This Regret (56 page)

Now that I’m out of the creep’s arms, I can finally focus on what I heard come out of his mouth. I can finally pull myself together enough to try to get some information. “What did you do to Kade, you sick bastard?” I grip onto the wood, preparing myself for the worst, while looking across the room at the wheelchair.
Who is this guy staring at me? Why won’t he stop looking at me?

His hair is long, blond and unkempt and it looks as if he hasn’t shaven in months. Maybe he can’t take care of himself.
Can he even use his hands?
He’s not moving; he’s just staring at me expressionless. I feel sick and I want to run. I can't help but wonder if Cape did this to this poor guy.

My eyes wander around me, scoping out my options as Cape takes in my words.
I have to get out of here.
“Kade!” He laughs and walks over to stand behind the wheelchair. My eyes land on him as he begins to rub the guy’s head, lovingly. “This is Echo. My fucking brother! My damn flesh and blood. The boy I looked after as a kid. The boy who wanted to follow in my footsteps. Does it look like he'll be following in anyone's footsteps now?”

He starts coming my way, so I turn away, not wanting to look at his face. I can't look at him. The thought of him makes me sick. I just want to know what he’s done to Kade. I can’t take this. “Tell me what you did!” I feel him standing right beside me, so I bring my eyes up to look at his waist that is inches from my face. It’s then that I notice the handle of a gun, sticking out the top of his jeans. My heart goes crazy thinking of all the possibilities.
Are they all armed or can I get away with this gun?
I’m good with guns. I can use one. I didn't notice anyone else with guns. Then again, I didn't notice his until now either.

Just as he’s about to look back at me, I look up before he can notice me checking out his pistol. He laughs and lifts his pant legs before bending down in front of me with a sneer. “He’s dead.” He frowns and pats my cheek. “You can thank your little boyfriend for that. Sorry you have to find out this way.”

Dead? I couldn’t have heard that right. He can’t be fucking dead. Is that why I never heard back from Kellan? I’m going to kill this sick jerk!
Anger courses through me and without thinking, I reach for Cape’s gun as he stands up and face’s his brother.

I feel the cool steel in my hand as I clasp it and pull it from his waistband. On instinct, or from what I’ve seen in the movies, I reach for meat grinder next to me and hold it to his chin as Cape comes at me. “Don’t make me use this.” Knowing these guys, I don’t have to check it to know it’s loaded and ready to go. Men like this are always packing. My legs shake, but I try my best to keep steady. Showing weakness with a loaded gun in your hand can backfire in a heartbeat. “Tell me what you did to Kade. He can’t be dead. Don’t fucking lie to me.” I push the barrel further into meat grinder’s face and he laughs. The idiot actually laughs. “Tell me!”
Why are they all smiling?

Cape walks over to me as if he doesn’t believe I’d actually shoot him.
The balls of him.
“If you’re going to make a threat, you better go through with it. Once you pull that trigger, there’s no going back; you have to shoot every last one of us. Can you handle that?” My hands shake as he reaches for the gun and points it at his own head. “Go ahead. Make my fucking day.”

My finger hovers over the trigger as sweat drips down my face. I’ve never taken a life before.
Is this really something I can live with for the rest of my life?
Now, my whole body is shaking. I scream and fall to my knees, dropping the gun down beside me. I can't do it. There’s only one way out of this: death.

My heart aches for Kade so bad.
He can’t be dead.
Tears fill my eyes and I watch, helplessly as Cape bends down and reaches for the gun. He grips my arm, lifts me to my feet and then slaps me across the face with his gun hand. The hard steel cracks against my cheek, sending a surge of pain through my face and I fall back down on the cement. “Try that again and I will fucking kill your skinny ass.” He leans above me. “Now get up! We have company coming soon. I have plans for the both of you. It's sad, really; you have to pay for someone else’s mistake.”

He looks around the room and waves the gun. “Someone get a handle on this bitch before I shoot someone.”

The short guy grabs my arm and throws me onto a crate, holding my arms still behind me.

