“Mason, don’t.”
My head whips behind me to the sweet sound of Evelyn’s voice. “What the fuck are you doing here? You need to leave.”
“Mason, no. Please.”
I turn back to Lillian, my hand beginning to shake. “She needs to go. She’s a virus for us all. You need to be free of her. We all do.”
“This isn’t the way, Mason.”
“It is!” I snap, pointing the gun at her forehead. “You’re fucking dead.”
“Mason, she’s right.”
I sway on my feet as Megan steps out of the shadows. “Megan,” I say her name on a strained whisper. God, I missed her. The peace she brought into my life. Her beauty that brought color into my dull world. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.” She approaches me, raising her hand with caution, and stroking the back of her hand against my cheek. “This isn’t the way.” My eyes close at the intimacy of her touch. “Give me the gun, Mason.” My eyes squeeze shut. It is the way. This is how everyone gets to move on and out from under her spell and the claws of The Elite.
“Yes, thank you, Megan. Listen to my niece, Mason.”
Megan moves so fast, I don’t even see it coming. With an impressive quickness, she seizes the gun from my grip and moves in front of me, the bottom of the barrel back between Lillian’s eyes.
“You listen here, you sick, disgusting, waste of a life. For starters, I am not your niece. You are nothing to me. I’m sorry for what my father did to you, but that doesn’t excuse all the hate and travesty you brought among so many other people. You are no judge, jury, and definitely no executioner. You don’t have the right to play God with anyone’s life.”
“Oooh, look who’s passing judgement, the little whore—”
I jump forward to snap her neck and end this, but Megan puts her hand out, stopping me in my tracks. “I got this,” she says, then veers her attention back to Lillian. “Oh, Auntie. Your foul mouth doesn’t suit you. And what doesn’t suit me is murder, but you see, I can’t allow you to just walk away either. You’re done. This secret society? Your revenge on innocent people? It ends now.”
Lillian’s sadist laugh sends fury down my spine. “Oh, little girl, this is way bigger than just me. You can threaten me, get rid of me, but I’m the least of your worries.”
“Then we’ll figure out who’s in charge and destroy them too.”
Another burst of laughter. This time, Megan steps forward and punches her square in the nose.
“You little bitch!” Lillian howls, gripping her nose as blood spews between her fingers, while Megan grips her sore hand. “You know nothing. You’re just as foolish as I thought if you think you can take them down. There’s no destroying The Elite. They will just grow back and flourish even larger and more powerful than before.”
“That might be. But as they say, you have to start by weeding out the bad seeds.” This time, it’s Evelyn and I who laugh. God, she’s so fuckin cute. “So, this is what’s gonna happen. For starters, you’re done here. At the university, in this secret club. I want you to step down effective immediately. If you don’t, these papers will surface.”
“They do, and your name gets dragged into the mud just as much as mine and your daddy’s.”
“Then so be it. But at least I’ll go down for the better cause. Until then, consider this the last thing I’ll ever do for you. I won’t leak anything about this or The Elite. My focus is to shield my mother from any of this. Next, before you do so, I want Mason reinstated as a student. His classes, full housing, and his scholarship. I want it in writing and in the record books. Also, I want in writing about Evelyn’s as well. Can’t trust a snake like you won’t go back on her word, ya know?”
My girl is so ferocious. I want to hug her and kiss those fierce lips of hers. Praise her for the strength even after learning the horrible things about her father.
“You won’t get away with this.”
“I already have. We’ve been here long enough, and thanks to modern technology, I have your confession. Talking about The Elite. Your abuse. Your husband’s sick tendencies. The dean of the university. I do believe that will take a bigger hit than my job or smeared last name. I’ll be able to move on. But will you?”
Lillian takes those words and allows them to simmer thick in her mind. Her expression gives us the answer. She won’t. “I can’t just disappear. People will ask questions.”
