A big man heats the knife with a blowtorch while she watches in horror. It’s hard to watch, but I keep my eyes on the screen for Cas. I’m getting a hold of that video in hopes I can—my thoughts are interrupted by the scene unfolding before me.
“Tell me who you and your father have killed.” He brings the knife down flat, burning her stomach.
She’s careful not to wiggle, knowing that will cut her. Seeing her vulnerable like this is killing me. Knowing I have no clue how to get to her or where she’s at makes me feel as though I’m drowning.
“You know that after the doctor gets here, we are selling you, anyway. So, don’t answer the fucking questions, but it won’t save you.” He keeps the knife flat, searing Cas’ skin as he drags it down to her crotch.
“I’m going to shove it in your pussy. I bet you’ll talk then.” She screams bloody murder.
He lets the knife sit against her inner thigh, dragging his tongue over his yellow teeth. “Maybe I’ll take a piece of you before the others can.” He unzips his pants.
The door bangs open and in walks another guy. He’s younger. He saves Cas when he says, “Doc’s here.” Then the video stops.
I’m too enraged to know how the others are reacting. Rage doesn’t even cover how I feel. Red, all I see is red as I vibrate with an anger that can’t be explained. Vomit eats away at my throat. I’m sick to my stomach. Useless. Feccia. That’s what I fucking am.
“Ash,” I hear AJ’s voice through my ringing ears. He sounds as if he is in a tunnel. It isn’t until I hear his voice that I realize I have Beatrice up against the wall with my hand wrapped tightly around her throat. Her face is red, and tears are streaming down her cheeks.
I’m vaguely aware of the fact that Emery bends down to pick something up.
“Out,” Edward tells her, deadly calm.
I lower Beatrice back to her feet. She grabs at her throat, gasping for air. “I want to make one thing clear. I only stopped him because of what could happen to him. But if it wasn’t for that, I would have helped him finish the job. Then drained your blood, cutting you up into pieces, and taking you to the busiest dump in N.Y.C. You’d never be found.” AJ is angrier than I’ve seen him in a long time.
Beatrice stands up with a shocked look on her face. “My father will hear about this.” She whines. Emery holds up the phone with a twisted smirk. His blue eyes are almost black. I know exactly what he’s thinking, so I speak for him. “Not now that we have your phone with the video on it as proof. I’m sure gramps will be pissed if he finds out you told. Not because he cares about my feelings, no, but because his cover will be blown. Even with all of New York in his pocket, I can take this to any other city and gain attention.” Of course, that’s not an option. I’d be dead before the night’s out, but I just need to buy some time.
I’m taking that video straight to Kel. We don’t breathe until she’s gone, and the door is shut behind her. Edward walks to it and locks it. As I see their faces, I realize that whoever crosses us will pay a price. “What the fuck do we do?” Edward says running his hands through his hair, pulling at it. His face is red, tears gather in his eyes.
AJ is pacing, which is never good. Emery, well… he looks gone as if he’s checked out. Walking up to him, I squeeze his shoulder. “Emery?” I try to bring him back down to earth. He blinks, but when he looks at me, I see into the pit of his black soul. He’s seconds away from the thread that he’s been hanging onto snapping.
“We can’t wait. It’s pretty fucking simple. We have to get to our girl, right-fucking-now. I’m not waiting. I don’t care if Francesco knows what I’m up to. It’s either wait, play it safe and risk losing her or hop the fuck on it, and consequences be damned.” The guys are looking at me and I can see that their minds are already made up. Outside, I explain our next steps. If my place is wired, then he’ll already know everything. I shake my head at our unbelievable and impossible predicament.
Sending Kel a text, I pace outside my apartment building, lighting up a cigarette. “I feel so fucking useless.” Edward is pacing with me.
“We all do, but we can’t just run to Italy without a plan. Not only are we outnumbered, but we don’t even know where to start looking.” AJ’s voice is strained. We’ll be like wild, rabid animals.
“She’s fucked up for showing us that.” Edward bends over, clutching his stomach.
“She’s a fucking psychopath. That’s okay though, because I’m going to make sure she gets hers. I don’t fucking care who her daddy is.” A plan starts to form as I continue to pace. It seems like hours, but I’m sure it’s only been minutes before Kel pulls up. He takes one look at us and knows it isn’t good. Emery passes him Beatrice’s phone, hitting play on the video. I try not to listen, but I’m unable to shut out her cries for help.
When the woman you love and would do anything to protect screams and you can't be there to save her, it has a profound, terrible effect on a man.
When the video stops, I see Kel turn red. He throws his head back and begins to pace with the rest of us before he gains control over his emotions. He stares straight at me. “This changes nothing. We still don’t have the location where she’s being kept, so you’re going to need to suck it up.”
I don’t appreciate his tone. Stepping up to him, we are now almost nose to nose, I tell him, “I think the fuck not. This changes everything. I’m not kissing asses while Cas is—” I can’t bring myself to even say it. Kel pulls back, bringing his fist toward my jaw. I duck before he makes contact.
Stepping back, I dodge a few more punches and see in Kel’s eyes he wants this fight. Throwing a punch myself, I hit his jaw so hard that my knuckles split open. The burning sensation is like when you finally reach a high.
I’m not stupid. I know he let me have that hit, but that’s not going to make me go easy on him. He dodges my next few punches and sidesteps my kick. Grabbing onto my foot, he yanks it toward him. I twist out of his grip, avoiding the fall he wanted me to take. His fist meets my side, jabbing me in the ribcage. It hurts like a bitch, causing me to grunt, but I use the pain as fuel.
I see Cas’ face and just snap. I forget where I am or what I’m doing as I take Kel down. Tears of frustration burn in my eyes as I repeatedly hit Kel. When he’s finally had enough, he pulls me down toward him by the neck of my shirt. I should have seen that he was going to headbutt me. But I blame the rage for missing it.
Pain shatters across my face like a web, causing me to fall off Kel. Blood pours down my nose. He puts his hand out, helping me to stand up. He catches me off guard when he pulls me in and pats my back.
“You good?” He asks and I realize he’s not asking physically, but rather mentally. I nod, unable to wipe the shocked expression off my face. “How—” I was going to ask how he knew I needed that, but I see the answer in his eyes. Cas.
We are cut from the same cloth. It’s crazy how similar we are. “I’m not going to make you kiss asses forever, but we have one chance. If we fuck this up, we end up dead and what good would we be to her then?” Staring at the ground as blood still drips from my face, I nod in defeat. Knowing no matter how much I hate it, he’s right.