The Salvation of Daniel (The Blue Butterfly Book 2) (24 page)

“What the fuck climbed up your arse?”

“Well, it wasn’t you unfortunately!” I snapped then stopped dead when I realised what I had said. I squeezed my eyes closed, cursing my inability to filter what came out.

Silence descended. Utter silence. Shit!

“What did you say?” Panther asked eventually.

“Uhh….”

“Shadow?” Panther asked again. I gritted my teeth and prayed.

“You know what?” I hissed into the mic as I ran up to the patio doors. “I need two Phantoms that can fucking get on. Panther, when are you going see past the end of your fucking nose?” I slid the device into the lock and waited for the green light to flash before clicking open the door. “And Bullet, firm tits and seduction are female traits we were given to use, so fucking use them for once!”

Her gasp met with Panther’s silence. I rolled my eyes and quietly closed the door behind me. “Right I’m in.” I eyed the room, registering the furniture layout. “And if I make it out of here alive, I want you both rocking the back of that van so hard that the earth moves for me too.” I moved through the room towards the other door. “Got that?”

A grin twisted my mouth when Panther replied. “Yes, Ma’am. It would be a pleasure.” When Bullet didn’t answer, I smirked, imagining her passed out with her sniper rifle in her hands.

“Good boy. Now where are you?”

“Front of house. All clear.”

“You’ve cleared already?”

“Yep. It’s all yours. I’m off to find Bullet.”

I chuckled at his eagerness. “Have fun.”

“Oh, I intend to. I’ve been waiting to fuck the bitch for years.” I laughed harder when Bullet’s gasp echoed in my ear.

I loved my friends. They made me happy. And when their giggles resonated in my ear ten minutes later, I unclipped my earpiece and walked into hell… and my past.

“Hello, Connie,” he said softly.

My heart felt like it was going to rip from my chest and slap on the floor at my feet. I couldn’t seem to comprehend anything, my mind chaotic and my brain numb, the clash making me faint and breathless. My head shook from side to side, my eyes blinking rapidly as though he was just an apparition that would vanish when my brain caught up with my eyes.

My hand came to my mouth, my palm pressing against my lips in an attempt to stop the vomit from exploding everywhere.

I was so shocked that I allowed my hands to be locked behind me in cuffs, my body hauled across the room and tossed into a chair as my stare refused me to recognise anything else happening around me.

Franco tied my ankles to the chair as my eyes tied me to the past.

“How could I have missed this?” My voice was quiet but I knew he heard me.

He shrugged as he walked towards me. I looked up at him as he bent towards me and tenderly placed a kiss on my cheek. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered as his hand stroked over my hair. “You’ve done me and your mother proud.”

It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. How was he alive? Here? Alive? I blinked numerous times, expecting him to fade out as reality sunk in, but the more my eyes focussed, the clearer he became.

As my brain caught up with my vision, I closed my eyes, everything becoming clear. “You!” I looked up at him with sadness. “You set it up. You arranged Mae’s kidnapping. Not Franco.” He stared at me, allowing me to finally see. “You finally got what you wanted.”

He pulled in a breath and dragged out a chair from the table, placing it in front of me. “You always were the stupid one.” He shook his head with mock laughter. “I knew when you found out and the Phantoms took you that you would one day be strong enough to take me on. Fair play to you, my dear, your plan nearly worked.” He leaned forwards, placing his elbows on his knees. “Well, it would have done if your mother wasn’t having an affair.”

I gulped back the bile. “She wasn’t supposed to have taken your car that night. Why, why did she?”

I wanted answers to what had gone wrong that night, and finally before I died, I was going to get them.

SHE SHOULD HAVE been out by now. Something was wrong. Panther was blasting his mic, shouting her, calling her. Bullet was pacing, the air around her shimmering with the heated anger she spewed out.

“Shit,” I heard Panther hiss out.

Bullet and I jumped into the van. My world rocked beneath me, my heart stuttering when I stared at the screen. A woman’s silhouette sat in a chair. Two men were in the room with her. Another woman I presumed to be Helen was sitting in the lounge with Annie, playing on the floor.

Panther hit a red button on the console with the palm of his hand then grabbed Bullet’s wrist when she picked up her sniper rifle. “That’s not gonna work, you can’t get a clear aim from here. We need to go in.”

