FORTY-FOUR
Saraya
I blink at the little psycho.
"Have I what?"
"Cement, Raya," Mara says in a slow voice.
"I know what you said, but why would you ask me that?"
Mara shrugs. "It's just an idea, fuck. I was trying to help out, but hey, you've got this."
Images of ideas run through my head, and suddenly, I call out to Mara, stopping her from retreating. "I need something that we can put him in, and we will need something big enough to mix the cement in."
If my memory from my high school Science class serves me right, I believe that placing him in something and filling it with cement will begin to crush him as the cement solidifies. I think now would be a good time to test that theory.
Nyx pulls me into him, grinning. "Look at you, little lamb…" His lips brush my ear. "You're making me so hard for you right now; that cunt better be ready to take a good pounding by the time we get home."
"Mm, that's if we make it that far."
A loud rolling noise interrupts our little playful conversation.
I look toward the door and watch Zilas roll in what looks like a giant mixing machine.
Adrik is right behind him, pushing in a cart with an oversized metal barrel.
Cray is carrying over bags of mixing cement and dropping them right by my feet.
I cock my brow at Mara. "I take it you're accustomed to this?"
Her wicked grin gives me my answer .
Nyx and Adrik approach Pike, and each taking a side, they lift the chair he's in. The other two Heirs help lift him high enough to place man and chair inside the barrel. The drug lord is cursing the whole time this is taking place, but it all falls on deaf ears. He won't be getting help from us.
"You can't think you'll get away with this! People will be looking for me!" Pike growls as he thrashes about.
Nyx snickers and comes to stand behind me.
His arm snakes around my waist, and he nuzzles my neck briefly before addressing Pike.
"Don't you think they had people looking for the three police officers that tried taking Raya away from me?
Look—we're still here. You've forgotten who you were fucking with, Pike.
We aren't the Gods of Nyte's Hall for nothing.
You may have been able to get rid of my father and his wife easily enough, but I'm smarter than Layton Beckam. "
I widen my eyes at what Nyx just said and grip his arm. "Are you telling me that this asshole not only tried killing me, but he succeeded with our parents?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Nyx nods toward Pike.
"Doesn't look as if he's denying the accusation, now does it?" Cray states with his arms crossed, watching Pike like a hawk.
In a matter of seconds, I pull Cray's knife out of its holster around his thigh and I stab it into Pike's shoulder. Snarling, I pull it out and plunge it back into the other shoulder.
Pike laughs dryly before saying, "Had your precious Nyx showed up instead of being too busy having a gang bang with some French whore, he'd be dead too!"
Patting Nyx’s chest, I hand him Cray's knife with disgust. "Here, take it," I tell him, and he does.
I leave Nyx chatting it up with the drug lord while I walk over and watch Zilas start mixing the cement. I can't believe we're doing this. The thought of watching a man suffer as his insides get crushed was never part of my life goals, but here I am.
I glance over at the one still dangling and see that he's passed out. Strolling over, I squat, tapping him on the cheek to try and wake him up. "Hey, fucker, wake up. You can sleep when you're dead."
"Here, watch out, Raya," Cray states as he holds the guy's head just before Adrik lets the chain down.
The man drops down hard and had Cray not held his head, he probably would have broken his neck. We couldn't have that. I'm not ready for him to die yet. When he moans, I give him a little shove with my foot.
"Have patience; we'll get to you in a few minutes."
"P-please…h-help m-me…"
My brows furrow as I stare down at the bomber. I look at Cray, and he seems confused, too. Crouching down, I grab the guy's chin and examine him. His eyes pop open, and I can see desperation in their depths.
"What do you need help with?" I ask.
"I h-had no c-choice. Pike h-has my f-family…"
My eyes widen, and I look at Cray. "We need to sit him up—hurry!"
"How do we know he isn't just saying this to save his ass?" Cray scowls.
"Well, that's what we need to find out."
Once we have him sitting up, I go to the sink and fill a glass with water for him. Nyx is over by Cray when I return, and I hold the cup up to the guy's mouth.
"Raya, we can't just take his word—"
"Don't you think I know this? I won't kill an innocent man, Nyx. So, we will figure out what the truth is."
Nyx gives me a warning look for cutting him off, but I didn't mean to. I'm just disturbed by the turn of events.
I have him finish drinking the water, and when he hands the cup over to me, Nyx quickly starts interrogating him. "What's your name?"
