Chapter 28
Damien
I’ve killed my pet. I’ve killed my pet. I’ve killed my pet.
The words echo in my mind like a horrific refrain, haunting me, preventing me from sleeping. Life has devolved into a single endless migraine, and every breath I take feels like a desperate gasp for air.
She’s gone. I’ve killed her.
-
The previous day.
“You’re not going to believe what we’ve found.”
I pause, a cigarette at my lips.
I’ve just chain-smoked the entire pack. I hadn’t touched one since high school, but I’ve fallen off the wagon, hard. My girl messes with me in ways I can barely wrap my head around.
“The Feds have a whole file on her. They—”
“Vincent,” I cut him off. “Right now, I don’t give a fuck about the Feds. I want to find my pet. Where did your uncle take her? Where is Gabriel keeping her?”
I narrow my eyes at him, and he looks down.
My assistant may have sworn loyalty to Devil, but I still have a pinprick of doubt about him.
He is, after all, very closely related to the leader of the Angels and his brother.
Even though his father, the third brother, is one of the few non-corrupt prosecutors in the state, and wants nothing to do with them.
I found Vincent after he’d been beaten to a pulp by Gabriel. I accepted that he wanted no part of Angel. Still, I’ve remained cautious around him. And today, I’m more wary than ever.
I’m pretty sure the kid knows of my suspicions. He also knows that if anything happens to my pet, he’s a dead man.
The minute I received Gabriel’s text, I had him start tracing her. But now, he’s talking to me about the Feds. What the fuck.
“Just listen,” he pleads. “This is serious.”
“You know what’s serious?” I grunt. “My girl, in the hands of your uncle.” I relent when I see his urgent expression. “Fine, tell me. But be quick about it.”
“They’re on her,” he says quickly. “I don’t think they know she was… in captivity.” He mouths the last words. “But they know she’s involved with Devil, and she’s become a target of their investigation. They’ve started researching her past.”
“Okay.” I nod, annoyed. This was all to be expected. Right now, it doesn’t matter. She’s in imminent danger.
“They’ve found some stuff,” he hedges. “More stuff than I’d found.”
“What?” I growl.
“They’ve discovered… it wasn’t a murder-suicide. She killed her father.”
The cigarette remains frozen at my lips, its butt burning my fingers.
“The minute you find her and bring her back, they’ll swoop in,” he adds.
“She’ll be fucked. They’re going to arrest her on murder charges.
Maybe they’ll offer her a plea bargain if she talks about you.
But she won’t get out of a long sentence anyway, and you know as well as I do that if she rats she’s dead the moment she walks into prison. ”
Just then, the door to my office bursts open, and Vale pops his head in.
“What happened to knocking?” I growl, more out of habit than anything else.
I feel weirdly detached from my body. Like I’m staring at what’s happening from far away.
Suddenly, every problem that’s kept me from sleeping for the past year has faded away in importance.
All that matters is her. I would gladly go to prison for the rest of my life if it meant protecting her. I would happily fry.
“We found her,” mutters Vale.
I jump up.
“We also found the car that took her,” he adds quickly.
“Her belongings are still in there. A bag full of her shit. And get this.” He pauses for dramatic effect while I click my tongue impatiently.
“She had the nanochip. We found it in her belongings. To be specific, we found it in that cheap locket she stole.”
I pause, staring at him. He glares right back.
“You’re going to kill her,” he says.
It’s not a question; it’s a statement.
I keep my eyes glued on him, and in his eyes, I read a world of threats.
If you don’t do it, I will. And I’ll kill you too. I’ll fuck you up and Devil will be mine.
In that moment, I know he’s dead.
But not yet. Not for a while. I can’t kill him just like that. He has powerful allies. It’s going to be a slow, carefully-planned execution. I’m going to need to bide my time. Figure out how to corner him.
Just like he’s cornering me right now.
My little pet. So, she is guilty. I’m going to have to punish her harshly for it.
I owe Devil that much, at least. Right now, though, I can’t find it in myself to be angry, I’m far too worried about her.
But the minute I have that sweet creature in my possession again, I will give her the punishment of a lifetime.
My cock grows hard at the thought.
And then, I will have to let her go.
The sudden solution to the Feds, to Vale, to Angel, hits me like a ton of bricks. But it’s the only way to protect her. Anyway, it won’t be forever.
I’ll have Vincent following her at all times, and the minute the heat is off me, I’ll take her far away where nothing and no one will ever hurt her again. In the meantime, she won’t be in real danger.
Still, the solution terrifies me. But I can’t think of any other way out.
