Chapter 24
Kasimir~
Once Zoya felt satisfied that Jim Giles and Daryll Joseph had gotten the picture, I had escorted her from the storage container, then I’d had Yuri escort her home, trusting that he’d make sure to keep her safe.
Granted, it’d been unnecessary since everyone associated with the Korolevs already knew what would happen if anything were to happen to Zoya.
Aurora’s kidnapping had made sure of that.
So, with Zoya safely at home, it was now just me and the two men that she wanted to see dead, and I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t feel positively giddy right now. My broken mind enjoyed this kind of shit far too much to ever be considered sane, but I didn’t mind the diagnosis.
I liked myself.
“Honestly, I’d feel sorry for you guys if I didn’t get off on this,” I stated conversationally. “Of course, there’s the whole lacking remorse thing that I have going on as well, but that’s neither here nor there.”
“We...we didn’t know...” Jim sputtered, every word a painfully jagged effort.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, Ms. Jensen has also ceased to be an issue,” I informed them. “So, you can say hi to her when I finally send you to Hell.”
Ignoring that he said, “I...I have a wife...”
“So, you’ve mentioned,” I remarked absently. “Well, how would you feel if a friend of mine and I had broken into your house, tied up your mother-in-law, beat your wife for something that she didn’t have, and then shot them both, leaving them to die? I bet you’d be pissed.”
“Just...just end...end it...” Daryll groaned. “Ple...please...”
“Really?” I scoffed. “Hmm...I would have pegged you for having more stamina.”
Currently, both men were still strung up like dead carcasses waiting to be skinned, and I knew for a fact that their body weight had already turned their shoulders numb from the pain of being suspended for so long.
A person’s arms were not made to hold the full body weight of a grown man for long hours, and we’ve been here long enough for both men to have already pissed themselves from both pain and being unable to hold their bladders any longer.
All of their wounds were also superficial-to-concerning, not wanting them to die too quickly.
Their tongues were also still intact because I wanted to hear them beg until their last breath.
After everything that Zoya had told me, I wanted these sonsofbitches to beg in the same way that they’d made my girl beg for her life.
I wanted their pride stripped until there was nothing left.
So, as of right now, there were a few broken ribs happening, a few broken fingers (the exact same ones that Zoya had broken), a missing ear, and all four kneecaps were shattered to shit. So, even if I did release them from the suspension chains, neither would be able to stand up any-damn-way.
Nevertheless, through all of that, it was the ribs that were the true source of their pain.
On a good day, a crack rib still hurt like a sonofabitch...
however, ribs that were actually broken were as painful as it could get.
Every breath felt like torture, and with a compromised chest plate, it was easy for pneumonia to set in, and any kind of cough, sneeze, or hiccup made a person wish for death.
“I’m also sorely disappointed in you, Mr. Giles,” I prattled on.
“For someone who keeps bringing up his wife, you’re leaving this world with no life insurance policy that will help her out in her time of need, and who in the fuck does that?
I mean, you’re a real estate broker...I thought all you professional types were all about the proper paperwork.
Instead, you’re going to leave her with nothing but a bunch of bills to pay and a costly funeral debt if I decide to let the police find your bodies. ”
“Y...you won’t get a...away with...with this...” Daryll panted.
“You must have already reached the delusional stage if you really think that,” I quipped.
“Firstly, I am not an amateur. Secondly, if a mistake has been made, I have enough cops on my payroll to make sure that it never leads back to me or any Korolev. Seriously, how do you think we’ve managed to stay out of prison for so long?
I mean, look at what you two clowns were willing to do for fifty-thousand dollars.
I’ve got plenty of cops willing to sell their firstborn for ten times that much. ”
“Then just kill us!” Jim yelled...or tried to. With his throat raw and loss of blood making him weak, his screams weren’t as commanding as they’d been earlier.
“And deprive myself the right and privilege to avenge my fiancé?” I scoffed. “Not a chance.”
