Revenge (32 page)

They were silent for several minutes. “Lexie wants the
weddings to continue, and I agree with her. Gonzalez will be present, and all
of us could be there for when the real shit goes down.”

“Eva’s already organizing the wedding.”

“I need your permission to come back to town. I’m not
entering Fort Wills unless I have your agreement that nothing bad is going to
happen. I’ve got to take care of my boys before I take care of myself.” Devil
opened up the safe where he found his gun along with a stack of money.

“My woman will make the arrangements, and you’ll need
to come back to Fort Wills before the wedding goes down. Butch got a call from
Gonzalez last night. They talked, and the bastard knows you’re back in Piston
County.”

Devil paused. “What?”

“You heard me. Butch let him know you were back in
Piston County. I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t know until it was too
late. Be careful, and we’ll talk soon.”

Fences weren’t mended, but Devil dropped his phone
onto this desk.

How long had Gonzalez known he was in Fort Wills?
Moving to the window he looked out over his front yard.

There was so much to be done.

****

Lexie felt guilty for the way she treated her kids.
They didn’t deserve her anger or her pain. Kayla was dead, and Devil was right.
Her sister would have gladly left her for dead before helping her out. She had
no reason to trust her sister then or now.

Seeing her dead with bruises all over had been a
horrific sight to take in. Staring at her children, Lexie was relieved that
they were alive, healthy, and safe. She didn’t want anything to happen to them.

Turning away, she started to set up the oven so she
could do some baking. Being in the kitchen was the only way she could get past
the pain and heartache of losing her sister.

“Mommy?”
Simon said.

She was about to look toward him when an arm banded
around her waist and something metal was pressed to her neck.

“I wouldn’t move if I was you,” the male voice said.
She stared at the oven in front of her as his arm didn’t move.

“Lexie, we’ve got a problem.” This voice didn’t come
from directly behind her.

The man holding her around her waist turned her to
face Gonzalez. He sat at the kitchen counter, wiping his hands on a cloth.

“What are you doing in my house?” she asked, gritting
her teeth. She couldn’t look toward her kids, and she was too scared to call
out to her man.

“This is Devil’s house, and you’re Devil’s woman.
You’re not your own person. The Chaos Bleeds crew is owned by Devil.”

“What’s your point?”

“I don’t have a point, but I’m letting you know that
this isn’t about you. This is because of Devil.”

He was looking at his nails and occasionally glancing
at her. She hated the way he looked at her. The planning and scheming were easy
to see in his eyes.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here because you and Devil are, and I can’t find
one of my men. He was working for me.”

“Do you mean the man who was supposed to hurt and kill
Eva?” she asked.

“Yes, the very
one.”

“I’ve never seen him.” She glared at him, wishing
there was more she could do.

“You know, Lexie, you’re not in any position to argue
with me. I could get Ronald there to put a bullet in any of your children and
wait to kill you last.”

Tears sprang to her eyes at the threat he delivered.
She couldn’t do it. There was no way she could fail her children.

“What do you want?”

“Where’s Devil?” he asked.

“He’s right fucking here.” Devil rounded the corner,
holding a gun out that was aimed at Gonzalez.

Relief swamped her, followed by fear.

“Devil, I didn’t expect you home so soon.”

“I didn’t leave home, fucker!”

Ronald still held her against him. His breath fanned
her neck, leaving her feeling sick.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I heard you and
Tiny are no longer on speaking terms.”

“Yeah, we’re having a spat right now, but the wedding
is still going ahead as fucking planned. Now, tell me why you’re in my fucking
house, near my babies, and have got a man holding a gun to my woman?”

She saw the anger in Devil. He was barely holding it
together.

“It’s simple, really. I’ve not heard from my man, so
I’ve come here to find out the truth. It’s what anyone else would do.”

“Then go back to Fort Wills and you’ll find him
somewhere. I can’t guarantee you’ll find all the pieces. Wait, you don’t have a
problem with that, seeing as he was going to kill Eva?” Devil’s finger that was
poised at the trigger looked ready to shoot.

Gonzalez chuckled. “You’re angry because I wanted to
get Eva out of the picture. She’s vital to all my plans. Tiny won’t do anything
unless she’s dead.”

“Tiny was doing exactly what you wanted. You didn’t
like it and decided to take out Eva. Let me warn you, you kill Eva, Tate, or
anyone else in that club and you’ve lost any chance of gaining ground in Fort
Wills.” Devil didn’t move, but the gun was trained on Gonzalez and it was
unwavering.

“Interesting.”

“The only shot you’ve got of
Tiny
cooperating is with Eva alive. You take the people he cares about away from him,
and you’ve lost all your leverage and you’re on your own.”

The tears that filled her eyes spilled down her
cheeks. She was so scared. This warning was the same for Devil. They killed her
or their kids, it was over. Devil wouldn’t stop until he hurt everything
related to Gonzalez.

“Now, why do you have a gun pointed at my woman?”

“I wanted some answers to some questions.”

“Lexie is not part of the deal. You let her go.”

“No, you think I’m going to let the one woman go
that’s making sure I walk out of here alive?” Gonzalez rested his hands against
his head.

“I could kill you right now.”

“You could, and that will be over.” Gonzalez turned
his gaze to look at her. “But take a look at that beautiful face. She used to
be a stripper, right? Lexie took her clothes off in order to take care of your
kid? Look at her face. She’s beautiful, I’ll give you that. Sexy, hot, I’d fuck
her given the chance.”

Devil scowled.

