Chapter Forty Six
Raya St Claire

"I will kill you, you fucking bastard!" Ezra shouts, wanting to storm toward Winchester, and he would have if I didn't grab his arm in time to stop him. "Raya, let go of my arm right now." His eyes were red with anger, and he had his teeth clenched so hard, you could actually see it.

"No, Ezra." I pull him backwards more, noticing that we were standing closer to Winchester than we did a few minutes ago and I twist my hand around his arm to keep him standing beside me. The last thing we need today is Winchester calling whoever was on the other side of the line he threatened us with, and killing Ezra's younger sister in the process. "He needs a reason to kill your sister, and if you charge at him right now, he would. He has the other guy on speed dial."

Winchester smirks, wiping the tears he shed moments ago with a handkerchief he pulled out of his jacket pocket. "Now we can settle this the hard way..." He says. "...Or a more clever way."

Ezra stiffens underneath my hand.

He was looking at Winchester with so much hatred, it was actually radiating off of him.

"The hard way would consist of me killing Mr Holmes's sister here." Winchester focuses his gaze onto me, looking at me with the same eyes he did after he murdered my family: with no remorse whatsoever. "Mr Holmes's sister would suffer the same fate as your younger brother."

This time I was the one to stiffen on the spot.

Winchester doesn't know what my younger brother wasn't killed that night, but he was under the impression that I lost my brother that night too, and if things would go badly today... that Ezra's sister would suffer the same fate my brother did... and that's dying by the hands of Winchester.

Winchester would have to kill me, because if he hurts a single hair on Ezra's sister's head, I would come for him, and I would come for him until there's nothing left of the fucking bastard.

"You would bring a fucking child to this?" Ezra spits, pulling his arm out of my grasp.

"Of course I would." Winchester says. "I couldn't care less about your sister." He then looks at me again. "And I couldn't care less about your family, either. The only thing I care about in this world is money, Miss St Claire, and if you fail to put the money back where it belongs, safely into my accounts, then every single member of your little gang would die, because of you." He tilts his head to the side, smirking at me. "Don't you think I didn't see them, Miss St Claire? There are seven of you, am I right? Two of you are standing before me, and four is posted in a black van just down the road."

Ezra and I share a look. A quick one.

"I must say that Archie has practically aged overnight." Winchester says. "Do you know that he was there that night your family was murdered?" He asks. "I can't imagine how hard the news must have been for you. That is if you knew his involvement." He sucks air through his lips when he noticed that I clutched the gun in my hand even tighter, turning my knuckles white. "You did know...because if you didn't know, you would have had a different reaction. Your eyes would have zoned out as you tried to connect the dots, and you wouldn't have clenched the gun out of anger, you would have lowered the gun as you tried to put the puzzle pieces together."

"Of course I knew," I nod, "nothing ever goes past me."

"But yet something did get past you..." He smiles, showing his teeth. "Ezra here," he jerks his chin toward Ezra standing beside me, "Mr Holmes here had you falling at his feet when he was only there to put a bullet in your skull. You didn't know that until a few weeks ago." He says.

"Let's just get to the point, Winchester."

"Oh right. Where was I?"

"What would the clever way consist of?" Ezra asks.

"I thought I made that one clear," he says, "the clever way would be for Raya to put the money back where it belongs, and I will allow you all to live. You might even get your sister back, too."

"We don't know if she's here or not."

I was meant to voice that at Ezra, but Winchester was the one who shrugged.

"Do you really want to find out, Miss St Claire? Because I can bring her out here if you want-"

"No!" Ezra barks at him. "You will not bring my sister here."

"Alright." Winchester says. "Then tell your girlfriend to transfer the money back to my account. And tell her to drop her gun, too."

Ezra turns toward me, his eyes were filled with desperation and pleading. "Please, Raya... Just transfer the money back into his account. And please, just drop your gun. Please... princess..."

My heart was breaking at his tone, but it also fueled the pure anger inside of me.

I promised myself that I would never beg for my life, or let Winchester have the upper hand ever again, especially not after my family has been murdered even after I've pleaded for their lives, but I just had to give in to Winchester's commands. I just had to. For Ezra. For his little sister.

"Fine." I look at Winchester, over Ezra's shoulder. I drop my gun to the ground, hearing the metal clanking against the hardwood floors. "But Ezra's sister needs to be in my sight first before I make a move to transfer any kind of money."

"Raya, no."

"Ezra, just trust me on this one." I mutter under my breath. "Please. Just trust me."

"He just pleaded for me not to bring her in here." Winchester says. "Make a decision, Mr Holmes. Time is running out, and so is my patience."

"Bring her here." Ezra says, looking at me. "But I swear if you hurt her, I will fucking kill you."

"As you wish," Winchester says, "but just know that you'll be responsible for her therapy bills."

"If there's a single scratch on her, or any signs of harm, I won't transfer the money." I threaten.

"You don't get to make demands, Miss St Claire." Winchester laughs. "But seeing that you obeyed my orders by dropping your gun, I will grant your wish of getting Mr Holmes' sister in your sight to see if she's unharmed."

Winchester eyes the gun on the floor a few feet in front of me but once he made sure that I wouldn't reach for the gun, he takes out a phone from his tuxedo pocket and makes a call.

