Restitution (The Edge of Darkness, #3)

by Leigh Rivers

In Bernadette’s ballroom, they auctioned off people. Me and Base too. But going by the state he’s in, I doubt he’ll be fulfilling any duties with his buyer anytime soon. Mine, annoyingly, will summon me in a matter of days. That’s fine. I’ll kill him like the last person who bought my time – right after I hang Bernadette’s husband and make her watch. I’m finally hitting my limit.

“It’s a promise. If they’re inducted and leave with whoever fucking bought them, I will fuck you up. You’ll no longer have anything to blackmail me with. You sell them, and I will make sure the last day of your life is a nightmare. Your daughter? I’ll record her screams while I skin her alive and send you her fucking bones. I’ll make you watch Archie suffer, and I’ll leave you for last. If anything fucking happens to those girls, you better hide, you piece of shit.”

“To-Tobias?” Kade’s father grabs the blanket right next to us, wraps it around me, then pulls me in for a hug I didn’t realise I needed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re okay. You’re safe with me,” he says softly as he strokes my hair, letting me cry into his chest. “I found you, little one.”

the deal I made with the grandfather to get his help – I told him I’d kill his grandson’s abuser in exchange for him protecting my daughter. There are Russians surrounding this building as we speak.”

“You are also my priority. I would have always hunted for you to the ends of the fucking earth, little one. I know you didn’t have the best relationship with your father, your brothers are useless pricks, and my son is shackled to a bitch on an insane power trip, but you have me.” The force of my body catapulting into his knocks him back a step, but he catches me.

What if I pull away and he vanishes? What happens if this is a dream and I’m drugged? What if I’m imagining this entire scenario and I’m shackled to the bed with an old, overweight and sweating man claiming me?

“You can yell at me later. I did what I had to do for my family, and you” – he flicks my nose – “you are part of it.”

“The world really has no idea who you are. You are a little bit nutty, but you care a lot about your family. You taught yourself to love – in your own way, yes – but that alone goes against everyone’s opinion of you. You aren’t heartless, Tobias. Who cares what the world thinks?” He grimaces; he hates compliments and softness. “Shut up or I’ll take you back.” I giggle. “I missed you.” “Are you done?”

As soon as my feet press into the soft grass, Barry pulls me into him – another hug I had no idea I needed. I wrap my arms around him just as tightly.

Stacey Rhodes. My girl. My anchor that sank to the bottom of the ocean without me.

“If that’s Bernadette, tell her that her days are limited. When they find the old bitch, she won’t last a day. That evil, vile, disgusting rapist of a woman.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice breaking. “I’m so sorry, Stacey. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I didn’t realise you were being abused at home. He was hitting you, controlling you, and I had no idea. He—” I swallow. “That motherfucker took our daughter from us, and I left. And then I walked away from you a year ago. I’m just so fucking sorry, and I have no idea how to make it up to you.”

“Find out what?”

“That I’m still in love with you.”

You don’t love me – I’m just someone you used to have in your life when it was normal, so you hold on to the thought of me.”

“That’s not even slightly true. If I could go back, I’d go back to the very beginning with you. I’d protect you and our daughter and hide you both from the ugliness of the world.”

You don’t have to ever forgive me, but I want you to know that if I had all the time in the world, I would spend it trying to win you back. I’d prove myself worthy of you, Stacey. Because there hasn’t been a day that’s passed where you haven’t kept me going. My love might not be enough for you, but it’s all I have left. I love you. I love you so fucking much that I want to live.”

“The first time I saw you, I was yours. I’ll always be yours, Freckles. Our girl will be proud of the woman you’ve become. You’ll both always be my girls.”

I feel ill, like a sudden dizziness has taken over me – I’m going to vomit. It’s the same feeling I get when Bernadette makes me go cold turkey – the stomach cramps and sweats and everything else. I end up blacking out and waking up covered in vomit – not knowing what the fuck happened. I’d put it down to withdrawal symptoms, but I’ve had a few lines of coke today, so it can’t be that.

“Then she can go through all of us. Please, Kade. Please don’t go,” she whispers, begging me. “I need you.” Everything relaxes. Fuck, I stop fighting her. How can I leave her again?

Cassie comes running straight for us, but I roll my eyes and put a bullet in her skull before she can reach me. Stacey flinches and turns away in revulsion as Cassie’s body drops to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Gone. Dead. Good-fucking-bye.

*standing ovation*

Even when he looks completely exhausted and drained of life, he’s handsome. His hair is longer, wavy, and his usual clean-shaven face is covered in stubble. I like it. I love him.

Him severing his connection with the bitch to get a few minutes alone with me was a shock, and I’m still processing it.

