CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

LUCY

That smell is making me feel even more queasy than everything else that has been happening since we ended up here in this literal house of death. Can this situation even get any more revolting?

I can see that Stella's feeling even worse than me, and that makes me wonder if she's concussed or something, on top of being scared, pregnant, and grossed out. As Mav returns, looking a little green around the gills too, I grab his arm.

"Baby?"

"We need to get Stella to a doctor. I'm worried about her head injury." He takes one look at her, catches her as she wobbles slightly on her feet, and guides her back down into the chair she'd been sitting in.

"Baby, how bad's your head?" She fixes a brave smile on her face and waves a shaky hand.

"I'm fine. Just waiting for you bell-ends to get to the killing, please." My stubborn but super brave bestie.

Mav turns and lifts the thing we hadn't noticed in his hand. A frying pan? It makes a loud clang as it hits the asshole in the face, and he yells out in pain, and that brings Gage and Sebastian back too.

"Dude, seriously? That's embarrassing. A pan?"

He tosses it on the floor and moves back over to us. "I'm done with retribution. Our girls are more important, and we need to get Stella to the ER, to get her head checked."

"You should all get your heads checked," she mutters, catching Mav's hand as he tries to touch her face.

"Please, what I need is to see you guys hurting him. Trust me, he deserves pain, and a lot of it. I need this closure; can you do that for me?"

Sebastian is already wielding the frying pan, testing out the balance of it, and spinning it around in his hand. "I can do some real damage with this. Get the acid though, because I want him to feel his junk melting as he dies." Ugh, I think I'm going to throw up now for sure.

I slap a hand over my mouth and take a deep breath through my nose, which is a huge mistake in this place, isn't it? A warm hand suddenly squeezes my shoulder, and I meet Gage's worried eyes.

"It'll be over soon, baby." I don't know whether he means this murder situation, that God awful smell, or pregnancy-related nausea, but right now I hope it's all three.

STELLA

I know they're worried about whether or not I have a concussion, and I get it, but right now I need to see this asshole pay more than I need a doctor. What do they even do for a concussion anyway? Tell you to stay awake and have someone watch you. Rushing to the ER and missing this won't change anything. I'm the one that got the shit kicked out of her by this asshole, so surely, I should be there to witness it. I want to do it myself, but I'm honestly too weak at this point, so watching will have to do.

Lucy repeats herself, "We need to get Stella to the hospital."

I glare at my best friend. "I'm not leaving until he's dead."

Gage chuckles. "That's our girl. Ever used a blade, baby?"

Shaking my head, I gaze at him wide eyed. "No."

Obviously, I have in the kitchen, but for some reason I don't think he's suggesting I go make dinner right now.

He comes closer to me, and pulls me out of the chair, wrapping his arm around me, as he speaks in a low threatening voice that likely will have Andy pissing himself again, "I know you're weak, little mama, but I'm going to help you get your revenge."

He takes me over to Andy, who looks so gross with two gaping holes where his eyeballs used to be, wet and dried blood combined on his face, his head hanging down like he's already dead, but I know he's not, because I can hear his ragged breaths and the frequent cries of pain.

Gage hands me the knife. "Run it over his skin. Watch him tremble."

I take it and do as he instructed, and Andy cries pathetically, "Please kill me."

My man chuckles beside me. "See, that's beautiful, baby. When they beg for the one thing, they would've done anything to prevent such a short time ago, that's fucking beautiful. It means you're doing it right."

He whispers in my ear, "Don't be afraid, pick a spot and push it in. Although preferably lower than his heart so he doesn't die too quickly."

To say I'm not frightened would be a lie. It's one thing to watch but taking part in ending a life must change you. Then I remember him on top of me, hitting me repeatedly, choking me, and his intention of raping me. This isn't an innocent man, Stella. He deserves every bit of pain he's been given and will continue to get.

With a not-so-ladylike grunt, I shove the tip of the knife into his stomach until the only thing exposed is the handle, with my hand wrapped around it. Andy screams again but this time his throat makes a gurgling noise. I don't know what that means, but I assume he doesn't have a whole lot of life left in him.

