Chapter 5
Phoenyx
I am screaming and I cannot stop, but someone is holding me. When I finally manage to open my eyes, Knox is the first thing I see. “I’m sorry,” I say tearfully.
“It’s okay,” he says, cupping my cheek as I stay curled up in his lap. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I sniff. “It wasn’t y’all. I just… it happens. I thought they were gone.”
“It’s okay, Nyx,” he says. “Cade and Callum are here.”
“Oh no,” I sigh and close my eyes.
“I find it a bit funny that they are not surprised that their bratty little sister is a murderer of garbage men,” he says with a smile. “Sit up here and talk to them.”
I sigh and sit up before moving to the edge of the bed. I have someone’s T-shirt on, and it’s cozy. “Hey,” Cade says as he squats down and takes my hands. Callum sits on my other side and hugs me.
“Hi,” I say slowly. “I’m sorry…”
“Do you regret any of it?” he asks.
“No. They deserved it,” I say firmly.
“And Knox?”
“I… assumed that because he was mafia that he was guilty. I should have gotten more information before doing anything,” I say. “Are you in the mafia?”
“Yeah,” he smiles. “Mom and Dad were too. I only found out because they got themselves killed.”
“I thought it was a wreck?” I ask.
“Oh, it was. Someone nicked the brake lines, so when they were coming down the mountain, their brakes went out,” he says.
“Who?” I ask.
“Someone who is no longer a problem,” he says vaguely.
I gasp, and he laughs. “Is murder hereditary?” I ask.
“Apparently,” Callum laughs.
“Are you okay?” Cade asks me. “Seriously? I have no problem killing them.”
“You’re like a feisty wiener dog,” I say, and Knox laughs. “Don’t laugh. You’re like a Jack Russell. You’re just loud, and you never stop.”
“That’s… you didn’t have to put it that way,” Cade says.
“Cade, as creepy as this might sound… all of you have seen every part of me. So… you’ll be okay knowing that it wasn’t traumatic this time,” I say.
“I would love an explanation on that one,” Tripp says.
“That… requires me to start from the beginning,” I say.
“Tell them,” Cade says. “I should have told them. Maybe if you had known about what Mom and Dad were into, you never would’ve been attacked.”
“Don’t blame yourself. I am the one who refused to use the inheritance and ended up living in an apartment on a block that those fuckers run,” I say.
“I need to know what that means, so start from the beginning,” Knox says. I sigh and turn on the bed to face him. Tripp and Rook sit as well.
“Almost eight months ago, I was out getting milk. On the way home, I walked past an alleyway, and I was attacked by three men. The less gruesome version of that is that they beat me with a belt, cut me all over, violently raped me, and then slit my throat. A homeless lady found me, and I was ultimately taken to the hospital. I was in a coma for a week. When I got to leave, I moved in with Cade. I had well over five hundred stitches. Callum started staying with us pretty quickly after that because my nightmares were so violent that I was having to sleep between the two of them to keep from getting hurt. For a while, I couldn’t do anything on my own.
I was in so much pain all the time. I was weak from all the blood loss and dying twice, apparently.
Cade and Callum literally had to do everything for me, from helping feed me to bathing me to helping me in the bathroom.
Outside of my throat, the worst injuries were a pretty severely torn perineum, and I had significant damage to my rectum.
I’m really fucking lucky I didn’t have permanent damage from that.
I think the injury that pissed me off the most was the fact that he bit my titty.
A little over a month ago, I moved into the cabin that is in Cade’s name, and I finally went back to work.
The entire six months I had thought so much about what I could do, and everything led back to getting rid of people like them.
Ultimately, my goal is to find out who they are and make them suffer for what they did to me.
I got mad at you for calling me ‘Birdy’ because that’s what they kept calling me when they were raping me.
I named myself that on the dark web because it’s the only thing I could think of that no one would know. ”
“But them,” Cade says.
“Nyx, honey. I would put money on those three men being the ones that sent you to me,” Knox says.
“They would have known that you are alive. The moment those men started turning up dead with that name attached, they would have known it was you. My theory is that they were trying to get rid of you, so they took advantage of my past to do that.”
“Well… that sucks,” I say. “I mean, I guess it doesn’t entirely suck that I ended up with you guys, but… the moment you addressed knowing that I was there, I knew I’d fucked up.”
“They played on your emotions. Anyone who does what you do for the reasons that you do it would fall for the same thing,” Rook says.
“So, what now?” I ask.
“A few things,” Knox says. “I’m going to say something, and I just want you to listen for a moment. I’m about to throw a lot at you, so I just need you to hear everything first.”
“Okay?” I question.
“I want you to marry me,” he says. I can’t help but smirk at him for that, especially when my brothers do not react.
“Being married to me will automatically grant you protection. Everyone allied with me will protect you. With this, you are not going to be going after random people anymore. If you want to do this, then you are going to go to the source. We are going to find them, confirm the accusations, and fucking kill them. Okay?”
“Just you?” I ask.
“No,” he chuckles. “As far as anyone is concerned, you would belong to all of us.”
“Oh, the visuals,” Cade groans dramatically.
“Why do you want to help me?” I ask.
