Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

My wrists sting,but not enough to stop me from pushing the ropes free of the tender skin.

What an idiot. Can’t even properly tie someone up. I’d roll my eyes, but that would give too much away. This needs to be timed perfectly if I’m going to manage to still get the answers I need from him.

The clock on the wall behind him tells me I’ve been gone for just over an hour. The guys must have panicked. It’s the only explanation for why they aren’t already here. Still, it should only be a few more minutes if Charles did what he was supposed to. I started counting down the moment I was thrown into the back of a car.

Andre DeLeon stands in front of me, pacing with a smug smile on his face as he tries to make a call again. He has no idea who I am. I’ve at least been able to confirm that much since he grabbed me when I walked out of the ballroom. But I know him.

As soon as I spotted him at the gala, I had Joe running basic background checks. He once worked at one of the shell companies we know Donahue owns and now works for Mending Hearts. He has a position that, while not directly under Josie, is close enough that he has reason to be near her at all times. Has access to her schedule. Her emails. There’s no denying he’s Donahue’s main set of eyes on her. The man he has trusted the most with monitoring her and reporting everything he deems vital. He may be unaware of the true nature of his search, that he’s looking for Charlotte Devereux, but he’s not clueless to the empire Donahue has behind him.

He hangs up the phone and shoves it into his pocket, his frustration boiling over. His earlier excitement is dissipating, now that his calls are going unanswered and this won’t be the simple drop off he had anticipated.

The messages he’s left and the short conversation he had with someone else has told me that much. I hadn’t been sure that slipping Josie a note when the guys weren’t paying attention would be enough to do more than draw his attention. The tail when I gave him the opportunity was a given, but the kidnapping was not wholly expected.

Of course, I had planned for it. I just didn’t think he would take the bait so easily. That is until he revealed if it was a dead end with Donahue’s obscure mission for him, selling me into the skin market was still money in his pocket.

Just how many women have fallen prey to this same scheme of appearing suspicious?

“What should I do with you while we wait?” he asks menacingly.

I keep my mouth shut, but the look in my eyes dares him to try it.

I know my men. Trust them. They’ll be here before he can even lay a finger on me.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the door crashes open and a blur that can only be Luca launches across the room and rips Andre away from me and throws him into a wall, holding him there by his throat.

Declan and Noah rush into the room behind him, running directly toward me. Noah reaches me first and drops to his knees at my side.

“Right on time.” I beam up at them.

“Baby girl, you are in so much trouble,” he growls. I lift my arms above my head and stretch, rubbing at my sensitive wrists.

Declan narrows his eyes. “You weren’t even tied up?”

I tilt my head. “I was, just not well.”

Ryder chuckles from the doorway and I smile at him, before doing a double take. They’re all soaked in blood. I move in front of Ryder and swipe my finger through the blood on his skin that hasn’t had the time to completely dry yet. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“What plan?” Kade snaps, leveling me with a glare.

“Hey, you can’t kill him yet,” I curse at Luca as I realize Andre is starting to turn a very unattractive shade of blue.

“Did you guys kill both of the other marks?”

“What plan, Scarlett?” Declan growls from behind me.

I wave him off. “Did you kill them or not?” I ask Ryder directly. He’s the most likely to give me answers. He also has the most blood on him. He nods, daring me to yell at him over it. I raise my brows as surprise filters through me. He never gives me attitude. That’s more Kade and Luca, Declan maybe, sometimes even Noah, but never Ryder.

“You went rogue again,” Kade accuses.

I roll my eyes and flip my hair over my shoulder and adjust this obnoxious dress. “Did not. You all were part of my plan. You guys are the ones who went rogue,” I accuse right back, eyeing the blood that splatters them.

“What fucking plan, Letty?” Luca demands this time.

Damn. Testy motherfuckers.

“I didn’t know if he would take the bait,” I finally answer, shrugging my shoulders to dismiss the statement.

