Chapter Ten

Beckett

 

I walked from the room, away from Ella and away from temptation, everything in me clenched tight. I could still taste her on my lips, my body was brimming with need. Another second and I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. I wanted her. Helpless and chained to my bed, I wanted to hold her down and strip her naked. I wanted to run my hands over her smooth skin, hands that had broken bones and ended lives. Hands that could only bring pain and destruction. I was terrified, terrified of hurting her. Of how rough I knew I could be, how rough I wanted to be.

I couldn’t let that happen, someone like me should not be her first time. I needed to end this between us before it got any farther, I needed to set her free. Back to her life, back to that boy Seth. And there was only one way to end this. With the payment of a long overdue blood debt.

I rushed through my library into the room where my equipment and weapons were held. The air was still heavy with smoke and thick mist from the fire extinguisher. I was going to have to repair this damage eventually. I was fucking pissed off at her for starting a fire, but I had to admire her resourcefulness. She was clever. Reckless and foolish, but brave. When I let her go and we eventually faced off, the reporter against the billionaire with a secret, she was going to be a worthy adversary. I knew that much.

I stripped from my clothes, into my protective black layers that transformed me from Beckett Carter into the Phantom. As I pulled handguns and ammo from the wall, clipping them into my belt, one thing was running through my head over and over again. Marco Venetti. It was time to act, time to take him down. No more planning, no more hesitating. I would take care of every guard standing in my way, I would remove every obstacle until it was just the two of us. I would press my gun to his temple and make him admit what he did to my parents, admit that he had them killed over a development deal.

I would make Marco beg for his miserable life, and then I would pull the trigger and take that away from him because of everything he took from me. Then, I would be done. I would destroy everything linking me to the Phantom, get rid of every shred of evidence. If Ella decided to expose me, there would be no proof. And it wouldn’t matter, because the Phantom would be no more.

I pulled on my mask, electricity coursing through my veins, as I hoped Dale’s information had been correct. There was a fight on tonight at the MGM, which means Marco should be there with his goons. It was late and it would be ending soon if it hadn’t already, if I was fast I could make it and hopefully catch him unaware. I left through the library, heading for the elevator. I stopped a moment at the end of the hallway and listened. It was quiet, Ella wasn’t making a sound. She didn’t call after me, she wasn’t struggling to break free. Maybe she had fallen asleep. Or maybe, more likely, she was horrified with herself over what had almost happened. After I was done, I would let her go. She would come to her senses and realize what a monster I am.

I continued on to the elevator and got inside, riding down to the garage. I headed for my motorcycle and climbed on, securing my helmet, then accelerating forward with a roar that echoed off the concrete walls. The lights became a blur as I sped past, weaving around cars through the streets towards my destination. This city, it was all fake. All of it manufactured like a carefully planned magic trick. The audience dazzled by the illusion, but it was simple theatrics. Las Vegas was run by criminals who bought and sold human lives, who corrupted and killed. The day Marco Venetti killed my parents he created a monster. Beckett Carter died, and a darkness filled my body instead. He stole everything about me that was good, everything that could love. And I would never be able to find peace until I stared down at his corpse.

Close, I was close. I parked my bike in an alley a few blocks away, then stepped off. The rest I could do by foot. From the building permits I had studied of the MGM there were a few rooms that could work as a meeting space, cut off and private, but only one backed out onto a closed off side street. It would be a discreet place to arrive or leave. It would be away from public sight for anything illegal they did, for anyone they hurt. It would also work to my advantage. I could feel it in my veins, that’s where they would be. That’s where I would end this.

I walked quietly, around the corner of the side street, and glanced around the wall. There were two men waiting on either side of a door, guarding it, while a car idled. If I got into a shoot out with them it would be no good, Marco would know something was up and scurry away in another direction like the rat he was. No, this was going to need to be hard and fast.

I knelt down, slowly taking out my guns and flipping back the safety, then I waited with my back pressed against the wall. I kept my breathing even, listening for a door to open, waiting for the signal to move. I could be patient. I had waited my entire life for this moment. A bang and a rusty creak, then I glanced around the corner. Three men came out, scanning the street, and the big guy appeared - Marco. The devil himself, dressed in a pressed black suit that covered his bulky body. His shaved head a perfect target in the glow of the overhead lights shining down. The car door was held open for him, then it was time.

I rushed out, rolled as someone shouted then jumped up and shot the driver through the front window eliminating Marco’s getaway. A bullet whizzed past my shoulder and I rolled over the hood of the car, whipping up to shoot two guards who dropped to the floor. Back on my feet I shot a guard as he reached for the door.

One guard rushed me and tackled me to the floor, holding me down as the other remaining guard aimed his gun. As he shot, I pulled the man on top of me to the side. He screamed as the bullet tore through his shoulder. Tossing him to the ground beside me, I shot the other guard and he crumpled to the dirty ground as the bullet tore through his body. It was all over in minutes, they had never even seen it coming. They were ready for anything, but not me.

The last guard was crawling, pulling his injured body forward, reaching for his gun. He should have given up, maybe then I would have let him live. As his bloodied fingers wrapped around the barrel, pulling it towards him, I pressed my foot against his back. One bullet, and he stopped moving. These guards, like Dale, were not lives that I ever regretted taking. The Venetti family hired a specific type to work for them. Ex convicts accused of murder, assault, rape. The type of men who would be grateful for a job that paid well to let them continue to be the sick, violent fucks that they were. I was doing a public service taking them out, but I didn’t care about them now. There was only one man on my mind, and I had plenty of bullets left for him.

