Chapter 33 #3
“And I suppose you’re the better choice?” His question is accompanied by a harsh laugh. “You know, I did my research on you, Special Agent Cole Beckett Foster,” he informs me as he walks slow circles around my strung-up form.
I don’t bother following his movements, choosing to keep my gaze straight ahead to let him know his tactics don’t intimidate me. Nothing pisses a guy like Jason off more than an unimpressed adversary.
“Did some digging once I knew where to look. Found a whole mess of articles with your name in ’em.
About how you couldn’t save your wife and little girl when the cartel slaughtered them in your own home while you were off playing hero.
I bet she screamed for you, too. Your wife.
Real loud. But you didn’t come, did you?
Didn’t save your little girl either. Some father you turned out to be.
And you still think you deserve Charlotte more than I do?
” he asks, coming to a halt in front of me and giving me a smile that makes me want to punch his ridiculous teeth in.
I swallow past the lump of emotion and keep my expression carefully blank, refusing to let him see he’s hit a nerve.
Deep down, I know he’s right. I’d brought danger to my family’s doorstep because all that mattered to me at the time was to bring Carlos Gonzalez’s sick and depraved empire down, and in doing so, I’d hoped to expose every single scumbag involved in keeping the flesh trade such a lucrative business.
I was selfish in my desire to cut off the head of the snake.
Too secure in the illusion that my identity was protected.
I never even considered the possibility that my family could be used as pawns against me.
You’d think being taught such a devastating lesson would’ve been enough to make me more cautious, but the fact that I find myself once again at the mercy of a madman, because I was too slow to call for additional backup when I still had the chance proves I haven’t learned a goddamn thing.
I’m not worried about myself. If this is truly the end of the journey for me, then so be it.
I might even deserve it for having failed the people who trusted me to keep them safe.
But if I die here, Charlie will be right back where she started.
Trapped in a loveless relationship with a man who thrives on violence.
Forced to live a life of fear, with no one in her corner to fight for her, and that just won’t do.
“I may not deserve her,” I finally say in a tone that suggests his words have little effect on me.
“But I’ll sure as shit treat her better than a low-life piece of shit like you ever could.
You see, I’ve also done my research, Jason Wilbur Markham,” I tell him around a grin that’s sure to antagonize him.
But that’s really my only play here, isn’t it?
Rile him up and keep his focus on me and off the woman we both want in order to buy us some time.
“Man, your parents really did a number on you, sticking you with that godawful middle name. I bet you found yourself looking at the bottom of a toilet bowl more than a few times through middle school. Back before you knew what dropping the name of your precious little club could do for you. But no matter how much people came to fear you, you were never quite able to shed that childhood trauma, were you? I get it,” I say, smirking down at him and doing my best to ignore the ache in my shoulders.
“Being humiliated throughout most of your teens must’ve been a tough pill to swallow.
It sticks in your craw like a tiny sliver under your fingernail.
Certainly not a fatal wound, but just irritating enough to remind you it’s there every now and again.
So, you decided to become the bully instead.
Only, the thought of taking on someone capable of challenging you didn’t appeal to you, did it?
We both know weak pricks like you don’t stand a chance in a fair fight.
And that’s when you developed your taste for beating on helpless women,” I drawl, quirking a brow and reveling in the way his jaw clenches.
“They don’t pose as much of a threat. Easier to intimidate.
A spineless piece of shit like you feeds on that fear, don’t you?
Makes you feel all powerful.” I give him a cruel smile before adding, “You know what? I bet my left nut it runs in the family. I bet your daddy used to beat on your sweet mama whenever he needed to feel like a real man, too, isn’t that right? ”
Jason’s face turns a satisfying shade of crimson, and I pin him with a gotcha look, throwing a cocky wink into the mix for good measure.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” I goad him, really getting warmed up now.
“Well, you know what they say? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
There’s also a statistic that suggests the majority of abusers have tiny dicks, but I don’t know how trustworthy the source is on that one.
Although, looking at you has me inclined to believe it. ”
The angry vein throbbing in the middle of his forehead gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction, but to my utter disappointment, he doesn’t take his anger out on me, choosing to give his muscle an encouraging nod instead.
“Shut him up,” he snaps, turning his back on me to wrestle his emotions back under control.
Pleased with my ability to rattle him, I face his goons and flash them a wide grin, temporarily throwing them off.
It doesn’t keep them from carrying out their orders, though, and it doesn’t take long before the first meaty fist collides with my gut and knocks the wind out of me.
They don’t give me time to recover, taking turns pummeling my torso until every single inch of me screams out in agony.
I try to hold back my sounds of distress, in a feeble attempt not to upset Charlie further, but when Razor delivers a particularly vicious shot to my left kidney, my knees give out, and a pained moan escapes me.
That’s when Tink starts to beg in earnest.
“Please, Jason. Make them stop. This has nothing to do with him. He didn’t know who you were when we first started seeing each other. He thought you were out of my life for good. Please. Let him go. I’ll do anything. I’ll be good, I promise.”
“Charlie,” I grunt, breathing through the pain. “Don’t you dare offer this piece of shit anything on my behalf, you hear me? He doesn’t deserve it, and neither do I.”
“You don’t understand,” she cries, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. “They’re going to kill you.”
“I don’t give a shit. I’d rather die than watch you give yourself to this asshole to protect me. It won’t do any good. We all know how this ends, so you keep that pretty mouth shut.”
“Listen to him, Charlotte,” Jason sneers, lifting a hand and gripping my face hard.
When I look into his black soul, my suspicions are confirmed.
In his mind, I’m already dead. But I’ll be damned if I make it easy for him.
“He doesn’t deserve your loyalty,” he continues as he searches my eyes for a sign of weakness.
“You really think a guy like him would be happy playing house out here in the sticks, running some run-down little resort with a basic piece of ass like you? He wouldn’t last a year.
Men like him need adrenaline, the high, the danger.
You’ll never be enough to keep him satisfied.
But don’t worry, darlin’. That’s where I come in.
I’ll give you what you’ve been aching for.
If I’d known you were such a needy little slut, I‘d have put in the extra effort. Maybe then I wouldn’t have wasted my time on club tail, and you wouldn’t have run.
But that’s done now, because I’m back. And I’m gonna take such good care of you. ”
With his sinister promise hanging in the air, he steps back and gestures for his men to continue their assault.
I grit my teeth against the onslaught of heavy hits raining down on my body, twisting myself every which way to protect my soft spots and major organs.
But it only takes a few minutes for me to realize that no matter what I do, this next bit is going to suck.