27. Zach

Chapter twenty-seven

Zach

A s soon as dinner was over, I ran to the garage as fast as possible, hoping that Layla wouldn’t follow me. I understood why she was punishing us like this, but it didn’t make it any easier, especially with her running around in all these sexy outfits. I needed to get the fuck out of the house for a little bit, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I slid into the front seat of my Jeep and called Danny as I pulled out of the garage.

“Hey, Danny,” I said when he answered. “Sorry to bug you, but can you send me the address to that warehouse you suggested? I want to check it out.”

“Sure. You want me to meet you there?” Danny replied.

“Nah, I should be good on my own. Appreciate it, man.” I ended the call, and thirty seconds later, a text message came through on my phone. I put the address into my GPS and followed the directions. Danny had been right; while it was in the warehouse district, it was more isolated than the others. This place would have been a perfect spot for Anton’s operation. I parked my car behind the building so that I didn’t attract any attention. Surprisingly, the door was locked, but I was inside within two seconds, thanks to my handy dandy lock-picking tools. I found a light switch, and light flooded the building. At least the power still worked.

I whistled low as I took in the six-foot-tall steel cages scattered around the building. These would do nicely. I walked up to one and shoved it as hard as I could, but it didn’t budge. Fuck. We would need a forklift in here to move the cages into place. I sighed in frustration as I looked around, hoping that perhaps someone had left their forklift lying around. Sadly, I didn’t see one. I stared down the cage that had become my nemesis as I backed up to get a running start at it. Surely, I could get it to slide if I tried hard enough.

I charged toward the cage as fast as I could, and as the steel bars grew closer, I realized the error of my ways but was going too fast to stop in time. This might hurt a little. Committed to the attempt, I lowered my shoulder and slammed into the cage. I bounced off the fucking thing like a rubber ball. Groaning, I closed my eyes as every inch of my body screamed at me in protest of what I had just attempted. Not my brightest moment. Luckily, no one had seen it.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Colton asked from above me.

I groaned and popped open one eye to see him standing over me. “Please tell me I hit my head, and you’re a hallucination.”

“Sorry, brother. We witnessed every second of that,” Colton chuckled as he held his hand out to help me.

I slapped it away and climbed to my feet on my own steam. “We?” Colt gestured behind me, and I turned to see Tyler, Sean, and Drew grinning at me. “Awesome. Everyone but Layla is here. Unless she’s rolling on the floor nearby laughing hysterically.”

“You’re in luck,” Colt replied. “We left Layla at home.”

“How did you know how to find me?” I asked. I rubbed my shoulder as I stared at that fucking cage again.

“Danny called me and told me what you were up to. He said you denied his offer to help and was worried you might do something stupid,” Colt replied.

“Turns out he was right,” Drew snickered. “Only he thought you were smart enough to try and use your Jeep to move the cages. I can’t wait to tell him you’re dumber than he thought.”

“Fuck you,” I replied. I jumped toward Drew and wrapped my arm around his neck to give him a noogie.

“Is this how you treat the man smart enough to bring a forklift?” Drew asked as he struggled against my hold.

“You brought a forklift?” I asked, pausing mid-noogie.

“Yes.”

“Can I drive it?” I asked excitedly.

“Not a fucking chance. Now get off of me!” Drew growled, finally squirming free.

“Why can’t I drive?”

“Because I’m worried you might be concussed from playing chicken with an unmovable steel cage,” Drew replied as he opened the bay door. Sitting at the bottom of the ramp was a forklift he had already offloaded from his trailer.

“It’s not unmovable,” I argued.

“Without heavy machinery, it is,” he replied.

“How badly did you hurt yourself this time?” Tyler asked when he caught me rubbing my shoulder again.

“Not bad. I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I know how you knew I was here, but why did you come?”

“What, you think you’re the only one trying to avoid Layla?” Tyler laughed. “We all needed to get out of there, even Mr. Picks-Out-Sexy-Clothes, over there.”

“Hey,” Sean replied, holding his hands up. “I’m not doing a damn thing that could get me into even more hot water with Layla. So if she wants to dress sexy, I’ll find the sexiest outfit that exists in her closet.”

