Chapter 27 – Elias #2
Sage’s hands are tied behind her back, and she’s struggling to break free from the men’s grip on her arms. She’s screaming at them, but there’s a gag in her mouth, so her words are unclear.
“Now, Elias,” Chase goads. “Did you really think you could trick me into thinking you were Percy?
“Worth a shot.” I shrug, attempting to keep my cool and not think about the fact that the woman I love has a gun to her temple.
I lock eyes with Sage and instead of fear staring back at me... I see rage.
My beautiful queen.
I subtly shake my head, trying to tell her not to do anything crazy. She nods, understanding .
“Percy told me his plan. He said there was a chance shit would hit the fan. He left everything to me. He told me what to do if he was killed.”
I take a step forward, and Sage squeals as the man next to her digs the gun in harder.
“He said all I had to do was take the one thing you loved, and you’d hand over the QBM. And since Lenetti is also dead, I think I’ll take the Empire off your hands as well. Unless.” He glances back at Sage. “I’ll let you have Staten Island... but Sage will have to die.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Yeah?”
Chase nods to the men, and they bring Sage to him. He pulls her flush to his side and grinds his gun into her head.
“What’s the plan here?” I say, taking another step closer.
My eyes drop to movement at Chase’s hip.
Sage’s hands are attempting to grab the knife he has hooked on his belt.
Didn’t I just silently tell her not to do something crazy?
Brat. Thankfully, the two men beside her haven’t noticed because they have their eyes trained on either me or Jax, who’s out of the car behind me.
Chase has no idea that I have a dozen more men planted around here.
One hand signal from me and these three are dead.
I just need to get Sage away from them first .
She might be able to help with that if she manages to get a hold of that knife, but I still worry she’ll get caught in the crossfire.
“I hand you the QBM, you give me Sage, and then what? We all live happily ever after?”
Chase laughs, leaning back and barking at the sky for dramatics.
“Of course not. You hand over the QBM, and I give you Sage, then you die together.”
He fires a shot at me, and I duck down just in time. I crawl to a nearby shed for cover while his two goons bombard us with bullets. Jax returns fire while running toward the other side of the small lot to take cover behind a light pole.
“Jax, hold fire!”
Sage isn’t safe yet.
“Not fucking smart, Elias,” Chase growls.
I peek around the edge of the shed and notice Sage holding her arm with blood dripping down to her wrist. I curse because that bullet definitely came from Jax’s gun.
“Any last words, sunshine?” Chase says, tearing the gag out of Sage’s mouth.
“Yeah, eat shit,” she growls and the next thing I see is Chase’s eyes widening. Because she stabbed him. “Now, Elias!”
Sage drops to the ground, pulling Chase with her. I walk around the corner of the shed, a gun in each hand, and rain bullets down on the two men who are distracted by their boss on the ground injured.
I litter man number one’s body with bullets: to his head, chest, stomach.
Jax takes care of man number two, allowing me to run over to Sage.
“Are you okay?” I ask, helping her stand.
My eyes quickly scan her body, searching for any other injuries.
“I’m fine. Can you untie me?”
Jax points his gun at Chase, who writhes on the ground in pain, making sure the asshole doesn’t try to escape.
Once the binds are off, Sage turns to me and nearly jumps into my arms.
“Thank you for saving me again.”
“This was all you, Reine. You were so brave.”
“Actually, I was scared as fuck. I peed my pants a little.”
I bark out a laugh. How can this woman go through something so traumatic yet still bring humor to the moment?
She’s amazing.
I inspect her arm and realize the wound isn’t as bad as I first thought. Just a graze. She’ll still need it stitched up.
“Bitch. Fucking bitch.”
Sage’s nostrils flare. She stomps over to her ex and kicks him in the stomach. Right where she stabbed him.
He coughs and pulls his hands into tight fists .
I close my distance to Sage and grab her by the nape to claim her mouth. It’s not a quick kiss either. It’s a kiss of ownership. Sage. Is. Mine. I make sure Chase watches every lap of my tongue and pull of her lips.
“I’m so fucking proud of you,” I say upon coming up for air. “I’m going to take Chase to Underground Park Slope. Jax will ride back to the penthouse with you. I’ll have a doctor meet you there to stitch you up, okay?”
Her eyes trail to Chase.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep him alive so you can play with him.”
A cruel smile spreads across that beautiful face of hers.
Does the idea of torturing him excite her?
She really is meant for this world.
Meant for me .
Sage nods, kisses me one more time, then turns towards a waiting SUV. Jax helps her inside, then he sends another soldier in his place to assist me with this fucker.
A cleanup crew has already been called to take care of the men we killed.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Chase. You’re going to hand over the list of buyers, and maybe I’ll let you die just a little bit quicker.”
I take a pair of gloves out of my coat pocket and slip them on.
“I uh... I don’t know what you’re talking about. ”
“Sure you do. The shipments? The containers with women and children inside?”
“That was all Percy.” Chase trips over his words as I stalk toward him. He’s still crumpled on the ground, holding his side where Sage stabbed him.
“See, I know you’re lying because my father’s spy, Matthew, told us you’re in charge of shipments.”
I came prepared for this meeting and brought some of my favorite tools to use on idiot criminals. Like my crowbar. I nod to my soldier, Rogan, and he hands it to me.
Perfect to break kneecaps with.
“I’m not, I swear,” Chase pleads, his eyes wide.
I swing the crowbar and crash it down on his right knee. Chase lets out a pierced wail.
“Here’s the thing, Moonlight. I’m going to get that information from you one way or another. Because you’re special.”
Chase holds his injured knee, sobbing. “Wh-wh-why?”
“Because you threatened the woman I love. You harmed her.”
He sucks in a deep breath and swallows, his face scrunching up.
“Sh-sh-she’s yours. I don’t want that fat fucking slut.”
Another swing of the crowbar, and it whacks Chase in his other knee.
I tsk. “Now, Moonlight... that’s my wife you’re talking about. ”
He doesn’t need to know we’re not married yet, but I plan to remedy that soon.
Chase attempts to cradle both of his knees to his chest, but he hisses as it causes the stab wound on his side to open further. I kick him in the back just because I fucking can.
“You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut about the woman I love, could you?”
I crouch down and secure Chase’s hands behind his back with the zip ties I pulled from my pants pocket—like I said, I come prepared. I haul him up onto his feet, but he struggles to stay upright because of the blood loss and his bruised kneecaps—they might be broken.
I didn’t hold back.
I start walking and Chase trips. I don’t stop and drag him to the car. Rogan helps me shove him into the backseat.
Once I’m behind the wheel, and Rogan in the back with Chase to make sure he doesn’t die on me, I drive off.
“Where are you taking me?”
I should have put tape over his mouth.
“I’m innocent!”
Sighing, I open the middle console and take out my small handheld cattle prod—who knew that was a thing? I was delighted when I discovered it while drunk shopping online a few months ago—I hand the device to Rogan.
“You fucking dick! I will kill you. I’ll kill Sage too. You two deserve each other. ”
I nod and Rogan digs the prod into Chase’s back, sending high voltage throughout his body.
The fucker tries talking a few more times and proceeds to get shocked until he passes out, remaining unconscious, but alive, for the rest of the ride to Underground Park Slope.
I let Rogan take him to the torture room so Chase can sweat it out for a few days before I kill him.
Right now, I need to get home to my soon-to-be wife. After everything she did tonight, I have no doubt that she’s going to want to help me end Chase’s life.