Page 85 of Mase
“Shall I get you checked in to be looked over now?” Ava asks with a soft smile.
I lift up on my seat to watch over her shoulder, and Mase is staring back at me with narrowed eyes. “I think that’s a good idea,” I whisper, and she gifts me with a wink that has my chest warming with comfort.
Maybe everything is going to be okay after all.
FIFTY-THREE
MASE
It’s beensix weeks of grueling rehabilitation and a further two weeks of Summer not letting me leave her side, but finally today, I’m taking a visit to Luca Varros’s estate. The man is a sadist and has an entire basement equipped to meet his and his sadist associate’s needs, but thankfully, our business links with him coupled with Shaw being his brother-in-law have benefited us on more than one occasion now.
I roll my head to ease the tension building in my neck, then push out my chest and pull the door to the basement open. With each step I take down the concrete steps, it feels like I’m coming to the conclusion of my past, closing a door on it so I can move freely into my future.
My father is gone, along with his ill treatment of me and my mother; the sick bastards linked to his depraved needs are slowly being uncovered and will be dealt with.
Hugh and Andrew are about to realize their fate, then I’ll put Tara out of her misery. They’ll all be gone.
One by one.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Finn O’Connell isleaning against the counter wearing a leather jacket and has a toothpick hanging from his mouth. As I approach, he gives me a chin lift, so I step forward and grasp the man’s hand in mine. He entered the apartment building abseiling through the skylight and placed multiple bullets into Gareth’s head without a second thought to protect Owen and my girl. He then administered medical care to me tirelessly while waiting for the emergency services to arrive and take over. I owe him my life without a doubt, and one day I hope to repay him. “You good?” he grumbles when our handshakes turn into a shoulder check.
I smile back at him broadly. “Never better.”
He slaps me on my back, and I clench my teeth at the impact. Right above my fucking wound, the prick, but instead of showing pain, I widen my smile, hoping I masked it quick enough.
“Pleased to hear it. Make them pay, then live your life. Twins are hard fucking work.” His grin mirrors my own. I can only imagine what his home life is like. Feral, I imagine, like him. Owen has told us stories of the O’Connell families, each of them as wild as the next.
Oscar pulls away from the wall, the man is always in the shadows, the older brother of Finn and much more put together, the IT genius.
“I’ve unearthed evidence of Andrew’s and Hugh’s connections to Tara. They were offering her a lump sum to seduce you in order to divert your attention from Summer. Ultimately, they wanted her vulnerable for the taking, and yourex-wifewas more than happy to oblige.” Was she ever really sick? I open my mouth to ask the question on the tip of my tongue. “There was never any cancer; she deceived you,” he sneers, and awareness prickles along my skin. She lied about having cancer? Is nothing off the table for her? Was there ever any positive qualities about her? Anything at all?
“We located your father’s laptop, along with several flashdrives of interest. We’ve extracted the information we require from him and will use it as we deem appropriate.” He’s referring to Andrew; Oscar discovered he was the one to hack into his system to place Summer as anIndulgencegirl. The fact he even managed to get past Oscar’s firewalls is baffling, but something Oscar insisted on investigating further. “He’s yours to do with as you wish. Please dispose of him appropriately.”
Owen snorts. “Obviously.”
Oscar glares in his direction before heading up the stairs and out of the basement without a backward glance. The man is pretty squeamish, which is rather odd, considering he was brought up in the Mafia.
“Mase. Mason, I need you to help me.” Tara shakes the chains she’s bound with, and I finally turn to give her my attention. The bitch almost destroyed me. She used my kindness to manipulate me, and she belittled me, lied, cheated, attempted to break me and Summer up, determined to ruin my chance of a happy ever after, all for her own twisted satisfaction and of course, money.
She’s slumped on the grimy floor, her hair disheveled, her skin pale and free of makeup in comparison to her normally well put–together self, but the tears that streak her face look good on her. It’s the only thing that does. After spending years of being a front-row witness to her crocodile tears, seeing the real thing sends a rush of adrenaline through me.
“Payback’s a bitch, Tara,” I bite out.
I step toward the table housing the instruments. Scalpels, barbed wire, nails, a drill, every item you could imagine inflicting pain with is on this table or hanging from the wall above it. But my gut twists at the thought of putting her through unnecessary pain. After all, I once loved this woman enough to endure the pain she sent my way, so with that thought in mind, I opt for the familiar weight of the Glock.
The basement door opens, and my spine snaps straightwhen light footsteps come down the stairs, so I turn quickly. “What the hell are you doing here?” I snap at the sight of Summer breezing into the room in a yellow sundress that emphasizes the small bump of her pregnant stomach.
“Me?” She points at her chest. “What are you doing here without me?” She taps her ballerina shoe on the cement floor and places a hand on her hip. A hip I clung to last night when I fucked her into oblivion. I fucked her so good, I hoped it would leave her in a state of bedrest while I snuck out to take care of business. “I told you I wanted to see this through to the end, Mason.”
“Mase, please,” Tara blubbers, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. The stupid bitch does not know when to give it a rest.
Summer spins around so fast her hair whips me in the face. “Do not speak to my man, you home-wrecking bitch!” she screams, pointing toward Tara.
Owen releases a strangled sound, and when I turn to face him, he’s biting his fist in a lame attempt to smother his laugh. I glare in his direction, but his shoulders bunch up and down, and I give up looking at him for support and shake my head.
“If you think I’m going to let you end her life without my input, you can think again,” Summer screeches, and I rub at my temple. I know she wanted to be a part of this, but there was no way in hell I was going to allow it. She’s pregnant, for Christ’s sake, and she’s been through enough trauma to last a lifetime, and I don’t want to add any more to it. “Oh, no you don’t, Mason Campbell.” She waggles her finger at me. “I’m not a broken little doll you need to protect. Did you forget I killed your father?” She crosses her arms over her chest and lifts her chin with pride.
A strange choking sound comes from Tara, but we all ignore her. Especially when I have my girl in front of me going all badass on me.
