Page 45 of The Afterthought

It's been a few weeks since Ava and I went on the drive-in movie date. I've been bringing her favorite coffee and blueberry muffin every morning, and she’s slowly opening up. I like to leave them on the counter for her. She never questions how I get into the house. We've gone on a few dates, and she’s started texting me on her own more often now. For the most part, things seem like we are in a normal relationship, even though she still refuses to admit she's mine.

I have maybe a month left before Chloe graduates to try and convince her not to run again, not that I would actually let her go this time. She needs to decide for herself, though, for this to work. If I have to force her, I will, but I’d rather not take that route.

I've been trying to find time to skip town so I can track down the fucking asshole who hurt her, but Knox has been keeping me busy with gang business. Our shipments keep turning up missing. We have a rat somewhere, and he is determined to find out who it is.

The biggest issue with the entire situation is that the drugs aren't disappearing. They are ending up in the hands of the Cobras, and people are starting to talk around town. People are getting scared to do business with us, and the Crimson Rose is developing a bad reputation. They want our guarantee there is no risk of their product being lifted. Right now, we can't give that to them, so they've been going to the Cobras. These fucking people don't even realize the drugs they are buying from them are the same drugs they should be getting from us.

Leave it to Alec to be a slimy motherfucker and steal from us instead of doing things on his own. It's why the Cobras will always be second-rate compared to the Crimson Rose. Ava is still working at his fucking club too. She keeps telling me she's going to stop working there, but she hasn't yet, and it's pissing me off.

Knox has been telling me I need to get my girl under control, and I've been trying, but I don't think he realizes she's not the kind of girl who likes being told what to do, at least not when we have clothes on. She is too strong-willed and will make a point of going out of her way to do the opposite of what I want her to do if I ever tell her she isn’t allowed to do something.

I've considered having one of the younger kids pretend to hang with the Cobras, but that idea was knocked down real quick. Something needs to be figured out real soon, though, because I can't keep doing this in-between bullshit where I'm trying to accommodate both Ava and Knox.

I pull my car up to the garage and walk straight past it to get to my torture shed. Knox asked me to meet him here, and I hope it's to try and get some information out of someone. I'm itching to let out some of this shit I've been feeling. I've been flicking my lighter off and on all day to try and control the urges.

As I open the door, a sinister grin spreads across my face when my eyes land on the guy tied to the chair in the center of the room. Fuck yes. I spot Knox in the corner talking to Kai and make my way over to them.

"Who is he?" I waste no time asking.

"He's a Cobra." Kai smiles.

"What's the snake doing in our shed?" I ask Kai, and Knox shakes his head at us. He doesn't appreciate the playful sarcasm we share.

"Boss got him for you to play with," Kai jokes, and I look over at Knox in question.

"Yes. You can do whatever you need to do to him to make him talk. He knows something about who's been stealing from us. I want to know exactly what he knows."

Nothing else needs to be said. I crack my knuckles and walk to the shelves filled with tools, picking out a few things to have fun with. This is exactly what I was hoping for today.

I take my time lighting the fire in the wood burner near the tool shelves before I step in front of the snake and rip the tape off of his mouth. It's more fun when I can hear them scream.

"You two can stay and watch if you want, but this might get a little messy." I laugh. "Do you need him alive, boss?"

"Yes, Greyson. He needs to be alive with all his limbs attached."

"Fine, but what about his eyes? Does he need to be able to see?"

The guy starts shaking his head frantically. "FUCK, MAN. Just let me go."

Knox stands there with his arms crossed, not saying anything else. He didn't tell me no on the eyes question, but he didn't exactly say yes, either. I'm going to have to take the silence as a no. He likely just wants to scare the guy into being more willing to talk.

"I think we will start out with something easy." I walk over to the wood burner and use the fire-safe tongs to grab a hot coal before going back over to the guy.

"Care to tell me what you know?" He just stares straight ahead with a blank look.

Boring but perfect. I was hoping he would be fun to play with. I lower the hot coal over his pants on his thigh. I watch as it begins to burn through the blue jean material. He starts jerking around in the chair, but I hold it firmly in place with the tongs. When it finally burns through the jeans and starts to hit his skin, he lets out a scream. I leave it there for a moment before lifting it up and giving him another chance to talk.

"Feeling chatty yet?"

I'm met with nothing, so I go back to the wood burner to repeat the process, over and over, along the length of his legs. This continues for about five minutes, and the guy still refuses to talk. He's a tough nut to crack, but I'll get through to him. A sick idea crosses my mind, and I turn to look at Knox.

"Is his dick off limits?"

Kai laughs from the corner of the room. "What are you going to do, fuck him?"

I shoot him an annoyed look. "No, asshole. I just think it might be fun to see if it shrivels up from my blowtorch." I look back over at Knox, waiting for him to give me his decision.

"I suppose that's fine," Knox says.

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