JAXON The ringing starts almost immediately. It’s loud, infuriating, silences everyone and everything around me. Ronan is raging, the anger in his eyes is more than anything I've ever seen in all our years together. Malachi steps backwards from Kevin, staring at him like he's seen some type of monster, a murderous, twisted, maniacal, good for fucking nothing being. Those are the exact words, the only words that can describe Kevin Wellspring to me right now. A maniac I want to rip apart. KILL HIM. HE DESERVES TO DIE. THE HYPOCRITE DESERVES TO FUCKING DIE. The voice grows louder, ignoring how hard I shake my head trying to silence it. I can smell it already; the delicious metallic aroma of blood. His blood. Slowly, I look up to the sky, close my eyes, and take in one long, deep breath. Then, I let the voice win. Grabbing Kevin by his collar is the hard part. Once he's up and face to face with me, it takes me absolutely nothing…not even a thought, to bury my right fist in his face. One. Two. Three. No one tries to stop me, and I'm all the fucking better for it. I think of Sarah, how scared she was when she told us about the stalker. I remember the frustration in her eyes. I let myself realize how betrayed she will feel when she finds out the truth about her tormentor. She couldn't bear the thought that Julian betrayed her. She won’t survive if she knows what Kevin has done. It'll be better if he doesn't live long enough to get the urge to confess. His secret can follow my brothers and I to the grave. Shameless. He's fucking shameless. “It’s enough, Jaxon.” Ronan says, a little too calmly for my taste. “No,” I spit out. “Not nearly.” Malachi sighs. “You're going to kill him.” I scoff, landing another punch on Kevin’s face. “That’s the fucking plan.” I can do this all night. How can they not see that? How are they holding themselves back from joining me? “And after that?”I stifle a groan, rolling my eyes as my fist stops midair. It’s only then I can see Kevin’s face clearly. I've broken his nose and bruised both eyes. Pathetic. My blows should have done more. For all the tough skin he put on with Ronan the other night, he is nothing but a chronic loser next to me. “I don’t know,” the words ease their way out of my lips as I free his collar from my grip. Kevin falls to the ground immediately. His knees are suddenly too weak to hold him up. I look away from him with the semi permanent frown etched on my face. “I didn't think that far ahead.” ‘Typical.” Kevin hisses and spits. Bile, bitter and hot, rises from my stomach, forces its way up my throat and doesn't stop until I taste it at the tip of my fucking tongue. When I take another glance at Kevin’s awful state, I do so with a glare. One that promises him certain death if he dares to utter another word. “You have a lot of talk in that fucking mouth. I should cut your fucking tongue.” My right leg is so close to kicking the stars out of his face when Ronan stops me again. “This isn't going to help us. I'm calling uncle Abel.” Shit. I would normally prefer we keep our affairs far away from the twisted man’s ears. I am very sure we will have our ears removed once he sees us. We haven't seen him since he was thrown in jail, and we haven't sent any flowers or gifts since his release. He is going to want some form of compensation. And our uncle accepts only two things: cash and body parts. Kevin’s eyes widen as though he’s seen a ghost. “Are you three bat shit crazy?” He screams as loud as his bruised jaw would let him. “We should go to the police! Not your crazy uncle who is worse than three of you combined, and…” “One more word, Kevin, and I'll put you through the fucking road.” Malachi says. The look on his face is the only thing that shows how irritated he is. The rest of him is calm and composed. It annoys me as much as it impresses me. I can never keep it in like he does, ever. I watch Kevin keenly, enough to know when his throat bobs and he lowers his gaze. “If anyone can find Sarah fast enough to make sure no harm is done to her, it’s uncle. Let’s go.” There’s no desire to help Kevin up. I turn my back to him and walk towards the car. If he can't stand up fast enough to join us, that's on him and no one else. Frankly, I don't care what happens to him anymore. “My phone is ringing.” Malachi breaks the silence as he reaches for his side pocket. Ronan, on the other hand, frowns and stops to look at him. “Now’s not the time, Mal.” “It might be whoever took Sarah.” The air goes still. Silence rests between the three…four of us. With a small nod, Ronan lets Malachi continue. The seconds stretch like hours. He takes out his phone and stares at the screen. He doesn't say a word, nor does he have to. The look in his eyes spells out whatever he wishes to say even better than any words can. SARAH. We rush to his side, Ronan is on his left while I take my stance, no matter how shaky it is, on his right. It’s a video call. Once Malachi swipes right, my heart skips ten beats at once. Yes. The image on the screen almost sends me into a fucking cardiac arrest. Sarah is tied to a wooden chair in a dimly lit room. Her mouth is gagged with a dirty wet rag. She’s soaked from her head, her red strands of hair clinging to every inch of her face as they can. Our kitten is scared, shaking visibly as water drops rush down her forehead to the rest of her face. “Sarah?” Malachi’s voice is urgent as he calls out. “Sarah!” Kevin screams out loud. We ignore him, but Sarah doesn't. She turns her face to the camera, and her eyes widen in fear. Pure, undiluted, unmistakable fear. She shakes her head viciously, stubbornly. She’s refusing to do something and we can’t tell what it is. She looks away from the camera to someone…someone behind the camera. Tears run down her swollen eyes. Whatever thread that held Ronan up to this very moment snaps. He snatches the phone from Malachi and clutches it with shaky fingers. I rush to stand behind him. “Who is this?” He yells. “Who the fuck is this?” My breathing is ragged, chest rising and falling with a rhythm completely out of my control. Kevin had told us Sarah would get in danger because of us. We were so confident we could protect her. And now… “What do you want? Tell us. We’ll give you anything.” My brother’s voice softens…no, it breaks into a plea. “But if you touch another strand of hair on her head, I promise you won’t live long enough to be sorry.” It finally comes. The response we've been dying to get finally comes in a laughter. It’s loud, mocking, and so fucking familiar. My breath seizes in my throat. Invisible shards of glass prick every inch of my skin. The camera turns to his face. Cold blue eyes stare down at us. “You are so predictable, son. Look at you,” Luke chuckles. “Dishing threats when you and I know you can’t and won’t do shit to me.” I hate him. “I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.” Ronan seethes. But Luke only hisses. “Oh, boy. Well, I don't intend for things to get messy, believe me. I promised your little girlfriend that I wouldn’t hurt her as long as you all give me what I want.” “And what is that?” I fire at him. I want nothing more than I want to drive a blade into his heart, for good this time. It’s impossible to do it over the phone. I’m forced to settle for this silly Q and A session. “The truth, Jaxon. Starting with you.” My blood turns ice cold in my veins. “Your girlfriend seems to think I ran off when your mother was found dead. But that's not the truth now, is it?” All eyes are on me. “Stop.” “You're going to tell her everything that happened. She’s going to listen like a good girl, I’m sure you call her that. And I'm going to be here, taking every single note of your confession…all three of you.”