Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 131455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Her cries echo through the warehouse as the men drag her out, then fade until they go silent when a car door slams in the distance.
Romero pulls up a wooden chair for Sebastian’s remaining men to haul Jack off the floor and drop him onto it. I circle him slowly, savoring the rapid rise and fall of his shoulders.
“How do you feel right now, Jack?” I ponder aloud. “I mean, you couldn’t even protect your own kids, nevertheless your business and reputation. Then again, it was always about you and how far can you get ahead, right?” His head snaps to the side when I backhand him. “Every day, I’ve imagined all the ways I would torture you, make you so anxious that you fear even the sound of my voice. Unfortunately, we’ll have to settle for a good old-fashioned beating for now.”
I backhand him again, then tighten my hand into a fist before crashing it against his cheekbone. His eyes. His nose. Blood pours from his nostrils by the time I’m finished, coating his mouth and chin before dripping onto a shirt that used to be white.
“He’s suffocating,” Romero observes, his tone so flat he might as well be commenting on the weather. “He’ll need to lose the gag unless you want to end this sooner rather than later.”
No fucking way. I’m just getting started.
I yank the gag free and Jack gasps, sucking in as much air as he can. “You… made your point… fucker.”
“Not even close.” I bend to free the knife sheathed at my ankle, then hold it up for him to see.
His chin quivers while he stares at the blade. Let him pretend he’s not out of his mind with terror.
“How does it feel knowing your life is over?” I smile. “Once that first bullet pierced his chest, Dominic knew it was the end. He died on his back, writhing on the ground and gasping for air with nobody to save him. Bianca told me all about it. Fuck, I wish I could’ve seen it for myself.”
“You made your point.” He spits out blood before curling his split lip into a grotesque snarl. “Kill me. Get it over with.”
“Oh, I plan to.” I grin.
He doesn’t scream, not at first, when the blade slices through his pants and sinks inside something soft between his legs. It takes a moment for his brain to catch up to the sensation. But once it does, a shriek unlike anything I’ve ever heard fills the warehouse, the echoes overlapping until I’m surrounded by the sweet symphony of Jack Moroni’s torment. The dark-red spot that quickly spreads across his crotch and drips down his thighs heightens my pleasure until I can’t help but sink the knife in again. When I back away, his blood begins to pool beneath his chair.
His voice is nothing more than a weak croak once his screams die off. “Just… end it…” he sobs, his head hanging while the sweat that trickles from his hair mixes with his blood.
I take a handful of that hair in my hand and yank his head back until we’re eye to eye. “Oh, no,” I whisper, beaming down at his anguished face before dragging the bloody blade along his cheek. “You’re going to suffer through each moment of agony until you finally bleed out.”
For Bianca. For Tatum. For my baby.
“I’m going to teach you the meaning of pain and regret before you die,” I promise, savoring the sound of his whimpers before issuing my next slice.
I won’t stop until he’s unrecognizable, until he’s nothing more than a lifeless lump of flesh at my feet.
BIANCA
I don’t know what stirs me awake. There was no loud noise. There’s nothing but the beating of my heart, racing now that something startled me.
I haven’t even dreamed about shooting Dominic since the night it happened—an ugly, awful night full of all the darkest parts of my subconscious. All the what ifs. What if I hadn’t been able to get the gun… What if we had both been unconscious when Dominic found us… We’d both be dead now. What if we had crashed hard enough to kill us? What if Dominic had killed Dad while I watched? Oh, yes, I went through all the scenarios in vivid color.
But that was it. Like once it was over, it was over. No more need to dredge up the memories.
I don’t wake all at once. It’s not one of those sudden, eyes flying open things. At first, I’m confused. There’s light coming through the windows, faint and pale, like the sun hasn’t risen yet but will soon. Right away, I reach out without looking, hoping to find Callum, but all my fingers touch are his empty half of the bed. The sheets are cool, telling me he never came up to bed, or if he did, he’s been gone for some time.