Chapter 60 The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived #2
Her gaze flutters between the gun and Jabali. “Why? It’s only going to hurt her.”
His head rears back, and he purses his lips. He flails his arms around in a grandiose show of amusement. “Now you care about her feelings?” He stomps one foot. “Now?”
“Of course I do. She’s my friend,” Kenzie insists.
He makes a tsking sound. “Did you care on the night I left Lila’s bed and found you leaning on my car door? When you told me I should be with a real woman instead of your pathetic fat friend?”
Her betrayal sinks its sharp teeth into my gut.
I don’t know which part is making me more nauseated. The reminder that he had once been in my bed, or the fact that Kenzie could be so cruel.
There’s more than one monster in the room with Reed and me.
Pooling tears skew my vision, stinging my eyes and the back of my throat. I bite my tongue and dig my fingertips into my palm to fight them off. I’d rather focus on physical pain than her treachery.
She doesn’t get any tears from me.
In fact, she gets nothing from me.
Reed notices my reaction and drifts his bound hands covertly toward my outer thigh. I catch his gaze, letting the love in his expression ward off what remained of the deluge.
Apparently, Carpaccio isn’t done throwing Kenzie’s sadistic side in my face.
He continues berating her, clearly for my benefit and his own amusement.
“Tell me, Kenzie. Did you care about your best friend when you dropped your panties for me faster than a hooker and spread those bony legs? When you let me fuck you raw while Lila slept in the next room?”
Gag.
Reed snaps, finally losing his cool. “Enough! Knock it the fuck off,” he bellows. “We get the fucking point. Is this why you brought us here? To humiliate Lila? Haven’t you hurt her enough, you sick fuck?”
Jabali’s grin only spreads wider. He takes pleasure in Reed’s outburst, proving once more how this is all fun and games for a psychopath like him.
The gun-wielding madman slithers off the stool and saunters over to me. He folds over slightly, bringing his face in line with mine. “Can you forgive me for being unfaithful?”
“Go to hell,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
Languidly, he drags the tip of the gun along my cheek, running it over my chin and down my throat.
“I wouldn’t have strayed if you were capable of giving me what I needed.
” The gun fondles the curve of my breast. “But you were too pure and innocent. I knew you’d never willingly mark cards for us.
Your slutty friend presented me with an easy alternative. ”
“Get away from her,” Reed snarls, his chest puffing.
I remain still, unwilling to let this monster get a rise out of me. That’s exactly what he wants.
“Lila, from the first time I saw you, I had to have you. I broke all my rules for you. Did you know that?”
“What do you mean?” I ask before I can stop myself from prolonging this horrific conversation.
“You were the only one I worked over myself. I wouldn’t let any of my men near you. In all the casinos I cased, you were the only one I needed to claim. And it seems the man beside you knows how special you are.”
“Am I supposed to be flattered?”
Instead of answering me, he turns his soulless eyes on Reed. “Lila’s a good fuck, isn’t she?”
Reed shifts to the edge of the couch, angling his body like he’s readying himself to pounce on Caravan. “Don’t you fucking dare talk about her like that.”
“Oh, did you not get a taste yet? I thought for sure you’d have wet your dick in my sloppy seconds by now. Does she not want you?”
I attempt to steady Reed. “He’s doing this on purpose.”
Reed’s chest swells with an almost violent surge of air. It whizzes through his nostrils and out of his mouth. “Back. Away. From. Her. Now.”
Jabali stares Reed down, cold and calculated.
Without blinking, he kisses my cheek, letting his mouth linger. “Don’t be jealous, sweet girl. I pictured you every time I came in her disgusting cunt. Just like I’m sure you think of me when her pig brother fucks you.”
I jerk away, narrowly evading his tongue. “Stop it. You disgust me.”
Reed surges to his feet. I do the same, planting myself between them.
My sweet man radiates heart-attack-causing levels of tension, utterly vibrating. If I don’t diffuse this situation, he’ll get himself killed.
Jabali straightens to his full height of five feet nothing, backing away from me while brandishing the gun. “No need to lie to protect his feelings. This is why we’re here, after all. To finally be honest with each other.”
At the top of his lungs, he sings, “The truth will set you free.”
His two barrel-chested goons thunder in, weapons in hand. Their boss waves them off, dismissing them with a huff.
They slink out of the room.
Affixing my eyes on the devil, I raise my chin defiantly at him.
“Carnie was it?” I continue without taking a breath.
“Carnie, you’re a vile piece of trash who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Reed.
And no matter what happens today, you’re done.