A quiet curse breaks the deafening silence in the room and Charles pins me with a heated stare. “You didn’t tell me you were going to use yourself as fucking bait.”

All eyes swing towards him before coming back to me.

“You planned this ahead of time,” Noah says and I can see all the pieces clicking together in his head and grimace. Oh shit. I’m in trouble. I kind of thought I’d be able to play it off like a last minute decision.

Fucking Charles.

I glare at him but he immediately starts shaking his head. “Oh, hell no, Scar. Don’t give me that look. You know I never would have agreed if I knew this was your crazy ass plan.”

“None of us would have,” Kade reiterates.

Fuck me. It’s bad when they can all put aside their differences to gang up on me.

“I was just prepared for it to happen. The goal was just to find out if he even knew what he was looking for. What the protocol was when he did find something suspicious,” I defend.

“Alone?” Declan growls.

“I wasn’t really alone,” I argue. “I knew you guys were coming.”

“What if we were late?” he demands.

I roll my eyes. “I’m not exactly a damsel,” I remind him, tossing my blade up in the air and catch it deftly. “He didn’t even search me for weapons or know how to tie a proper knot. I was never in any real danger.”

“It was a fucking gamble, Letty,” Luca curses, taking his anger out on Andre and slamming him against the wall again. I bite my tongue and decide not to call him out on it. “The kind of gamble you swore not to take anymore.”

Guilt begins to creep up my spine. A part of me knew this plan would upset them, but I was confident that it wasn’t actually reckless. Which is what my promise was actually about. Somehow I get the feeling trying to split hairs here will just land me in more trouble.

“Well, I did get some answers,” I offer as a white flag. The looks on their faces tell me this discussion is far from over, but at the very least we might be able to put a pin in it for now. “He calls someone when he has information and gets a location to drop it off.”

Ryder runs his tongue over his teeth, a manic light in his eyes. “So this isn’t the final destination?”

I shake my head. “He was waiting for a call back. But it seems there are a few possibilities that he normally drops intel off at.”

“The same ones?” Luca asks. Unsure if he’s asking me or the man hanging from his hands, I just shrug and point at him. Luca gives him a little shake and it does funny things to my insides that a therapist would probably be worried about.

Declan gives me a knowing look and I stick my tongue out at him, making his jaw lock. Oof. He’s still mad-mad.

My sanity might be breaking just a little bit after all, now that I think about it, because I really want to push him. Push all of them. Yeah, a therapist would probably have a lot to say about a lot of the decisions I’ve made today.

“Yes,” Andre stutters, transfixed on the blood that splatters over Luca’s skin. I tilt my head and try to find that place of peace in my mind, where I have total control, where I can push out all of the emotions, turn them off and turn into cold steel.

I shake my head and stretch my arms in front of me. I can’t find it. Can’t turn it off.

There’s an unfamiliar energy bubbling up from deep inside me, crashing through my body and making my thoughts and nerves go haywire. Surprisingly, it’s not unpleasant. It almost makes me feel powerful, invigorated, dominant.

Energy and elation soar through me, but where my usual steadfast control in these situations quiets my chaos, this feeling emboldens it. Makes the thrum in my veins and the pounding of my heart intensify, creating a roar in my ears as waves of emotions crash through me. It makes me feel invincible, unstoppable.

My hands shake at my sides, not in fear or anxiety, but I can’t say why either. The sensation is both new and somewhat familiar, but I can’t place where I know it from. When I’ve experienced this type of chaos in my mind before. Understanding my thoughts are erratic and not wholly mine, yet not being able to care enough to find that peace.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t trust myself.

Hands wrap around both of mine. Declan on one side and Noah on the other. Their eyes are filled with hesitation and concern. Declan slips the knife out of my hand and slips it into his pocket without a word. Relief and anger pour through me in equal measures at the move. I shake my head trying to clear the confusion. Am I finally losing my mind?

The thought makes me laugh.

