Chapter 52
CURITIBA PARANá
Kaydon watched Seth pinch the tip of the pliers around Rolland’s littlest fingernail. Seth gripped Rolland’s wrist with his free hand, and in one fluid motion the nail was removed.
The man was screaming before the pain registered. But Kaydon could tell when the sensation hit him, because the tenor of his pathetic whimpering changed.
Seth rolled his shoulders. “It’s been a while. Thought we might be rusty.”
Kaydon ripped a piece of fabric, fashioning a gag. “It’s like riding a bike.”
Normally, Kaydon didn’t allow Seth to play with his food for too long, but he was going to make an exception for Rolland.
Objectively it wasn’t fair. Callen was the real monster. He was the one who had ordered his men to beat and tie Seth and himself. Callen was the one who had beaten Bryson within an inch of his life.
He was the one who didn’t give a shit about family or loyalty.
But for all intent and purposes, Callen was untouchable, and it wasn’t like Rolland didn’t deserve it.
Kaydon moved to shove the fabric between Rolland’s lips, but Rolland clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head. It was all so predictable.
Kaydon watched Seth move to straddle Rolland, sitting down hard on his lap.
Seth’s beautiful face moved inches from Rolland’s, and his delicate fingers caressed the man’s cheek.
“Rolland, I’m not going to lie, it’s gonna be really hard. But I promise you, any sounds you make are likely to make us angrier. So, if you think about it, Kay is trying to do you a kindness.”
Kaydon had to stifle his laugh. Seth was an excellent negotiator.
“We could kill you quickly, and you could be dead in a pile surrounded by our smiling faces. Or…”
Seth let the threat hang in the air. Kaydon watched as Seth glanced up at the ceiling, looking like he was searching for the words. “Or, we could kill you excruciatingly, exquisitely slowly.”
“That’s a tongue twister, brother,” Kaydon said. “Say that three times fast.”
Seth whispered the three words under his breath in rapid succession. “Excruciatingly, exquisitely, slowly.”
“Excruciatingly, exquisitely, slowly.”
“Excruciatingly, exquisitely, slowly.”
Rolland’s nostrils flared. Kaydon looked into his eyes as they warred between fear and anger.
“Fuck you three, the Triune is going to find you and kill you. Not to mention make an example of that bitch of yours.”
Seth drew his blade, and it was embedded in Rolland’s shoulder in record time.
Rolland howled in pain, and Kaydon shoved the gag into his mouth. Securing it with a round of duct tape.
“What did I tell you?” Seth said. The tenderness previously in his voice long gone.
Negotiation time was over. Rolland never really had a choice, and he probably knew that.
Kaydon reached over his brother’s shoulder and played with the newly embedded blade.
“She’s not our bitch, we’re hers,” he said, pulling the dagger out and lodging it in the same spot on the opposite side.
The man shook under him, coughing and gasping for air.
Bryson came into view, and Seth stood up, giving him free access.
“Rolland, I have to apologize, we never really got a chance to talk much at my father’s house.”
Kaydon watched his brother move closer, his posture deliciously menacing. “But I have some time now, if you’re free?”
The silence stretched on the drive home. Adria was in the car ahead of them, and Kaydon sat in the front seat, while Bryson drove and Seth sat in the back.
The three of them had tried to get information from Rolland, but whether from loyalty, stubbornness, or just your run of the mill, he didn’t know shit; Rolland didn’t have anything useful to say.
That didn’t mean the three of them hadn’t made the last moments of his life utterly unbearable.
Old habits fell into place as easily as breathing.
Back then, the Nine called often—summoning Bryson to deliver judgment.
They never touched women or children, but any man who betrayed the Nine?
The three of them welcomed the opportunity with grim satisfaction.
Today was different from all those calls. Today it was personal.
Rolland had been on Kaydon’s hit list since that day in Callen’s office, and Kaydon expected it was the same for Seth and Bryson.
Once they had gotten in full swing, Kaydon noticed Bryson started to hang back. Seth had no issues taking the torch and running with it at a hundred miles per hour. That little gremlin was next-level deranged when he wanted to be. Kaydon also couldn’t help but notice Adria’s absence from it all.
He was worried about her. She was so strong and put together, but if you really took the time to look, she could be fragile, too.
It wasn’t a weakness. It was her feeling comfortable showing herself to them. Kaydon saw the changes; saw the way she was opening up. After she had fallen asleep in their arms, Seth had told him about their time together, and Kaydon could not have been happier to hear about it.
Lately, Bryson hadn’t been willing to play. So, it was especially great to hear that Seth was connecting with her on that level.
To Kaydon, every moment of connection seemed like stolen time none of them deserved. With this price on their head, there was no chance of normalcy. All of them were on guard, and who could blame them? But Bryson, he seemed particularly distant.
As a group, they were a mess.
Kaydon tried to intertwine his fingers with Bryson’s, but Bryson just kept his hand balled into a fist at his side.
Kaydon tried to pretend it was fine. That the subtle, small rejection didn’t hurt.
But it did.
He rested his hand on his forearm, trying like hell to avoid scratching. The urge to bleed itched at the back of his mind like a persistent insect bite. The more he focused on it, the more he wanted to itch, but even when he focused on something else the dull ache for relief was still there.
Even with things going well between the four of them, the fractures of hurt sat just beyond in the shadows. Lingering inside each of their peripheries.
Adria was already in the house by the time they pulled in. The woman was a speed demon. Sophia and Eric were with her as the three of them entered.
Kaydon could feel Eric’s eyes on Bryson.
Clearly, he wasn’t happy with how the situation was handled.
And Kaydon knew the feeling. He was having a hard time getting over the fact that Sophia had asked them to get rid of Rolland, but had clearly sent them in ill-prepared.
Adria had come marching in with their bargaining token.
A coin with an all-access pass to do whatever they wanted in the town.
It told Kaydon that at any moment, Sophia could have requested Rolland’s head, but she hadn’t.
Instead, she had sent Bryson.
Adria lingered in the room with her mother and barely even gave them a glance when she said, “You three should get cleaned up.”
Kaydon sensed the dismissal. He waited to see if Bryson would dissent, but he didn’t. His brother just brushed past his shoulder, moving purposely towards their room.