Chapter 29 – Sage
I always thought I was weird growing up not having a dream wedding in mind. My friends had scrapbooks with photos of beautiful women in extravagant gowns. They had floral arrangements, the cake, and the color of the bridesmaid dresses decided.
They always wanted to play wedding with Barbie dolls or Cabbage Patch Kids.
I’d play along, but I never had the same excitement as them.
My wedding to Chase was bare minimum. It was held at a park in New Jersey. I had the white dress I bought at Walmart. It was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t fancy. And the ring Chase got me cost a hundred dollars.
It was all I needed at the time .
I think it’s because a part of me knew my marriage to Chase wouldn’t last. That it wasn’t true love, no matter how much I tried to convince myself it was.
Now, here I am in a car with the man who really is the love of my life, my husband, and saying our vows in front of a judge with some stranger as our witness was more special than any of those dream weddings my friends could have planned.
Elias surprised me with a twelve carat, pear-shaped, Harry Winston ring that cost nearly $700,000.
I almost passed out.
“If you want a ceremony—”
“I don’t,” I say, beaming at the ring.
“What about a party instead? A celebration?”
I gasp. “Can I plan it?”
“I think that’s a great idea. In fact, how do you feel about being in charge of charitable events for the Alliance.”
“The Alliance?”
“Noah doesn’t want to take over the Empire so it’s in the process of being dissolved.
I’m forming the Five Borough Alliance. FBA.
Or just the Alliance. No more corrupt mafias.
No more lowlife politicians and abusive assholes in power.
I’m cleaning up this city and, in a few months, I’m hosting a fundraiser where I’ll strengthen my connections and make new ones.
I want you there so I can introduce you as my wife.
Then we’ll celebrate. I was hoping you’d want to organize it.
And there will be plenty more parties needing organized, which is why I want you to be the event planner for the Alliance. ”
I bite my lip, suddenly shy that this man believes in me despite not knowing if I can do such an important job.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” he says, taking my hand to kiss my knuckles.
“I would be honored to be the event planner for the Alliance.”
He flips my hand over and kisses the palm. He loves doing that.
I also love when he does that.
It’s such a sweet and loving thing to do. It reminds me that he’s not only a scary killer mafia boss but a cuddly teddy bear.
“So where are we going now?”
“Back to the penthouse to change and then we’re going to the place where it all began.”
C hase is being kept in the basement of Underground Park Slope.
The closer we get to the neighborhood, the faster my heart beats. My stomach twists and sours. It’s not that I’m scared about what’s about to happen... I’m anxious.
Excited.
Elias is going to kill Chase, and I’m going to watch him do it.
“You okay? You’re shaking your leg and picking at your nails.”
I nod and examine the pastel polish I picked out for our courthouse wedding ceremony. My nerves have me wanting to rip the acrylics off one by one.
The SUV slows, and Elias puts it in park.
We’re here.
He gets out first and greets a large man with a shaved head and tattoos all over his skull. After slapping the man on his shoulder, he hands him the keys to the SUV. I’m getting out when Elias reaches my side and holds out his hand. I take it, and we walk inside.
It’s barely noon, so all the lights are on with only a handful of workers cleaning, stocking the bar, or doing admin work.
Are they real workers or mafia soldiers?
Elias leads me across the empty dance floor. A chill runs down my spine remembering the last time I was here.
The night it all began.
The night we met.
The night my life changed .
We stop at a black door, and Elias turns to me.
“Are you sure you want to go down there?”
I fidget on my feet and chew on my lower lip.
“Sage, listen to me.” Elias takes my face in his hands. He rubs his thumb over my bottom lip, pulling it from my teeth. “The things I’m going to do—”
“I want to go. I need to see.”
He closes his mouth and grits his teeth, his nostrils flaring.
“I’m not going to hold back, and you might see me... a different way after.”
I catch his thumb when it passes over my lower lip again, and I take it into my mouth. My tongue lashes over the tip, and Elias lets out a puff of air.
“I know. I don’t care. You’re my husband. I... I want to help.”
Elias drops his hands, and he’s preparing to argue, but I hold up my finger.
“I need to help. Please.”
I’ve come a long way from nearly puking after watching Noah’s father stab a fork in Del’s hand all those weeks ago, but that was different. I wasn’t expecting it, and I was already nervous as fuck about wearing the wire.
Now I’ve seen dead bodies. I’ve sewed up bullet holes on my husband’s body. I fucking shot a man.
And I stabbed Chase .
I’m not letting Elias go in there alone when Chase is the one who abused me. He threatened me. My family.
He should die by my hands.
I’m not sure Elias will allow me to be the one to take his life, I’ll worry about that once we’re down there.
He studies my face for a few seconds, then gives me a curt nod. After putting a code in the keypad next to the door, we descend the stairs.
I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe a cold, dark, and haunted basement like the ones in horror movies. But the staircase is solid, not some decrepit wooden steps.
The walls are clean and painted red with beautiful minimalist artwork hanging throughout.
The floors when we get to the bottom are a lovely, stained cement.
There’s a black cotton couch and matching recliner, a coffee table, and large television hanging over a fireplace.
A few arcade games, including pinball, are tucked in a corner.
This place is cozy and nothing at all like I’d expect a torture chamber to be.
We walk through another door and into a red-walled hallway. There are four black doors on each side, all closed.
We pass them until arriving at a door in the very back of the hallway.
Elias pauses before turning to me. “Are you ready?”
I inhale deeply and let the breath slowly creep out .
I stretch my neck from side to side and crack my knuckles. “Let’s do it.”
Elias shakes his head with a chuckle and opens the door. Chase looks up from the chair he’s slouched in. He’s naked, his hands are tied behind his back, and his ankles are secured to the chair’s legs.
His face is swollen and littered with cuts and bruises and instead of feeling sorry for the man I once convinced myself I loved, I pity him.
I offered him all my support after his mother’s death.
I was there for him when he lost his job, and I started working a second job just so we could pay bills.
When I discovered he was using, I offered to pay for his rehab.
He wouldn’t let me help him.
Now there’s no one to save him.
His eyes fill with hatred the moment he spots me. He tries to talk over the gag in his mouth, but the words are too muffled.
“Chase Henley,” Elias says and closes the door behind us. “Or should I call you... Moonlight.”
Elias walks over to the wall across from Chase and picks up a tool.
“Locking pliers,” he says, answering my questioning stare. “Used to... extract things.”
Chase squeals and thrashes in the chair.
“What would you like me to start with, Reine? The nails or the teeth? ”
Chase whimpers this time, and his pleading eyes turn to me.
I tap my finger on my chin. “Hmm. I think the nails. Maybe after you’re done plucking them, you can cut off his fingers.”
Elias groans and grabs me by the back of the neck, crashing his lips against mine.
I open my mouth for him, and he thrusts his tongue in, massaging my own.
Chase’s muffled roar encourages me, and I’m ready to ride Elias right here in front of my ex, but he releases me when my hands take aim for his cock.
“Not yet, Ma Chérie. Let’s have some fun first.”
My pleasure.