More concern. In every single set of eyes as they turn my way. Heavy stares that weigh on me with the emotion ricocheting through them. Pressure builds in my chest and it’s all too much. My mind screams and my fingers twitch. The manic energy demands to be set free, to be fed blood, to finally have the answers that will lead us down the next step on my path to revenge.

My hands begin to ache and I look down to find Noah’s grip has tightened on me, his eyes pleading for me to clear the haze and come back to him. The same understanding and plea shines in Declan’s eyes on my other side.

I wrap my fingers around their hands and squeeze back gently. I’m still here. I haven’t lost my mind. Yet. My anchor and my peace are here, keeping me tethered to reality while reminding me what calm feels like. I grip their hands tighter and they both step closer to me. Their tall bodies should overwhelm me as they bracket my sides, towering over me with their shoulders pressed against mine, but instead I find just a bit of that comfort, that control again. Not enough to begin to trust myself again, but enough to remember why I can’t.

These situations, runs, missions, recon, every step that we’ve taken down this path has been methodical. We don’t gather intel recklessly without intention. There’s a method to our madness. A control in our chaos.

I’ve been reckless with my safety, but never with the job. It always gets done. Gets done right. But as I stare at Andre shaking in Luca’s hands, all I want is his blood. I want him dead. I crave to feel the blood against my skin, to feel my blade slide smoothly into his flesh, to hear his cries as he begs for a mercy that will never come. There’s no control here, no method in this state. Just chaos and madness.

That’s all that’s left of me.

I lost control with Romano and I haven’t been able to find it since.

Tears spring to my eyes and heavy arms wrap around me, one around my waist and one over my shoulders. They bring me comfort but the familiar control I’ve held onto is still nowhere to be found. There’s only one choice left to be made, to give up control, to step back, to let them lead and accept that I am unable to. Not like this, not right now.

Declan understands with a single look and some of the fear is chased away as Noah presses a kiss against my hair. “We’ve got you, baby girl.”

A silent exchange happens between Luca and Declan and relief pours through me at the savage grin that spreads across Luca’s face when understanding takes root. He’s going to enjoy extracting payment for every second of fear he had to experience at my disappearance in the blood of the man who took me.

Why did I ever think it would be okay? That they would be okay with this plan? I know them better than to think that. Of course they would panic and fear what had happened to me.

Guilt begins to churn in my stomach. I fucked up. Again.

Reality begins to seep in and I can’t quite understand my own thoughts from just a few moments ago. I’ve never felt quite like this. Lost and confused, but different.

Luca throws Andre into a chair and Kade materializes at his side, a knife already in hand as he stares down at Andre, taunting him with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

“Let’s start by showing you how to properly secure someone to a chair, shall we?” Luca says casually as he begins to tie Andre’s hands and feet down. He struggles to fight against him, but Kade is ready and already holding him in place gleefully before he can make any real effort to escape.

“It’s too bad you won’t ever be able to utilize this lesson,” Kade taunts. For all their fear and anger, neither one of them struggles to find their control as they methodically torture Andre. Taking turns without ever having to speak a word of their plan to each other. When one steps back, the other is already there to take his place, inflicting the next precise wound. Each one more painful than the last, all without a single question being asked.

They want to break him, make him desperate for relief, for just a small break in the neverending pain. So when they offer him the chance, he’ll take it. The more he talks, the longer his break will be. What better way to get him to spill all of the secrets he’s collected over the last eight years?

My mouth parts open as I watch them, entranced by the show they’re putting on. I fidget, wanting to be a part of it, wanting to be next to them, claiming my own pound of flesh. My mind is still not my own, not completely. I can’t trust that I wouldn’t just kill him too soon like I did with Romano.

A new feeling begins to stir, overpowering the conflicting emotions. I shift between Noah and Declan, needing their warmth and strength like I need oxygen to breathe. Ryder whispers something in Charles’ ear and is met with first confusion and then exasperation before Charles turns to leave the room, winking at me as he leaves.

