“I’m not sure I believe you, Joseph,” he said. “I know for a fact that you’ve slept with—”
A shot rang out in the night air and a bullet cut William off. He stopped talking and fell to the ground at the same time as a voice yelled out, “Nitro, we’ve got you covered, brother.”
King.
Joseph continued to struggle in my hold, and since I didn’t have William to contend with, I turned and shoved Joseph up against the car. Our eyes locked and in his I saw his huge ego. He didn’t believe it was the end for him.
Pointing my gun at his head, I said, “You think your men are going to come out here and save your ass, don’t you?”
“Of course they are, Rhys. I don’t know why you thought you would get away with this.”
The sound of heavy footsteps filled my ears and then King spoke. “You underestimated my club, Joseph.”
Multiple gunshots sounded from inside the warehouse, and I knew Joseph’s men wouldn’t be an issue. His eyes widened at the realisation.
“That’s what happens when you believe in your own importance a little too much,” I said.
He managed to catch me by surprise when he shoved hard against me. I stumbled backwards, my heart hammering in my chest.
The moment had come.
The one that should have happened nineteen years ago.
My regret over not putting him in the ground then would never ease. Not since I knew the full extent of what he’d done to my family.
As I stumbled backwards, time slowed, and a movie reel of memories played in my mind. All the evil he’d perpetrated. My eyes met his and I screamed my hatred at him silently. Pointing the gun at his temple as he came at me, I shot him.
The reel of memories stopped.
My breathing slowed.
My body stilled.
King’s hand on my arm snapped me back to attention. He didn’t speak. He just nodded at me. Then he said, “I’ll give you a few minutes, but we need to get out of here soon.”
I looked down at Joseph and breathed through my rushing emotions. So many fucking emotions. They flooded my entire body and I didn’t know what to do with them. After two decades of shutting them down, it was like a sucker punch.
“Fuck,” I roared as my body jerked in agony. “You fucking asshole! You screwed us up and I never fucking knew just how much.”
I bent at the waist and placed my hands on my knees. Sucking air down in long gasps, I attempted to gather my thoughts. My head was a clusterfuck and I had no idea how long it would take
me to sort through it. All I knew was that everything had changed. Every-fucking-thing.
Straightening, I lifted the gun again and pumped more bullets into Joseph’s head.
I then took one last deep breath.
Joseph was the past.
My future stretched ahead of me and never again would I allow anyone to hurt those I loved.
44
Tatum
“Halo” by Beyonce
“Mum!”