Chapter 19 Cece #2
A chorus of no’s sounds through the comms.
“Fuck,” I hear Cash say. “We need to find him. That fucker isn’t getting away from me.”
“Well, look what we have here,” I hear someone say from the other side of the van.
“Who is that?” I hear Liam call.
When I turn, I see the man responsible for so much pain, so many nightmares that I was awake for and had to live through, staring at me with a gun pointed at my head.
“Red,” I say.
“Cece!” Cash yells. “I’m on my way, baby. You’re going to be okay.”
“Cece,” Liam says in a calm voice. “I’m going to cut the power to the engine. We’re less than two minutes out. Don’t give him any indication that you have a comm in your ear. It’s dark, so chances are he won’t see it.”
“It’s been a long time, Cecilia,” Red says, his bloodshot eyes traveling over me. “What fucking stupid son of a bitch let you come with them while those assholes murdered my club?”
“Murdered? You mean someone finally gave your club what was coming?” I say.
“Looks like Otto’s little whore went and got a mouth on her. That’s okay. There are plenty of useful things your mouth can do. None of them includes you talking.”
“I’ll fucking kill him,” Cash roars through the comm, and I squeeze my eyes shut, swallowing hard. I hate that he can hear everything Red is saying to me. The vile way he talks to me. That much hasn’t changed.
“Cece,” Liam says. “One more minute.”
Red walks around the front of the van, keeping his gun trained on me. “Open the door,” he says.
“The van won’t start, Cece. I’ve disabled the engine. Play along until we get there,” Liam instructs.
I put a shaky hand on the handle and open it.
“Slide over, bitch. We’re getting the hell out of here.”
I move to the passenger seat, and Red gets behind the wheel. When he tries to start the van, nothing happens.
“What the fuck? What did you do?”
“Nothing, I swear.” Not a lie.
He grabs me by the arm and pulls me from the passenger side as he jumps out of the van. I fall to the ground, and he yanks me up.
“Let’s go,” he growls.
“We’re in the middle of the desert, Red. Where do you think we’re going?”
“I have a bike stashed out here in case something like this happened. See, I’m not as stupid as your new family thinks I am.”
He starts dragging me away from the van, and I stumble along for a few brief moments before headlights are seen coming toward us.
“Shit,” Red yells and grabs me around the waist, pulling me against the front of his chest with his gun pressed against my temple, the hard metal digging into my skin.
The side-by-sides come to a halt about ten feet in front of us, with the ATVs scattered between them.
“Where do you think you’re going, asshole?” Cash yells, stepping out of the side-by-side.
I look around at the men here to save me with tears in my eyes.
Some of them have blood splattered on their faces—evidence of the massacre they were responsible for just minutes ago.
A small smile creeps across my mouth, knowing that they sent those assholes to hell.
No matter what happens to me, at least I know they can’t hurt anyone else.
“Take another step, and I put a bullet in her,” Red yells, jerking his head back and forth, looking at the twelve men before him.
“You won’t make it out of this alive, Red,” Ozzy calls. “Put the gun down, and I promise to make your death quick.”
“Nah, I don’t like that offer. How about you hand over one of those fancy side-by-sides and I get the hell out of here? I’ll give the girl back when I’m safe.”
“Not going to happen,” Cash growls. He knows Red is full of shit. I’ll be dead when they find my body.
“Well, then we seem to be at a crossroads,” Red hollers. “But if I go, I’m taking this bitch with me.”
Not without a fight, he isn’t.
I dip my head forward, then slam it back into Red’s face.
He yells, and I drop to my knees. Since he isn’t expecting the sudden movement, he loses his grip on me.
I swipe my leg out and connect with the back of his, sending him flying to the ground.
The force of landing on his back knocks the air from him, but I know it won’t last long.
I quickly scramble over his prone body and grab the gun, but he still has a hold of it.
I send one elbow flying into his temple while my other hand wraps around his wrist, slamming it onto the ground with every ounce of strength I have in me.
His hand loosens around the handle of the weapon, and I grab it from him, quickly rolling off of him and into a crouched position as I aim the pistol at his head.
“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” I scream at the man who is moaning on the ground.
From the corner of my eye, I see Cash run over to me.
He skids to a stop at my side, crouching down next to me and wrapping me in his arms. At the same time, Ozzy, Jude, and Knox rush over to Red, pulling him from the ground.
Ozzy steps in front of the man who hurt me so many times and punches him twice in quick succession.
Red’s head flies backward with the force of each blow. He’s knocked out cold.
“Shh, sweetheart. I got you,” Cash murmurs. “Can I have the gun?” His hand slips over mine, and he takes it from my loose grip, shoving it in the waist of his pants. I collapse against him, sobs racking my body as I let out an anguished cry.
“You’re safe, baby. You’re safe.” He repeats the words over and over as he lifts me from the ground and takes me to the side-by-side. He sits down with me in his lap, holding me tightly.
“Someone put him in the van. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he calls to anyone who’s listening. I register someone getting behind the wheel, and they drive us back to the house. But my head stays pressed against Cash’s chest, and he never lets me go.
When we get back to the house, Cash carries me inside. The van transporting Red followed us, but it drove around to the back, where I saw what looked to be a dilapidated shack behind the house.
He carries me to the bedroom and sits down with me still clutched to his chest.
“I’m okay,” I say, looking up at his dusty face. “I’ll be okay.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “We all will.”
“What are they going to do with him?”
“Ozzy needs some questions answered, then he’s going to kill him,” he answers honestly.