I don’t have time to work out what just happened before I’m distracted by the heat radiating from behind me and Ryder whispers in my ear, “You have a wild look in your eyes, Scar.”

I nod, knowing that I can’t deny it. They know me far too well to not see the storm brewing in my eyes, to feel the chaos I can’t control seeping out of me.

“It reminds me of something,” he continues. I feel more than see Declan and Noah looking at him, but neither stops him.

I lick my lips, trying to add moisture to the sudden dryness of my mouth. “What?”

His chest rumbles as he wraps his arms around my waist from behind, not pushing Declan or Noah away, just adding himself to the mix. “When I was having my adrenaline crash. That’s what you remind me of right now. Lost in the havoc of your own mind, dazed by the intensity of tumultuous feelings.” His fingers stroke over the clingy fabric of my dress on my stomach and my breath gets caught in my throat. “Do you remember how you brought me back?” I nod slowly, unable to form words as the heat in my belly grows into a raging inferno of need. “He can see you here. I don’t care if he will be dead before I’m done with you, he doesn’t get to see your desire. That is ours and ours alone.” His voice is a low growl in my ear, words meant for me and me alone.

The three of them move me effortlessly across the room until we stand behind Andre where he can no longer see me, but Luca and Kade have a clear view. The expressions on their faces as they enact our form of justice sends a shiver down my spine. There is no scarier monster than man, and my men are the fiercest of them all. Of course, it’s not fear that sends tingles through my body.

Ryder’s hand slips under the slit of my dress and begins to caress my thigh, teasing me with his touch. Kade smirks as he watches me closely, his eyes blazing with desire. The room pulses with lust and violence, a heady mix that drives every thought out of my head. Noah’s lips press against my throat, my pulse beats rapidly under his touch.

“Look at the way they get justice for you,” he whispers in my ear. As if in response, Luca drags his blade across Andre’s chest in a vicious slash. He grunts under the pain, but Kade shuts him up with a fist to the face.

I begin to pant as Ryder trails closer and closer to where I really want him, his fingers brushing against the edge of my panties. Declan grips my cheeks in his hands and forces me to look at him. “He doesn’t get to see you, and he doesn’t get to hear you either.”

Ryder hums in agreement. “One sound and we stop, Scar,” he whispers. “Don’t make us stop.” His fingers slip under my underwear and are quick to find my clit, brushing over it in barely there pressure. A needy moan builds in my throat, but I force myself to swallow it down. My teeth sink into my lip as I force myself to be quiet.

One of the guys unzips my dress just enough to slip the straps off my shoulders and expose my breasts. Declan moves in front of me, taking my tits in his hands and roughly rolling my nipples. Ryder increases the pressure of his fingers, swirling through the mess between my thighs without giving me any real relief. Just enough to make me desperate for more.

“You’re gonna be such a good girl for us, aren’t you, baby girl?”

I nod frantically. Noah grins as he pulls my lower lip out from my teeth. “Of course you are,” he says just before he lowers his lips to mine and steals the breath from my lungs. I couldn’t make a sound even if I wanted to. My head spins as I kiss him back, letting all three of them move my body in every which way they desire to. I give up control completely, trusting them to know what I need far more than I could in this moment. All the while, watching Kade and Luca continue their torture.

Noah pulls away from me, replacing his lips with his hand to keep me silent. Declan drops to his knees and lifts my dress until it’s bunched around my waist. Ryder’s fingers slip inside my entrance and begin thrusting in and out of me, scissoring as he goes. It takes all of my concentration to not make a single sound and I almost fail when Declan’s tongue is added to the mix, set on torturing me. He traces tight circles around my clit until my legs are shaking.

Luca’s eyes lock on mine and his eyes heat with equal parts anger and desire. His attacks on Andre became more frequent and brutal with every nic of the blade against him. He looks like a monster come to life, a dark force you have no choice but to succumb to. Nothing in the world could force me to look away from the blood he draws from Andre in the name of getting me answers.