You’ve already lost the game. The only way this ends is with you dead or in prison. How’s that for honesty?”
He brutally grabs a handful of my hair, yanking me toward him and throwing me onto the floor.
“Stay right there, big man. Don’t make me shoot before we get to the best part of the show.”
I glance up to see him pointing the barrel of his weapon right between Reed’s eyes. My breath gets caught in my throat.
Kenzie lurches to her feet. “You said you wouldn’t hurt them, you lying asshole.”
Jabali screams at Kenzie. “Things change, bitch.” He backhands her brutally. “Now shut the fuck up.”
She stayed on her feet. Took it like a champ.
Bracing my palms on the carpet, I start to press myself upright. It’s then that I realize that the zip-ties popped when he tossed me down.
My hands are free.
Blood races so raucously behind my eardrums I lose track of the bickering voices. Blinking, I scan the room. Nobody is paying any attention to me. I reach into my bra to pull out the smuggled razor, then hide it in my cupped palm.
I gradually rise to my feet, trying not to draw attention. Pretending I’m still restrained, I keep my arms in front of me in the same position they were in. I hope he doesn’t look closely.
Considering how chaotic things have become, my odds aren’t bad.
Jabali’s voice booms. “It’s time for round two of our game, folks.”
“What are you talking about?” Kenzie barks out. “Let us go. You’ve had your fun. It’s over.”
“Oh no, it isn’t. The party is only getting started. Let’s see, whose turn is it?” Hysteria erupts from him in a grating cackle.
He’s mad as a march hare.
As his laughter fades, he turns a scathing glare on Reed. “Here he is. Everyone, welcome our next contestant.”
“We aren’t playing any more of your god damn games, Jabali. It’s over,” Reed insists, his temper seemingly in check. “Lila is right. You’re cooked. End this peacefully, and you’ll get to live. The house is surrounded by federal agents. You aren’t going anywhere. Just surrender.”
Jabali scoffs, tapping the side of his head with the gun. He’s disturbed. Unstable. “Surrender? Not until I get my payback.”
“For what?” Reed asks.
“All that I built is gone. Because of you. You destroyed everything. Everything,” he screams, veins bulging at his temples and along the sides of his neck. “If I’m going down, you’re gonna suffer with me.”
“You destroyed it yourself by trusting that dipshit out there. Ginny led us right to your door. You should have known better. If you want someone to blame, look in the mirror. Face the consequences like a man.”
“No. No way. Fuck that. You attached yourself to Lila and stuck your pig nose into my business.” He jabs the gun at Kenzie.
“Then you failed to get her to fall in line.” He shakes his head, outright snarling at her, then turns the gun back on Reed.
“And if you had just waited until tonight, we could have handled this like gentlemen. But you showed up at my home, which crossed a fucking line. Now, you need to pay.”
The room is smothered by foreboding silence with an undercurrent of coarse, serrated breathing.
With his chest heaving and face wild with unfettered rage, Jabali turns his beady eyes on the man I love. “Choose.”
Reed cricks his head to the side. “What?”
“Choose,” he repeats, ice shards piercing the word.
The column of Reed’s throat ripples with a forced swallow. “Choose what?”
“Not what. Who.” Jabali’s lips creep upward slowly in a snarl so devoid of life it hammers fear into my bones. “You decide who lives and who dies. Lila or Kenzie. Shouldn’t be a hard decision. I know who I’d pick. But it’s your turn to play. Not mine.”
Reed’s face blanches over, ghostly white taking place of the angry red. Other than a tiny shake of his head, he doesn’t move.
“You heard me, right?” The monster starts pacing with nervous energy. “I’ll let you arrest me. You get the glory of my capture. You’ll be a hero. The brave agent who took down the mighty Carnage. All you have to do is make a choice.”
“What the fuck?” Kenzie fumes, stepping brazenly into Jabali’s personal space. “None of this is my fault. And you promised from the beginning that you’d never hurt Lila.”
His eyes flash with primal hatred. “I gave you another chance this morning. You fucked that up too. Now you pay the price along with your brother. Either he kills you, or you get to live, knowing you’re responsible for Lila’s death.”
“You already punished me by double-crossing me and turning Ginny against me. You’ve absolutely lost it. All this shit because I didn’t bring precious Lila to you when you cricked your pathetic finger.”
The more she badgers him, the crazier his eyes get. She needs to stop.
Instead of stopping, she doubles down. “I told you she didn’t matter. We could’ve just left this morning. But noooo. That wasn’t good enough for you. Had to have Lila.”