Forcing me to race away on the rims.
“Come on. Come on, you piece of shit.”
I heard the apple tree crash behind me. The gunfire stopped and men started yelling. I skidded to the stairs of the porch as the rims of the car started sparking. I hoped the damn thing burst into flames and took the entire mansion down with it. With my father trapped inside. I slammed the door open and raced up the porch, listening as men sprinted up the driveway.
They wouldn’t catch me, though.
Not until I had my father dead in my hands.
I barreled through the front door, jamming my shoulder into it. I growled out in pain as I looked around with my one good eye. I stormed through the house, searching every room. Checking every corner as my boots sounded loudly against the marble floors.
“Ashton!”
I bellowed throughout the house with my hands cupped along my mouth.
“Ashton! Where the fuck are you!?”
I knew damn good and well my father had already prepared for my arrival. That fucker was always one step ahead of the game. I had something up my sleeve, though. Something I knew he hadn’t taken into account.
I knew his weakness.
“Ashton!”
I followed my gut and checked outside before heading upstairs. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t up to something out there by that fucking pool of his. I sniffed the air deeply, wrinkling my nose at the scent. My good eye was already strained from taking in my father’s eyesore of a home. Even in the dead of night, I saw my father out there, standing in front of the pool with his hands clasped behind his back.
“I’ve been expecting you!”
I charged him with my fists balled up. I heard men trampling through the house as they spilled out behind me. They cocked their guns, aiming them at my back. And as my father held up his hand, I reached for his throat.
“I’ll die taking you with me,” I growled.
He grinned. “What was that?”
I went to clamp down against his throat and he moved off to the side. And when I saw what was behind him, I froze. My jaw dropped open. My heart stilled in my chest. But, it was my father’s hand patting me on the back that brought air into my lungs.
What the fuck is Dani doing here?
“You really do enjoy your women with spunk, don’t you?”
My father’s whisper had nothing on the voice screaming inside my head. I had so much anger built up within me I didn’t know what to do with myself. Dani was bound to that chair. With leather. Leather bonds that had seen so many other dead bodies before her. She had a bruise on her cheek and I felt the beast within me snap. The tears streaking her cheeks made me a walking time bomb. I’d never experienced rage like this before. I felt damn near delusional as I kept my eyes locked on her.
“Let her go. She has nothing to do with any of this.”
Dad sighed. “Well, I suppose that tattoo on her thigh suggests otherwise.”
I slowly looked over at him. “If you tell me--”
He held up his hand. “Young, barely-aged women aren’t my thing. I didn’t touch her. Mostly.”
I lunged at him. “You’re the one that hit her.”
His men lifted their guns again and I heard Dani whimper. A soft, surreal, panicked sound that stopped me dead in my tracks. Making my father grin.
“Benji told me she’s one of you now. You know, your cousin? Which means she’s fair game. Just like you are.”
I gnashed my teeth. “Why are you doing this?”
My father raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers. And quicker than I could blink, five of his men surrounded me. I felt the heat of their guns pointed at me. I saw Dani struggling out of the corner of my eye. Trying to get loose from those binds around her wrists and ankles. I knew it was no use, though. The knots my father taught his men to tie grew tighter the more someone struggled.