Page 35 of Tempting Fate

“I know.”

“Brutus was missin’, though.” We exchange looks filled with a mixture of suspicion and suppressed anger as I say what we’re both thinking out loud. “Seems like our prez is up to his old tricks.”

“Yep.”

“Need that to stay between the two of us, at least until we have our Cherub back… maybe even after then.”

Cub inclines his head. “I’ve got your back, no matter how you choose to handle him.”

“Appreciate it, brother.” After handing his tablet back to him, I return my attention to our guest. The Hudson brothers are still toying with Hugh. They’ve added a couple cuts to his pretty-boy face and carved a shamrock in the side of his neck. Hunter’s deft hand is adding a matching one to his cheek. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wait until he’s finished before informing them, “Needa speed things up, fellas. I’m anxious to get my woman back.”

“What do you want to know?” Hugh babbles.

“We want to know how to get inside that house without Lily gettin’ hurt.”

“I can show you,” he offers in a rush. There’s calculation in his gaze when he adds. “But you’ll have to take me with you.”

“No,” I bark at the same time Slash drawls, “Sure.”

The look that Hugh shoots at me is victorious, even if it dulls quickly when Hunter adds a stem to the shamrock he’s carved in his face. While Hugh whimpers and whines, Slash unhooks the chain tethering him. Hands bound with cable ties, he drops to the concrete floor like a sack of potatoes. His knees take most of the impact, the rest of the momentum is absorbed by his face. The agonised scream that’s ripped from his mouth makes me smile.

My grin widens further when I pounce on him and he cries out again. Gripping his hair, I pull his head back at an awkward angle. Hunter kneels next to him and presses his blade to Hugh’s throat in silent warning.

“Tell us how we get inside.”

“Fuck. You.” He spits the words at me.

I punch him in the mouth.

Bloodstained foam bubbles out of his gaping maw, and his two front teeth follow. I don’t know if the blood he’s choking on is from the damage caused by the bullet hole I added to his gut or the Hudson brothers’ ministrations, and I don’t care.

All I want is information about how I can get Lily back unharmed.

“You must know that you’re dead if anythin happens to my woman?”

“Fuck Anna. She’s more trouble than she’s worth.”

Another quick left-jab to Hugh’s mouth loosens a new tooth. As more blood runs out of his mouth, the incisor slowly dribbles down his chin. “I’m losin’ patience with you. Do I need to start peelin’ fingernails for you to cooperate?”

“Venom,” Cub says my name with alarm.

I wave off his concern, then flip Hugh onto his back. Shoving him flat, I jam the sole of my boot across his throat. As I lean forward, slowly shifting my weight onto one leg, Hugh flops beneath me like a dying fish. He hits at my denim covered ankle. Scratches pointlessly at the thick material. Flails around in panic. I apply more pressure. Terror flashes in Hugh’s eyes. The blood running out of his nose picks up pace.

Slash comes up behind me. He drops to his haunches on the opposite side of me and Hunter. The surgical scalpel he’s holding gleams in the fluorescent light as he examines it. “Whaddya think, Venom? Should I take an eye or do ya reckon he could rock a coke nose?”

“Like a single nostril?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

“You think you have the knife skills to pull off somethin’ like that without accidentally killin’ him?”

Scowling at my lack of respect for his craft, Slash tilts his head to the side and holds his hand out flat, palm down, over Hugh’s face. He wedges the handle of the scalpel between his thumb and index finger, then he uses the next finger to flip it over his knuckles. Repeating the movement with each finger, he swaps hands and continues until the scalpel reaches his pinkie. Smirking, my best friend flips the blade one last time.

It lands, sharp edge down, impaled in Hugh’s cheek.

Slash shows me his hands. “Not one nick.”

“Impressive, brother.”

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