Chapter 26 #2
Jac watches the full encounter, springing into action when he realises Camila is frozen to the spot.
He shoves his gun into his cargo trouser pocket and rushes over to the bar, pulling out a clean glass and filling it with water from the soda gun.
He pushes the table back towards us, my hand shoots out to stop him from moving the table any further, and we’re locked in a staredown for a few seconds before he relents and places the glass in front of her.
She doesn’t acknowledge it. She simply stares.
She’s numb. Mentally checked out.
I’m going to fucking find out whatever happened with her and Aidan up there.
But most importantly, my heart slices open at the knowledge that I’ve also caused this. I’ve done this to her. I drop my chin to my chest and berate myself and my brain for not letting me function like a normal fucking human being.
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath and glance over at Camila one more time before facing Jac. “Jac, help me.”
He nods and follows me out of the booth. I glance at Camila again as we walk towards Aidan’s bloodied body. I fold my hands under his shoulders while Jac takes his legs. We heave his body up onto the stage in front of the pole.
“Tie him up,” I order. Jac’s mouth jumps up at the corner, knowing exactly what’s about to happen to this piece of shit.
Concern and rage mix together in a swirl of nausea in my stomach as I take another look at Camila and see her in the same position we left her in, her glass of water still full.
More than that, Jayden is locked down in our basement. Luckily for him, I already had plans to make his death as painful as possible for even looking in Camila’s direction.
Jac returns seconds later with a rope and duct tape, wasting no time in tying Aidan up. His face is a mask of calm, but I know the storm of chaos brewing inside him. I’ve seen him enough times in action to recognise it.
His mind isn’t as perfect as he likes to make it out to be.
Aidan releases a low groan as Jac finishes tying his torso to the pole. I grab an open bottle of expensive vodka from the bartop and pour it on the wound in his leg. He’s not worth the expensive shit, but it’s the cheapest we have.
“Wake the fuck up, you prick,” I sneer.
He lets out a shaky yell as the spirit seeps into his wound, chest rising and falling rapidly.
Jacques rounds the pole with duct tape in his hand.
The sound of tape ripping fills the room as he tears it from the roll and slaps a strip of it over Aidan’s mouth.
His eyes pinch at the corners, and he winces as the back of his head makes contact with the metal.
His eyes peel open, and he lets out a muffled laugh as he takes in his surroundings, eyes landing on me.
He twists his head to the side, his gaze catching Camila’s, who’s still in the same position.
I lash out, taking two long steps towards him and connecting my fist with his jaw.
It makes a resounding crack as his head whips to the other side, and he lets out a strangled cough.
“Do not look at her,” I growl. “You look at me and only me from now on.”
He laughs through the tape again as he lolls his head back to the middle of the pole, his grey eyes locking on mine in mock amusement. Jac bends down behind him, pressing a knife into the apple of his throat and smiling when he feels Aidan’s body stiffen, all amusement gone.
“Good. Now, we’re going to ask questions, and you’re going to answer them,” I state, my voice full of malice. I nod towards Jac, who rips the tape off his mouth, leaving behind a bright red mark. Aidan immediately hunches over, coughing up blood onto his legs.
Once the coughing stops, his laugh returns.
I’m getting really fucking sick of his laughter. I feel like I’m missing a joke here.
He slowly pulls himself to sit, eyes and movements still groggy from being knocked out.
“Xander, Xander. Your little bitch dog here was right—you really have no idea what’s going on.”
Jac moves. He grabs what little blonde hair Aidan has in a fist and slams him back into the pole again. Aidan groans, his legs pulling up into his stomach.
“Bitch dog?” Jac snaps while he continues pulling Aidan’s head back. His head slips to the side of the pole, and it looks like Jac might actually snap his neck as his face starts turning red from the lack of air.
“Jac,” I bark. He snaps his wild gaze to mine and pushes Aidan’s head forward, letting go of his hair.
Aidan pulls in a few breaths of air before speaking. “You’ve been so distracted by some blonde-haired pussy that you’ve let your little empire start slipping.”
I’m trying really fucking hard to keep my composure. If I had it my way, fucker would already be dismembered and down the bottom of a river somewhere.
I look to Jac, silently communicating to him to refrain from completely obliterating this prick.
Jac walks to stand beside me, seemingly leisurely, but I see the stiffness in his step.
He is dying to get his fill of crazy.
“So tell me, Aidan. What the fuck have you done with our money and drugs?” Jac asks as casually as possible.
Aidan cackles again, and I think my body is on the verge of exploding from restraining myself.
“You thought it would be that easy to get information out of me?”
And that’s all the permission I needed to poke the beast.
I grab a small salt shaker and a wedge of lime from behind the bar and return to Jac and Aidan.
Aidan moves his leg, wincing from the pain.
Before he can continue, I slam my hand down on his ankle, pushing his leg back onto the floor and pouring the salt into the gunshot wound. He yells in agony, but it’s not enough.
Not for what he did to Camila.
Not for what he called Jacques.
I squeeze the lime into it next, and the wound starts fizzing, making a sizzling sound.
His yell turns into something more intense, enough to break eardrums. I grab his discarded gun from the floor and jump back onto the stage, pressing the barrel of it deep into the wound.
I’m met with resistance, so I add more pressure.
His flesh squelches, and his screams intensify.
“FUCK! Okay, okay,” he manages to get out through gasps. I look at his red face, the veins popping out of various places on his face and neck. A bead of sweat rolls down his face as I stop moving the gun deeper.
I can feel Jac watching me with surprise. I don’t like to do the painful part. That’s Jac. But the first thing I thought of when I saw Camila in his grip was how I was going to kill this motherfucker.
Aidan regains his bearings, still panting, but he rolls his neck and gives me a shit-eating grin with bloody teeth.
Jac sighs and swiftly stabs his knife into his thigh. He screams in pain.
“I’m only going to ask this one time. Who do you work for?” Jac asks, enunciating every word.
Aidan glares at him. I hold the salt shaker above Jac’s knife as he twists it, making Aidan shake and attempt to cover his scream. He squeezes his eyes shut as the salt moves deeper with the knife, his body convulsing away from the pole.
He can’t contain his yell any longer, so he lets it out.
“You.” Aidan jerks his chin towards Camila.
“Luke’s coming for you. Run while you have the chance, bitch.
I’d take you with me, but we both know I’m not getting out of here.
” He turns to face us again, gurgled breaths leaving him.
“Jayden was a sneaky bastard. He’s working for that crazy ex of hers. ”
Our heads whip towards Camila just as glass shatters on the floor. Her eyes dart to everyone but me.
And that fucking hurts more than anything I’ve ever been through.