Cape smiles at this and points to the woman. “Baby, bring Echo over here.” The woman just stands there until Cape screams, “Now!”

She quickly scrambles to the wheelchair and pushes the man across the room and over to Cape, with wide eyes. “Sorry.” She looks up at him as if she’s afraid of getting hit. “It won’t happen again.”

He rubs the gun across her cheek and kisses her on the mouth. “Good girl; damn straight it won’t.” He slaps her on the ass and turns to me. “Push Echo over to his new friend. They need a proper introduction.”
The woman does as told and pushes the guy right in front of me so we're face to face and then walks away to stand at a distance.

My eyes can't help but to take in the sight before me.
This guy is the creep's brother.
I would have never guessed. He's sitting there broken, looking helpless just staring into my eyes. I stare back, taking in the light shades of brown, trying to figure out what he's thinking and why he would want to see me. I want to speak to him; to ask him what happened and what I have to do with anything, but I know I wouldn't get an answer so I don't. I just sit there on the verge of tears as he stares at me.

It feels like forever has passed, with us all in silence waiting for this mystery guest he keeps speaking of. No one seems to want to say anything more until he arrives. I'm so anxious, I can't sit still anymore. Another couple of younger kids have appeared from one of the back rooms and now it’s the eight of us. Every time a door opens, I pray for it to be Kellan. I want to see Kellan so badly. I need to know him and Kade are safe.
Is this why Kellan left?

The silence is finally broken by the door being kicked open. I can't see who has just entered, because I'm facing the other direction, but I can hear the sound of boots hitting the cement. The look on Cape's face makes me believe it's exactly who we've all been waiting for.

My body stiffens at the sound of a familiar voice. The one voice I would die to hear at the moment. "Get your fucking hands off her or I will kill you myself."

My heart starts beating so loudly, I can hardly make out anything else being said. Kellan is here and my body is no longer controllable. I need to see him. I need to make sure I'm really hearing what I think I'm hearing. I start struggling in my seat. "Kellan," I scream, pulling my arms away from the man's grip. "What's going on?"

The guy grabs my arms and yanks me back down, twisting my wrist in a painful position. A small cry escapes me and before I can get all the way back down to my seat, the guy is yanked away from me and slammed into the ground. His head bounces off the cement as Kellan pounds his fist into his face, kneeling above his head. Blood begins to splatter with each hit.

Cape grabs me by the neck and forces me to stand above Kellan. "Enough!" Kellan looks up with flared nostrils, clearly pissed off to see Cape handling me. "This is my place and it's my rules here. Unless you want to see this pretty face smashed into the ground, I suggest you back the fuck up and play my game."

Shaking his head, Kellan holds his hands up and backs away from the bloody guy on the ground. Him and the woman glance at each other with a look of recognition, before he turns back to face Cape. "Alright! Fuck! Just don't hurt her. I'll do whatever you ask."

Cape snorts and laughs loudly. "Yeah, you already proved that. You must have gotten stupid over the years though. You haven't been a man of your word lately and I'm not a patient man. I don't like when people disobey me."

Kellan's eyes meet mine and I can see he is hurting. I'm so confused. None of this is making sense. He takes a step toward us, but stops when Cape pulls me against his chest. I hear Kellan growl as his fists clench at his sides. "Neither am I," Kellan states. "Get your hands off her."

I close my eyes, feeling dirty as Kellan watches Cape run his finger up my leg. Knowing Kellan is watching this is making me sick to my stomach. "Is that what you want me to do?"

I hear what sounds like a crate being broken against the ground before I hear someone being tackled and a bunch of feet moving. I don't dare to open my eyes; afraid of what I'll see in front of me. There's no way Kellan can take on all these men, plus Cape and his gun.

"I'll tell you what. I will stop touching her, caressing her, and fondling her after you two have a little chat and you properly introduce her to your old friend over there. Then, when you're done, I get to do the same to you."

What does that mean?
This is killing me. I open my eyes to see Kellan, on his knees, staring over at Echo, with Cape's two men holding his arms behind his back. The shorter one, presses his boot into his back, while the other one yanks his head to the side.

