Chapter Thirty-Seven
RHYS
Ispent my childhood watching my dad beat on my mom, I’ve been in hand-to-hand fights since I was a teenager, I’ve looked down the barrel of a gun more times than I can count, I’ve been stabbed, cut, bruised, beaten, I’ve been chased, hunted, and had my home attacked, I’ve seen the aftermath of my patch brother’s sibling’s rape and torture, and can say with sincerity that I’ve never, ever felt fear the way I did hearing Blake’s voice from inside Bristol’s office.
I sit by my bed where she sleeps, waiting for her to wake up.
After I shot Blake to incapacitate him, I rushed to Bristol, not expecting to find her slouched over her desk with her arms hanging limp, the gun on the floor.
At first, I thought she got hurt somehow, but her body had just checked out on her.
I scooped her up in my arms, holding her the entire way home.
I left the prospects to tie up Blake and bring him into the clubhouse, where Stitch will make sure he heals from his wounds.
Bristol made me promise I wouldn’t kill him, and I plan to honor that.
Even if he should die today. I have better plans for him, though, and it’ll be a slow, painful death that he causes himself.
A low knock at my door forces me to leave her side. I unlock it, cracking it and coming face-to-face with my mom.
“Mom?”
“How is she?”
“What are you doing here? You haven’t stepped foot in this place since . . .”
“I know. But Camden called me, and I wasn’t about to let my shitty memories of this place keep me from being here for her. Now, answer my damn question and let me in.”
I open the door further, allowing her to step into the room she’s never been in.
“Stitch says it’s just shock, that her body needs some time to regulate, and she should wake up soon. She’s healthy.”
“Trauma and fear will do that to you.”
“I hate that you know that, Mom.”
“I know you do, baby. Are you okay?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know, Mom. I promised her I would keep her safe, and the first time I left her alone, he pounced. He was waiting for his opening.”
“She’s unharmed, Rhys. You did keep her safe. She’s going to be okay, especially knowing she’s here with you.”
“The people that Blake works for, they took her friend. I need to get to the bottom of it, but I don’t want to leave her. I have to be here when she wakes up.”
“It’s more important that you protect her loved ones. I won’t leave her side, and she’ll understand. Trust me, she’ll understand.”
“But—”
“—No. Go. They need you. I’m right here. You were always enough for me, my baby boy, but I’ve been waiting to have a daughter. Now let me be here for her. When she wakes up, she’s going to want to know about her friend, and she’s going to look to you for answers. So you better have them.”
“I love you, Mom. Thank you.”
With one last longing look at Bristol, knowing if I walk back over to her, I won’t leave, I turn and shut the door behind me. I take a moment to breathe, rolling my shoulders back and cracking my neck side to side. Time to do whatever it takes to take care of this.
I find Chaos standing at the bar with Malice, Wrath, and Rolo in a heated conversation.
“Where is he?”
“Basement of the garage.”
“I’m ready. Let’s go.”
The five of us leave the main clubhouse, taking a short walk to our massive garage that has a basement with a drain system specifically installed for times like these. I take the steps one at a time, readying myself for dealing with him while not killing him. I’m so fucking tempted.
“He doesn’t die. No matter what, we keep him alive.”
“For how long?” Malice asks.
“As long as possible. I promised Bristol I wouldn’t kill him.”
“But I can then, right?”
“He doesn’t die today, Mal.”
“K. Got it. I can keep him alive. I know all the sweet spots. Just gotta stay away from those arteries. Once I sever one of those—squirt! Goes everywhere.”
“Good plan.”
We find Blake tied to a chair in the center of the room, the drain directly below him. His head is hung low, a light directly above him, illuminating him like a spotlight.
We walk in, fanning out around him. Chaos smacks the back of his head hard, causing him to stir awake. “Wake the fuck up. Time to talk.”
“Fuck you guys! Do you have any idea who I am?”
“Oh, you’re a huge fucking headache. We know exactly who you are. The accountant behind the fucking puzzle of finances you fucked with to cover up some heavy players human trafficking exploits.”
Blake’s eyebrows shoot up to his forehead as he looks around the room, taking in all of us one by one. I hope right about now, he’s understanding just how well and truly fucked he is.
“Where is Kira?”
“Fuck you!”
“I don’t have time for this bullshit. Malice, have at ’em.” Malice claps his hands together excitedly, doing a little bounce on the balls of his feet. He goes over to the far table, picking out some pliers and returning with a sardonic expression.
“Where is Kira?” I ask again.
Blake watches Malice as he grips the top of his nail on his pointer finger and pulls backward, slowly. Blake screams, the sound drowned out to the rest of the world by the soundproofing of the room.
“Where’s Kira?”
Malice continues, moving on to the next one, then the next one, then the next one, as Blake screams, spit dripping from his mouth.
I’m sure it hurts like a bitch, but it’s nothing compared to what he’s about to feel.
I stand there with my arms crossed, itching to pummel the shit out of him, but knowing the last thing I want to do is return to Bristol with bruised knuckles and a bloody mess of clothes.
So, I stay put for her, allowing Malice to have his fun.
