“Perhaps.”
He set it back down and leant closer, capturing my mouth in his. I turned and gripped his jumper between my fingers to keep him there whilst he took his fill of my lips. I smiled when he let me go, smoothing down his clothes.
“Time to get this show on the road, little lamb?”
“Yeah… just give me a minute.”
He stroked my face and let me go, giving me a nod.
Drake and Francis were conversing in low tones as I approached them. I brushed my hand against Drake’s arm to get his attention. His indigo eyes were dark as he turned to me.
“Ready, little wisp?”
I went up on my tiptoes, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck.
“Kiss me first.”
He did as I asked, pressing his mouth against mine and devouring me with one of his heated and toe-curling kisses I would never get enough of. I was breathless when he pulled away. The smirk on his face told me he knew how he affected me.
I shifted closer to Francis, who had a pensive expression on his face as he stared up at Stuart and Phoebe.
“Frankie.”
His eyes darted to mine as I curled my arms around his waist. His hands moved to my behind, pulling me tighter against him.
“Are you okay?”
“Just thinking about how this is almost over.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No.” He squeezed my flesh. “I’m ready to leave this chapter of our lives behind and start a new one. But first, I want to make him pay for the things he’s done to my family.”
“You will.”
He bent his head to mine, brushing his mouth along my lips.
“And then you’ll be free of him forever.”
I nodded, pressing my mouth firmly against his. Francis kissed me like I was his sun, moon, and stars. He had me locked up in his arms, demonstrating to me I was his everything in the moments before we would show the man who’d hurt us his rule was over.
When he released me, he smiled and reached up to stroke my cheek.
“It’s time.”
I nodded and turned to find the others had joined us. Drake moved over to Phoebe, flipping out a knife and grabbing a hold of her wrist. He made a single cut down the centre of her forearm. Blood flowed when he dropped her arm, dripping down to her hand and then into the container below. He did the same to the other side.
“Wake him up.”
West had a bucket of water and threw it at Stuart’s head. It had been ice cold and the shock of it jerked him awake.
“W-w-what’s going on?”
His eyes were wide as he tried to focus on us and his surroundings. It took him a minute, then his face paled when he realised he was hanging from a hook and the five of us were standing below him.
“Hello, Stuart,” Drake said with a sneer. “Nice of you to join us.”
“What the fuck is this?”
Prescott stepped forward, the butcher’s knife swinging between his fingers.
“This? Oh well, it’s our little surprise for you.”
“Surprise? A fucking surprise?”
He wriggled in his restraints, which only made him swing back and forth. I tried to suppress a smile. He looked utterly ridiculous trying to get out of the harness Francis had fashioned.
“You bastards. You mother fucking bastards.”
“Well, that’s not very nice,” West said. “What did we ever do to you?”
“What did you do? What did you fucking do? You killed my sons!”
West shrugged and smiled at him.
“You still harping on about that? Wow, you’re like a broken fucking record, aren’t you? Boo-fucking-hoo.” He took a step towards Stuart. “What about the lives you stole from us, huh? From her.” He pointed at me. “You took everything you could from her, but you couldn’t take us. No, you tried to destroy what we had, but you didn’t succeed. And now? Well, now you’re going to pay.”
The way Stuart seethed at West’s words had him swinging vigorously in his harness. The veins in his temples were popping and his face had gone puce. He was about to open his mouth when his head turned sharply, and he caught sight of Phoebe next to him.
“What did you do to her? What the fuck did you do to my wife?”
“She’s not dead… yet,” Francis said, stepping closer to Phoebe. “But you see here?” He pointed at the cuts Drake had made, the blood steadily flowing from her hands into the large container below her. “For every one of your crimes against us, we’ll make another cut. She’s going to bleed to death because of you.” He shrugged as he looked at Stuart. “But I don’t know why you care. Not like she was faithful to you.”