Chapter 25
“ROME” ARANKAI, DAL AV
S ticking to the shadows close to the front of the mansion, I watch Justin and Jerry argue in angry whispers near Justin’s parked car. While I was taking care of a drunk Madison, Justin must have run straight to Jerry and told him what happened.
From what I can hear when their voices rise enough for me to make out what they’re saying, Justin claims he was trying to have a private moment with Madison before I interrupted them in a “fit of rage.”
Justin paints a detailed picture made out of shit, and Jerry falls for it. It’s interesting how quickly my stepfather panders to this man’s whims.
“—had a deal. If she doesn’t come around soon, I’ll take matters into my own hands, Jerry,” Justin snarls, raising his voice loud enough for me to hear.
I cock my head.
A deal?
“I’ll have a talk with her.” Jerry pinches the bridge of his nose and slips his other hand into his pocket.
Over my dead body, he will.
Justin raises his chin and squares his shoulders. “And if you don’t take care of that asshole, then I will.”
A tiny smile breaks across my face. Good. I’m glad I got under his skin. I only hope Jerry doesn’t get suspicious of Madison and me because I defended her. It’s already too late to take it back. Not that I would anyway, but I don’t want my sister to panic.
Jerry drops his hand and pins Justin with a hardened expression. He says something in a lower tone, but I can’t catch the exact words.
My eyebrows pinch together, and I creep closer so I can hear better. I pause when Jerry takes a step away from Justin, his other hand slipping into his pocket.
“You sure you can drive?” he says. “You can still stay here for the night.”
Justin turns his head toward the house, looking directly at me, but not seeing me. He’s silent for a few seconds, and I begin to wonder if he really can see me, but his attention slips back to Jerry.
“I’d rather not,” Justin says. “Not when he’s there.”
Jerry nods once. “Very well. Be safe.”
Justin slips behind the wheel and shuts the door once he’s settled in the seat.
Jerry doesn’t hang around to see him off.
He turns and strides toward the front door.
I sink further into the shadows, my back pressing against the house as Jerry passes by and walks inside.
The front door quietly shuts behind him, and I creep toward my motorcycle as Justin pulls out of the driveway.
I slip my hand into my pocket, pull out my skull mask, and lower it over my head, followed by my helmet.
I grab my key from my pocket and push it into the ignition, then follow Justin as he drives across town.
I leave a good amount of space between us so he doesn’t get spooked and take off—not that I couldn’t keep up, but it would ruin the fun I’d have with him.
Rage burns through my veins as the memory of Justin hurting Madison pops into my head. The look of terror on her face as he dangled her over the patio banister will haunt me for the rest of my life.
By the time Justin pulls into his driveway, I’m seeing red, and ideas about how I’ll make him pay for what he did rush through my mind. Justin climbs from behind the wheel and turns toward me as I race up the driveway and park a foot away from him. He jumps back, his features twisting in fear.
I storm toward him and flip up the visor so nothing gets lost in translation. Justin lunges to the side, and I catch him before he can escape. I turn him around and shove his chest against his car with my arm looped around his neck.
“What . . . the . . . fuck?” Justin growls between gasping breaths as I close his airway.
“We’re not done talking.” I shove my chest against his back to pin him against the car, leaving him no room to wiggle his way out of my grasp.
His breath gurgles and his movements slow the longer I hold him in a headlock. Justin digs his blunt nails into my bare forearm, though the pressure lessens as he struggles for air.
“Let me make myself clear, Justin,” I say.
“You’re going to end your engagement with Madison.
You won’t come near her again. You won’t breathe anywhere near her.
You won’t call or text her. And you sure as shit won’t ever think about her again, especially when you’re beating your dick. Do you understand me?”
Justin’s hands fall limp, and right before he passes out, I loosen my hold around his throat. He sucks in a ragged breath.
It pisses me off that this motherfucker is alive, but I can’t kill him. Not with Jerry in his corner, making this into a bigger mess than it needs to be. Silencing Justin and forcing him to walk away from my sister is the best I can do right now.
A husky laugh breaks me out of my seething thoughts. Justin turns his head, his cheek flat on the car, and his gaze shifts to me as he laughs. “You think you can threaten me and get away with it?”