“Damien.” Vale growls my name.
“Where is she?” I ask, still dazed.
“I said, you’re going to kill her. Tell me you’re going to kill her.”
I nod, my mouth dry. “I am.”
Vincent jerks his head at me in surprise. My words have the ring of truth. I’m a very good poker player.
“Alright,” relents Vale. “She’s been taken to that abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of…”
I’m gone before he’s finished his sentence. Vincent follows me out, and he hands me a loaded gun. We rush to the garage, and I head toward the car I know Vale bugged. Vincent slides into the driver’s seat, and we barrel out of Devil Tower.
Vale, the fucking idiot. I seethe as the face of that smug bastard flashes before me. His schemes are grotesque. He really thinks he can bug me and I won’t realize it?
I write out a message to Logan.
Me: Found her. On my way to get her.
A moment later I see his answer.
Logan: Thank God. Where? I’ll join.
Me: No, I got it. But I need you for after. Gonna have to kill her.
There’s a minute-long pause, and then Logan’s message makes my phone vibrate:
Logan: Risky, no?
Me: Only way to protect her. Feds are on her, Vale wants her dead. We have to fake her death. Otherwise, they’ll get her.
Logan: How will you tell her?
I hesitate for a moment, then slowly type out my answer.
Me: I won’t. I’ll let her believe she’s going to die. She’s guilty.
Logan: WTF? You sure? Can’t believe it.
Me: We found the nanochip in her stuff. Have to punish her.
Logan: Fucking hell. But that’s a harsh punishment. Even from you.
Me: Can’t bring myself to belt her after last time. But I won’t leave her in a state of fear for too long. One hour feels right.
Logan: Well, she’s yours. Guess you decide.
Fuck yeah, she’s mine. Mine to punish. And she is guilty.
Anyone else would be flayed alive if they’d done what she had.
I have no doubt Vale fully believes, at last, that I’m done with her.
Maybe he doesn’t quite believe I’d kill her with my own hands.
But he doesn’t have a doubt that I’ll order her death.
The old Damien would have. The new Damien...
The new Damien would burn the world down to protect her.
My phone buzzes again.
Logan: Anyway, I don’t want anything to do with it.
Me: I might need your help.
Logan: Why?
Me: Needs to be believable. He might have doubts if I pulled the trigger myself.
Logan: I mean it, D. Leave me out of it.
I sigh and throw the phone aside. My migraine is back. This is not the time for it. I’m about to barge into enemy territory and take my girl out of there, right under the noses of five bloodthirsty guys. I need to stay sharp.
My fingers crisp around my gun as Vincent pulls to a stop in front of a side door of the warehouse. Well, here goes.
I take a deep breath and slip inside.
-
Present.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?”
I stare at Logan. He’s walking around in circles, massaging his head, and I find myself wondering if my migraine is contagious. Then he comes to a stop in front of me, his eyes set back in deep crevasses, the dark bags contrasting with a smooth face that looks odd without its usual smirk.
I’ve only seen him like this once before. It was the morning after I left him to man the ship at Devil Tower the first time. I asked him to look after my pet while I tried to build up a wall of protection to prevent the Feds from closing in on us.
The thought flashes in my mind again. What did he do?
But I push it aside. We have far greater issues right now.
Namely, my girl is gone.
“It was a mistake. We shouldn’t have done it. Not this way.”
Logan’s words ring true, and I bite down on a furious reply. He’s right. And it was my fault. My decision. “I’m going to fucking kill Vincent.”
“You can’t kill him for a mistake you made,” lashes out Logan.
“He should’ve kept a better watch on her.”
“He did his best to trail her without alerting anyone to her existence. Everyone believes her dead, Damien. If he got too close, they would have found her.”
“We should have set up a safe house. What were we thinking, letting her go free like that? What was I thinking?”
“We didn’t have a choice,” argues Logan. “There was no time. We thought that with Vincent trailing her, we’d be able to keep her safe for a few days. Just long enough for us to deal with the situation, and then get her back. We couldn’t have known it would turn to shit so fast.”
I’m the one who’s pacing now, cracking my knuckles, my hands shaking as I try to keep them from punching holes in the wall.
“Is she still alive, do you think?”
My voice comes out needy, begging, throaty from keeping the tears at bay, and Logan glances up at me in surprise. He’s never seen me like this. But I can’t help it, and I don’t want to try anymore.
“I don’t know,” he says slowly. “I… I think there’s a good chance she isn’t. There was a lot of blood.”
I’ve killed my pet. I’ve killed my pet. I’ve killed my pet.