Chapter 40 #2
“Let me ask you something, Cleve… Who infiltrated the old Cartel and found out where they were getting their product?”
Cleve was silent.
“Answer me. And don’t lie.”
He swallowed. “You.”
“Mhm. Right. And who killed the head of the old Cartel so we could take over their territory?”
“You.”
“Ding ding ding,” Joy clapped. “Last question, and this one is important so think carefully. Who created the distribution process that has kept us off of law enforcement radar and let us distribute product efficiently across the state for over ten years?”
When Cleve was silent for too long, Joy stood from where she sat, sending her fist into his mouth. “Who?!” she screamed in his face.
It seemed she only got an ounce of respect when she was “crazy”. When she was so far gone in her anger that she was unpredictable and dangerous.
Cleve spit the blood out of his mouth and looked up at her with hate filled eyes. “You.”
“Exactly. Me. It was all me. So what the fuck made you think this shit belonged to anyone but me? What the fuck made you think you could change up my systems when they weren't yours to change to begin with?”
Cleve didn’t answer her, just looked up at her with hate shining in his eyes and a bruise forming on his mouth.
“You didn’t deserve it.”
“Really?” Joy barked out a laugh. “The scars on my body would beg to differ,” she said.
And my soul, she thought.
The crimes and sins she’d committed
The sacrifices she'd made, both physical and emotional.
Nothing had been handed to her like the male heirs of the other families.
She’d fought for everything she had. Paid the price for it in full. The solid foundation of the Cartel had been built brick by brick with her bloody hands.
Cleve chuckled. “Yeah, you’re a tough lil bitch, I can't even lie. No matter how much I threw at you, you just kept getting up. You never quit but at least I had some fun.”
Joy’s jaw clenched. “I’m glad you remember my abuse so fondly,” she said dryly.
To this day, Joy had nightmares about what Cleve had put her through when Byron wasn't around. Whereas her father’s training was tough, he was never cruel and each lesson had a purpose.
Cleve on the other hand, took pleasure in tormenting her.
He sent her into hostile territories with no backup.
He sabotaged her missions and dared her to make it out alive.
He undermined her in from their men and offered rewards and praise to anyone who could lay her out or put her down.
Cleve shrugged, licking his lips. “You call it abuse, I call it… illumination. Shining a light on just how unworthy you were of inheriting the throne. In the end, you proved that to daddy all on your own.”
Joy grinned, then tilted her head with a faux pout. “All those years of scheming and sabotage… I hope you enjoyed these past several months because that was all you’re gonna get.”
“Oh I’m just getting started, Lil Demon.”
Joy flinched at the name she hadn’t heard outside of her nightmares in months before she could stop herself. Cleve clocked the movement and grinned.
Joy advanced on him again, bending at the waist so they were eye to eye in his kneeled position.
“I’ll show you a demon,” she whispered.
The smug smile slipped slowly from Cleve’s lips.
Joy looked up at Ace and his smile met her. “Take what you need, baby,” he encouraged her.
She removed her pistol from her holster and shot Cleve in his shoulder. Quick and precise.
With a cry of pain, Cleve slumped out of Ace’s hold, falling to the ground.
Joy wasn’t satisfied but it was enough to scratch the itch.
Ace tsked, moving to stand behind her. He didn’t touch her but he got just close enough for Joy to feel the heat of his body and strong presence at her back.
“You’re holding out on me, Rose,” he whispered in her ear.
Joy looked up at him and he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
“This is your revenge to take. Don’t hold back,” he encouraged her.
Joy sighed and nodded.
She handed Ace her gun and replaced it with the knife. She wrapped her hand around the cold metal and Joy relished in the feeling of it.
She stepped forward slowly, heels clicking against the concrete as she approached Cleve, crouching down onto her haunches.
With a smile, she plunged the knife into the meat of his upper thigh.
He let out a blood curdling scream, his body folding forward as blood soaked the front of his jeans. Joy yanked the knife out and wiped it on his pants leg. He tried to crawl away but Joy stood, keeping him in place with her foot on his groin.
“Can you hand me the torch, babe?” Joy asked, over her shoulder. She maintained eye contact with Cleve as she spoke.
The distinct scent of urine filled the air as Ace placed the butane torch in Joy’s outstretched hand.
Ace pulled up a chair, sitting back and watching with a wide smile and hard dick as Joy cut open Cleve’s jeans and fired up the torch, cauterizing the stab wound.
He smiled, watching her thrive in all of her wickedness, all of her darkness. Not because she received an order or was working for love and acceptance that should’ve been given freely, but because she wanted to.
Cleve’s screams and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Ace chuckled darkly.
This was what he wanted to see. This version of her that didn’t hold back or hide.
Joy repeated the action several times over, giving him stab wounds and cauterizing them in each place she still held permanent markings of the abuse he facilitated.
Only when she ran out of scars to emulate and she’d already brought him back from unconsciousness twice did she end it with a bullet to his head.
She stood over Cleve’s body, her chest heaving and her face warm with blood that didn’t belong to her. Her chest felt light and her mind felt clear.
“How do you feel baby?” Ace asked, taking the torch from her hand and pushing errant pieces of hair behind her ear.
“Good,” Joy grinned, her voice breathy like she’d taken a hit of something. “Very good.”
Ace chuckled. “Good.”
He looked around the room, covered in blood with Cleve lying in a puddle at the center of it. “What about the body?” Ace asked. “You need me to call my men?”
Joy considered it for a moment before an idea popped into her head. “You have your lighter on you?” she asked.
“Always,” Ace grinned. He didn't know where this was going but the evil look in her eye told him he knew he’d be down.
Joy went into one of the supply closets and emerged with a jug of gas and a towel.
“Oh shit,” Ace mumbled, his dick painfully hard as he watched her pour gas all over the office then drench the towel in it.
They backed up to the door, then she stood in front of Ace and held the towel out to him. “Could you do the honors?” she asked, looking up at him sweetly.
“Yes ma’am.” Ace flicked the lighter open, watching the flame emerge, then held it to the tip of the dangling towel that immediately ignited.
Joy smiled and tossed the towel in the middle of the room sending the body and paperwork up in flames.
By the time Joy and Ace made it back across the street to their car, smoke filled the night sky and half of the building was consumed by flames.
They passed a blunt between themselves as they watched it all burn.
Ace wasn’t interested though, his eyes never left Joy.
Joy turned to him, their gaze catching. “Thank you for being down with my shit,” she said softly.
“You don’t have to thank me for anything. If you wanna burn all this shit down, I keep my lighter on me baby. I’m down with whatever.”
Joy giggled, taking a pull from the blunt as she turned back to the building. He saw the flames engulfing the warehouse reflected in her eyes. He saw the flames that now engulfed his heart reflected in her eyes.
Illuminated by the golden light of the fire, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. The most beautiful, dark soul he’d ever met. He didn’t know how he’d walked through life without her before but he knew that he never wanted to again.