Fractured Minds (Rebels of Sandland 3)

“We know what you fucking did, you no-good piece of shit. You started that fire at the factory. You hurt a lot of people, including our best friend.” Ryan had lost it, but his anger only humoured Adam even more. Adam Noble fed off fury like Ryan’s. He lived for it.

Eventually, Ryan stepped back, letting Emily’s words that they weren’t worth it penetrate through his anger.

“Better sleep with one eye open, Noble, ‘cos I’m coming for you,” Ryan hissed, pointing over Emily’s shoulder.

“Do I look like I give a fuck? My last fuck burned along with your mate in the factory.” Adam laughed at his own sick joke, then he looked right at me. “Times are changing. You’re not the big men you think you are.” And then he spotted Liv standing behind Effy. “Come for the private tour, sweetheart?”

“I’ve seen all I need to, thanks. This place had potential, but now it’s full of shit.” Liv glared back at him, not afraid to speak her mind. She could give as good as she got.

I expected him to laugh at her, but he didn’t. Instead, he stared at her, studying her and contemplating his next move like the predator he was.

“I’m gonna enjoy showing you what happens when people talk back to me,” was what he said next, but he didn’t appear to be as confident in that moment as he had been seconds ago.

“Suck a dick,” Liv shot back.

“That’s your job, sweetheart.”

Ryan had had enough, we all had, and he grabbed Emily by the elbow to pull her away. “Let’s get out of here. I’ve seen enough.”

“What? Don’t you want to see what we did with the chapel?” Adam’s words pinned Ryan to the spot, and I could see the rage brewing in his eyes. Noble had hit a very raw nerve.

“I swear to God, Noble, you are a dead man,” Ryan said as calmly as he could.

“Good job I’ve got my own chapel for the funeral then, hey? Although, we have started to add our own touch to it. I mean, what better place to install the chains, cuffs, and other shit we’re gonna use in there. Kind of like a crazy oxymoron; we’re gonna worship all the fucking sins we can.” Adam was pushing every one of Ryan’s buttons and he knew it.

“Ryan, let’s just go,” Emily urged with desperation in her voice.

“Listen to your woman, Hardy,” Adam called out. “Take me on and you’ll regret it.”

“Fuck you,” Ryan spat and marched down the hall. This was a fight for another day. Nothing would be achieved from standing here arguing with them.

We turned to leave too, but Adam had to get the last word in.

“I’ll be seeing you around… Olivia.”

Liv stopped and spun back round to glare at him.

“Not if I see you first… freak.”

And then she stomped off, leaving him cackling with laughter behind her.

“That guy is a fucking moron,” Liv growled as she haphazardly picked her way across the uneven flagstones of the hallway and back out through the front doors. “I would say he gives me the creeps but that’d imply that I have actual feelings when I see him.”

“Well, he creeps me out,” Effy replied.

We hadn’t told Liv about the blackmail, and even though she’d heard what Adam had said about my uncle just now, she either didn’t care enough to ask about it or hadn’t put two and two together. She did tend to live in her own world ninety-nine percent of the time.

“Liv, would you mind getting a lift back with Ryan and Emily?” I asked. “Only, I want to show Effy something.”

Liv wrinkled her nose and looked over to where Ryan and Emily were standing arguing by his car.

“I guess I’ve got no choice.” She opened her handbag and started rooting through it. “I’ll put my AirPods in though. I don’t want to listen to their lovers’ tiff all the way home.” And with that, she walked off, not even stopping to say goodbye.

“I need to get away from this place,” I said, looking up at the building that now made my skin crawl. “I’ve wasted enough time on them. I want to move forward. Start living for me… and you.”

“Me too,” Effy replied.

I put my arm around her and we walked back towards her car.