Kade is another type of beast altogether. Larger than life, with fists that should be considered lethal weapons on their own. He’s never needed a weapon to be deadly.

The two of them work together seamlessly, anticipating the other’s moves and needs. Reading their body language and knowing from years of history when to let the other take the lead. It’s a beautiful and magical thing to watch, their partnership. It reminds me of how their friendship has survived for so long, endured the turmoil that I caused between them.

Kade breaks his ribs one by one with deadly accurate punches before moving on to his fingers. Luca carves him up in between the beatings. Clean slices across his chest and face, long gashes over his arms, and huge chunks of flesh ripped from his thighs.

Blood spills freely over the floor under the chair and Andre is no longer hiding his desperation. I can hear the tears in his voice as he begs for them to just tell them what they want from him. I smile behind Noah’s hands. Of course their plan is working flawlessly.

“Let’s have a race,” Noah whispers in my ear. “Who will get what they want first? Your answers or your come?”

My legs shake so hard, the only thing that saves me from falling is Noah’s tight grip on me. He lifts me up and spreads my legs wide open. Giving Declan easier access and Kade and Luca a clear view of everything they’re doing to me.

“Don’t forget to stay quiet,” Declan taunts before diving back and pulling my clit between his lips and sucking hard. Ryder’s fingers slip free from me and he disappears from where he was pressed against me. There’s no chance to miss him before hands find my ass and begin to massage the cheeks, a finger teasing the rim of my hole as it passes. I shudder in their arms and the only thing that’s keeping me quiet is the threat of them stopping this just as we’re getting started. Pleasure wracks through my body in a way that makes it hard to keep my train of thought on anything but how good they feel. Still, I can’t tear my eyes away from the scene in front of me.

Luca and Kade begin to ask their questions. Our questions. Andre is as desperate for relief as I am for totally opposing reasons. As I stay quiet for mine, answers begin to spill from his lips as easily as the blood that pours from his body. Kade wears a sadistic and satisfied smile as he presses down on one of the ribs he’s already broken.

It must be the broken and brutalized part of my soul that loves this smile of his. The way I know he’s wearing it just for me. It’s blinding in its beauty yet born from the darkest parts of his soul. The part that matches mine. The part that craves violence and blood.

His smile widens as Andre squeals like a bitch and I can’t help but match Kade’s expression. As if he can feel the appreciation in my grin, his green eyes flick up to meet mine. A heady weight there as he dances his fingers over the bones he’s already broken and watches as Declan devours my cunt.

It’s a song and dance we’ve never played before, but feels like we’ve been here a million times before. Our whole souls bared to each other in a place where almost no one else would understand.

Ryder’s finger presses against my ass and slowly works his way in. My mouth parts open but there’s a challenge in Kade’s eyes as he snaps another finger on Andre’s hand.

Don’t make a sound.

I bear down and Ryder pushes his finger all the way, slowly moving it to stretch me out. My attention is pulled in too many directions. The delicious sting in my ass. The overwhelming pleasure in my cunt and throbbing of my clit. And the sick satisfaction as Kade steps back, his eyes never leaving mine and Luca steps up, brandishing his blade.

Luca asks another question and before he can even finish it, information is spilling out of Andre’s mouth. Too much for me to even try and process as Declan picks up the tempo and slides two fingers into my pulsing pussy. He and Ryder find a rhythm as they begin to fuck me with tongues and fingers and each passing moment gets harder to keep from any sounds spilling free.

Anxiety begins to hum in my veins as all my focus goes to staying silent and I miss everything about Andre other than the pain they inflict in my name.

“Shh, baby girl,” Noah growls behind me. His nose runs up my throat until his lips find my ears. “Trust us. We will take care of this fucker.” I can’t speak, if I open my mouth the only thing coming is moans of their names. Maybe screams by this point. Noah doesn’t need my words though. He already knows what I’m worried about. “We’ll take care of the next steps too. Don’t worry. I’ve heard every single detail this slimy bastard has already given up. It’s locked in a vault and I won’t ever forget. You can trust us.”

