22. Gemma
Chapter twenty-two
Gemma
W e pull into the underground parking of Finn’s penthouse. I was a little worried about Viktor waking on the way over here, but Nikolai assured me the little night-night shot he gave him would keep him under with plenty of time to spare. When the car stops underneath the building, our headlights point toward Finn and Alessia, standing arm in arm in front of the elevator door. Eoghan wasn’t totally on board with me coming here with him, but there was no chance in hell I was going to miss this, and since I’m here, Alessia has insisted on being here with me.
Eoghan pops the trunk before exiting the vehicle, and I follow. Alessia walks up to my door and wraps me in a hug.
“It’s almost over,” she says quietly, and I nod, returning her embrace.
We walk around to the trunk and the five of us stare inside at the unconscious man who’s responsible for so much fear and weeks of sleepless nights. At least for me, and in turn, probably Eoghan as well.
“How many bullets does he have in him?” Finn asks.
“Only two,” Eoghan replies. “Plus, he’s definitely concussed from Gemma kicking him in the head.”
“You were out there when he broke in?” Alessia asks, turning her worried gaze to me.
“No, I was in the bedroom just like Eoghan asked. I was a good girl and followed directions.” Eoghan scoffs next to me, and I shoot him a withering look. “I came out after Nik had already shot him, and they had him on the ground.”
“Let’s get this piece of shit inside,” Finn says, nodding at two of the guards who are always here. There’s a bunch of shit around here that even I don’t know about, so this place is never left unattended.
They reach into the trunk and haul Viktor out, one grabbing him under the arms and the other grabbing his ankles.
“He looks so…weak. Like he’s someone’s drunk uncle they’re carrying to bed,” I say as I watch them take him through a door to the right of where we parked.
Alessia looks at me with raised brows. “Are you in shock?”
Am I? I shrug because it’s entirely possible I’m losing my ever-loving mind at this point. I’m about to watch my father be murdered, probably tortured a bit beforehand, and I can’t find it in myself to care one bit.
“We can go upstairs and wait for them to finish,” Alessia offers, but I shake my head.
“No. I’m not sitting around waiting for them to tell me it’s done. I need to see him take his last breath.”
A look of understanding passes between the two of us. Alessia knows better than to argue with me, so she simply takes my hand and leads me into the room on the other side of the door.
One thing I never imagined in my entire life is what a kill room looks like. It kind of reminds me of those cop shows where there’s a dark room with a two-way mirror facing a brightly lit white room with a chair in the middle. There’re a couple folding chairs on this side and a tray of various instruments used for all sorts of gruesome things, I’m sure, on the other. The guards set Viktor on the chair and cuff his hands behind his back and his ankles to the metal.
Eoghan stands next to me and Finn is next to Alessia, but Nikolai is on the other side of the open doorway in the room with Viktor, staring at the man. Though I can’t see his face, the hatred he feels is almost a tangible thing, with his body tense as though he’s ready to attack at any moment. I have a feeling the torture part of this little show is going to go quickly. Nikolai doesn’t look like he can handle his father taking many more breaths.
Eoghan turns to me, and I face him, our eyes locking. His hand cups my cheek before he rests his forehead against mine. “Are you sure you don’t want to go upstairs?”
“No.” My voice is firm. “I want to see the monster die.”
Eoghan nods and kisses my forehead, holding his lips there for a few still moments. Then he releases me and steps through the door. Finn kisses Alessia briefly and follows his brother.
The door closes, but we can still hear everything they’re saying, thanks to the speaker above the glass.
“Here,” Finn says, holding a syringe to Eoghan. “Shoot this into his neck.”
Eoghan takes the needle and does as instructed. The second he pulls the empty syringe from Viktor’s body, the man wakes with wide eyes, immediately struggling against the restraints.
“Don’t waste your energy, Viktor. You aren’t leaving this room.” Finn’s voice is hard as he stares at my father.
Viktor takes in the scene around him. Eoghan is standing in front of him, with Finn next to the table filled with various items meant to inflict pain, and Nikolai is still standing next to the closed door, staring at our father.
Viktor’s face contorts into an evil sneer when his eyes lock on Eoghan. “You think you're scaring me, boy? I was torturing our enemies for sport before you were a gleam in your whore mother’s eyes.”
Eoghan rears his fist back and plows it into Viktor’s mouth.
The asshole chuckles. “Fucking mama’s boy. You’re weak,” he says before spitting bloody saliva from his bleeding mouth.
“My mother is as close to a saint as I’ll ever meet, but you insulting her doesn’t piss me off. I just felt like hitting you.” Eoghan is cool as can be, seemingly unbothered by anything that comes out of Viktor’s mouth.
“What a disappointment you turned out to be,” Viktor says, turning his attention to Nikolai, who, up until now, hasn’t moved from his spot. “You going to let this Irish scum steal your glory? Come on, pull out that gun in your waistband and shoot me already. Get it over with. Or are you too much of a pussy to follow through?”
