Page 106 of Slaughter

It hurts like fucking hell, but it hurt worse knowing it was there. As if it was alive. I needed him to kill it. To save me again. And I knew he could do it. I had to bait him, but it worked. Avery never could deny me, and I played off that.

The sick part is he could have drugged me, but I wanted to feel the pain. Knocking myself out would only let that sick bastard who hurt me win. I am stronger than Victor. I’m a motherfucking survivor. And I needed that reminder that I could still feel.

Avery did it like the man he is. One slice and it was gone.

Tristan gets up and leaves without a word, and Avery kisses my hair.

“Thank you,” I whisper, and I feel him stiffen underneath me.

“Please don’t thank me, Bunny,” he says, and his voice is pained. “Don’t thank me for hurting you.”

I sniff as my bottom lip starts to tremble, and his hand stops moving in my hair. “You’re safe now,” he assures me, and I bury my head into his chest to muffle the sob that I can’t hold back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

AVERY

I STARE UP AT THE CEILING, not really seeing anything. Her body is soft against mine, and her breathing has evened out. She passed out in my arms. Silent sobs shook her body, but she never made a sound. She’s stronger than she needs to be. I don’t know if she feels she needs to be tough around me, or if she thinks showing me how she truly feels will make me think she’s weak, but she’s anything but.

I haven’t given her a chance to speak up about anything since I brought her here. That’s going to change. I want her to tell me what she is thinking. What she needs. What she wants. It’s all my fault, after all.

I slide out from underneath her and then lift her in my arms and carry her out of this bedroom where I’ve kept her locked up. She’s light. Too fragile. I carry her down the stairs and down the hallway, passing my study and take her to my room. This is where she has always belonged. I was just too stupid to see it. Once I have her under the covers, I leave her be, knowing I have to take care of something.

I pull up to the warehouse and enter. My brother and Kayn stand in the middle. They both turn to face me when I shut the door. Tristan crosses his arms over his chest, and Kayn places his hands in the front pockets of his black slacks. Both men have no clue what I plan on doing. “They’re all here, boss.”

I nod. “Where is …?”

He moves to the side, and I see Darrell’s dead body lying on the concrete floor. His clothes covered in blood, and the smell of rotting flesh beginning to fill the large space. I clap my hands together to get everyone’s attention. “I have called you all here tonight because it seems we had a rat,” I start. “And Darrell told me that the only people I could trust was myself, Kayn, and Tristan. So, which one of you knew what he had planned?”

Mason is the first to speak up. “Sir, I had no clue. I swear. I wasn’t even here. You had me in New York looking for Preston …”

I raise my hand, and he silences immediately. “You are correct, Mason.” I take a step toward him. “But that doesn’t get you off the hook.” I start to walk back and forth in front of the twenty-five men. “Kayn,” I call out, and he pulls a cell out of his front pocket. He looks over it for a few seconds, his fingers working the keys. Then his eyes meet mine, and he nods his head. I take the phone from his hands and read over the message typed out on Darrell’s phone.

“Get out of the house tonight.” Then I look up to my youngest guy, Jacob. He’s only nineteen. And I thought I would make him a man. Now I’ll make him an example.

He begins to shake his head quickly. “I didn’t know what he had planned.” Jacob swallows. “Darrell sent me that message, and when I questioned why, he said you ordered it.”

I walk over to him. Beads of sweat gather on his forehead. His brown hair hangs in his hazel eyes, and he swallows nervously, making his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Please believe me …”

“Turn around,” I order.

“Avery … I didn’t know …”

“Turn around!” I snap.

He sucks in a long breath and does as I say. His shoulders shake, and he looks at the floor. He thinks I’m gonna kill him right here and now, but he’s wrong. What I have planned will take days.

I hold out my right hand and snap my fingers. Kayn hands me a knife. The same one that I used earlier to cut off Bunny’s brand that my brother gave her.

I step up to the kid and wrap my left hand around his neck from behind, and he whimpers. “I’m sorry …”

“You will be.” I ram the knife into the middle of his back. Right below his T6, severing the spinal cord. He lets out a cry and falls to his knees, then his face. The knife still stuck in his back. Everyone takes a step back from me except Kayn and Tristan.

“I didn’t do it!” he wails.

“If anyone thinks that they are going to double-cross me, just remember that I don’t take well to traitors.” He sobs and starts to crawl across the floor using his hands. I crouch beside him, pressing my hand to the back of his neck, holding him in place. “This isn’t gonna kill you, but it has paralyzed you from the waist down.” I stand and turn to face the men. They all stare at me wide-eyed. “Everyone grab a shovel and go out back, where you will start digging.”

Mason pulls his brows together. “Dig what?’

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