“It’s ok,” Colton replied, patting Sean on the shoulder. “We’ll just call you Seany Suck Up until you find your balls again.”

I snickered as Sean fake punched Colt in the gut. I was glad he was back. I didn’t realize how much a part of the group he had genuinely become until he was gone. Sean was one of us; he always had been. Once again, I was grateful that Colt chose not to kill him, even if it landed us all in cock cages for the foreseeable future.

“Ok, genius,” Drew said when he stopped the forklift beside us. “Where do you want them?”

I quickly explained my idea to them, and they agreed to try it. Together, with Drew doing all of the heavy lifting, we guided each cage into position. When we finished, we had a square arena with a second layer of cages on top of the first on one side where Layla would be. Elevated and out of reach of anyone inside the warehouse. We would be up there with her, providing the final protection level. Below us, we would have guards stationed to keep anyone who tries to rush her away.

“Are we sure this is the best idea?” Drew asked, looking at our battle royale arena.

“Do you have a better idea that Layla will agree to?” Tyler asked.

“No,” Drew admitted.

When we got home, Layla was already in bed. Interestingly enough, where we usually fought over who got to take the middle spots beside her, this time, we were silently arguing and gesturing over who got the edges. Well, everyone but Sean. He smirked at us as he grabbed a spare blanket from the chest beneath the window and laid down on the floor. I guess he wouldn’t sleep in our bed until Layla allowed it. If we tried sleeping on the floor, Layla would not be happy. Finally, I climbed in beside her, Tyler taking her other side.

“We’ll switch off every night,” I whispered as Drew and Colt got in bed behind us.

As soon as Layla sensed my presence, she scooted her ass against me and threw her leg over Tyler, her arms reaching out like an octopus to pull us even closer. I groaned quietly as her soft, pillowy ass settled against my lap, centered on my imprisoned dick. It was going to be a long fucking night.

I t took us less than a week to finish going through the files. In total, we had eighteen men who we were sure were acting as spies for Anton. The handy thing about the arena made of cages was that we already had a place to keep the traitors locked up until we were ready for the main event. We debated back and forth with Layla about having spectators, but she was adamant that there would be witnesses to her little show. The men permitted to attend were hand-picked by the capos, and we were the only ones allowed to carry any weapons inside the warehouse.

“I like how you guys set this up,” Layla said the night of the fight. She circled the arena, ignoring the men in the cages who were watching her angrily. “Can we buy this place?”

“With or without the cages?” Danny asked.

“Definitely with,” Layla grinned.

“I’ll ask around,” he replied.

I helped Layla onto the cages while Drew and Tyler struggled to lift Dash and Dire up. The boys would wiggle away whenever someone got their arms around them. I chuckled as they continued to struggle until Layla finally whistled. Immediately, the wolves scaled the first crate and then hopped onto the second like they were hopping over a fallen log.

“Fucking, really?” Drew asked, sweating from how hard he worked to wrangle the wolves.

I shrugged. “They’re wolves. Why did you think they would need help in the first place?”

“You could have fucking said something,” Tyler complained as he brushed past me to climb up the ladders I had placed for the humans to climb up.

“If I thought they couldn’t do it, I would have used steps instead of ladders!” I exclaimed. Why was I the only one this made sense to?

I spent the rest of the time running around, making sure everything was ready and that the men we had posted on the occupied cages knew how to open them using the levers from the top. Once we were set and everyone had arrived, I joined Layla and the others.

Layla held up her hands, and the excited chatter died down. “Welcome to the Traitor’s Battle Royale,” she said, her voice carrying across the warehouse. “The men in the cages are spies for Anton Kandicci. Because of them, good men and women have died or been put in danger. Before we start, do any of the accused want to step forward and provide information on the whereabouts of Anton Kandicci or Tommy Cato?”

“I’m innocent!” one of the men yelled. “Help me!”

“You’re a fucking liar, Toby. You’re just as guilty as I am,” another man sneered. “Be a man and accept your fate with honor.”

“I think that’s a no,” I whispered to Layla.

