Gilly raised a gun in Isaac’s direction. “Bind your legs.”
Isaac’s eyes flashed, a hint of that stubbornness coming through. “Why? You’ll kill me either way.”
She strode forward and smacked him across the face with her gun hand. I heard the crunch of metal against bone. Kay let out a strangled sound. Gilly just sneered at Isaac as he cradled his jaw. “I can make your end painless or full of agony. I’d let you ask Robert Aaron about how the painful version goes, but I don’t think he’s coming to the phone anytime soon.”
Bile surged up my throat, and I struggled to swallow it down.
“What have you done?” Kay stared up at her sister, her eyes full of tears.
Gilly turned so her gun was still pointed at Isaac but she could face Kay. “I had to fix it. You know that. You were suffering so much. I had to end the people who caused your pain. I kept hoping it would be enough, but you kept getting worse.”
“This—this isn’t right. It’s not the way—”
“They didn’t care that they stole Jase from you,” Gilly clipped. “They didn’t give one damn. I have to fix it. Have to protect you.”
“Gilly—”
“No! That’s why you’re tied, too. I knew you might not see it my way. Knew your heart would be too kind. But this is the way it has to be. We have to root out the evil. The reason he’s gone. Then, you’ll be free. They don’t love him like we do. They forgot. Moved on. But we never will.”
Kay began crying in earnest, and Serena had gone pale. Chip still wasn’t rousing, but his hands and legs were tied, too. No one scattered around the living room had the freedom to move.
Gilly tossed the final piece of rope hanging over her shoulder to Isaac. “Your hands. Tie them tight. If you don’t, I’ll know.”
Isaac let out a low moan but did as she instructed. I watched him loop it around his wrists the best he could. Then he lifted his gaze to Gilly. “I can’t tie it.”
She scowled but strode over. “The safety is off on this gun. I’d hate to have an accident if you move too quickly.”
Isaac’s jaw tensed. “I’m not fucking moving.”
She slapped his face with her open palm. “Mind your language.”
I watched closely and saw Isaac rotate his wrists as Gilly knotted the cord around him. As she stepped back, railing about what a good-for-nothing man he was, Isaac’s wrists relaxed, and the ropes loosened a fraction. I met his gaze, and he gave the smallest incline of his head towards Gilly.
He needed someone to keep her occupied. Distracted. Then he could set to work on his ropes. I swallowed and turned my gaze to Gilly. She paced back and forth.
“Where’s Jax?” It was the first thing I could think to ask. But now I was dying to know the answer. My stomach twisted at the possibilities. Was he helping? Had she hurt him?
Gilly chuckled. “I might’ve given the boys too much of my special brew.” She crossed to Chip, patting him on the cheek. His eyes didn’t even flutter. Then she moved in my direction. I sucked in a sharp breath, waiting for what, I didn’t know. Instead of coming to me, she ducked behind the couch.
With a groan, she tugged on something. “Here’s your best pal, Laiken. Did you miss him?”
She dragged him by one arm in front of us all and then let go of his hand. It fell lifelessly to the floor. Serena began to cry. I trained my eyes on Jax’s chest. I didn’t move or breathe until I saw it rise and fall. Not dead. Just unconscious.
I forced myself to focus on Gilly. To get her talking. “Why?”
A muscle in her cheek fluttered wildly as her grip on the gun tightened. “Everything’s a chain reaction. If just one of you would’ve made a different choice, none of this would’ve happened. So, you all have to pay the price.”
I swallowed against the burn in my throat. “You made a choice that night, too. If you hadn’t left Jax alone to have his party, we wouldn’t have had to come back to the farmhouse—”
Gilly charged, her hand lashing out, slapping me across the face. “Shut up, you whore! You’re a traitor and a cheat. You spread your legs for the first man with money and power to come your way. You never loved Jase. Or you never would’ve betrayed us all this way.”
My head rested on the arm of the couch as stars danced across my vision, and I tasted blood in my mouth. I tried to focus on getting air into my lungs, waiting for the pain to pass as Gilly raged about my treasonous ways.
My gaze caught a flicker of movement. Jax’s fingers against the area rug in front of me. His eyelids fluttered, but never fully lifted. I sent up a silent prayer for him to wake up, to find a way to get us all help.
Gilly’s hand fisted in my hair, yanking me upright. “Are you listening to me?”
She gave me a shake for emphasis, and fiery-hot pain shot up my spine. “I’m listening,” I croaked.