Chapter Twenty-One
BLADE
I stagger out of the ring and fall to my knees behind Tillie. I pull her against my chest, cradling her sobbing form. “It’s okay, Sunshine,” I whisper, gently stroking her blood-matted hair. “You did good. It was them or us,” I say. She wipes her hands across her shirt, crying harder when the blood just smears. “Deep breaths,” I instruct, forcing her to look at me. “In and out,” I say, doing it with her. Once she calms slightly, I go to Viktor to check he’s dead. A pool of crimson surrounds him and his lifeless eyes stare back at me. I take his phone from his inside pocket and dial Riggs’ number. “It’s me,” I say when he answers.
“Thank fuck,” he mutters. “We have no fucking idea where he took you,” he adds.
I give him directions and then stuff the phone in my own pocket. Tillie watches silently as I drag the bodies to the pig pen. It’ll take them days to eat this lot, but who’s gonna come round snooping? I take the knives I find and stuff them in my waistband. I don’t know if there’ s any more men outside this barn.
I find a bucket and some bleach in a large sink at the back of the barn. I need to get Tillie up and moving, so I take her to it. “Fill it and wash the blood,” I say. She nods, her face pale and empty of expression.
While she cleans up, I take all the phones and identification from the men before adding their bodies into the pig pen. I hear bikes in the distance and sigh with relief. “We have to go out of the barn,” I say, and Tillie shakes her head, tears forming. “We have to. There’re no dogs, they would have barked by now. If there were men around, they’d be in here looking for their boss.”
She takes my hand as we head for the exit, and I poke my head out. There’s no one about and I see the bikes and a van at the large gates. There’s a gatehouse and a man appears from it. There’s a flash from a silenced gun before he falls to the ground. “How the fuck can we get in now?” I hear Riggs hiss.
“Shit, sorry, boss,” says Lake, and I smile. It's good to hear these idiots. I move carefully in the shadows towards the gatehouse.
“About time,” I whisper.
Riggs smirks. “Well, look at the state of you.”
“You should see the other six,” I brag, and he rolls his eyes.
“We gotta torch this place. Barn too,” I say. “There’s too much blood and shit. The cops will find our DNA in there if they bother to check.”
“I brought my explosives expert,” says Riggs, pointing to Lake, who takes a bow. I open the gate and let them in.
“Eva and Sara are in the van,” says Blu, and I nod.
I open the van and turn to Tillie. “I’ll be right back,” I whisper, but she shakes her head, gripping me tighter. “Sunshine, I’ll be fine. I gotta make sure there’s nothing to lead this back to us.” I kiss her on the forehead and help her into the van, where Eva and Sara wrap her in their arms.
A car pulls up behind the van and Vinn Romano steps out. “You think you could have been a little less obvious?” he asks, staring at my blood-soaked clothes.
“What shit will this bring?” asks Riggs.
Vinn shakes his head. “None from the Italians,” he says. “We’re gonna step in and take his business.”
“So, we have your backing?” asks Riggs.
“One hundred percent,” Vinn responds, nodding.
Lake re-joins us ten minutes later looking smug. “Gas explosion,” he says like we all know what that means. “Less likely to arouse suspicion.” He stares at us and then his eyes widen. “So we gotta move out, like now, before it blows.”
We make a dash for vehicles. The second I get in the van, Tillie moves into my side and presses herself against me. Eva gives a sympathetic smile as I wrap her in my arms.
As we drive away, the explosion shakes the van windows. I watch as the orange flames rip through the building. It can be seen for miles.
TILLIE
I wake screaming. It’s the third night I’ve dreamt of our ordeal, the third night of me screaming the clubhouse down, and the third night Blade has wrapped me in his arms and hushed me back to sleep. “It’s not good for the baby,” he whispers, like I can prevent the nightmares. “You need rest.” I stay silent, staring into the darkness. “He can’t hurt us now,” he adds. It’s the same line he tells me every night, but it doesn’t ease the anxiety.
I lay awake until the sun rises, then I get out of bed feeling more exhausted than when I first went. Blade sits in the rocking chair by the window, watching me dress. “You’ve hardly slept, eaten, spoken. What can I do?” I push my feet into my slippers. I don’t have answers. “Tillie,” he snaps. “Talk to me.”
I head for the door and he growls. “I’m fine,” I mutter. It’s all I’ve said for days. Truth is, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong. I’m glad that the bastard is dead, and maybe that’s what worries me the most. Maybe my lack of empathy is the scariest thing of all.
I hear him come after me and his arms wrap around my waist before he drags me back into the bedroom.
“You’re not fine. This is not fine!” he hisses.
“I don’t know what you want me to say!” I snap. “I killed someone. I killed a man. I killed. I’m a murderer!” The words tumble out and I feel dirty.
“You had no choice!” he snaps.
“Didn’t I?” I ask. “I provoked him into grabbing me like that. I wanted him to, so I could kill him.” I burst into tears—angry tears. “I lured him
