Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Speaking of secrets, anyone know how long this meeting is going to last?” I ask the room. Yesterday, once everyone left and food was ordered and delivered, New York’s finest men in blue came to question me. I gave my statement as swiftly as possible without leaving anything out. Theo was pissed at me having to recount the events. Then they left. Now, mysteriously, none of them are here. Something smells fishy.
“No idea. When all five of them get together and it’s about work, well, it can last for hours. Usually, we’ll all go out to eat afterwards. Too bad Nurse Ratchet over here won’t let you flee the coop.” Millie points at Nessa.
“Please, as if you would,” Nessa counters.
“They’re on their way back now. Boston just sent a text, which means we need to wrap up talking shit about the guys and eat what we want before they devour everything in sight.” Millie takes a bite of the cheese Danish. I didn’t realize how isolated I was from the outside world. The world is a lonely place when you only have one true friend—Mallory. It’s no one’s fault except my own. I chose to stay closed off. Now that I have this group of friends, I’m realizing maybe being so alone wasn’t such a good thing after all.
“That didn’t take nearly as long as last time.” Fawn shrugs her shoulders. She’s probably used to long hours and appointments when working with Sly.
“Nope, what, three hours this time?” Millie asks.
“Dang, they’re getting faster. Pretty soon, it’ll be two hours. We won’t even have time to get our nails done without them horning in on our girl time,” Amelie adds.
“They better not. We’ll have to ruffle some feathers to keep them talking like a bunch of cackling hens,” Vanessa mutters, and we all laugh at her description of the five guys. They’re worse than most women, especially us.
NINETEEN
Theo
“Brian here likes to push his weight around. It came to my attention this morning before he was bailed out of jail that this wasn’t his first time assaulting a tenant in his building,” Sylvester states. This is news to me. Though, I’m not really surprised.
“What are you going to do to me?” Brian asks. His hands are behind his back, handcuffed. His ankles are zip-tied to each leg of the metal chair he’s in.
“No worse than what you’ve done to others,” I say. The baseball bat I came to use as a form of torture feels good in my hands. I’d have much rather kept this to a party of three—Sylvester, Bellamy, and myself. That would have never happened with this group. We’re tied together in a way where our bond is thicker than blood. All of us grew up in one form or the other watching one another’s back. Parker and Ezra in childhood and the rest of us in college. Bellamy has a stake in this now, too. Danica has wedged herself inside his heart like she has mine. Except she’s so far burrowed that I’ll never let her leave.
“I’m going first, then Bellamy. The rest is whatever the fuck you want to do with him.” I toss the wooden bat from the barrel to the handle. It’s a shame it will have to be burned along with any evidence that could potentially be traced back to any of us. It’s a leftover from my high school playing days. It’s worth it to watch it burn right alongside Brian. I take a step toward where he's tied up, ready to take my first lick. It won’t be my last either. I pull the bat back and hit him in his mouth first. Maybe he’ll choke on his own blood or it’ll at least shut him up for a while. This whole time, he’s been mumbling some nonsense or the other.
“Ouch, that’s got to hurt,” Parker says when I slam the bat from the side, using my swing and stance I perfected all those years ago. It turns out swinging a bat is a lot like riding a bike—muscle memory has you remembering what to do, perfectly.
“God, shit, fuck!” Brian mutters after wood met teeth. A few fall out. The rotting teeth will be the least of his problems after we’re done with him. I don’t stop, not yet. He deserves a few more licks from me before Bellamy has his turn with him. I step back to stand in front of him, raising the bat once again and slamming it down on his nuts. Sylvester didn’t allude to what happened with the other tenant or tenants at Danica’s apartment building, but I’m willing to bet Brian here used his mouth to do more than talk.
“Oh, this is going to get so much better,” Boston chimes in as a scream permeates the air. I relish hearing Brian being in pain. It’ll never take over the feeling of not being there when I should have been. I’ll never forget the phone call, hearing Bellamy’s distraught voice, and seeing Danica in a stretcher. Even right now, in the midst of seeking revenge, I hate that while she’s in the hospital, I’m here.