Page 151 of Slaughter

AVERY

I STAND IN THE WAREHOUSE in New York City with Preston sitting in a chair in front of me. But this time, my brother stands to the right of me.

I take the knife and spin it around in my hand. “I will admit, I underestimated you.”

He yanks on the rope that ties his wrists to the wooden chair. “What the fuck, Avery?” he snaps.

“Never thought you had it in you.”

He throws his head back and screams. “FUCK!”

“Yes, you are,” Tristan informs him.

“Okay, okay …” The panic is starting to set in. “I made a mistake.”

I set the knife down on the table, giving him a second of relief. That maybe I won’t kill him. I won’t. Not here. Not right now anyway. “I never wondered who contacted Darrell. Until Victor brought it to my attention.”

“It was your dad’s idea!” he shouts. “He wanted her! She was always his!”

I nod. “So he says.”

“She is!” he spits out. “My father sold her to him during a poker game when she was younger—”

“The how and why doesn’t matter at this point,” I interrupt him.

“I called him when I found out that you were looking for me.” He swallows. “I killed Damon’s brother for him. I owed him money that I couldn’t pay back, and he told me if I killed you and brought him Presleigh, then my debt would be repaid. After you shot me, I informed him that you took her.” Preston bows his head. “But that’s wasn’t enough,” he grinds out. “The sorry, greedy bastard wanted more. When he found out that you had her, he gave me two options. Get her or he was going to kill me!” His voice rises. “So I called up Darrell and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse.”

I take a step toward him. “Were you in my house?” He doesn’t answer, just glares up at me. “Did you help take her?” I shout.

“Yes,” he answers without any remorse. “She was fucking easy …”

I slap him across the face, like the bitch he is, making his head snap to the side. Then I grab his chin and force him to look up at me. “You’ll pay for taking something that didn’t belong to you. But first, I want to know where Vaughn is.”

He yanks his chin out of my hold. “You’ll never find him.”

Tristan chuckles behind me. “Oh, I’m positive we will.” I turn around to watch him pull a cell out of his pocket. He waves it in the air before pressing some keys to open the screen.

“You son of a bitch!” Preston yells.

“See, Preston,” Tristan begins, “I’ve been talking to him for over an hour pretending to be you.” He smiles. “And he is already on his way to us.”

I turn back to face him and remove the syringe out of my pocket. Preston’s eyes widen, and he starts shaking his head quickly. “No …”

“Yes. We’re gonna take a little trip.” Then I stick him in the neck with the needle. His eyes close instantly, and his head slumps forward. I turn and face my brother. “Make the call. I want wheels up in an hour.”

I’m ready to go home.

PRESLEIGH

A week I have been in this hellhole. Back in prison, but this time, I don’t get any conjugal visits. At least, Alex is here with me. All she does is try to get me to discuss what all happened last time I was here, but I ignore her. Though she is taking her life sentence much better than I did at first. She hasn’t even tried to escape once. Before we left New York, Kayn went to take her phone, and she threw it at him. Satisfied when it hit him in the head before he could react and catch it. She gave up her freedom so easily. I think back and wonder how my body wouldn’t have been beaten if I had done the same.

I lie in Avery’s bed just staring up at the darkness. No clue what time it is and don’t care. I leave the curtains drawn. The sunlight hurts my eyes.

The door opens, and I close my eyes with a sigh. “I’m not in the mood, Alex. Please just leave me alone for one night.” I don’t even know why she came. I love her to death, but she doesn’t belong here. She doesn’t deserve this life.

The light turns on, and I let out a growl of frustration at her persistence to make me get out of bed and walk around this damn mansion like it isn’t a prison. My eyes spring open, and I shove off the covers and sit up. My heart stops when I look into a set of blue eyes that don’t belong to her.

Avery stands in his doorway. His arms crossed over his chest, and his hip resting against the doorframe. He doesn’t show any sign that he’s happy to see me. Or that he’s sorry.

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