I stared wide-eyed when he passed her two shotguns. Walking over to me, he shoved two guns with suppressors attached into my hands. “You ever shot someone, Daniel?”

“Yep.” I nodded, checking the ammo slot and getting a feel for each piece.

“Bullet!” Panther shouted as Bullet jumped out of the van and took off at speed towards the house. He caught up with her, tackling her to the ground. “Drag it in!” he growled as she grappled with him. “You know better than this. Calm down or you’ll get her killed.” She stared up at him, both fury and despair on her face. He tipped his head and cupped her cheek, his eyes slowly tracing every contour on her face. “I won’t survive your death, never mind Shadow’s.” Her eyes widened on him, her lips parting as she sucked in a breath. “I’ve loved you for years, Elle, since the moment Frederik brought you back. Every single woman I have ever fucked was you, every face beneath me was yours. I hated you because I thought you were in love with Shadow. I thought you were fucking gay! I wanted you so damn much, with every single breath I took. You taunted me, made my cock so hard I was constantly in pain. But not just there, here,” he snarled as he grabbed her hand and slapped it against his chest. “And now, now I finally understand and get what I have waited so fucking long for, you’re hell bent on killing yourself. Don’t make me lose my shit right now.”

She choked out a sob, her chest heaving against his. She nodded.

I closed my eyes as his words curled inside me and tore me open.

“And now, now I finally understand and get what I have waited so fucking long for, you’re hell bent on killing yourself.”

My heart ached. Mae’s smile, Mae’s laughter, Mae’s striking gaze, Mae’s beautiful face, Mae’s exquisite body, all of them assaulted me at once, crippling me, burning me up in their memory.

“I love you, lamb,” I whispered to the stars. “I’ll never stop loving you, ever. But I hope you can understand what I’m about to do, and why I need to do this.”

Inhaling the last of the night air, I turned and walked away from the couple kissing on the ground and ran towards my childhood home, not seeing the tiny blue butterfly that landed on a stone next to where I was stood.

I NARROWED MY eyes on him when he slipped a cigarette into his mouth and flicked open the lighter, the flame catching my attention. He cocked his head and lifted a brow. “You still smoke?”

“No, but right now I’ll take one.”

He nodded then turned to Franco. “Let the cuffs go.”

Franco lifted a brow, “Is that wise?”

My father didn’t hesitate. Spinning around he fixed Franco with a glare. “Do it!”

He shrugged and sighed then released my wrists. I rubbed at the sore skin then took the smoke from between his fingers and pulled in a drag, blowing it slowly into Franco’s face. I smiled at him when his fist knocked my face sideways. “You always were a twat.”

My dad laughed as Franco grabbed my jaw and snapped my face to his, his close proximity making me recoil. “And you always were a slut.”

I nodded in agreement, pursing my lips. “Yes, I was. I still am. Is that why you wanted Mae and not me, ‘cos she was innocent?”

He winked at me. “And she was so fucking delightful to break.”

I lunged for him but the ties around my ankles saw me falling to the ground, my forehead bouncing off the floor tiles as lights blinked in my head. Franco laughed. “As Graham said, stupid.”

“Fuck you!”

He smiled coldly, his eyes roaming down my body slowly. “If you insist.”

“Don’t even go there,” my father spat out when Franco hoisted me up by my hair.

Rolling his eyes and huffing, Franco pulled the chair back up and threw me back onto it. “I can wait.” He chuckled, leaning against the worktop and folding his arms over his chest.

“Me too.” I smirked at him. “I’ll finally get to shoot off that tiny dick of yours.” And I didn’t mean give him a wank.

He nodded, his smug smile making my blood heat. “And I’m gonna make sure to shoot it all over your pretty little face.”

“Get out!” my dad bellowed at him. Franco snapped his head around, frowning at him. “Get out before I fucking destroy
your
pretty little face!”

I narrowed my eyes, watching the play, wondering how long my father had dominated their relationship. “Were all the decisions yours?” I asked him as Franco shook his head and left.

He sighed then turned back to me. “Most of them.”

“Why? Why Mae?”

He regarded me for a while before taking another cigarette, lighting it then handing it to me. He lit his own, blowing a few smoke rings into the air before he leant back in his chair, crossed his legs and dropped his eyes to his lap.