"Fucking good girl," Gage groans before saying, "Now pull it out and watch what happens."

When I do as he said, blood comes gushing out, and I jump back to avoid getting covered in it.

All three of my men stare at me like I just hung the moon. "Fucking amazing," Sebastian says, his approval echoed by Maverick, who murmurs, "Fuck yeah."

GAGE

"Grab the acid," I say to Mav because I'm ready to get this done, so we can make sure Stella is okay. I know she says she's fine, but I need to be sure of it.

Lucy looks at me with a shocked expression. "What are you going to do with acid?"

I shrug like it's a normal everyday occurrence. "Very carefully pour it on his pathetic dick."

Her eyes light up. "I want to do it."

Shaking my head, I have to deny her. "Not a chance. It's very dangerous and we're naked, it could splash on our skin. I'll take the risk myself, but I'm not risking you or the baby."

She doesn't argue, because she knows, when it comes to the safety of our women, I will not change my mind. I will never let them do something that could cause them this kind of harm.

Mav comes back with the container of acid, and several face masks. He sets the acid down and hands us all a mask. "Everybody put these on, and Gage?"

I stare at him waiting for a response and he glares at me. "This was it. I'm done being your bitch now."

Tilting my head at him, I grin. "If you were my bitch, you'd know it, baby. Just so we're clear, Sweet Cheeks, I'll say when you're done."

He grumbles something about assholes pissing him off, while I chuckle. There are few things I enjoy more than riling Mav up. One day, that tight ass is getting fucked, and maybe then he'll relax.

"Everybody get as far away as you can."

Pretty Boy grabs my arm. "No. We can't risk you either."

I kiss him quickly. "I'll be safe and pour slow to minimize getting it on myself. I promise. Then, we're done here."

He shakes his head and steps away with the others. "I don't like this."

If they think they've heard screams from this piece of shit, then in a minute they'll be really impressed, because acid burning the dick away? Yeah, that's gonna fucking hurt.

"Should you at least put clothes on?" Stella asks, her voice drenched with concern.

"It'll be fine. Put your masks on."

The truth is, clothing will not save you from an acid spill. So there's little point to it. I'll be careful and keep it to a minimum. I just need to give him one more dose of pain, Gage Rage, if you will.

I decide to grab my boxers and put them on first, just so my dick isn't flopping around. Mav pretty much reads my mind, and chuckles while I pull them on.

"Hey, man, you can never be too safe with the family jewels."

Picking up the container, I unscrew the cap, and I notice that the jug isn't full. "Have you used this before?"

Andy groans in pure misery. "No. I didn't fill it up because I didn't want it to splash all over me."

I chuckle. "Well, aren't you the thoughtful fucker."

"Please," he cries out loudly, "I didn't really hurt her. She's alive. I didn't fuck her."

His words make me see fucking red. "You mean, you didn't rape her, because our woman never would've consented to you fucking her. And you would have raped her if I didn't find you in time. Mercy denied, asshole."

Slowly I pour the acid onto his dick, and I was right. The yelling is louder, so much louder, and if I was a better man I might feel bad for him as I watch the skin on his junk dissolve. Yeah, that's gotta hurt. I set the acid down, grab the knife from the table and jab it into his throat and slice quickly, nearly decapitating him.

Smiling down at him, I hear our women gasp and murmur, "Oh gross," and I say firmly to the corpse in front of me, "Nobody fucking touches what's ours."

That's the truth. I don't care what your reasons are, if you hurt any member of my family, you'll pay the ultimate price. Death. Not just death, but a slow, painful one. I may be a bit of a psycho, but I'll always protect what's mine. Never will a day go by that they don't know whether or not I have their backs. Stella seemed surprised that we came for them. I hope this drills it home to her. When I told her there is no scenario in which I wouldn't come for her, I meant every fucking word. Stella, Lucy, Sebastian, and Mav are mine. And now we're adding two children to the mix, they will be mine too. I always take care of what's mine.