I manage the barest of nods, but even that much communication feels almost impossible and Declan and Ry make it their mission to fuck me up, increasing their pace as I squeeze around them. Tears prick at my eyes at the intense concentration of not making a single sound.

More blood pours as Luca digs his knife into Andre’s shoulder. He and Kade are having a silent conversation as they stare down at Andre’s beaten form. Fuck, everything feels so goddamn good it almost hurts. Luca nods and Kade grins savagely, looking up to catch my eye once more.

I feel Noah move behind me. Not a huge motion, but something. I don’t understand it, but before I can think about it more, his lips press against my ear. “Come on, baby girl. Let go.”

Like a magic spell, the command in his words drives my need higher. My brain shuts off and all that’s left of me is the heady sensation of being thoroughly fucked. Ryder adds a second finger into my ass without warning and that alone almost makes me scream. I have to sink my teeth into my lip to suppress the moan, but even with that a little slips out.

Kade’s dark chuckle draws my attention. I don’t know when it happened, but he has Luca’s knife in his hand. It makes no sense. He has his own blades. It isn’t in his hand for long though. Before my mind can comprehend what’s happening, the blade is sticking out of Andre’s ear. Luca reappears, another blade in his hand. He grins at me darkly as he mimics Kade’s action, embedding the blade into Andre’s other ear.

“He can’t hear you now,” Kade whispers with satisfaction.

My body coils tightly as fingers fuck in and out of both my holes, filling me in the best way. The pressure is mind-blowing as they work together.

“Scream for me, Letty,” Luca drawls.

Declan bites down on my clit.

Noah laughs in my ear before catching my earlobe between his teeth.

I implode.

My body shakes as my orgasm overtakes every thought and feeling I’ve ever had. There’s nothing but pure bliss as wave after wave crashes through me. My eyes squeeze shut and my throat burns with the scream I release and my come drenches Declan’s face and my thighs.

A smug smirk rests on D’s face as he looks up at me. “That’s my pretty girl.”

The heavy atmosphere that hangs in the room breaks at his words and laughter begins to spill out of me. It doesn’t take long before they all join me. Tears stream down my face and Noah cradles me to his chest as I finally come down from the high only they create.

A soft kiss is pressed against my forehead and my tears slow. “Let’s get you home, baby girl.” Noah’s soft voice is so much gentler than the one he used to tease me only moments ago.

I lift my eyes once more as Noah begins to carry me out of the room and take in the brutal scene we’re leaving behind. Andre’s beaten and torn-apart body tells a very vivid story. One of torture and pain. One most people would be sick to find themselves in the middle of. To me, to us, it just leads to my salvation. The excited buzz that runs through the guys tells me I’m not the only one excited about the intel they collected.

“Don’t worry, Letty,” Luca soothes as my eyes rove over the dead body. “We got everything we needed from him.”

I hum at his words, looking at all their eager faces once more. “You know you’re going to have to fill me in on everything, right? I was a little distracted.”

“Dickstracted,” Kade faux coughs and I roll my eyes even as I smirk at him.

Before I can form my own retort, Ry kisses the top of my head. “Anything you say, boss lady.”

Luca gives a sharp nod before leading us to the car. As soon as we are safely headed back to our hotel, they all take turns sharing the new information they’d been able to pry from Andre before his death. The rest of the ride is spent planning how to use it to our best advantage now that we know all of his drop-off locations.

My brain moves slower as they toss out their ideas and plot together. There’s an answer just out of my reach that I can’t seem to grasp. A way to finally end this buried in the intel we received. But my doubts won’t stop peeking through the cloud of hope I’m trying to float on. Can it really be this easy? After all these years are we really going to find my answers in some random drop-off location we gained from a lackey? It seems impossible.