Only the side of Nik’s face is visible from where I’m standing at the glass, but what I see chills me to the bone. A smile that holds murderous intent spreads across his face as he walks to the table Finn is standing next to.
“You used those words often when I was growing up. I’m a pussy , I’m worthless. Always telling me what a disappointment I am.” He picks up a mean-as-hell-looking knife from the table and turns toward Viktor, examining the blade. “Yet I’m standing here, and you’re tied to a chair, Viktor, trying to get me to end your life.” Nik shakes his head. “Give me a hand?” he asks Eoghan before handing him a pair of clamps. Eoghan takes them and follows Nik to stand in front of our father. Nik grabs Viktor’s face, roughly squeezing his thumb and pointer into Viktor’s cheeks to separate his jaw. When his mouth opens, Eoghan shoves the clamp into his mouth and pulls his tongue out, dropping the clamp so it rests on Viktor’s chin.
Nik grabs the rubberized handle and pulls his tongue taut. “I’m tired of your words, Viktor.” He takes the knife and, with quick efficiency, detaches it from Viktor’s body as blood pours from Viktor’s mouth over his chin, drenching the front of his maintenance uniform.
I should feel sick to my stomach watching them torture a man in front of me. I should be running out of this room screaming. I’ve never been a part of this world, never wanted to. But I don’t do anything except watch my brother exact retribution for the years of abuse thrust upon him by the man sitting in that chair. There’s a sweet sort of justice to this whole thing, and it doesn’t frighten me.
Viktor groans loudly as he fights to stay conscious, or maybe he wants to pass out. Maybe he’s willing his body to give out on him. It’s not like he hasn’t already lost a lot of blood. The human body can only take so much, after all. But Nikolai isn’t done.
He walks back over to the table and smiles when he sees something. He lifts the cattle prod from the metal table and smiles at Viktor, who’s barely holding on at this point.
“You used to tell me stories of the old country. How your father would torture men for days with electrocution. Killing them and bringing them back to life over and over.” Nik walks over to our father and stares down at him. “I don’t think you have more than a few minutes, but let’s see how this works.” He turns the prod on and shoves it between Viktor’s legs. I look at Eoghan, who winces and moves his hand in front of his crotch. Hell, I have the urge to do the same.
When he pulls it away, it takes Viktor a few moments to stop twitching. He’s passed out. Probably on the brink of death when Nikolai grabs him by his sweat-soaked gray hair and yanks his head up. Viktor’s eyes blink open and Nik presses the barrel of his gun to his father’s forehead. “I’ll see you in hell,” he spits at the man with years of hatred coating every word.
Then he pulls the trigger.
Nikolai lowers the gun to his side and turns for the doorway, opening the door and walking into the room where Alessia and I just watched as he finally got the revenge he so desperately needed for the murder of his girlfriend and unborn child. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t look at me as he walks out the other door that leads to the garage.
Eoghan walks out of the room and right up to me, taking me in his strong arms, breathing deeply as he nuzzles his face into the crown of my head.
“Go check on your brother, blondie.”
I nod and kiss him before turning and following Nik out to the empty garage, save for the two guards who are standing on the other side of the gate, keeping an eye on the street in front of Finn’s building.
“You okay?” God, that’s a stupid fucking question, Gemma . “Of course you’re not,” I mutter, wanting to smack my palm over my face.
“You know,” Nikolai starts, staring at the cement block wall on the other side of the garage. “Our child would have been twelve yesterday.”
“Oh, Nik.” I place my hand on his arm and squeeze. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“I’m afraid that one day I’m going to forget their birthday. That the day will pass without anyone acknowledging the life that never was.”
“It won’t. Now that I know, I won’t forget.”
Nik offers me a sad smile and places his hand over mine.
“Did it help?” I ask, nodding toward the door.
Nik shrugs but doesn’t answer. “Did it help you?”
He’s talking about getting revenge for my mother’s murder. For all the horrible things that man put me and so many people through.
“I’m not sure. But I’m not sad he’s gone. I don’t regret what happened in there,” I reply.
“Sylvie was the love of my life. She may not have liked what I did in there, but she would have understood it. She accepted who I was and the things I did. She loved me in spite of it.” He turns and faces me, his eyes boring into mine. “Eoghan looks at you the way I looked at Sylvie. You don’t find that twice in a lifetime.”
He’s right. You don’t. I can’t believe I found it at all in the first place. Especially with the brash and cocky Irish mobster who I tried to shake for months. I should have known there was a reason I was trying so hard to convince myself he couldn’t be anything more than a fun lay. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that if I opened my heart to Eoghan Monaghan, he’d come in like a fucking wrecking ball and turn my world on its axis. What I didn’t realize was how happy I’d be to let him.
“I think it’s time for me to head back to New York,” Nik says, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Right now?”
He smiles, and it’s lighter than the tense one he was wearing just a few moments ago. “You think Eoghan will mind me borrowing his car?”
A laugh bubbles from my throat. “I’ll smooth it over.”