“Let them. Take a spontaneous vacation, and when you come back, have a change of heart. Call it a midlife crisis. But you’re done here. Understand me?” Megan cocks the gun. Fuck, I think I’m a little scared of her right now. She leans forward. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you?” she taunts.
Lillian, looking so far from her normal, put-together self, finally nods. “Fine. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Megan nods. “That’s more like it. Now, get the hell out of here before I decide killing is my new hobby and I shoot you right between your horribly Botoxed eyebrows.”
Lillian scrambles to her feet, and races passed us. She doesn’t look back as the old door slams shut and we hear her car roar to life and tires squealing down the long driveway.
We all stand there for another beat, until Evelyn finally moves and runs into my arms. “Oh, Mason. It’s over. It’s really over.” I hold her close to me, feeling a lifelong weight being lifted off me. “I love you, brother.”
I kiss the top of her head. “You too, Evie.” I steal a glimpse of Megan, who’s standing silent watching our embrace. I mouth, “Thank you,” and she mouths, “Welcome,” with a smile. Finally, Evelyn pulls away, looking between Megan and myself.
“Well, I’m gonna let you two talk. Um, Mason, I’m gonna just wait in Micah’s car.” She reaches up on her tippy toes and places a kiss on my cheek, then she’s gone, leaving Megan and I alone.
“Listen, I—”
“Your sister told me you thought you were in love with me.”
Her comment catches me off guard. Damn my sister. I slide my hands in my pockets. “I’m afraid to give you the wrong answer, with you still holding that gun and all.”
Not realizing she still had it, she suddenly drops it. “Shit, not sure what came over me there.” I laugh and take a step to eliminate some space between us.
“You were pretty bad ass.”
“Yeah?”
“Real Judge Judy bad ass.”
Her beautiful smile radiates, lighting up the entire room. “You think so?” She puffs her chest out. I throw my head back and let loose a loud chuckle.
“I appreciate the compliment, but you didn’t answer my question.” I bring my eyes back to hers. “Is it true? Are you in love with me?”
I stare into her beautiful hazel eyes, asking myself how to answer that question.
This wasn’t in my plans. With the thirst for revenge and hate flowing inside me, there was no room for anything else. I could barely see passed the retribution I set to viciously achieve.
But then she came along.
My heart was dead inside—only beating for the love and survival of my sister—And then this beautiful spark of life revived me. My heart beat like crashing thunder inside my chest at the sounds of her musical voice the first time she spoke. The exact moment I touched her bare skin. Fuck, her laughter and every moment of solace I found in her beauty, her mind. Her innocence.
I walked into a bar one night searching for something to silence my demons, and instead I was gifted this dark angel, waiting to numb my pain. My fears. But she didn’t just silence the bad shit in my head, she changed the course of it.
My plan was to hurt, deceive, kill. Nothing would stand in my way. My pride would destroy anyone beneath me to reclaim what I’d lost. Until her. Her humbleness broke me in every way. Cracked the hard shell that wouldn’t allow me to see past my abhorrence. My destruction. But she showed me worthiness. It wasn’t about my pride, but my temperance. It gave me the courage to restrain the hate and reform it into something worthy. She gave me the strength to forgive myself.
And now I stare at her needing to know how exactly I express all that shit without bringing myself to my knees. How do I tell her that her beauty gives me light in my dark world? That my heart aches at the mere thought of her not giving me another chance?
Her patience is quickly wearing thin, and the way she starts chewing on her bottom lip makes me want to throw her over my shoulder and take her home and fuck her until she knows just how much I do. So, I put her out of her misery. “I love you,” I reply, three simple words that don’t even sum up the whirlwind of emotions inside me.
I watch her chest deflate with the breath she’s been holding. “Phew! Well…good. That was the answer I was hoping for. Now that I know I’m also not a cradle robber, there’re some things we need to get clear. One, you’re no longer my student. We’re not to break any student/teacher rules, because I technically do love my job and want to keep it. But I think replacing the title, student with boyfriend has a better ring to it anyway.” She stops, waiting for my response.