I’m not mad at Kade; I’m… lost. I know none of it was his fault. I could have just yelled from the treetops that I was attacked, that my brother was a lunatic, so I’m not innocent in all of this.

all he does is smile at her, take her face and kiss her on the lips. It’s more than just a kiss. It’s everything he wants. Everything he had. And everything he’ll lose. It’s a goodbye. A see you later. An eternity of wondering what if. I know what he’s going to do. He’s going to raze her empire from the inside, and he’s going to take himself out in the process. Because he loves his family, and he’d do anything to save them.

Even if that means taking a bullet for you… Jason kept his promise.

“I knew you just wanted in my bed.” She laughs softly, and fuck, I missed that. Wait. Are we flirting? We are. I think.

“I wish you’d fucked me in front of him. It would have hurt him a lot more.”

“Because I love you. Because I’ve always loved you. Regardless of what you’ve gone through and the changes we’ve both had to make to our lives, my feelings remain the same, Kade. I won’t stop loving you.”

“You can go as far as you want. You’re in control of this, Kade. I’m yours,” she says, and her eyes drop to my mouth. “And you’re mine.”

“I love you. I’ve loved you since we were eighteen. And I’ll love you until we’re old and grey and we’ve lived our whole lives together.”

Base isn’t even here to comfort her. He’s in Russia, battling with his family to cancel the arranged marriage he agreed to and get back to the girl he loves.

“Slow,” he repeats with a slight grimace, as if the word sickens him. “I never want to hear that word from you again when it comes to me and you. We do whatever the fuck we want.”

Kade Mitchell loves me. I’m his. And he’s mine.

“You. I want to be the person you think of when you wake up, when you go to sleep, when you slide your hand between your legs and find pleasure.”

“Your body. I want to be the only person to touch, kiss and fuck you. I want to claim all your emotions. Fear. Anger. Misery. Happiness. Love.”

“I want your heart, every single fucking fragment that I’ve broken over the years. I have your past and your present, and I want to be a selfish asshole and have your future.”

“You’re alive. You’re fighting back. That’s survival, Kade.” I smirk as his pupils dilate. “Now you’re mine and only mine.”

“What will you do with your freedom?”

“Win my girl back.”

She gets into a position that would indicate she’s going to suck him off but starts thrashing in his hold as his grip on her tightens. I can almost hear the crack of her jaw as she releases inaudible screams with terrified eyes. No one enters in time to stop Tobias from lifting her from her knees by her shattered jaw and slamming her back into the wall with brutal force. Once, twice, three times. Blood marks the wall where her head’s smacked into it.

“I’m going to make the world a safer place for you. Let me do this.”

“In the file I’ve sent out, you’ll see twenty-eight locations all over the world. Those organisations hold over two thousand missing children and adults. Act fast. Dispatch every unit you can to rescue them.”

“I was nineteen when they first abused me. I was threatened to do things or my family would be targeted. I was trained to kill mercilessly and fuck like a monster, and they ruined my life in the process. My name is Kade Mitchell, son of Tobias Mitchell, and I will not be fucking silent anymore.”

“If you look at my file, you’ll see what they turned me into. I was twelve when she first started watching me. She waited for just the right moment to approach me, and I was dumb enough to buy into her bullshit.” He pulls off his face covering, showing the thick scar from his mouth all the way down to his chest. He grits his teeth, letting out a dirty laugh. He looks demonic, satanic, like he has no humanity left. “My file tells the rest of my story.”

“Die, you little bitch,” Kade taunts as he hides behind a large tree trunk. “I’ll make sure your beast of a wife sees you in hell pretty soon.”

Most of them had no idea what Kade had been through. They must’ve thought he was just a rebellious kid who wanted revenge on someone who’d wronged him. They were paid to guard, to debunk, to hack and to fight, and now they know. I can see the respect they have for him. None of them move to leave; they just lower their heads, showing their unmoving loyalty.

The tears don’t start until I’m stripping him of his clothing, and he keeps apologising to me for everything. He thinks he keeps blacking out. He can’t control anything. He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t want to die. He wants us to be together but has no idea how, especially now.

“I bruised you. Where I grabbed your neck earlier, you have a bruise. I hurt you. I knew I was doing it, but I couldn’t stop, even though my mind was yelling at me to let go of you. I never wanted to hurt you.”

“You’ve not been taking them that long. They’re not going to work right away. But the fact that you’re taking them is a good thing. It takes a lot for someone to ask for help. I’m proud of you.” “After what I just did? Have I not made you afraid of me?” I shake my head. “No. Archie deserved it.” He chuckles deeply and shakes his head, his eyes so, so tired. “My little sadist.”