SCARLET
I fought through my boys, pushing in between them so that I could get a good look at the father who had tried to have me killed. More men filed out of the few cars that had pulled up. With all of our men out cold on the ground, we were outnumbered at least three to one.
“Not to say I told you so, but…” Elliot said.
“Shut the fuck up, Elliot,” Seb said.
Tristan pushed past all of us and walked out of the doorway.
“Can we help you?” he asked my father.
“Hello, Scarlet,” my father said, staying close to the car.
“Father,” I said flatly. Motshan made his way next to my father, his hands clasped behind his back. “How disappointing,” I said, locking eyes with Motshan. He had a blank look on his face, but a sad smile tugged at his lips.
“I’m sad to have missed the reunion,” my father exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “But it’s nice to see you both all grown up! You both look so similar!” he said with a smile, grabbing Motshan’s cheek and giving it a squeeze. “Romani blood runs strong in this family!”
Motshan pulled his face free and took a step away, creating some distance between them.
“Not that I should expect anything less from my own children.”
I took a step forward, blood rushing through my head again, making me dizzy. Somewhere behind me, I heard Finn come down the stairs and take in the scene. They all began to murmur and whisper, talking about me quite literally behind my back. I felt the blood rush to my face. How could I have been so fucking stupid?
“What are you saying?” I asked him as I took a few steps forward. I felt the guys follow close behind as the ten or so men my father had tensed. Motshan’s face was a grimace, staring in my direction but just past me, refusing to make eye contact. “What are you saying!” I shouted, my temper boiling over.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” my father asked with a sick smile on his face. “He’s your brother! Next in line to run this family,” he said as he clapped Motshan on the back. “And this was his final test, wasn’t it, son?”
“What was?” I asked, advancing on them a few more steps. Every single man standing around suddenly had their hands on their weapons, tensing and taking a step a bit closer to my dad. He was surrounded by his men, guns aimed at me and my boys behind me.
“Getting us to you, little girl,” he answered.
“You’re a liar,” I told him. “You’re all fucking liars. You’ve lied to me since I was old enough to understand the word. You told me that he was my cousin. You took him from me. You tried to have me killed. And you’ve done nothing but lie to him since he came back, haven’t you?”
My anger was its own entity, hot and rabid, rolling through my body like a storm. I felt my entire body flush with it, every muscle in my body straining with the effort to not claw his eyes out of his fucking sockets.
“So dramatic,” my father said, rolling his eyes. “You were always such a brat.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, my fury getting the best of me. I grabbed my Glock out of the back of my waistband and began shooting. I heard gunfire going off all around me, but my priority was getting to him. Getting to him to kill him for fucking with my life, lying to me and Motshan, and pitting him against me. He deserved to die, and it deserved to be by my fucking hand.
I aimed and shot at everyone around him, my boys behind me taking out the men who tried to get to me first. I counted the rounds as they popped out of my gun, hitting men on his left and right. His men fell in heaps at his feet, like useless sacks of potatoes.
I stopped at thirteen shots fired, my lucky number. I had two shots left.
“Scarlet!” I heard Elliot yell from behind me as I ran up to my father and pushed my gun into his temple.
“This was always so stupid of you,” I spat in his reddened face. His eyes had gone wide with fear. “Relying on others to keep you safe, never carrying a gun yourself and letting others take the fucking fall.” I gripped his shirt and moved my gun, shoving it into his mouth as I pushed him down onto his knees.
“I have two bullets left, Father,” I told him, watching with glee as sweat poured down his forehead. “One to make you feel pain,” I said, pulling the gun out and shooting him in his right shoulder. He screamed, and I took the opportunity of his open mouth to shove the barrel of my gun back in.
“And one to kill you.”
“Not happening, Scarlet,” Motshan said from behind me, pressing his gun to the back of my head. I didn’t even care; I just pushed mine further into my father’s mouth, forcing it into his throat as his shoulder bled and tears streamed down his face. He looked pathetic on his knees beneath me.
I fucking loved it.
“Don’t do it, Scarlet,” Motshan said in his stupid fucking Romanian lilt that I had found so charming not even an hour ago. I felt my throat close and tears threaten to fall. “I will fucking shoot you. Please, don’t make me do it, Scarlet.”
“You are a piece of trash,” I said down to my father as I felt my lip curl and heat crash through my body. “You lived a selfish, pathetic little life.”
“Scarlet!” I heard Kenna scream from behind me. Time slowed down as I felt Motshan turn, his gun abandoning the back of my head. I turned around, following the aim of his gun as it moved towards Kenna.
“No!” I shouted. Suddenly there was Finn, shoving Kenna out of the way and jumping into the line of fire. The crack of Motshan’s gun sounded through my brain, ricocheting, sending bolts of panic through every nerve in my body.
The bullet connected, sending Finn backwards, blood spraying all over Kenna. His face twisted in pain, and I took off, running to stop the bleeding as his body collided with the concrete.
“Not so fast,” my father said, grabbing my arm and gripping it until I knew bruises would form. I swung around, aiming mine directly between his eyes.
“Put it down,” Motshan said, his gun somehow aimed back at me, pointing directly at my forehead. “No one helps him!” Motshan yelled. “Not until Scarlet puts down her fucking gun!”
“Motshan,” I pleaded. “Don’t do this, please.” I looked down at Finn, his helpless body bleeding and unconscious on the ground. Tristan, Elliot, and Sebastian were all standing closest to him and Kenna, looking between Motshan and Finn, trying to gauge if they could make it to him.
“If you think I won’t kill her,” Motshan said, connecting his gun to my cheek, “you are sorely mistaken. Tell her to put her fucking gun down, and I’ll let you help him.”
No one spoke. No one moved. They were letting me choose. They knew how important the moment was for me. My boys were going to let me make the decision.
“Scarlet,” Kenna said, her voice betraying her emotion. I moved my gaze to her, and even in the dark, I could see her emotions written all over her face.
I sighed and squatted down slowly, setting my gun down on the concrete.
“Good girl,” my father said, and a chill worked its way up my spine. Motshan’s arm came around my shoulders, pulling me into his side as Tristan and Kenna went to Finn, fisting the wound on his chest.
“You know what?” Motshan asked, drawing everyone’s attention. “I think we’ll just take my sister with us,” Motshan said. “For safekeeping.”