I was watching him the entire time.

I didn't even feel when Ezra linked his hand through mine, giving it a squeeze every so often.

Winchester noticed it when he placed his phone back into his pocket, but he didn't say anything about it.

A few minutes later, a girl with pink cheeks and short black hair just like Ezra's came into the room, escorted by one of Winchester's cronies.

Ezra releases my hand, using it to cover his mouth with it. He released a relieved breath, crouching down to the ground so he could hug his little sister, but before his little sister could come within reaching distance with Ezra, Winchester pulls her backward by the arm.

The horrifying scream that left his little sister's mouth was enough for my heart to break.

She was scared shitless.

She didn't know what was going on.

She locks eyes with me and I give her a smile to show her that everything was going to be fine.

It just had to be.

She doesn't smile back. She just looks at Ezra through tear-filled eyes.

It broke my damn heart.

"The money, Miss St Claire." Winchester says, gripping the little girls' arm tighter.

She let out a little hiss and Ezra tried to get up from his crouched position on the ground, but Winchester's crony kicked him straight in his nose. Ezra's nose bleeds instantly when he grabs a hold of it to stop the bleeding, but it dribbled to the floor, even with his palm clasped over it.

"There's a laptop in my desk." Winchester says. "Use it to transfer the money back you stole."

Ezra tilts his head so he could look at me over his shoulder. His eyes were tear-filled and his hands were shaking at his sides.

Blood dripped from his nose, but he didn't even bother to cover it.

I dip my head in a quick nod. "It will be fine, newcomer." I mouth to him. "Always and forever."

I make my way around the desk, sitting down on the leathered chair. "Let his sister go, Winchester." I tell him whilst I slid open his desk with my right hand.

I take out the laptop from his desk and place it onto the desk, over the loose papers he had lying all over his desk. "Let her go or I won't do it." I warn.

"Should I remind you who has the upper hand here, Miss St Claire?" Winchester asks, taking a gun out from his back and pointing it at Ezra's little sister's head.

I freeze on the chair, my hand nearly gripping the laptop to pieces.

"No, please!" Ezra begs, reaching out to his little sister but Winchester's crony kicks him in the stomach this time, sending him doubling over, clutching his stomach.

Ezra's little sister was a crying mess right now. She clutched a brown teddy in her hands enough for it to rip to shreds too, but she was strong, I gave her that. She was stronger than anyone I've ever came across.

She kept it well together for someone who didn't have a clue what was going on around her.

"Do it, Miss St Claire, or the little girl dies."

I swallow hard, looking at Winchester directly in his eyes.

I saw nothing but hatred in them.

And he saw nothing but hatred in mine.

I use my right hand to start typing on the keys of the laptop while the other hand reached for the phone in my pocket. I moved slowly so Winchester won't notice it and only when my phone was in my lap did I look at Ezra's sister again.

"What do you call him?" I ask her. "Your big brother?"

She sniffles, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "I call him Ezzie."

I smile at her. "My brother called me RayRay."

"Miss St Claire!" Winchester yells, clearly annoyed that the money wasn't transferred yet into his account. "I didn't ask you to make conversation with anyone."

"Winchester..." I start, using my time wisely.

Two minutes left.

"I just need to press one button. One button. That's all it would take to transfer the money back into your account. But I will not do that when she's still in your grip." I tell him. "Let her go or I will smash the laptop in half."

Winchester clenches his jaw, grinding his teeth together before he finally lets go of Ezra's sister. She runs to him and he hugs her tightly to his chest.

"Transfer. The. Money. Now!" Winchester yells, pointing the gun toward me.

"Not until the two of them leave."

One minute left.

"You can't bargain with me!"

I take the laptop's screen with my one hand and hold down with the other, twisting the screen to an angle it isn't supposed to be in.

"No!" Winchester yells, "Stop! Okay! I'll let them leave."

Forty seconds.

"Ezra," I look at him with my hands still around the laptop, "leave."

He nods, grabbing his little sister up from the floor before the two of them left.

Once they were safely out of Winchester's office, I let go of the laptop.

Twenty seconds.

I smile at Winchester.

He doesn't smile at me.

"Transfer the money now, Miss St Claire." He threatens, shooting the window right behind me without thinking twice about it.

I didn't even flinch.

Ten seconds.

Nine.

Eight.

"Do you regret what you did to my family?" I ask him.

"No." He says. "I don't."

Five seconds.

"Transfer the money. I am not going to ask again-"

Another shot through the window but this time Winchester gurgles blood.

There-where his handkerchief was-was blood from where he was shot.

He drops the gun to the ground.

His crony frowns, wondering where the shot was coming from. He pulls out his gun and points it toward me but right when he wanted to pull the trigger, Ezra came up from behind him and hit him over his head with a gun.

"This is not over." I heard Winchester say through his coughing fit.

I get up from the leathered chair, making my way over to where he was lying on the ground, blood pouring out of his gunshot wound. "I think it is over." I tell him, taking the gun from Ezra's hands.

I point it toward him.

"Like I said before, I am not even going to feel guilty for shooting you in your face."

I shoot.