Page 56 of Van

“She’ll never be yours, you son of a bitch!”

“Really? Whose bed do you think she was warmin’ last night?” I ask him. He shakes in the chair, trying to pull himself free, but it does no good. “Whose cock do you think she was ridin’ this mornin’?”

He lets out a roar as he tugs at the binds keeping him tied to the chair.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill her, too. I’ll make you watch her suck my cock as I slit her dumb little throat!” I raise an eyebrow before glancing over at the guys with a smirk on my face.

“Is that a threat? I think that sounds like a threat.”

“Sounded that way to me,” Pike adds.

“Me too,” Mask agrees as I turn back to the asshole in the chair.

“Let’s get back to reality. You aren’t gonna touch her. She isn’t yours anymore. And there’s only way one out of here,” I tell him.

“Which is?”

“Through me.” He laughs, and it’s a sick, dark laugh. Yeah, Chy was right. He’s definitely on drugs. I’m just not sure what.

“You think you scare me? You don’t fucking scare me. I could easily take you and your boys!” He roars. I laugh now as I walk behind him and cut the rope holding him in place. Then I kick the chair as hard as I can, knocking it out from under him and watching him fall to the floor. He quickly stands and turns to face me, his hands clenched and ready for a fight.

“You gonna show me how you hit her?” I ask him, taunting him. I want him to lose control. I want him to hit me the way he hit her. I’m ready for him.

“You motherfucker!” He roars before lunging at me. I drop the knife from my hand, and it clatters to the floor right when he slams into me. I’m knocked back, hitting the wall behind me with a thud. His fist comes up faster than I thought it would, and he lands one to my eye. I counter that with a punch to his ribs, knocking the air from his lungs. He gasps and steps back to catch his breath as I motion for him to come again. He does. He comes back at me, and this time, I’m ready.

We slam into each other and fall to the floor in a heap of limbs. We both swing, some hitting, others missing. That doesn’t stop us, though. No, we keep going like this. Rolling around the dirty ass floor of this old apartment complex, swinging on each other.

He gets a few good hits in before I think about the black eye Chy had. The more I can see it, the angrier I become. I swing, punching him in the face, sending his head flying to one side, blood spraying the other way. He returns the punch, and my head bounces off the hard floor. I shove him with all my might and get the weight shifted off me so I can easily flip him on his back now.

I hover over him, my hands around his neck.

“How’s it feel motherfucker?” I ask him as I choke the hell out of him. “Huh? How does it feel to lose?” I ask as I keep the pressure on him. He’s struggling, bucking his hips, trying to get me off him, and clawing at my hands. There’s no use. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting him go. This is it. These are his final moments.

“I was ridin’ that pretty little ass of hers. I’m the one bein’ daddy to that little boy. When he wakes up, I feed him. I hold him. He. Is. Mine.” I squeeze harder, wanting this to be over so I can get back to Chy and Nate. I want this to be over so she never has to worry about him again. I never want her to think of this motherfucker. I never want him to be a fear in her mind.

I keep squeezing even as his eyes roll back in his head. I keep squeezing, picturing Chy chained to a bed. I keep going until I feel one of the guys placing their hand on my shoulder. Only then do I stop. I look up and see Free standing there, nodding his head.

“He’s dead, brother.”

“Not dead enough,” I tell him. I release my grip on the motherfucker and stand. I look down at him and wonder what it was like to take that last breath, what it was like to feel what she felt.

“I think he’s pretty dead,” Mask says.

“I should do it all over again. Bring the motherfucker back and start all over.”

“That takes too much time,” Pike chuckles.

“True. So now what?” I ask them.

“Now we get this cleaned up, and you head home to your old lady and your son.” I like the sound of that. I like hearing them call Nate my son because that’s exactly what he is. He’s mine, and no one can take him away from me now.

“You think it was too quick?” I ask them.

“No. I think you dragged it out enough,” Mask says as we walk toward the door. I pull out a cigarette and light it up as we climb the stairs from the basement.

“I don’t know. I wanted him to feel what she felt.”

“I think he did. You beat his ass pretty good,” Pike tells me. I nod my head and think about it. I did beat his ass pretty well. Maybe that was enough. I don’t know. I can’t help but feel like I didn’t do enough.

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