him and lay my fist into the good side of his face.
“What the fuck?” I hear another voice, and when I turn around and see Leonard in the doorframe, it’s my turn to be shocked when Joe hits him over the back of the head with one of the fancy brass statues they have by the door. He drops to the floor unconscious, and Joe drops his weapon, stepping back in shock and staring at what he’s done.
“You see that, your family’s falling apart.” I turn my attention back to Ronnie, who’s barely conscious.
“You're ruined, it’s over.” I wrap my hands around his throat and push my thumbs into his windpipe.
I hear some commotion behind me but I don’t turn around, I focus on the panic on Old Man Mason’s fucked up face as he realizes there is no coming back from this. He’s going to Hell, for all the lives he’s ruined and all the people he’s destroyed.
His body stops thrashing and I watch his eyes start to blank.
“This is for Aubrey,” I whisper so they are the last words he hears.
He may not have been the man who killed her, but he was responsible for the life of misery she had before she died. He took her from me with his blackmail and twisted lies. For years he has tried to ruin my family and after his pulse stops beating and his body goes limp, I sit back against his armchair and let the relief of him being gone recharge my strength. I’m gonna need it. He may be dead, but the night is far from over.
“Cole.” I don’t know how long I stare at the old man’s body before I feel Garrett’s hand on my shoulder and when I look up at my big brother, I swear I see the same relief in his eyes before he flicks them across the room to Joe.
Fuck!
“I won’t apologize,” I growl, turning my head back to the dead body that’s laid out in front of me, and when Joe slowly moves toward us and crouches down beside his dad, it’s impossible to read the look on his face. Joe may be a Mason, buthe ain’t like them. He was forced to marry Aubrey and suffer the same loveless marriage because his father wanted him to hide who he was.
“He dead?” He looks up to Garrett, who nods his head respectfully. Joe bursts into tears, and I worry that we got a real problem on our hands.
“I hate you.” Joe wipes away his tears before he thumps his fists into the dead man’s chest.
“I fuckin’ hate you,” he screams at the top of his lungs, and when Leonard starts to moan from the other side of the room, Wade puts him back to sleep with his boot.
“Joe.” Garrett moves over to help him back to his feet.
“He left because of him.” Joe kicks his father in the ribs. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to make him pay for what he did?” He sniffs back more tears. “For all the conversion therapy he put me through, for what he made Aubrey do. I hate him.”
“Joe, we gotta think straight now, is there anyone else in the house?” Garrett grabs both his shoulders and forces him to focus.
“Just him.” He nods toward his brother.
“Joe, he saw Cole come in. He’s a witness. So are you.” I look up at my brother in confusion because surely he ain’t thinking what I think he’s thinking. Ain’t no question about it, Leonard has to die, but Joe… Joe was as much a victim in all this as we were.
Joe says nothing, just slowly walks over to where his brother is KO’d on the floor. Wade takes a step back as Joe sits beside his brother, lifting him up onto his body and cradling him tight. Me, Garrett, and Wade all exchange looks, deciding to give ‘em a minute while we figure what to do. What we don’t expect, is Joe wrapping his arms around his brother’s neck, and twisting his head ‘til it snaps.
“Guess I ain’t a witness anymore. Now I’m an accomplice.” He lets the top half of his brother’s body drop back on to the floor before he stands back up. “They needed to be stopped.” He nods to himself.