“If no one wants to come forward with information, then we will continue. As I’m sure you’ve surmised, this will be a fight to the death. The last man standing will be given another opportunity to give me the information I seek or be taken to my interrogation room where I will get my answers the hard way.”

Layla nods, and the cages open. When the men inside don’t immediately leave their cages, our men on the other side use cattle prods to get them moving.

“Begin!” Layla orders when all of the cages are empty. The spectators surrounding the arena cheer and yell, but the men inside don’t move.

I sigh and pull my gun, picking one of the traitors and shooting him in the foot. “I suggest you start with the weakest first,” I shouted. “If you aren’t fighting on the count of five, I’ll shoot someone else.”

The man I shot’s eyes widened as everyone turned on him. He is the first to fall and not get up. Once the first kill is made, the blood lust and fight for survival pick up steam, and we watch the men fight. Some are still more timid, and they fall next until only the most hardened and ruthless are left. A few men work together as a team, taking out their opposition until only the three of them are left. They pause to catch their breaths on separate sides of the arena, watching each other carefully.

I bounce lightly on the balls of my feet as I excitedly wait to see what happens next. I’m itching to jump down there and join in the fight, but those aren’t the rules, and Layla won’t be happy if I end up hurt or kill them all.

The men started to circle each other, and the anticipation in the crowd was palpable. It was still anyone’s game, and I watched excitedly as they began to fight. The power shifted between the three men as the target changed rapidly, all trying to exploit each other’s weaknesses. Finally, two of the men managed to get the third to the ground, where one stomped on his face until his only movements were body twitches as he passed. When the man backed away from the body, his blood-speckled face lifted to his final opponent. His eyes were crazed as he charged the other man.

They grappled viscously until Crazy Eyes managed to get the upper hand and sink his thumbs into the other man’s eyes. The man screamed in pain as he swung blindly. Crazy Eyes backed off his opponent, opting to let him tire himself out. When the man finally stopped swinging, he stood near the center of the arena, breathing heavily and trying to figure out where Crazy Eyes was.

I watched, fascinated, as Crazy Eyes quietly stalked around the arena, grabbing bodies and piling them up behind No Eyes in a triangular arrangement. When he finished, he stepped to the mouth of the triangle, blocking any escape No Eyes could make. Now, his only options were to make it through Crazy Eyes somehow or climb over the bodies before Crazy Eyes got to him. The fight was over, and No Eyes didn’t even realize it.

“Where the fuck are you, you coward!” No Eyes finally screamed.

“Right here,” Crazy Eyes replied, less than a foot from him.

No Eyes jumped and turned to swing as he backed away. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an uppercut in the world that could save him as he backed into the body wall. Crazy Eyes moved in and snapped the man’s neck as he tried to climb over the obstacle. The crowd went crazy as he tossed the body aside and turned to face Layla. His eyes trailed over us, lingering on Dash and Dire before settling on Layla. He knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want, My Queen.”

I snorted at the corniness of his behavior, but I couldn’t fault him for it either. If I just faced down seventeen other men and knew the only way to avoid being tortured to death was to give up what I knew, I’d probably be a little over the top with my respect as well.

“Take him back to the house,” Layla ordered. “Let him get cleaned up, and then we’ll see what he says.”

“On it,” Sean replied. He and Colt hopped off the first cage and into the arena to collect Crazy Eyes.

“That was exciting,” Layla grinned as she turned to face me.

“I think I might like him,” I replied.

“It got my blood pumping. How about yours?” Layla asked, shimmying her tight little body against mine teasingly.

Until she had said something, I hadn’t thought about sex. I was too wrapped up in watching men beat each other to death, but now that she was being all seductive, that was all I could think of. “You don’t play fair, LG,” I groaned as I tried to think of every unsexy thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Her sultry laugh wrapped around my cock like a velvet glove, making me groan as she climbed down. “Guess I’ll have to take care of myself when we get home.”

“You wouldn’t fucking have to if you took this fucking thing off of me,” I mumbled through my teeth as I followed her down the ladders.

“Poor Zach,” Tyler laughed. “You make yourself such an easy target.”

“Way too easy,” Drew agreed.

