He glances down at the steel blade in my hand, and instead of seeming surprised—you know, a normal reaction—his pupils seem to dilate, and one side of his lips lifts up in a smirk. “Were you about to stab me, sweetheart?”
“You’re not supposed to find that a turn on,” I grouse, tucking the knife back in my boot. “What are you doing up?”
He steps back to grab something from the island, and I take in what he’s wearing—He’s dressed head-to-toe in black. “Or maybe I should be asking where you’re going.”
When he turns back to look at me, with a black backpack in his hand, his expression is tight, his lips pressed flat.
“Where are you going?” I repeat more insistently, tilting my head slightly and quirking a brow as I wait him out.
After a moment of silence, he huffs out a breath. “To deal with Wilbert.”
“Alone?” I’m already shaking my head. “I don’t think so. Give me a couple of minutes to change.”
“No, sweetheart.” He reaches out to snag my wrist as I turn away, forcing me to turn back to face him. “Go back to West. I’ll sort out this last hurdle for us.”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” I insist. “I’ll be your back-up, in case you need it.”
My wrist is still held captive in his as he stares at me for a long moment before relenting. “Fine, but no stabbing people unless it’s necessary.”
“No promises,” I mutter under my breath as I turn away from him and scurry back down the hall to my bedroom, grabbing some appropriate clothes and throwing them on as quickly as possible in case the asshole so much as thinks about trying to sneak out while I’m changing.
I’m relieved to find him still standing where I left him when I return to the kitchen. “Ready?” I ask, and he nods, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading toward the front door.
The campus is silent as we walk through it to where Beck’s car is parked in the staff lot. His car is an eyesore, sitting parked amongst various brand-new Audis and Mercedes, but he doesn’t seem to give a shit as he strides toward it.
Inserting the key in the door, he unlocks the car, and we climb in. It takes a few tries before the ignition starts, and I side eye him, silently hoping the car doesn’t break down halfway there.
He pats the wheel in some sort of weird, loving gesture, before putting it in gear and driving us away from the campus. Neither of us talk, comfortable in the silence as we make our way along the seafront and up the cliff to our parents’ residence—although, all but Barton’s house belongs to the guys now, so I guess it’s their residence. Weird.
We pull up to the gate and Beck enters the code, waiting for the gates to open before driving through them and parking up at the entrance to Wilbert’s driveway.
“You have a plan in mind?” I question before we get out of the car.
“Not really. I’m fairly confident we can wing it. He probably doesn’t know about Maria yet, and if he was in on her plan, the last thing he will be expecting tonight is a visit from us.”
Nodding my head in response, I push open the car door and get out, careful to close it quietly behind me. With a knife in my boot and another one in my hoodie pocket, I’m feeling more than prepared as we stealthily move toward the darkened house. At this late hour, he’s probably sound asleep, giving us the element of surprise.
I follow Beck as he enters the house and, without making a sound, begins to climb the stairs. He stops at a bedroom door, glancing over his shoulder at me. I give him a quick nod, letting him know I’m ready when he is, and he slides a gun out of his pocket before easing the door open.
The second he does, I can hear the sound of a machine whirring, but Beck pays it no attention so he must have heard it before, when he was here with West.
He pushes the door open further, until we can step into the darkened room, and I can just about make out the outline of the bed. Before I can determine whether or not Wilbert is lying in it though, I hear the recognizable click of a gun being cocked coming from the far side of the room. The loud noise has both Beck and I spinning, raising our weapons in anticipation of an attack.
“Stop right there,” Wilbert growls angrily, pointing what looks like a fucking shotgun at us. We both freeze. “Weapons on the ground.” Slowly I lower my knife to the floor, and Beck does the same with his gun, before we both stand upright and raise our hands in the air.
Wilbert reaches out to turn on the light on the table beside where he’s sitting, lighting up the room. Now that I’m not having to squint through the darkness, I can see pillows or clothes or something have been stuffed underneath the duvet, to make it look like there’s a body lying in the bed, and some sort of device sitting on his bedside table is making the annoying whirring noise. All of it was set up to make us think he was asleep in the bed. Sly, Wilbert. Didn’t know you had it in you, you fat fuck.
“I set the gate alarm to alert me whenever it was opened. Didn’t want to be caught unaware again.”
At his words, I return my focus to him, and the large gun pointed straight at Beck, obviously deeming him to be the greater threat out of the two of us.
Glancing at Beck, he looks completely unperturbed by the gun pointed in his face.
“Gotta give you some credit, old man. We didn’t think you had it in you to deceive us.”
Wilbert’s face reddens in anger at Beck’s words.
“You think I was about to let some children take everything I have worked for?”
I quirk an eyebrow. “Doesn’t sound like you’ve really contributed much. You just leave all the decisions up to everyone else, and reap the rewards.”
His gun stays pointed at Beck, but Wilbert’s furious gaze bounces to me, and his lip curls up in a snarl. “Stay out of it, girlie. You have no business sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” His gaze darts back and forth between Beck and I. “Maria’s the one you should be chasing anyway. She’s got your brothers.”
So the piece of shit knew that.
“And you don’t even give a shit that she could be doing god knows what to West?” Beck snarls furiously.
“He shouldn’t have come after me, or tried to win one over on her. We weren’t about to let him get away with that.”
“So you let Maria do all the heavy lifting,” I begin, shifting slightly so I can move closer to him. “You let her organize his kidnapping.” Another small shuffle. “Let her have her goons beat him up. Let her threaten him.” I let the monster inside me rise to the surface and shine through so he can see exactly who the fuck he’s messing with.
I relish as the sneer drops from his face, quickly replaced by fear and astonishment.
“H-how do you know that?”