“I want to be there.”
“Cece…”
“No, Cash. I’ve come this far. There’s no way he’s going to be able to get to me with all of you there. I want my face to be the one he sees when he takes his last breath.”
Cash stares at me for several long beats then nods. “Okay.”
I stand, still feeling a little shaky, but Cash puts his arm around my waist as we walk out of the house and into the shed. It looks just as bad from the outside as it does inside.
Red is tied to a chair, and there’s an old workbench across from him. Several syringes and bottles of liquid sit on the bench, as well as a mean-as-hell-looking knife.
Jude walks over to Red and waves smelling salts under his nose, and his head jerks back.
“Wakey, wakey, asshole,” Jude says and gives him a couple slaps on the cheek for good measure.
Red struggles in his restraints for a moment before looking around the room. It’s just the brothers here. And me. When his eyes land on me, a nasty sneer appears on his battered face.
“You everyone’s whore now, Cecilia?”
“Fuck you,” Cash says, lunging forward and punching him in the jaw.
Red lets out a caustic laugh as he moves his jaw from side to side. “Just yours, then.”
My man lunges again, but Braxton pulls him back. “No good killing him now, brother. Not until we have answers.”
“I ain’t telling you shit,” Red says.
Ozzy chuckles, and when I look over at him, he has his arms folded across his chest as he leans casually against the wall. “That’s what they all say.” He looks at Jude and nods toward Red. “Let’s get some answers.”
Jude strolls over to the workbench and picks up the knife, holding it eye level and inspecting the blade.
“I used a knife just like this when I sliced your brothers who tried to take my woman,” he says, walking up to Red.
“That’s a nice tattoo on your hand.” Red struggles again, but Jude grabs his wrist that’s tied to the arm of what looks like an old office chair.
The knife easily cuts under the skin of Red’s hand, slicing the Bone Breakers insignia from his body.
Jude tosses the bloody chunk of skin onto Red’s lap.
“Who’ve you been talking to in Shine, Red?” Ozzy asks.
“Fuck you,” Red spits, and Ozzy chuckles, nodding at Jude once more.
Jude walks over to the other side of him, where he has a tattoo of a naked woman on his forearm. I remember being trapped under him with my head tilted to the side, and my gaze would be glued to that arm as he moved his disgusting body over mine.
“This your mum?” Jude asks with a chuckle, and Ozzy rolls his eyes.
“I can do without the jokes,” Ozzy tells him, but that only serves to make Jude laugh harder.
“But we’re having so much fun, Oz,” he says, then turns the knife in his hand, slicing Red’s tattoo from his arm and tossing another piece of mutilated flesh on his lap. Red howls in pain, and Jude laughs more.
I should be sickened. Hell, I should be scared that my sister sleeps next to Jude every night, but I’m not. Everyone has a dark side that comes out to play every once in a while. This is Jude’s.
“Who are you working with?” Ozzy yells over Red’s cries.
“Fuck you!” the soon-to-be-dead man wails.
Ozzy nods at Jude again. When he walks over to the table, he picks up a glass bottle containing some sort of liquid.
“This one’s going to hurt,” Jude comments with a sadistic smile on his face. He opens the bottle and pours the contents on the bloody wound of Red’s hand, and it begins to sizzle and bubble.
The stench of burning flesh hits my nostrils, and I quickly bring my hand to my nose.
“You okay?” Cash whispers next to me.
Clearing my throat, I nod and drop my hand back to my side. I won’t show any weakness in front of the piece of shit in the chair less than five feet from me.
Red screams seem to last for hours as he cries and begs for the acid to stop eating away at his hand.
“Tell me what I want to know. Jude can make the pain stop, Red. Tell me who you’ve been working with,” Ozzy yells over the screaming.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you,” Red finally chokes out.
Jude walks over to the table and grabs another bottle. He pours the liquid over his hand, and the bubbling ceases. I’m pretty sure I can see bone from here.
Red takes several deep breaths, his pain etched on his face. “When you were involved with what happened to that Farina asshole, it pissed some people off. Some Russians from New York.”
“Petrov runs New York,” Ozzy says.
The only man named Petrov I’m aware of is the new head of the Russian Bratva in New York. But I thought he and the Monaghans had called a truce since his sister is involved with Finn Monaghan’s brother.
“Yeah, but there’re some guys who don’t like how he’s running things.
They were pissed that you killed their supplier.
This is personal. They want you out of Shine.
They want to send a message to anyone who tries to stop them.
They know you’re working with the Monaghans, and they thought you would be the weaker of the two organizations. ”
“Give me a name,” Ozzy says.
“Damien Sokolov.”
Ozzy nods. “Now was that so hard?” He nods toward Cash. “He’s all yours.”
Cash steps forward.
“Let me ask you one question first,” Red says, and Cash pauses his steps. “Is her pussy still as tight as when I had her?” He lets out an evil laugh, and rage like I’ve never felt before explodes from me.
I lunge to the table and grab Jude’s knife, then step in front of Red. “Tell Otto I said hello.”
The blade slices across his throat before anyone can stop me. I revel in the shocked look in Red’s eyes as his throat is left with a gaping wound stretched from ear to ear. His blood pours from his body, staining his shirt and the floor around him with a dark, viscous liquid.
I drop the knife to the ground and turn, facing Cash.
“It’s over,” I say.
He stares at me for a beat, then wraps me in his strong arms without a care for the blood on my hands.
“Yeah, sweetheart. It is.”