Retribution

Chapter Eighteen

Clayton

I hear the phone go off and Dax answers it on the first ring. I've been in here trying to track Paige and his location but since they left the compound I've lost all signal. It kills me that I'm not out there saving her. After what I let happen I'm sure I'm the last person he wants to see. That's okay, but she can't hate me forever. I'll show her what it's like to be protected, what it's like to feel everything she's bottled up. Hypocrisy I know, but there's something about her that makes me want to feel things. I want to feel what it's like to be connected to her, I want to save her. She'll realise over time that she's mine and she'll be mine forever. Though Dax seems just as invested as I am. I have no problem sharing girls with my brother but Paige, I don't want to share her. I want her to be all mine.

"Is she okay?" Dax says into the phone pulling me from my thoughts.

"She's fine, she's still asleep. We made it to the car. I'm gonna take us back to the safe house now and she'll be safe there. But once Alec finds out we are all fucked. We need to have her out of Italy within the week" Rico says in a hushed tone.

"I know Rico, we're on the next flight tomorrow," Dax says annoyed.

"She'll be okay Dax, I've got her"

"Don't you touch her, we have a deal and that doesn't happen till she's back home"

"I know I know, I'm not going to touch her. She needs safety and time to heal at the moment. I'll send you a text once we get the safe house" Rico says before he hangs up. Looks like somebody else wants a piece of Paige. But that is not going to happen. Dax and Rico are going to have to wait. Paige is mine.

Paige

Either I had a really vivid dream or I'm actually in a car at the moment. A jolt from the road woke me up and I look out to see nothing but a dirt road and trees on the side. I turn my head and see the man that saved me. The last thing I remember was waking up in my cell with this guy standing over me and rushing me to get changed. I remember snippets of big steel gates and hundreds of guards but I can't remember anything else.

"Who are you" I croak out, I really need some fucking water and food.

"Rico and you're the famous red rose killer right?" he says with a wink. Funny guy.

"Paige but yes. That's me" I say turning away from him. "Why did you save me?"

"Let's just say I owed the twins a favour" I snap my head around and stare at him. The twins? As in the fucking twins that let Alec take me.

"Please tell me when you say twins you don't mean The Roulette twins"

"Well are there another set of hitman twins you know personally?" he says with a cheeky smile. I'm about to wipe that fucking smile on his face if I wasn't so fucking tired.

"Fuck me" I say with a sigh. I can't deal with this right now. Too much has happened and I'm not ready to process it yet. Instead of continuing the conversation I turn to the window and shut my eyes. Maybe sleep will take me away from this madness.

"Any time little bird" I hear him say under his breath. Instead of fighting I give into the darkness, I'm too tired to fight it anymore.

Rico

She passed out real hard, I don't blame her. After what I heard from the guards she needs weeks of sleep. I carry her from the car and she doesn't even twitch. I carry up to the stone cottage. This place has been my safe house for a while. When things went to shit I'd come out here for a while. It's completely off the grid and not registered on any databases. Nobody even knows's it exists. It's a beautiful old-school limestone cottage that sits of the hill of the Sicily coast. But it's hidden behind dense forest. I carry her up to the front door and scan my finger. Old school but also has some high-tech features. I carry her inside and flick the light on. I decide to take her straight to the bedroom at the back of the house. There's only one bed so looks like we're going to be sharing. I lay her down and look her over. She looks super banged up. Yellow and purple bruises paint her skin from head to toe. Her eyes also have a yellowish tone around them. I need to check her for wounds, I know they stabbed her and I can bet you they didn't look after it. I pull down her pants and search her starting at the toes. I see the wound on her upper thigh and it looks nasty. There's fluid oozing from, it's red and swollen. I go to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit, coming back I sit beside her and start cleaning the wound. She doesn't even move when I put the alcohol wipe over it. Finishing the cleaning I then wrap in a bandage and tape it together. I lift her hoodie up and move onto her upper body. As I scan past her mons I notice a bandage sitting right above. I look up to check she's still out cold, looking back down I lift the bandage to see the brand. Fuck. She's owned. I decide to remove the old one and clean the wound. She shifts the slightest but her she's still out to it. I place a new bandage on top and pull her pants back up. I don't want her waking up wondering why her pants are down, it's the last thing she needs right now. I scan her torso and notice black and blue bruising on her ribs, broken probably. Pulling down her top I check her face and head for wounds. It seems they broke her nose as well and she has some bumps on her head. How did she end up at The Foes? If she's the killer that everybody whispers about then how did she end up like this? Alec doesn't just target anybody nor does he brand them willy nilly. She did something to end up on his shit list. But I feel like this goes much deeper. She's also involved with the twins which is never a good thing.

She starts to move in her sleep twisting and turning, her face contorts in pain and all I want to do is wake her up and tell her it's okay. I run my finger gently down the side of her face and it seems to calm her enough that she falls back into stillness. I get up, tuck her and make my way out of the room. I switch off the light and head back into the main area with the kitchen and lounge room. Pulling out my phone I shoot Dax a message saying we've arrived. I debate whether to tell him that she's now owned but it'll worry them more and in turn make them fucking harass me. There's nothing we can do now though. He's branded her and that means she's his. He'll stop at nothing to find her. If I had seen the brand then I wouldn't have taken the deal...she's a serious liability now and could get us all killed.

Daxton

Just as I'm about to pour another pot of coffee I feel my phone vibrate, pulling it out I see the message from Rico that we've been waiting for. She's finally safe, for now. I don't want her spending time with him but at this point, we have no other option. He's cunning and manipulative and I don't want Paige getting caught in the middle of that. I finish pouring my coffee and I hear footsteps approach from behind me. Turning my head I see that it's Gage. He looks like fucking shit. It looks like he hasn't slept in days and he reeks of weed. I choose not to say anything and grab my cup heading towards the door. "Was that Rico?" he mumbles. I stop and turn around glaring at him.

"What you fucking care now?" I say as I eye him down. He wanted no part of this to begin with, he doesn't deserve to know what's happening.

"No, your right. I don't care Dax" he says looking down at the ground. He spins on his heel and makes his way to the staircase.

"What the fuck happened Gage? She was like the love of your life and now she's what? Nothing to you?" I finally snap. Clay and I are working our asses off to get her back and he's done nothing but fuck around with our sister. He doesn't have a right to speak her name.

"It doesn't matter. Quinn and I are leaving so you won't have to worry about it anymore" he says and continues up the stairs. To hell, if he thinks he's leaving with Quinn, we just got her back.

"Hey, what the fuck! Whatdo you mean that Quinn and you are leaving? Where the fuck do you think you'regoing!" I yell as I follow him up the stairs but before I can make it up hedarts into the spare room and locks the door. I pound on the door relentlessly butit doesn't open, I don't even hear a sound from the inside. I try to keypad onthe side with our overwrite code but it just flashes red. That sound of bitch.He's locked them inside and the only way we're getting in is if we smash thedoor down and that's hard to do with a steel door. I hit the door one more timeout of frustration and step back. Maybe letting them have a day or two to themselveswill help and help him see that Quinn needs us just as much as we need her.