I waited until they were on solid ground before retaliating. “Both of you balls deep in that sweet little pussy at the same time while she’s coming.” It only took a moment for the memory to settle in their minds, and then they both groaned in pain. “You’re welcome, assholes. And you didn’t even need her help, just my sexy voice.”

I cackled as I jogged to catch up with Layla and the wolves. The only good thing about wearing the cock cages was knowing that my brothers were suffering right along with me.

When we returned to the house, I went to the basement to make sure everything was in order. Layla had recently had a small cell installed in the corner of the interrogation room so that we could keep people secure without having to keep them chained up. You know, for the more civilized imprisonment. I dragged a chair to the center of the room and took the cart around to choose different implements for Layla. This was the kind of shopping trip I enjoyed. By the time Sean brought Crazy Eyes into the room, the scene was set.

The man calmly sat in the chair and didn’t struggle when I strapped him to it. “I have to say, I was a big fan of your work back there,” I told him.

“Thank you?” the man replied, slightly confused.

“The body trap was genius. I don’t know that I would have thought of that,” I continued.

“When you’re done bonding with the prisoner, Zach,” Colton said from the doorway, “I think Layla is ready to talk to him.”

I turned to see everyone standing near the door with amused expressions. “What? I just wanted to let him know I appreciated his performance.”

I stood as Layla approached. “You said you had information for me?”

“Tommy has been staying at the Flamingo over on Pacific. He hasn’t left his room in weeks. He calls someone when he needs something brought to him because he’s terrified to step outside his hotel room,” Crazy Eyes stated.

“What’s the room number?” Tyler asked.

“One oh seven. Right on the corner,” Crazy Eyes replied.

“Is there anything else that you think we should know?” Colt asked.

Crazy Eyes shook his head. “You know that he will be armed. Past that, he doesn’t trust anyone to stay with him and never opens the door unless no one is there. He probably has his own security cameras installed to monitor the activity at the hotel. You’ll have to contend with that somehow. Otherwise, that’s all there is to it.”

“Thank you,” Layla replied.

“Does that mean I can leave?” Crazy Eyes asked hopefully.

“Not until Tommy takes your place,” Layla replied. “If your intel doesn’t pan out, it won’t be good for you.”

“It will, I swear!” he assured us as I unstrapped and locked him in his cell.

“Nighty night,” I told him.

My steps got heavier and heavier as we went upstairs. Bedtime was quickly becoming my least favorite part of the day. Layla’s taken to sleeping naked so that she can torture us even more. I’m pretty sure my dick will have permanent indentations in it from straining against this damn cage.

“Layla,” I groaned as she undressed for bed. “Can we please take these fucking things off?”

“Not yet,” Layla replied. “Not until Colton is on his knees begging me to remove them.”

“It’s never gonna happen, Hellcat.”

“I’ll beg!” I exclaimed, hitting my knees in front of her and immediately regretting it when I ended up face-to-face with her pussy. “Pleeeasssse, Layla, Queen of my heart and life. Please remove these cursed cages that you have imprisoned our cocks into so that we may grow again, as nature intended, and satisfy you for all the rest of our days.”

Layla giggled as she bent to kiss me softly. “Nice try and I appreciate the effort, but no. It’s gotta be Colt.”

Layla climbed into bed, and the rest of us followed. Luckily, it was my turn to be on the outside of the bed. As everyone fell asleep, I laid on my back, staring into the dark, willing my dick to chill the fuck out so that I could sleep. When Colt began to snore beside me, I ground my teeth together and turned my head toward him. I could just make out the shape of his body in the dark. He was on his side, facing away from me. All of this was his fault. In a burst of anger, I sat up and punched him in the back of the head.

I dropped to the mattress and pretended to be asleep as Colton woke up, crying out in alarm. “What the fuck!”

Through slitted eyes, I watched him sit up partially and rub the back of his head. He looked at me suspiciously for several minutes before laying back down. That was far more satisfying than I thought it would be. Maybe Colt will get punched in the head every night until he begs Layla for mercy. That thought helped settle my mind and dick enough to fall into a peaceful slumber.