“A few reasons,” Knox says. “One, your brothers won’t like, but the main reason is they brought me into this by sending you to me.
I have a reputation for being violent and unforgiving, but what people fail to understand is that I do not hurt innocent people.
I avoid killing women, and I will never put a child in danger.
Another reason is that you are quite literally addictive.
It’s not often that I can let myself be that comfortable with someone that quickly, despite what rumors might say.
Behind that is the understanding that you are a strong woman.
I’m confident that you can stand with us and face anything that comes our way.
I know this is not exactly an ideal way to start a marriage.
Regardless of if it grows into genuine love, or if it ends up being like a business transaction, I mentioned it when I said that we owe you. ”
“Plus, you owe him at least an engagement for planning on fucking him with that massive dildo,” Tripp laughs.
“You what?” Callum cackles.
“Yeah… so… the men I killed. I would rape them with a seventeen-inch dildo that had a four-inch girth. After, I would jerk them off until they were about to come, but I wouldn’t let them.
Instead, I cut off their dick and made them swallow it.
I would end everything by slitting their throat,” I explain.
“Okay… I can handle that visual,” Cade laughs. “You are sadist, sis.”
“I think I might be a masochist too,” I laugh.
“I’ll say,” Rook chuckles.
“So… marriage, and then what?” I ask Knox.
“Is that your way of saying that you will marry me?” he asks.
“Yes, as long as you keep doing what you did earlier,” I shrug.
“Deal,” he smiles. “You will stay with us at all times. Every meeting, every shipment, everything. We will work on figuring out who hurt you, and then we will make a plan. We can have a meeting with all of my people tomorrow to let them know the situation. As far as us getting married though, it will be shown as an arranged marriage between your brother and I.”
“Okay. And after I kill them?” I ask.
“We will keep playing with our little puppet, and life will go on,” he says simply.
“Okay,” I smile.
“Tell her everything,” Cade says.
“So… The same people who killed my wife also killed a woman that was pregnant with my child. She was early in her pregnancy, and she had just told me. The next day, her house caught fire, and all the doors and windows were nailed shut,” Knox says.
“That was five years ago. I have just avoided dating.”
“So, what you are saying is that I’m going to get killed?” I ask with a frown.
“No, but I do believe they will resurface,” he says. “We are much more prepared now than before, and you’ll never leave our side until they are found. If they keep with the same pattern, they will pop up in the next few weeks.”
“How confident are you that I will survive?” I ask.
“Completely,” he says. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“I want some kind of reassurance,” I say.
“Like?” he asks.
“Like, if they kill me, everything you own goes to my brothers,” I say simply.
“Phoenyx,” Cade says.
“Okay,” Knox agrees. “I’ll have a contract drawn up on everything. If you are killed, and it is related to me in any way, everything will go to Cade and Callum. If you are hurt in any way, they get half.”
“I didn’t expect you to say that,” I say honestly.
“No one is going to hurt you,” Tripp says.
“Another thing. I’m not on birth control and I have zero intention of getting on it,” I say. “So, you either learn to wear a condom or get comfortable with the idea that you might get me pregnant.”
“Whatever happens, we will handle it,” he says. “If you get pregnant, not only is the child included in this agreement, but three of us will raise the child together with you. You will always be taken care of, no matter if we are together or not.”
“Why me?” I ask. “I am broken…”
“Puppet, we are all a little broken. It turns out that we don’t need all of our pieces and parts to continue to survive,” Knox says.
“This is crazy…”
“About as crazy as revenge raping a man before cutting his dick off and shoving it down his throat,” Rook laughs.
“Fair,” I smile. “I meant it when I said I was not scared of the three of you. If any of you fuck with me, I will kill you in your sleep. Okay?”
“Okay,” Knox smiles. “Cade…”
“I know,” he sighs.
“If you had come to me seven months ago, I could’ve already found the men who hurt her. I understand you wanted to protect her from this world, but she was born into it. Stop hiding things from her,” Knox says.
“So, would this be a good time to tell her that he’s fucking his assistant?” Callum says with a grin.
“I am not fucking my assistant,” he sighs.
“But you want to,” I say. He just smiles, and we all laugh. “I love you, Cade.”
“I love you too, Phoenyx,” he says with the same soft smile.
“Can I go back to sleep now?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he chuckles.
“We can go to the cabin tomorrow before the meeting and get what you need,” Rook says. “I assume your medicine is there?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Not too thrilled that I’m having nightmares again.”
“We will find an outlet for you,” Knox says.
“Killing helped,” I say.
“Well, you can be our secret little weapon, but I meant you need somewhere to put that trauma that is not in murder,” he says.
“Ah. Maybe something that doesn’t involve crying. I hate crying,” I say.
“No crying. Got it,” Knox smiles.
Cade and Callum hug me once more before they leave. I resume laying, curled up under the blanket. I assume they are going to leave me to sleep, but then Knox and Rook lie down with me. I move onto my stomach with my head on my arms. I turn to face Knox, and he smiles.
“What?” he asks.
“When will we be married?” I ask.
“I’ll have paperwork here tomorrow morning when you wake,” he says.
“Mmkay,” I say, closing my eyes. I sigh softly when they both start rubbing my back. This is nice. I could get used to this.