Nikolai nods and we walk over to the driver’s side of the car we took here.
“Tell Eoghan and Finn thank you for me.”
I dip my chin and he gets behind the wheel, the keys already inside. When he drives toward the gate, the guard nods as Nik drives through and turns right toward the highway.
The door opens behind me, and I turn my head, seeing Eoghan, Finn and Alessia walk out.
“Did your brother just steal my car?” Eoghan asks, looking toward the street.
“Yup.” I turn toward him and wrap my arms around his middle. His arms immediately go around my shoulders, and I rest my forehead against his chest. “I’m fucking exhausted,” I say, but my voice is muffled.
“Come on. We’ll borrow one of Finn’s cars and head to my penthouse.”
Eoghan steps away, and Alessia takes his place. “You okay?”
“I’m…I don’t know what I am,” I reply honestly.
Alessia pulls me into a hug before Eoghan starts his brother’s car. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says, then steps back into her husband’s waiting arms.
It takes us less than a minute to get to Eoghan’s penthouse which is only a block over from his brother’s. I feel like a walking zombie as he leads me to the elevator that opens into a spacious loft with exposed brick along the walls and plush, dark furniture dotted throughout.
“Did you and your brother have the same decorator?” I ask, taking in the similarities between the two penthouses.
“Yeah. Our mother.”
I laugh as he takes my hand, leading me up the staircase to a loft bedroom. The bed is huge and framed in dark metal with black sheets. You know, typical bachelor shit.
“I need a shower,” Eoghan says and walks into the large bathroom to the left. When he turns on the light, the white marble is almost blinding, paired with the stainless steel faucets and towel rack. He leans into the massive walk-in shower and turns it on. It only takes a few moments for steam to build in the bathroom, making me feel like we’re in our own private little cocoon.
Eoghan strips me out of the oversized T-shirt and yoga pants I put on before we left my apartment, then rids himself of his own clothes. I walk in the shower first and let the hot water rinse the tension from my body before stepping out of the way to share the water with him.
The shampoo and conditioner I use at my apartment, along with the same body wash, sits on the seat in his shower. When I turn to Eoghan, he shrugs.
“I knew I’d get you to come home with me at some point. Figured I should have the shit you like here.” He grabs me by the waist and turns us so I’m the one under the spray before picking up the shampoo and pouring a generous amount in his hand. “Come here.” Eoghan rubs the shampoo into my hair, massaging my scalp and running his hands through my long strands before instructing me to tilt my head back to rinse the suds from my hair. He repeats the process with the conditioner, gliding his fingers through my slick locks. A groan of pleasure escapes me, and Eoghan pinches my ass. My eyes pop open, shooting him an annoyed glare.
“Careful, blondie. You know what those noises and that look do to me.” He gives me one of his cocky little grins then steps back under the spray, washing himself with my body wash.
Leaning against the shower wall, I’m overcome by that smirk I’ve seen a hundred times. I used to hate it, at least I thought I did, but now I know what it means. That I’m the center of his world. It’s not a look he shares with anyone else, and neither is the heart he holds in his chest.
“I love you,” I say and Eoghan turns to face me, his breathtaking smile turned up brighter than any damn sun. “I’m not taking the job in California.” I wasn’t planning on saying that, but now that I have, it feels so right. Like a weight has been lifted from me. That weight was the idea of leaving Eoghan. “I might be out of a job soon, so there’s every chance I’m about to become a kept woman, but I don’t care. I can’t imagine life without sleeping next to you every night or waking up without you. Or not going to your bars to see a band play and getting lost in the music for a few hours. Or watching your mom and brother give you shit at Sunday brunch. I can’t imagine missing any of it.” Eoghan stares at me, and all of a sudden I’m feeling a tad self-conscious that I just bared my heart to him, and he’s simply standing there staring at me. “Are you going to fucking say something?”
Eoghan laughs, then presses me into the wall with his large body, his hands going to my cheeks to cup my face and tilt it toward his. “I sure as fuck am.” He leans in and places a soft kiss to my lips. “I love you, too. And I’m glad as hell you aren’t moving across the country. Saves me the trouble of having to track you down and steal you back to my penthouse until you promise to never leave me again.”
I bark out a laugh. “Jesus. Stalker much?”
Eoghan smiles and leans down, speaking against my lips. “You have no idea,” he says before pressing his lips to mine.
I immediately open for him, and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds before the kiss becomes a passionate dance of tongues, teeth, and loud moans. He trails his mouth from my neck, sucking the water that flows over my breasts until he’s on his knees in front of me.
“I want to hear you scream that you love me while I make you come with my mouth. Then I’m going to take you to bed and sink so deep inside of you that you won’t be able to walk tomorrow. Then I’m going to do it all over again.”
“How about instead of telling me what you’re going to do, you show me?”
Eoghan shakes his head, the corner of his lips tilted up. “That fucking mouth.”
“You love it.”
“Damn right,” he says, taking a long lick through my center and groaning at the taste of me on his tongue. “Now, let’s get started.”