“Where the fuck is Kira?” I ask again.
“Go to fucking hell,” he seethes as he spits directly onto Malice’s bare chest.
“Ugh! That’s not very nice, sir! What’d I ever do to you?” Malice yells in shock. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. The fucker is so unhinged.
“Last time, fucker. Where. Is. Kira?”
When he doesn’t answer, I nod at Malice.
He returns to the table with Wrath, who picks up the blowtorch and a piece of flat metal with a handle.
Malice doesn’t waste any time, using a pair of gardening shears to snip off the first three fingers on his hand.
The bone cracks as blood sprays across Malice’s chest and the floor in front of him, the fingers dropping with a sickening thud. Blake’s screams are bloodcurdling.
“She’s at my cabin! She’s at my cabin! I didn’t give her to ’em! I wanted to use her as leverage to get Bristol back, and then I was going to swoop in like her fucking knight and save Kira, when she never left my clutches to begin with,” he screams the words.
“You really think that would have worked on Bristol?”
“She’s not the fucking brightest! Yeah, it would have worked. Why do you think I kept her so long, asshole? She’s easy, soft, she doesn’t fight back and doesn’t question things!”
“Those are fucking strengths!” I scream, just as Wrath cranks up the blowtorch.
He wastes no time aiming the fire right at his bleeding hand, not bothering to heat up the metal.
The smell hits my nose, and I immediately want to hurl.
There’s no scent worse than burning flesh.
Wrath cauterizes his wounds as he shakes and screams. I don’t feel bad for him. He deserves so much worse than this.
“Where’s the cabin?”
“Up-up in the forest.” He gives us the address, and I nod to Malice and Wrath to get men there immediately. “You gonna kill me now?”
Chaos laughs, low and deep. “No, much worse, actually.”
We untie him from the chair, binding his wrists with the rope and dragging him up the stairs. We put him into the truck of one of the cars in the garage, and then Chaos and I head to the one place we both know will hide someone without anyone knowing for a very long time.
Once we reach my childhood home, we pull the sobbing piece of shit out of the trunk, dragging him into the house and down to the basement.
My dad hears us coming, already at his cell bars, holding onto them. He looks the same as he did a few weeks ago when I was here—weak, half out of his mind.
“Oh, look, Dad, meet your new roommate. See, I can’t kill either one of you, but you two?
You can kill each other. I wonder which one of you will come out standing.
Keep in mind, whoever lives is going to have a rotting corpse for a roommate.
Or maybe you’ll both perish and the world will be better for it. ”
Chaos unlocks the doors, pointing a gun right at my dad’s head as I shove Blake inside, slamming and locking it back up.
“Who the fuck is this, son?”
“He likes to beat on women just like you. So, you two can beat on each other. Or don’t.
I don’t really care either way. The only reason I’m allowing you two to continue to breathe is because of my love for those women.
You’ll never see daylight again, never feel a woman’s touch, never feel the sun on your skin, never taste anything but the bread and water you’ll be provided for however long you’ll be down here.
Have a good look around, Blakey, ’cause this is all you’ll see until the day you finally leave this plane. ”
“They’ll come for me, and you’ll be fucked when they do!” he screams.
“You’re the one who is fucked, Blake. There’s nothing left.
You’re out of plays; this is the end for you.
While you’re down here rotting away, I’ll be up there living a life with Bristol by my side, loving her, worshiping her mind, body, and soul, making her laugh, healing the damage you inflicted on her.
Someday, if she wants them, I’ll fill her belly with our babies, we’ll grow old together, and she won’t ever know a day of sadness for as long as I can help it.
This is your penance, you sick fuck. Enjoy it. ”
Blake screams like a maniac as Chaos and I climb up the stairs, until it slowly fades the farther away we get. He’ll never have an opportunity to hurt anyone again.
“I’m proud of you,” Chaos says.
“I’d do anything for her.”
“I’m sorry I was so hard on you and so against it. It was just fucked she was engaged. Last thing I wanted was a pissed off ex. Taken is taken, by my standards.”
“I get it. I wasn’t too thrilled about you dragging Saige into the house and handcuffing an innocent woman to your bed to hold her hostage.”
Chaos laughs. “There isn’t anything innocent about my woman, I promise you that, brother.”
“You got your hands full with that one, for sure. Kira had better be where he said, or—”
“We’ll handle it. She’ll be okay.”
We drive back down to the clubhouse, parking the car back in the garage. Saige meets us outside on the porch, her arms crossed, looking at us, waiting. She is such a force to be reckoned with.
“Wes sent us everything. We can’t take them down on our own, we need outside help, this is too big for us,” Saige tells us.
“Make the call, vixen, tell him this can’t wait. He needs to pass the info on now and shit needs to be raided immediately.”
“I’ve got it, calm down,” she tells him, earning her a grin from Chaos.
“Who’s she calling?” I ask.
“Her best friend, Seb. He just got a new position with the State Department; he’ll have no issues routing it to the right people.”
Well, that’s lucky. One less thing for us to take on, when all I want to do is hold my woman and make sure she’s okay.