Alexander hurt her.
Or worse, raped her.
Even though Landry didn’t tell us what happened before with her father, Scout did this week while she was away from us. Retold every horrifying detail that she told him. It’s unfathomable to me how you could do that to your own daughter.
If I find out we sent her back to that monster and he managed to get his hands on her again like that, I will burn his entire empire to the ground. I’ll kill him myself with my two bare hands.
The drive to her building is a blur. My car is the fastest and I take every street, pushing the speed limits of my car. We make it to her place in record speed, but it feels like every second is flying by.
We need to get to her.
I can’t explain the overwhelming sense that something is deeply wrong.
All carefully laid out plans are thrown out the window as desperation sets in. We’re being reckless, but it doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is her safety.
For someone with a bum leg, Scout takes the lead, damn near sprinting through the lobby. The elevator ride is pure torture. When it finally dings to deposit us onto her floor, we clamber out, the three of us on a mission to get our girl.
The front door is locked. It takes a few hard kicks until something cracks. I’m able to shove the door with my shoulder until it finally breaks loose. Once inside, we split off. Sully says he’s going to look for Della while I follow Scout through the apartment toward the sounds of her crying.
We step into her bedroom and the coppery scent of blood floods my nostrils. The hairs on my arms stand on end. Lying on the bed, with a phone clutched in her tight grip, is Landry.
Bloody, sobbing, shaking Landry.
I start for her, but Scout grabs my bicep. I’m about to shove him away when I notice the gun beside her. Scout’s gun.
Fuck.
We knew it might come to this. It was supposed to be a last resort, and we weren’t even sure if she’d actually use it. But here we are and our strong girl did what she had to do to protect herself.
“Hey, baby,” I croon, despite the rage at her father threatening to consume me. “Are you okay?”
She flinches at my words, her blue eyes finding and snagging my own. “I shot him.” Her face crumples as it sinks in. “Oh my God.”
Scout inches toward her and holds out his hand. “Let me hold that for you, prickly princess.”
“I’m going to go to jail.” Her bottom lip wobbles. “What will happen to Della?”
“You’re not going to jail,” I assure her, my voice hard and steely. I’ll drive her ass to Mexico and smuggle her over the border before I let that happen. “Give Scout the gun.”
She stares at the gun for a long beat, tears steadily streaming down her cheeks, before finally nodding. He takes it from her and begins wiping it with his shirt. As he walks around the side of the bed, I sit beside her and take her bloody hand in mine.
“Look at me, Laundry. You’re going to be okay.”
Scout lets out a small sigh. Our eyes meet. He doesn’t have to say a word. It’s written all over his face. Alexander Croft is dead on the other side of the bed. As much as I want to rejoice because he can’t lay another finger on Landry or her sister, this is a big fucking problem and it’s about to explode in a high-profile way.
“Della? W-where’s Della?” Landry asks, seemingly disoriented. “Did he hurt her?”
“She’s fine. Sully is with her. If she was hurt, he’d have told us by now.”
Satisfied with that answer, she leans into me. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“This. I…he was on me…” Another loud sob. “I was trying to wait for you guys, but I didn’t want it to happen again. I was scared.”
That motherfucker not only hurt her, but he fucking raped her like the pedo-creep he was. Tonight, he probably would have done it again. It’s evident she thought he would. This whole thing is a clusterfuck because Alexander is so fucking clean.
She’ll go down for this. Or, at the very least, be dragged through a public trial and shaming. It’ll be too hurtful for both her and Della. This isn’t fair. Even beyond the grave, Alexander will make her life a living hell. Every dime to his name will be in question when it should rightfully go to her. If only we could figure out—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The roaring sound of Scout unloading the rest of the rounds in the gun has Landry screaming and me pulling her into my arms. Scout stands over the body, the gun still pointed at Alexander even though he’s done shooting.