“If you put a bullet inside me and kill me, Devil,
then you can kiss your woman goodbye. Ronald will put a bullet inside her head
before you kill him.” Gonzalez stopped to take out a handkerchief. “You can
live with killing me and even Ronald. Can you live with the last memory of your
wife being without a face?”

She started to shake from fear. Devil looked close to
the edge as it was.

“I’ve seen what women look like without their faces.
Close range bullet taking out their face. You couldn’t have an open casket for
people to remember her.”

The tears were falling thick and fast.

“What would you tell your kids, your son? That you
killed their mother because you couldn’t help but pull the trigger. Hey, at
least the world is gone of one bad guy, but I can tell you, Devil, there are
over a thousand more bad guys out there who are willing to take my place. All
it takes is one of us to go down for another one to rise. It’s a kind of a sad
world we live in.”

“Why did you kill my sister?” Lexie asked, needing to
change the subject.

All the talk of bullets entering her head scared her.
She had no choice but to focus on something else. Lexie didn’t want to die. She
wanted to live.

“Kayla, you know she was living
good
?
She was off the drugs and studying to be a nurse. It was the irony of it all.
The bad sister turned good. No, she was just a little test for Everett. I
wanted to make sure he was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done.
Guess what? He passed.”

Gonzalez was a sick man. Nothing he did ever
made
sense, and the only reason he’d survived this long was
because of his ability to be unpredictable. She hated him and didn’t want him
to live.

He had to die at the right time, in the right moment.
This wasn’t that time or that moment.

“Devil, please?” she asked, begging. She knew all he
wanted to do was kill the bastard, but it wouldn’t serve any purpose. Today,
the only purpose killing Gonzalez would serve was to kill her.

“I’m not going to kill you. I want you out of my
fucking house,” Devil said.

He didn’t look toward her as he spoke.

“Really?
You don’t want to take a shot at me. I’m sitting right here. I’m out in
the open, and you could kill me now. It would all be over.” Gonzalez opened his
jacket to reveal his chest. “You’re not going to do it?”

“No, get the fuck out of my house.”

“Devil, stopped
from taking what he wants because of a woman.
I’m disappointed. Lexie really is the deciding vote for you? You won’t
do anything unless she gives you consent?” Gonzalez looked toward her.

Ronald slammed her forward onto the counter. She
turned her head so that she didn’t smash her nose on the granite worktop. The
pain was instant.

Closing her eyes, she felt Ronald’s hips settle
against her ass.

Please, God, no.

“Maybe I just need to change it up a little.”

The barrel of the gun was pressed to the back of her
head.

“Leave my fucking wife alone,” Devil said. He sounded
lost.

“Fucking, that’s a good word. A strong word,” Gonzalez
said.

The dress she was wearing was thrust up to her waist.
Lexie couldn’t contain the whimper any longer. She was scared of what was going
to happen.

“I said fucking leave her alone.” Devil dropped the
gun he was holding.

Opening her eyes, she turned to see that Devil held
his hands up, surrendering to whatever Gonzalez wanted.

For several seconds nothing happened. The tension in
the room could be cut through with a knife.

“Ronald,” Gonzalez said.

Her dress was placed over her thighs, covering her up.

“Now, I think it’s time for us to leave for now.”
Gonzalez stood to his feet, leaning down to pick up Devil’s gun. “I find it
fascinating.”

“What do you find fascinating?” Devil asked.

She was pulled up from the counter. A hand wrapped
around her neck as she was moved backwards around the counter. Ronald held her
tight to him. Devil didn’t hold any weapon, but they were being cautious.

“How amenable you are when it comes to Lexie. I
wouldn’t have pegged you for the kind of man to step away from a kill.”

“Let my woman go.”

The hand around her neck tightened.

“Let her go, Ronald,” Gonzalez said.

Lexie was thrust into Devil’s arms as the two men left
their house. She wrapped her arms around his neck, never wanting him to let go.
Devil buried his head against her neck.

“Thank you,” she said, sobbing against his chest.

“Baby, I promise you that you will always come first.”

“How did you know he was here?” She didn’t even want
to think about what would have happened if Devil hadn’t been here. Would Ronald
have hurt her? Or would Gonzalez?

“I talked with Tiny. Gonzalez called Butch, and the
bastard let him know that we were back in Piston County.”

He kissed her neck, offering her some comfort with the
warmth of his arms.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you, too, baby. I promise you that I wasn’t
even tempted to risk your life. I couldn’t live without you.”

“Do you think it was a test?” she asked, worried. Did
Gonzalez come to test Devil?

“Are you hurt?” He pulled her head back, and she saw
he was looking in her eyes and over her body.

“I’m not hurt.”

“He pushed you on top of the counter, hard.”

“Devil, the guy who held me, Ronald, he wasn’t hard.
It was a test of some kind. I don’t think he was going to hurt me.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Lex. As far as
I’m concerned, Ronald’s a fucking dead man, along with Gonzalez. He touched
what was mine.” He cupped her cheek, turning her face this way and that. “No
one touches you but me.”

He slammed his lips down on hers, holding her tightly.

After several seconds they were interrupted by his
cell phone. Getting to her feet, she gave him privacy and made her way into the
kitchen. Simon was standing at the edge of the play area looking toward them.

The moment he saw her, he lifted his arms up. “Cuddle,
Mommy.”

Going to him, she pulled him into her arms. Simon
surprised her by wrapping his arms around her neck and stroking her hair. “I
love you, Mommy.”