Chapter Thirty-Five Dare
O n the drive back to Boston, my mind remained laser focused on the task before me. After Ava had left me, I hadn’t played a part in any torture sessions. As our family’s enforcer, Quinn was the one who handled it. Now that Eamon was of age, Quinn would call on him, rather than me.
After four years, I could only assume I was going to be a little rusty. But as my blood raced in my veins, I had a feeling it would all come back to me.
When I arrived at my penthouse, I went straight to the torture room. As I opened the door, adrenaline ricocheted through me. The smell of piss assaulted my nose when I entered the room. Only pussies pissed themselves. It wasn’t too surprising to me that Wesley was a pussy. That’s the only description you could give to men who hurt women.
Fucking pussies.
James had strung up Wesley for me. Since I never wanted to be reminded how Shannon had been tied, he was suspended by cleavers to the shoulder.
At the sound of my footsteps, Wesley raised his head. “Who the fuck are you?”
Chuckling menacingly, I replied, “Big words from a man who pisses himself out of fear.”
Wesley’s bravado momentarily wavered. “Are you the boss?”
“You could say that.”
“Look. Your men got the wrong guy. I don’t know anything about mafia business.”
“Is that right?”
“I swear.”
“There’s nothing you could have possibly done that would result in you being strung up?”
“Nothing.”
I tsked at him. “You lie to me, Wesley, and worse, you lie to yourself.”
As I grew closer to him, he shifted away, causing his chains at his feet to rattle. “You mafia men are all about making deals, right?”
“Yes.”
“How about you and I make one for my freedom?”
“I doubt there’s anything you have that’d want.”
A lascivious grin curved on his lips. “You guys deal in trafficking, right?”
My heart shuddered to a stop in my chest. Jaysus, this guy was more of a piece of shit than I’d ever imagined. “You’re offering to provide me with someone to traffic?”
“You could get a lot of money for her. You let me go, and you can have her.”
“How kind of you,” I gritted out.
“I’m serious. Young, fresh, beautiful.”
As my stomach churned, I questioned, “Where would you find such a gem?”
“I know her. Well, I know her mother.”
The world around me shuddered to a stop. He wasn’t talking about Ava. He was talking about Piper.
My daughter.
A growl erupted in my chest. “A kid?”
“Yeah. They go for millions right? A pretty one like this one I know would. Creamy white skin.”
Red rage clouded my vision. It took everything within me not to grab my knife and slit his fucking throat right there. “You sick motherfucker!” I roared.
Wesley’s brows popped wide. “You don’t deal in kids?”
“Never.”
“Okay, okay. My bad. What about teenage girls? That little girl has some cousins. I could–”
My fist launched into Wesley’s mouth, silencing his filthy, disgusting thoughts. Instead of hitting him again, I grabbed him by the hair, jerking his head up to look him in the eye. “That little girl you wanted to trade me?” She’s my daughter.”
Fear echoed in Wesley’s eyes. “You and Ava?”
“Oh yeah.”
“I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know!”
“There’s a lot of things you didn’t know, but you’re going to learn. Like how long an injection of adrenaline can keep a heart going through extensive torture. The unique smell of burning flesh and muscle.”
Wesley’s body began shaking uncontrollably.
“And finally, you’ll know what it feels like to have your cock cut off and stuffed in that hideous mouth of yours where you choke on it.”
Tears streaked down his cheeks. “Please, no.”
“You were going to kidnap, Ava. Weren’t you?” When he shook his head wildly back and forth, I sent a right hook flying at his cheek. “Don’t fucking lie to me!”
“Yes,” he muttered, which earned him a jab to the ribs.
Walking around him, I asked, “You were going to tie her up and rape her, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” he grunted. I punched him in the kidney, causing him to scream in agony.
“And after you fucked her, you were going to torture her.”
“No.”
I punched him again. “What did I say about lying?”
“Was. Going. To. Sell. Her.
My fist slammed again into his face at the thought of him trafficking Ava. “How dare you try to profit off her abuse,” I snarled.
“She’s….worth….a lot.”
“More than you’ll ever know.” I pounded my fist into his right side.
He shook his head. “People…want…her.” He spit out a stream of blood. “She…is….important.”
Before I could hit him again, his words stopped me cold. “What people want her?”
“Overseas…agent.”
My blood ran cold. “Someone is looking for Ava?”
“Found…out…when…I….was…stalking…her.”
Fuck. Someone else was after Ava?
“How did you find out?”
“Stop…hitting me….and I’ll tell you.”
“Don’t test me,” I snarled. After giving Wesley time to catch his breath, I jerked my chin at him. “All right. Out with it.”
“After I broke in to talk to her–”
Grabbing him by the throat, I countered, “Don’t twist the fucking facts. You broke in to rape her, boyo.”
“Fine,” he choked out. After easing up on his neck, Wesley said, “I knew I couldn’t get to her myself, so I went on the dark web to find someone to take her to bring her to me.”
A shudder went through me at the thought of all the heinous people who could have come for Ava. “Then what happened?”
“Someone saw her picture and started asking all these questions about where she was from and who her parents were. It creeped me out, so I decided just to bide my time until I could get her myself.”
Fuck. Just when I thought I’d taken out the threat against Ava, another fucking one had to pop up. Leaving Wesley, I stalked across the room.
“Where are you going?” he called after me.
After slipping out of the room, I grabbed my phone from my pocket. Instead of dialing our IT specialist, I bypassed him for a better one.
Gianni Neretti was Callum’s brother-in-law. If anyone could find out who the threat was to Ava, it would be him. He answered on the third ring. “What’s up, D?”
“Hey man. I need a favor.”
He chuckled. “I imagined as much since you were calling.”
“I need an extensive background check on Ava Carras. I want to know anyone who could possibly have a beef with her.”
A pause came on the line. “Is she someone important to you?”
“Very.”
“Gotcha. I’m on it.”
“I don’t have to tell you how serious this is, right?”
“Nope. I hear you loud and clear.”
“Thanks, man.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks.”
When I hung up with Gianni, I called Niall. “I want a double team on Ava’s house.”
“Did the fucker escape?” Niall questioned.
“There’s a new threat.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I wish I was.”
“I’m on it.”
“Great. Thanks.”
As I turned to go back into the room, my blood thirst had tempered. More than anything, I just wanted to get back to Ava and Piper. When I stalked back over to him, Wesley was weeping softly. “In lieu of the information you gave me, my plans have changed.”
Hope bloomed in his eyes at my words. “You’re letting me go?”
A cruel smile curved on my lips. “Why would I do that?”
“So I can find the information for you.”
“What makes you think I need you?”
“But…I…”
Reaching into my suit pocket, I pulled out a gleaming knife. “No, no! Please!” Wesley screamed.
Reaching for his belt buckle, I said, “I’m just going to fast forward to the showstopper. You remember, don’t you? The part where you choke to death on your own cock.”
And in that moment, I became the monster Ava feared I was.