I yanked open the car door and grabbed Marco by the jacket, hauling his bulky body out of the car and throwing him onto the ground. He fell hard and groaned as his head connected with the pavement. I glared down at him through my mask.

“Only five guards? If you were smart you would have had ten. Twenty. Either way, I would have killed an army to get to you.”

“Fucking Phantom,” he sneered. “You’re a dead man.”

Marco Venetti tried to push himself up off the ground, I kicked him in the side and he dropped back down.

“Not so fast, you’re exactly where I want you to be Marco. On the ground, in an alley. Does that sound familiar? People you’ve had killed that way?”

Marco gave a cough and clutched his side. I wanted to draw this moment out, savor it, but I didn’t have long. Someone would come looking for him soon.

“I don’t know, I’ve had a lot of people killed.”

“You took something from me.” I aimed my gun at his head, his beady eyes in his large face glaring at me. “Now I’m going to take something from you.”

The unexpected happened; someone shot me. The impact knocked me over to the ground, but the bullet hit my vest so I was unharmed. Stunned, but unharmed. Marco rolled away and pulled himself back into the car while I whipped around, looking for the shooter. There was no one else in the alley. A second shot missed my head, just barely, and cracked the wall beside me. Up, they were up on the roof.

I jumped to my feet, guns up, and moved in a circle but I couldn’t see anyone. A sniper was watching the alley, I hadn’t planned on that. Marco was one step ahead of me. I reached for the car handle, and a bullet tore through my side. I gasped as I fell to my knees. Whoever it was, I was not getting any closer to their boss. They had figured out I was wearing a vest and shot my side just above my hip. I felt blood leaking down my leg, hot and thick. I needed to get some cover.

I rushed out of the alley and around the corner, dodging as bullets followed me. I kept running, clutching my side, until I was away from the building. I had my chance, and I blew it. I should have shot him the first chance I had, I should have ended things. Stalling cost me my revenge, and now it might cost me my life.

My hand left my side and I looked at it, thick and sticky with my blood. It looked black in the night, impossibly dark and coating my skin. I started to feel dizzy and I stumbled to my knees, my motorcycle parked a few feet away. I could barely stand, barely move. All I wanted to do was lie down, my body so heavy. So impossible to move.

Ella.

If I died, nobody would know where she was. How long until they found her, locked in my penthouse? There were raised voices in the distance, men were coming for me. Marco must have had backup nearby. They would take me, torture me, and get rid of my body. Ella would slowly starve, her small body getting weaker every day until her heart stopped beating. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t have her death on my hands.

I pushed myself to my feet, summoning any strength left in me, and got to my bike. I stepped on as three men appeared in the distance and pulled out their guns. Kicking off, I pulled away and sped into traffic. Everything was blurry, I almost got hit by a passing car, but I needed to stay awake. I needed to stay focused, even though I was losing a lot of blood. The ride felt impossibly long, longer than it had when I left, but I finally made it to the garage. I fell off my motorcycle, it crashed heavily to the ground beside me, and I pressed my hand against my wound as I stumbled to the elevator. I leaned against the wall, my breathing harder now, requiring effort. I was almost there.

The doors opened and I fell forward. The helmet, the mask, I couldn’t breathe. I ripped them off my face and struggled back to my feet. Almost, almost. I held the wall in the hallway to steady myself, leaving a crimson handprint of blood on the wall. Pulling open the door, I headed for the dresser. Inside the top drawer, at the bottom, I snatched up the key. Ella was sitting on the bed, staring at me. There were droplets of blood following me as I moved towards her.

“Beckett, what happened?” Her eyes were wide with shock. “You’re bleeding!”

My hand trembling, I put the key in the lock and turned it. The metal ring around her ankle popped open, laying heavy against the bed.

“Go,” I managed to say, my voice strained. “Get out of here.”

I rushed from the room, away from her, towards the library. I had it somewhere. This wasn’t the first time I had been hurt, but it was by far the worst. I nearly tripped as I went through the passage into the room, then I dropped to my knees as I opened drawers. I grabbed the container and took out the syringe, pulling the cap off with my teeth and plunging the needle into my wound. I pressed down, sending the medicine directly into my body. Time to see how effective this stuff really was. I looked down. It was a clean shot, the bullet went in then out, but I was bleeding a lot.

“Beckett.” Ella was at my side, kneeling beside me.

“Why are you still here? Go, you’re free,” my voice was hoarse.

“I need to call an ambulance, you need help.”

She stood up and I grabbed her arm, stopping her. The blood from my hand smeared her pale skin.

“No. No one can know. I just took something, it’s a medication. I invested in it. Helps heal injuries fast. It’s mostly blood loss, I’ll survive. Just need… to rest. Go Ella. I fucked up. You don’t need to be here for this.”

I leaned back, she was looking down at me with a mix of shock and concern on her face. She stood up and took a step back towards the door. Good girl, she needed to leave. Get back to her life. I screwed up my one chance to get Marco Venetti. Now I was going to be exposed as the Phantom, and once he figured out my identity I was a dead man. It was all over, I had failed. There would never be justice for my parents death. My vision grew hazy as Ella disappeared from sight. I closed my eyes, and everything went black.