Page 72 of Four Times Saved

Ethan had been silent, his shadow looming as he stepped forward. I couldn't see his eyes, but I imagined they were red as he was the first one to grip rat face by the jaw and squeeze the shit out of it. I wasn't there to see him lose his temper on Marco, but fuck, he was terrifying when he was mad.

I was still shocked that I didn't know this about one of my best friends of over a decade. I thought there was even a snap in Terry's jaw. He groaned in pain around the gag in his mouth. Turning his gaze on the whimpering guy seated next to Terry with a black eye, Ethan lamped him one and something inside me burst free.

I'd only seen this man's face in blurred CCTV photos. I didn't know anything about him, but I knew everything I needed to know. He was the voice in the taunting videos, the smug idiot who left Lily with fractures in her skull which would need further examination. Terry was the 'mastermind'—and I use that word loosely—but it was this piece of shit who tortured and terrorized her.

Ethan's action inspired my own and I marched toward him, blacking out and coming to with blood dripping down my arm. Tyler laughed behind us, applauding like an audience after a moving theatre performance.

Ryan's voice was a roar of emotion behind us. "You made us do this. You turned us into this."

I turned to find him trembling and staring at Terry.

"It's always you." He continued. "You're the reason Lily's had a broken life, you're the reason she chose Marco, why she chose drugs, why her mother chose drugs, why she endured the most terrifying days of all our lives. I mean, how could you turn two days into the worst hell she's faced after having you for a father for all those years? It's always fucking you! What the hell is the matter with you?"

Ryan marched toward him and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"I want to hear it." He yelled. "What the fuck is the matter with you?"

I was wound up tight, because I'd been saving my anger for him and if he had the audacity to spit a threat, as usual, I was going to fucking snap.

"People are responsible for their own choices. You can't put what Lily or her mother did with their lives on me," Terry braved.

Ryan went eerily still. My eyes went wide and I lurched forward.

"Okay! Okay, okay. Please." Terry cried out. He surprised me when he broke down into sobs. It might have been just me, but I froze and dropped my fist.

I'd met this man on a few occasions, all spanning over a decade, and he'd always been the same shit-talking, smug fucker. The only emotion he'd ever shown was anger and dominance. To see him break down like a little toddler being scolded, I almost felt sorry for him. And that feeling frightened me.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Are you really sorry, though?" Matt asked. "Or are you just saying that, because you can sense your last moments approaching?"

Damn. He had a point.

"Surprised that... what did you call us? Lily's 'lapdogs' would bite? You know all of this could have been avoided if you'd have just told us the truth at your workplace." Matt sighed.

"Doubtful," Tyler added. "Although, I don't know if I would have killed him. I think his lies just gave me enough time to settle back into my killing mindset. Thanks for that." He winked at Terry with that devilishly handsome face of his.

I saw what his wife was attracted to, must have been enough to distract from his venomous and terrifying ways. Although, she might have been attracted to that too. But, she didn't strike me as the dangerous type. Then again, I didn't strike myself as this type either. Neither did Matt or Ryan, or damn, Ethan.

"No, please." Terry yelled. His partner struggled against his ties. He was yelling something too, but it was all muffled behind the soiled cloth tied around his mouth. "I'll apologize to Lily. I'll leave. I'll do anything. Please."

"Too late for that now. He's intent on killing you and there's nothing me or the other guys can do to stop it." Ryan shrugged. "Trust me, I've thought about it all night. Can you believe that there was one moment last night where I contemplated saving your life?" Ryan's laugh echoed without humor. "I drank myself into a stupor, because I couldn't bear the thought of blood on my hands. Thought of a million ways I could prevent this from happening. Considered blackmailing Tyler..."

Bro, you're talking too much, my eyes popped out of my damn head.

"Ahem." I coughed, short and tight, enough to, hopefully, get Ryan's attention without attracting Tyler's.

Matt was gobsmacked as we shared a glance. He paced back and forth to get Ryan to look at him, but it was a lost cause. Ryan was too engrossed in his speech, and Tyler's attention was honed in on him.

Tyler's gray eyes darkened in slow motion, in time with him turning around to regard Ryan. The pure coldness in his glare reminded me that this was not your average man. He was evil, yet he hid it so well.

Normally.

Well, as long as we'd known him, at least.

That's what makes him so chilling.

A shiver ran through me and I stepped away from Terry and the other piece of shit, no longer wanting to touch whatever Tyler had put his hands on. I had a feeling it was already too late for that.

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