Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
I needed to be alone. Without another word, I stalked off, leaving her behind. I couldn’t allow those emotions in. Not with a job to finish. That kind of emotion made a man weak. I would never be that.
The concrete cell under the ground in the dense, wooded area on the farthest point of my father’s two hundred acres was concealed beneath a hidden trap door. Reaching into the brush, I placed my palm flat on the smooth metal underneath. The security feature read my palm, and a small click followed. Grabbing the handle, I pulled the door up, and the light from inside spilled out, illuminating the darkness.
The damp smell of earth, tinged with that of blood, met me as I walked down into the area where Ares Talley had been hanging for the past forty-eight hours. Lowering the door over my head, I went deeper inside.
His wails of agony had faded to moans since he’d been brought down here. I’d stayed away since then because I hadn’t trusted myself not to kill him too quickly. That was too good for him. I would live the rest of my life with the endless ache inside my soul from the loss of my brother. The bastard’s last days on earth should be a living hell, just in case there wasn’t an actual one for him to burn in.
Linc stood, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest, observing Ares, while Oz sat on a stool, sharpening a knife. The sound was one that I found satisfying. He glanced up as I walked into the cell. The chains that held Ares up by his wrists rattled as he used what strength he had left to try and move back away from me. I smirked at the image he made. I’d snapped the last time I was here and enjoyed breaking his bones while he screamed out in pain. Oz had taken the knife from me, knowing I would regret it if I sliced his throat too soon.
“Our guest seems excited to see you,” Oz replied. “He’s been quieter since I threatened to slice out his tongue.”
My chuckle was anything but amused. It was sinister, even to my own ears. I moved closer to him as his eyes darted from my hands to my face with panic clear on his swollen, bruised face.
“I’m not a doc, but my guess is, he’s more than likely got some internal bleeding. It’s only a trickle, but you need to go on and move this along while you have him alive,” Linc told me.
The beating I’d given him before I snapped several of his bones had been the kind meant to do permanent damage. Linc had a point. I wanted my face to be what he saw as he drowned on his own blood. He needed to go to hell, remembering who had sent him there. I hoped there was one.
“Why?” His voice was a strangled rasp.
I’d tracked him down, taken him, then beaten him unconscious, never once telling him why. The beauty of him hanging here, suffering, starving, dehydrating, with no idea why was something that Crosby would have appreciated.
“You killed my brother,” I told him.
There was an immediate flicker of realization in his eyes. I held my hand out, palm up, toward Oz. The freshly sharpened blade was warm as he placed it in my hand.
“I didn’t,” he gasped.
The mocking grin on my lips didn’t meet my eyes. “I should warn you, for every lie, I’ll slice off one of your fingers.”
If his face wasn’t covered in shades of blue and purple, I was sure it would be pale. He said nothing.
“This is vengeance,” I told him.
“He raped my sister.” His words had more force this time than before.
Rage that I’d kept just beneath the surface began burning inside my veins. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and sliced off his thumb. He retched while crying out. I released him and stepped out of the way.
“Hard lesson to learn,” Oz said to him as he put an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Let me guess … you didn’t do well in school.”
“She’s pregnant. Not a lie!” he sobbed.
I wiped the blade clean on his shirt. “I’m aware. She had her ultrasound today,” I told him, then patted the back pocket of my jeans. “I have the photo she gave me in my wallet.”
The darkening in his gaze glinted with hate. He didn’t like knowing I had seen her or spoken to her. I’d use that to torture him further.
“She’s in my house, you know. Sleeping under my roof. I can see why my brother wanted her.” I glanced over at Oz. “Gorgeous, isn’t she?” Although Oz hadn’t actually met her yet.
Oz nodded. “Smoking hot.”
Ares was breathing faster.
I smiled as I said, “Those freckles over her nose? I think that’s my favorite thing. Damn adorable.”