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She doesn’t back off an inch. She’s as much in my face as she normally is, and this time, much to my fucking annoyance, she’s possibly right.
“Leave the attitude, Jamie. I don’t have time for it. I need you to get everything that’s in the safe in our van whilst the first girl’s being sold. Got it?”
“Okay. I’ll need Heckle. There’s a lot of weight in that safe.”
“Fine.” I turn her away from the floor the second I see the guy start slapping the girl around out there, aiming her at the Mandarin suite.
“What are you going to do?”
“Build a fire, Jamie. Make my point felt.”
I leave her at that and head towards the corridors, swerving through girls until I get to the stairs that lead to the cellars. It’s quiet when I get down there. Unsurprising considering the fact that the girls are probably down at the other end ready to come up into the dance box, but, either way, I need to find Elias.
It’s only when I weave the last of the corridors that I find him in the girls holding room. I peer quietly through the glass in the door, trying to figure out what he’s doing in there, and that’s when I notice Miri shivering in the corner. Blood drips down her cheek, and half her clothes have been torn from her skin.
Fury boils deep down inside me. I let it come this time and shrug my jacket off. Might as well fuck it all up if I’m going to. He’s been nothing but a pain in my arse since he got here, anyway. Laughing at me, treating me like a dog to be whipped. Teasing me with something he knew I wanted.
I open the door and walk in, closing it after me.
He looks up at me, sneers his hatred.
I get it. I’m spoiling his fun.
Don’t fucking care.
“Leave her alone,” I mutter, pointing at the door. “And get the fuck out of here. The merchandise isn’t for touching, and she needs to get ready.”
“Fuck off, Reed.”
“No. Not this time.”
“What are you gonna do? You’ve got nothing, Reed.” He moves closer to Miri, grabs her wrist, and hauls her into him. “You’re worse than low-end pussy to me. And fear isn’t something I breathe often.”
He should.
The repulsion I felt upstairs thinking about her getting manhandled comes racing back. He licks up her neck, goading me into movement. It works. I’m over at him and pushing her crying frame away before he can take his next fucking breath. He shoves at me in surprise, trying to create some room. I don’t let him. One hard punch sent to his guts and he buckles over, giving me enough room to get my arm around his neck.
“Run, Miri,” I mutter, wrangling him to the back of the room. She looks at me, wipes her tears, and makes a beeline for the door. Everything in me – all the rage and vengeance I’ve felt these last few weeks – clamps like a vice around his neck. It gets tighter and tighter as I watch her open the door, and then just becomes more like a death hold as I see Naja run in.
She stops, stares in shock, and grabs Miri to her.
That’s all that’s in my view as I keep fucking squeezing. I’m not even in the real world anymore. It’s just her eyes, the pressure I keep increasing on something that’s pissed me off to the point of no return, and his ragged breaths trying to keep him living. There’s no way back from this, though. For either of us. And there's no way out unless he’s kept quiet.
The move from my hands is sudden and sharp, and the sound of his neck breaking fills me with the pride I’ve lost. I let go of him and the weight of his limp body hits me hard as I push him to the ground. My eyes don’t leave Naja’s. Her hand goes to her mouth, more shock etched into her face. I don’t know who I did this for – me or her, but either way, it’s done now, and I’ve got a plan to get on with.
“You … you killed him,” she stutters. I look at his body and then grab hold of his arms to start dragging. Miri starts talking in that language, and then Naja stops me as I get to the door. “You did this for my sister?”
I don’t know, but I look outside the door to make sure it’s clear and then start dragging him towards the branding room. He’s pulled inside it, and I turn the table over to create a barrier to shield his dead body before leaving and locking the door behind me.
“Jackson?” she says. I grab my jacket from the door and shrug into it again, straightening my clothes. “I don’t understand,” she continues, still gripping onto a crying Miri.
“Shut her the hell up,” I snarl, still rage-filled. “I can’t fucking think with all that sobbing.”
I pace a few steps, trying to get my loose plan back on track now I’ve killed a Cortez.
And then I chuckle, the sound as dark as Abel’s would be.
Killed a fucking Cortez. Enjoyed it.
