AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe not everything Ari’s going to do to him, but my life wasn’t kind before I lost my arm and Kane decided that I was worth saving. I know the fog of drugs rushing through my system and the painful moment of waking up knowing that the torture was just going to repeat—over and over again until you’re ready to die.
Ari meets my gaze, and I nod at him before he jabs the needle into Andrea and depresses the plunger. There’s a long moment—an eternal pause—and then he shudders. And he twitches.
Then he comes to with a gasp, his body straining against where he’s bound. I see his fingers flex, and I see the pain register on his face before he finds my gaze. His eyes look a little cloudy, and I know it’ll take a bit for him to become fully cognizant.
But he recognizes me. And from the way he pales, he recognizes Ari.
“I…”
“We need your tongue,” I tell him, taking a step closer. “For now. But you don’t get to ask questions. Your only job right now—if you want any sort of mercy—is to answer our questions.”
He starts to mumble again, so Ari darts forward, grabbing him by the jaw in a grip I know isn’t just painful but agony. He whimpers, and then his gaze meets mine, and I see compliance.
“I don’t know if your boss told you how we work,” I go on. “But the only thing you need to know is that you will be in pain, and you will remain that way until we have all the information we need.”
“About what?” he asks, his voice muffled by Ari’s fingers, though I can still hear his thick accent.
I grin at him and shrug.
Ari lets go and takes a step back, leaning into me as I sling my arm around his waist. Andrea struggles for another moment, and then his gaze settles on Ari. “So he’ll be the one calling the shots? Asking me questions? He can’t fucking speak!”
I laugh, then tilt Ari’s neck up and kiss the scars on his throat. “Oh. I know.”
Andrea sputters, and I can smell piss. They always fucking piss themselves. Pathetic. “How will I know what he wants?”
“You just talk,” I say, then step back and narrow my eyes at him. “Your boss took his voice away, so now you all get to sing until we’re satisfied. So dig deep, sweet little budgie, into all those dark secrets you’re keeping for your boss. I’ll be outside waiting to help him dig your grave.”
“If I talk, you’ll kill me anyway,” he spits as I start toward the door. “Why should I give you anything you want?
I laugh and turn my head. “Because the offer isn’t if you die. The offer is when. And believe me when I say you’ll want that to be a lot sooner rather than later.”
He screams for me as I walk out, but nothing in the world could make me take pity on him. He’s ruthless—just like Guido. He’ll do anything for power without any meaning behind it, and it’s why I could let a man like Kane save me.
He bathes in blood, and he breathes violence, but it’s never without reason. The Walshes have a code, and Kane has never once broken it. I suppose the closest he’s come now is taking Alice in, but in truth, she was always a misfit, just like the rest of us.
And her place is here.
* * *
I waitby the Jeep until Andrea passes out for the first of what’s sure to be many times, and then I bring Ari some water. The man is slumped as forward as he can go, considering he’s bound by the neck, and I try not to look at the mess where his feet should be. I honestly don’t have much of a stomach for all the torture parts.
I just like the aftermath, when Ari’s eyes are wide and wild, and I can lick blood from the crevices of his skin as I get him to silently scream while I throw him over the edge between pain and pleasure. Of course, there’s no time for that kind of wind-down now, but I can bring him some water and kiss him until Andrea starts to squirm again.
I’m not sure if the man can see anymore, but it doesn’t really matter. There’s no amount of pleading that’ll get me to cut this session early.
‘He knows we want Kane, and he’s holding back, but it won’t be much longer now. He thinks I’ll get tired,’ Ari signs with a smirk.
I snatch his arm by the wrist and kiss his bloody fingers. “I love you. You know that, right?”
He just grins wide enough to bare his teeth, and I know that’s his way of saying he loves me as much as he’s able. I kiss him a last time, swallowing down the bits of copper clinging to his lips, then head back out and walk a few hundred yards from the house before I dig out my phone.
It’s impossibly early, but I can see from the alerts that Alice is still awake. The phone Phoenix gave her is active, scrolling on some website that plays cat videos or something. I wait a moment, then hit the button to call her, and I can imagine her startling. I can see the pretty flush to her cheeks and the outrage in her dark eyes.
“Are you done? Do you know where he is?” she demands.
“It’s good to hear your voice too, little darling,” I respond.
She sighs. “I’m sorry. I’m just…I’m still freaking out.”
