SCARLET
His blood sprayed all over my boots and jeans.
“Just cleaned these boots!” I groaned, moving through the room and trying to make sure all of the stragglers were taken down before they could sneak up on one of us. The shots had slowed down, and my hearing slowly came back as we all began to make our way out from the walls and towards the middle of the room.
“Clear on this side!” Motshan yelled from my left corner.
“Clear back here!” I answered before I heard Seb, Elliot, and Tristan call off as well.
“Any men lost?” Tristan asked as we all came together and started head counting.
“I lost two,” Motshan said. “A few of them ganged up together and got lucky.”
“None from us,” Elliot said after we had all been accounted for.
Finally, not a single one of our men was lost because of me.
I looked around at all the death, realizing that I could finally breathe, that this gang was almost completely wiped out and almost everyone in my old family that was against me was dead, and the tears started to fall. I tried to push them back down or wipe them away, but nothing would stop them.
“It’s done,” Motshan said, coming over to embrace me. The moment we were locked together, it was like a dam had burst. I was holding on to him tightly, gripping him like my life depended on it as the sobs racked through my body.
“Maybe give us a minute, guys,” Tristan said, his voice quiet.
“Go check on the men outside and start getting ready for clean up,” Elliot ordered.
Behind the ungodly noises I was making, I could hear the men filtering out, talking amongst themselves, and then the doors shutting as they left us alone. Motshan pulled back and looked me in my eyes, holding my face in his hands.
“You’re free, Scarlet.” I nodded and smiled through the tears. “You don’t have to worry about your family hunting you or anyone from this pathetic gang coming for you ever again.”
“And the man that was hired to kill her?” Sebastian asked as he came up to my side.
“The information is all yours,” he said, nodding back to Niamh. I watched as he pulled out his phone, and his thumbs flew across the screen.
“I just need an email,” he said, looking up at the four of us.
Tristan spelled Finn’s out, and when Niamh was done, Tristan walked outside to call Finn. The rest of us followed, Sebastian refusing to leave my side since the tears were still coming.
I was overwhelmed with emotion, barely able to recognize what exactly I was feeling. But the only thing I could think that it was was just relief. My body was tired from the constant stress and the constant running.
And now we were almost done.
There was just one more person we needed to take care of, and then I was in the free and clear. I would be able to walk down the street and not worry that someone was following me. I would be able to go back to my childhood home and actually spend time there, scheming and plotting with Motshan again.
The boys wouldn’t have to fight on my behalf anymore, and I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else losing their fucking lives because of me. And when we stepped outside and the sun was starting to set, I let my head fall back on Sebastian’s chest and took a deep breath.
“How’s it feel, pet?” he asked me, leaving a kiss on the top of my head.
“Pretty fucking good,” I said, laughing as I wiped away the last of my tears.
“Thank you for your help,” Niamh said as Tristan walked back up to join us. He reached his hand out to each of my boys, and each of my boys returned the favor, shaking his hand in a show of good faith.
“We couldn’t have done this without you. And we look forward to meeting up and discussing the new territory boundaries.” Motshan shook hands as well and hugged me one last time. “Call me when it’s over, yeah?” he asked.
“I will, I promise.”
“Alright then. I need to go back, make sure everything is being cleaned up at the house. You guys still okay to clean up here?”
Tristan nodded.
“Our guys are getting the shit together now. Everything will be destroyed before the sun sets.”
“This is my favorite part!” Sebastian said, aiming his flamethrower back towards the building. “Let’s light this bitch up!”
Motshan and Niamh left us, going back to the house to make sure everything was being cleaned up there. It would take months to get that place back to a livable space, but the family had plenty of money, and I was sure Motshan wasn’t opposed to spending Father’s hard-earned cash.
“You are so not going to get away with not letting me use that thing,” I said, looking at Sebastian and reaching for the pretty toy.
“You can use it when it’s time to set this place on fire,” Elliot said, stepping in between us. “But right now, we need to get all of these bodies that are out here into the damn building so we can get the fuck out of here.”
I groaned and gave him a playful shove.
“Fine, get out of my way so I can fucking drag these fat bastards into the building.”
He laughed as I stomped away from him, going to the first body I saw on the pavement and grabbing him by the wrists. It was tough work, dragging dead weight twenty yards, and it almost drowned out my enthusiasm I had to use the flamethrower.
But not quite.