Page 83 of Midnight Legacy

My temper escalated and I punched him in the face.

“No. Means. No.” I punctuated every word with another punch.

“You can’t stop the brotherhood.” He laughed, showing blood covered teeth. “We never fail in our quest. When one falls in pursuit of the cause, three more will take his place.”

“Fuck this,” I muttered, pushing myself up and reaching for my other gun to point at his head. “I watched your performance with Cassandra’s decoy. Men like you make me sick and ashamed to be male.”

I was a murderer, but I would never be a rapist like the piece of shit grinning up at me. That grin disappeared as I slammed my foot down on his dick, deliberately grinding it into the floor. The fucker would never use it again, in this life or the next.

Cassandra gasped, her eyes moving between the man breathing his last, Uncle Lucas beating the man on my right into the next world, and me.

“Take them outside,” I commanded. “Jordan, stay with Cassandra.”

Ash threw one man over his shoulder. Uncle Lucas trailed the man he was fighting out by the hair, even as he tried to dig his heels in. “Come along, dick pic guy. You and I need to have a word on appropriate content of text messages.”

He kept stumbling forward as I hauled him outside with his arm forced up his back. I threw him onto the ground, my muscles tight as I tried to contain myself. His image had seared itself into my mind as I watched the video feed from my apartment. The fucker had been stalking my wife, traumatising her with his photography skills.

I watched as he struggled onto his hands and knees. I booted him in the balls, and he keeled over onto his side. “Phone,” I demanded as I knelt down beside him.

He dragged his phone out of his pocket.

“Phone your boss,” I instructed.

He used his thumb as the biometrics to open it. He hit a number and handed it to me, sitting back to stare at us. All his team were dead, and he probably knew he was on very thin ice with hell melting it away under him.

“Patrick?” a voice said from the other end of the line.

“No, unfortunately he can’t come to the phone at the moment. This is Xavier Bartholomew.”

Silence stretched on the other side. “You seem to have the lives of a cat, Mr. Bartholomew.”

“No, but I never underestimate my opponent, which is exactly what you’ve done. Your team is dead and let me assure you that I’m coming for you next. This is your only warning. Every person who threatens my wife will be eliminated. Anyone who comes near my family will pay in blood.”

“I don’t appreciate you threatening me.”

I barked out a dark laugh. “That wasn’t a threat. I’m promising you what will happen.”

Uncle Lucas stepped forward and held his hand out. Without a word, I put it in his hand, my gaze moving to the man on the ground.

“This is Lucas Black.” He paused, one eyebrow raising for a moment. “Well, Elijah, thank you for confirming who I suspected was behind this grimy money venture. Xavier and his wife are under my protection now, so any action taken against them will be considered an act of war. Have a pleasant day, and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

He hung up and handed the phone to Ash, wiping his hands on a white cotton handkerchief from his pocket.

“Elijah?” I queried.

“I recognised his voice. It is a problem for another day. Let us finish here and go home.” He walked back into the house, stopping at the door. “Remember what I taught you, Xavier. No witnesses.”

Patrick shuffled back, his eyes searching for an escape route. I met Ash’s gaze and he nodded once, following Uncle Lucas.

All my fury coalesced into one outburst of rage. His skill was raping innocent women and shooting people, so he was no match for my physical strength as I punched and kicked him until he was broken beyond repair. I ignored his pleas as he had that innocent woman. He would have violated Cassandra given another chance.

“Give my regards to Malcom and Clive,” I said into his ear and my blade cut across his throat.

I cut off his thumb with the dagger I’d seen in the man’s chest earlier. It was put into a plastic bag with his phone to use his biometrics later.

Vengeance was a dish best served cold and bloody.

Anyone who threatened my wife would learn the same lesson of death.

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