The sight instantly rips open my heart, causing tears to stream down my face. "Don't hurt him," I cry. "Please, stop."

Cape presses his lips to my ear and Kellan growls softly. "Oh don't worry, sugar. Soon, he won't be able to feel anything; just like my brother over here. I was going to do a brother for brother, but . . . nah. I changed my mind."

The two men drag Kellan over so he's kneeling down in front of Echo. Then Cape pulls me over to stand above him, pressing the barrel of the gun underneath my chin. "Look up, Kellan," he demands.

Kellan brings his eyes up to meet mine, but I can hardly see him through the tears now. He just sits there, looking ashamed and broken. I want to reach out to him, to hold him and comfort him, but I can't. I have a feeling one of us may die. My heart says it will be him.

Even on his knees, before me, he works on soothing me. "I won't let anyone hurt you, okay?" I close my eyes as he continues, "I will die first. You are the only thing that matters to me. Whatever happens today, remember that."

I hear laughter in my ear as Kellan's head gets yanked back, hard. "Well isn't that sweet. He has a heart after all. I guess you finally got tired of using women like dish rags. Is that all you have to say, Romeo? Don't you have a story to tell? Some fucking introductions to do?"

Kellan closes his eyes and spits on the ground before looking back up at me with worried eyes. He's silent for a moment, just staring at me until the short guy knees him in the back, causing him to clear his throat and speak. "I worked hard to keep Adric away from those pills. I knew he was addicted, depressed and lost." He stops and swallows. "When I found him in his room that day, the first thing I did was come here looking for Cape because I knew where they had come from. I got here expecting to find Cape to get my answer. When I got here, Echo was the only one here. He was sitting there with a huge grin on his face as if he knew why I was here. He knew I found out Adric was still getting the pills. I knew Adric didn't get them directly from Cape or his men, but I knew someone was going between them, supplying Adric when I wasn't around. When I confronted Echo about it and demanded he tell me where Adric had still been getting them, he laughed in my face and talked down on Adric, calling him a piece of shit loser that deserved to die."

His eyes close for a moment, him taking a few deep breaths before continuing. "I lost it, baby. I fucking lost it. Adric was my brother. How could someone laugh in my face about him dying? No one hurts my family. I love them to death and will do anything to protect them. I took it out on Echo and made him pay for his mistakes. I had many talks with Echo beforehand, warning him of Adric's behavior. He ignored that. I had to deal with him. I almost killed a man. Look at him. I'm a fucking monster, driven by pain and anger.”

My eyes wander over to Echo, whose eyes are on Kellan, kneeling in front of him. His face looks different from before; almost sad as he stares at Kellan. I don’t know what to make of this, but I have a feeling he’s here against his own will.

I just look at him sitting there, then to my surprise he moves. He places his hand on the wheel and spins his chair around so he’s facing the back wall.
Wait! What?
He’s been able to move this whole time and yet he sat there looking at me as if he had no choice. His eyes never left mine.
What was he thinking? What is he thinking?

“Nothing to say, Echo? You can’t even look at the man that put you there. This is your chance to watch him suffer through your pain.” Cape kneels down in front of his brother and grabs his face. “You, my brother, are going to watch him suffer. I haven’t waited eight years for this shit for you not to watch. Fuck!”

Walking over to where Kellan’s still kneeling on the ground, Cape swings his arm back, slamming the gun into the side of Kellan’s head. The crack of the blow echoes throughout the building as Kellan falls over on his side, his face hitting the concrete. “Get the fuck up, you pussy bitch!”

I scream at the top of my lungs as Kellan pushes himself to his feet just to get beat back down to the ground. No matter how many times he gets punched or kicked, he still won’t seem to stay down. He won’t back down; although, he doesn’t put up a fight. He just takes the beaten as if he deserves it.

I try to plead with him to stop, but his eyes never meet mine. He does everything he can to keep his eyes out of my view. His face is bloody and swollen now, his body covered in dirt and dust from the building, the blows coming in smaller dosages now.