“Oh, I know I can.” I grab my pocketknife and release the blade. Justin tenses as I tap the blade’s flat side against his thigh. “I know where you live, and I will kill you in your sleep before you can utter a word to Jerry.”
Justin huffs out a laugh. “You think that scares me? I know far scarier people than you.”
A tiny smile tugs at my lips. “You need a demonstration, then. Got it.”
Justin’s eyes widen. He yelps as I grab his hand and slam it against the car while keeping him pinned in place.
“You owe me your hand and tongue, but I’ll only collect two of your fingers tonight,” I say.
Justin yells as I extend the fingers on his right hand.
I wind my arm around his neck and tighten until his screams die out.
Justin’s body slumps as he toes the line of blacking out.
I drag him to the ground and straddle his stomach while holding his right hand and my knife.
Justin’s eyelashes flutter and his eyes roll as all the blood rushes back to his head.
“Make a sound and I’m taking a third finger,” I warn.
All I get from him is a subtle groan. I single out his index finger and drag my blade through flesh and bone. Justin’s body arches, and he throws his head back with a scream.
I shake my head and smile. “Three, then.”
I cut off his thumb, and Justin flails beneath me, begging me to stop. By the time I take his middle finger, he’s sobbing as sweat coats his forehead and temples. I lean back and watch him as he cries like the pussy that he is.
“I won’t tell anyone,” he says between sobs. “Just let me go!”
This is the man Madison was going to marry? It’s pathetic, really, how he changes his tune as soon as he experiences pain.
“What did you mean earlier about a deal?” I ask.
Justin’s eyelids crack open, and he peers at me with glassy, bloodshot eyes. “Wh-what?”
“You said something to Jerry about a deal. What deal?”
“N-nothing.”
I lean forward and grab him by the throat, squeezing with enough pressure to make it harder for him to breathe, but not impossible. “That fourth finger of yours is calling my name.”
Justin’s eyes flare wide, and he stumbles over his words. “Jerry is paying me to marry Madison. It was a deal.”
I grit my teeth. “What does he get out of it?”
“An heir.”
“That can’t be all,” I say.
My stepfather doesn’t care about anybody but himself. Having a grandchild to pass any wealth or power to isn’t something Jerry would do. It’s always what can benefit him now .
Justin swallows hard and shakes his head. “He’ll receive ownership of a stock from my uncle?—”
Red bleeds into my vision, and I squeeze my hand over his wounds. Justin screws his eyes shut and yells, all the fight returning to him as he throws himself from side to side to get out from beneath me.
It doesn’t make sense for Justin’s uncle to lose stock in exchange for his nephew marrying Madison. The only one who benefits from that would be Jerry.
My molars grind together until they feel like they’re about to break. Jerry sold Madison to a man to get richer. That’s how little she means to him.
“I told you everything!” Justin yells.
I tighten my grip around his throat. Justin’s screams die out, and his eyes bulge out of his head as he fights for air. I lean forward until the extended piece of my helmet touches his face.
“You come near my sister again, and I’ll throw you down a set of stairs, drag you outside, and curb-stomp the fuck out of you until you’re a part of the cement. Do you hear me?”
Justin’s eyes roll into the back of his head; he’s most likely on the brink of passing out. I loosen my hold on his throat, once again allowing this piece of shit to breathe when he doesn’t deserve it.
Most of the people within the secret society aren’t good—even the people who unknowingly work with them. They’re corrupt. The Kings and Queens don’t care about anything but themselves and what they can gain.
None of them deserves to breathe.
They can threaten to kill me all they want. Death hasn’t scared me since I stopped giving a fuck about life. The only thing that makes life remotely good is Madison—as much as she drives me up a wall.
Now this asshole wants to take the one person I give a fuck about. He hurt her. Scared her.
Madison is mine. Always has been and always will be, and no one will take her from me.
Justin lets out a ragged breath. “Fine. I’ll leave her alone and won’t tell anyone. Just let go of me.”
I smile and gently slap his cheek. “Good choice.”
I release Justin and gather his dismembered fingers, then shove them into my pocket before I stand.
He rolls onto his side and curls into a fetal position as he tucks his mutilated hand against his chest. I mount my motorcycle and right before I take off, Justin says something loud enough for me to hear over the engine.
“Watch your back,” he says. “You never know who’s got their eye on you.”