“You’ve...you’ve already...ave...avenged her,” Daryll choked out.
I shook my head, looking between the two men. “Zoya wants you to suffer, and you’re nowhere close to what I view as acceptable suffering for what you did to her and her mother.”
Daryll shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
Walking to stand in front of him, I said, “Here’s the thing...
while she couldn’t tell us much about her attackers because they’d been wearing masks, she was able to tell us how the man who beat her had blue eyes, and I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you which one of you has blue eyes and which one has brown, do I? ”
“Oh, God...” he whimpered.
“So, while I do plan on taking my time with Mr. Giles...you? You, I’m going to skin you alive. I am going to remove it inch by fucking inch. By the time that I’m done with you, you will have been driven to madness, and I can’t wait.”
Daryll Joseph started crying, and I honestly didn’t think any less of him for it. After all, despite having been ballsy enough to rob Zoya, this kind of shit was definitely not in his wheelhouse. Robbing two defenseless women wasn’t at all in the same league as what I was currently playing at.
Not even close.
So, for the next two hours, I alternated my specialties between the two men, paying more attention to Jim Giles since he’d been more of a patsy just along for the ride.
Yes, he’d been the one to shoot Zoya and her mother, but he never would have orchestrated this on his own.
His friend had asked him for a favor, promising a big payday, and Jim Giles had agreed.
As for shooting Zoya and her mother, amateurs tended to panic a lot.
Once it was clear that Mr. Giles was no longer with us, I left him dangling where he was, his organs hanging on the outside of his body for everyone to see, which was the main reason why I’d left Daryll’s eyes alone.
Had I beaten his face, his eyelids would have been too swollen to really get a good look at his fate.
However, when I caught him closing them, I threatened to cut his eyelids off, which had prompted him to cooperate a little better.
“So, now it’s just you and me,” I practically sang with delight. “Tell me, do you think I should let the police find Mr. Giles’ body or not? I mean, do you think his wife would rather remember him when he was in one piece, or do you think she’d want to tell what’s left of him goodbye?”
“I...I think you’re...you’re a...a monster...” he said, his voice quiet and rather empty.
“Monster?” I echoed, pretending to give the word some consideration.
“See, I think a man willing to rob two defenseless women for money is a monster. I think a man who would beat a woman unconscious for answers is a monster. Yeah, no...I’m what monsters fear, Mr. Joseph.
I’m what keeps them up at night, and I quite enjoy the job. ”
“Then you’re a psychopath,” he amended.
“You think so?” I quipped. “I prefer the word passionate. I’m very passionate about the things I do. After all, how you do anything is how you do everything, correct?”
“Zoy...Zoya will never...never love you,” he sputtered. “She’s a good person...she’ll...she’ll never love a...a monster like you.”
I leaned closer to his face. “Except that she does. Thanks to you, I might add. Had you not killed her mother, then she wouldn’t have needed me to get her revenge, and I cannot thank you enough for that.”
“Then kill me already,” he begged.
“Not a chance,” I laughed. “When I get home, I want to be able to tell Zoya that you pleaded for hours, and it’s only been a couple. I also might give her your blue eyes as a souvenir.”
“Ple...please...”
I shook my head in mock understanding. “You really should have done your homework before you decided to rob Zoya, but I get it. Pussy really does fuck with a man’s mind.”
Another three hours later, Daryll Joseph was as dead as Jim Giles, and you’d think that I’d feel exhausted, but I didn’t; I felt fucking exhilarated.
I also wasn’t worried about the mess. We used these storage containers for legitimate purposes also, so if a blue light were to be shined inside here, a lot of the blood would be from fish blood and guts. Granted, it’d never get that far, but you still couldn’t be too careful.
Just then, my phone rang, and when I pulled it out of my pocket, I saw that it was my brother, probably checking in since these kills were personal and close to home.
“What’s up?” I answered cheerfully.
“Aurora’s water just broke,” he announced, and holy fucking shit.
We were about to have a baby.