"Brandon—Brandon Cabral. My wife's name is Kate, and my boy's name is Eli. He's only four years old—please help me get them back!"
"Okay," I say softly, stepping in, "We will figure it out."
There is no way someone can fake that kind of fear. I turn and tug on Nyx's shirt while nodding at Cray to follow us. The others follow as well. I pace the hallway, chewing on my thumbnail.
"What is it you want to do, little lamb?" Nyx asks, stopping me from pacing and pulling me into his arms.
"We need to find out if what Brandon says is true." I look at each of the Heirs and Mara.
"This is your call, Raya," Nyx states. "We will do what you want, but we can't wait too long."
I nod and focus on Mara. "Do whatever you need to do to get Pike to talk and tell us where he's keeping the wife and kid."
"Oh, I think I can do that." Mara grins evilly .
"I'll talk to Cale and have him work his magic with the satellite footage or whatever the fuck he does," Nyx states as he pulls out his phone.
"I'll get Brandon to give me more information to work with," I tell them.
"What do you need us to do?" Adrik asks as he stands with Cray and Zilas.
Smirking, I reply, "Just stand there and keep looking sexy."
When I wink at him, a growl comes from behind me, and I turn to see Nyx scowling at his friends. I roll my eyes and head back to the room Pike and Brandon are in.
"Keep your fucking mouth shut if you know what's good for you!" I hear Pike sneer at Brandon.
I stop and listen; neither has noticed me in the doorway yet.
"I'm not going to die for you, Pike. They're going to kill you! Where is my family?"
"I'm not going to tell you…" Pike doesn't finish his sentence when he sees me watching them.
I walk into the room and feel Nyx at my back. I'm so attuned to him these days that it's scary, but it also gives me the sense of security and the courage to go on.
"So, you do have his family? You used a wife and child to get someone to do your dirty work for you?" I stare at the drug lord with disgust.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Brandon is my employee. I have no idea who his whore of a wife is," Pike spits.
When Mara comes to stand at my side, I grin at the man before me. "Since you don't want to repent of your sins and tell us where the woman and kid are, Mara's going to play with you for a bit."
"Ah, the crazy bitch is going to play, huh?" Pike blows kisses at Mara, mocking her.
None of us saw the object in the little psycho's hand until she holds it up and says, "I'm really tired of listening to your annoying voice, so until you are ready to talk, let's shut that hole of yours, shall we?"
Cray quickly holds Pike's head in place while Mara squeezes his lips together.
She brings the object she's holding up to his mouth and pulls the trigger.
She repeats it until she works her way across his mouth as he tries screaming.
When she stands back, we all admire her work.
Pike's mouth is now stapled shut for the time being .
It's creepy as fuck looking at him like this, so I turn back to Brandon. He doesn't look so good at the moment. Tilting my head to the side, I scrutinize him.
"How long have you worked for Pike?" I cross my arms.
"Going on three weeks," Brandon responds.
"How long has he had your family?"
"They took them the night before I came to your club. I was on another job for him when his men went to my place and took them. I refused to bomb the club when he first approached me with the job." Brandon glances over at Pike but quickly looks away.
"Does Pike's lips being stapled make you squeamish?" I ask, amused.
"I'm not good when it comes to this stuff. I was a construction worker before this, not a gangster."
"You had to have known what the South Crew was about."
"Yeah, but I also thought that if I did as I was told and stayed off his radar, things would be fine until I got other work."
I look over my shoulder when I hear Pike's muffled scream and see Mara slowly cutting one of the tattoos from his face with her favorite knife.
I used to be like Brandon when it came to stuff like this, but I'm obviously accustomed to it now.
Pike deserves everything coming to him. Brandon, on the other hand, doesn't—if, in fact, he's telling the truth—and I do believe he is.
"What do you plan on doing if we find your family and release you?" Nyx asks Brandon from right behind me.
The guy shrugs and hangs his head. "I'm not sure."
"You say you did construction before?" Nyx questions.
"Yeah, I was the foreman, but the owner fell on hard times and let everyone go." Brandon focuses on me and says, "I am so sorry that my actions caused you harm. Please know I'm not that kind of person, but will do whatever it takes for my family."
The corners of my eyes burn, and my throat forms a lump. Those familiar words hit home on so many levels. I turn and gaze at Nyx. I don't have to tell him what it is I want. His mouth tightens into a thin line, and then he nods.