“This is a fucking neon sign blaring in your damn face saying look at me, I’m so far up my own arse, I can see the fucking sun. Jesus, if I didn’t hate the guy already, this would make me want to bash his head in on sight.” He spat on the floor. “Fucker knows no bounds.”
I couldn’t help breaking out into a smile at his words. His words shoved their way through my paralysing fear of being back here. Reaching out, I laced my fingers with his, making him look down at me as Francis dumped a bag down next to me.
“You can bash his head in later. First, let’s make sure Gio did what we asked. I’m ready to end this.”
West grinned at me. This was it. There was no going back. We had committed to ending Stuart for good. And nothing would stop us now.
Thirty Five
Scarlett
The first place we needed to check was the security room. This was key to our plan going off without a hitch. Not that I imagined any plan we had would end up the way we envisioned, but we couldn’t afford to go off script unless circumstances changed.
Prescott and Drake dumped the two dead security guys in the lobby and shut the front door. I squatted down, opened the bag Francis had brought and pulled out a crowbar, swinging it between my fingers when I stood up.
“Careful with that,” Drake said.
I turned to him.
“Why? Do you think I’m going to hit you with it?”
The way he smiled had my heart thumping.
“No, but if you’re planning on bludgeoning anyone to death, warn us first.”
I winked, then took a deep breath, reminding myself I had nothing to fear here. We had the upper hand. We’d done everything in our power to make sure this was as painless as possible… for us. It wasn’t going to be painless for them. We planned to make it hurt.
“If you want to kill someone that way, I brought the sledgehammer. Much more effective,” West said as I started towards the staff wing.
I shook my head, trying not to imagine what kind of damage West would do a human being with it. The house was eerily quiet, even at this time of night. I could only hope for the best and expect the worst. Gio wouldn’t have been able to get to everyone. We knew that, but the important people would be none the wiser as to who had just entered the main house.
The security room wasn’t far off the lobby and, as expected, was locked. There was one thing about this old house no one had thought to replace. The fucking wooden doors. I stepped back, waving at it. West gave me a grin before stepping up to it. Then he looked up at the camera blinking above it.
“Did you think this flimsy piece of shit would keep us out?” he said before his foot slammed into the door, making it groan under the impact.
He took a step back, taking the hammer off his shoulder, and proceeded to smash the door repeatedly. It lay in pieces by the time he’d finished. I was the first one to step through, holding the crowbar tight in my fist.
The man in the room scrambled back away from the safe he was trying to get into and looked like he was about to shit himself.
“Well, hello, Alex. I bet you didn’t think you would see me again.”
I looked back to find West had followed me in.
“Tell Drake it’s bludgeoning time.”
Then I turned to Alex, head of fucking security and the biggest cunt out of all of them. I swung the crowbar back and forth as I approached him. He backed up into his chair, his knees buckling under him.
“Scarlett…”
“You fucked with the wrong girl.”
West came around and forced him into the chair. He stood behind Alex, holding the man down for me. I pressed the crowbar into his chest, making him wince.
“Who knows we’re here?”
“N-n-no one.”
I canted my head, pressing the points of the bar harder against him.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes! Everyone else is…”
“Is what, Alex?”
He looked towards the screens.
“Passed out. I was going to phone the police, then you all barged in here.”
“A likely fucking story.”
Pulling the bar away from his chest, I brought it down on his hand instead. He screamed at the impact, the sound of bones snapping filling the air.
“How long until you noticed, huh? Or were you too busy wanking over porn as usual?”
The only reason I knew about Alex’s proclivities was due to overhearing two guards complaining about walking in on him masturbating in here. There were a lot of things I’d heard in the past ten years I probably shouldn’t have. I stored it all away. When you lose your memory, keeping your new ones becomes imperative. I never wanted to forget anything again. Guess it worked in my favour. I could tell the boys information about the estate they couldn’t have found out any other way.
“I… I… only a few minutes before you got here. I was…”
“Wanking.”
“Yes.”
West snorted but didn’t say anything. Why was I not surprised? For all Stuart’s paranoia and security protocols, he hadn’t employed the most vigilant of men to do the job.
“Well, it’s too fucking bad for you. If you’d been paying attention, maybe you would have seen us kill your fucking security at the gate. Now… you’re going to die too because of your own stupidity.”
I brought the crowbar down on his other hand, making him scream again. Tears slid down his cheeks, but I didn’t care. This man wasn’t worth my pity or regret. He was worthless scum. He’d taunted me more times than I could remember. Sometimes when they threw me in the cell, he came in and beat me further for good measure. He made my life hell. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. No one here deserved my mercy.
“That’s it, Alex, cry like a little fucking baby. Maybe in your next life, you won’t try to manhandle women like they mean nothing, you worthless piece of shit.”
The way he blubbered had me watching him for a moment. I gripped the crowbar at the end with both hands and swung it, smacking him across the side of the head. The crack of his skull sent a shiver down my spine, but I didn’t stop there. Blow after blow came until he was bleeding profusely from the shattered side of his face. His eyes were open, but dull and lifeless.
I looked at the bloodied crowbar. A sick sort of satisfaction washed over me. Francis’ words from the day I first killed clicked into place. The thrill of taking another life. One who had hurt you. Who had given you too much pain.
Justice. This is justice. Every part of it.
Reaching out, I used Alex’s shirt to wipe away his blood from my weapon. West had let go of him after the first blow came, knowing it would have knocked him out. He leant back against the desk, watching me with pride.
“My little warrior has sharp claws.”
I shoved the chair with Alex in out of the way before stepping up to West. Placing the crowbar on the desk, I looked up at the man I’d loved my whole life.
“Your little warrior is a goddess.”
He brushed my cheek with his knuckles.
“My goddess of the night.”
“If you two are quite done mooning over each other,” Drake’s voice came from behind us. “We’ve got to find out where the fuck that cunt has got to.”