Page 121 of Relentless

Piper rammed into Moe, trying to move him enough to run to Liam.

The guard shoved her back and backhanded her a second time. The blow sent her crashing to the floor.

“Baby, stop,” Liam managed to call out before Billy landed another blow, this one to his ribs. Yeah, pretty sure that one cracked a rib or two. No matter how painful his own wounds were, he couldn’t let Piper be injured in her desperate fight to reach him. She couldn’t help him right now and all she’d succeed in doing was place herself in the path of flying fists.

When her pleading gaze locked with his, Liam shook his head before another blow from Billy split his lip.

“Enough.” Brandy held up her hand. “The pain stops if you give me what I want, Piper. When Billy grows tired of beating on your boyfriend, Moe will take over. Trust me. You don’t want Moe to go to work on Liam. I can’t guarantee he’d survive.” A lazy shrug from the woman. “If he does, I have other men at my beck and call who will take over. Several love to hurt women. Maybe you don’t love Liam as much as you pretend to. If you did, you wouldn’t allow him to be beaten to pulp in front of you. What kind of woman are you to allow the man you love to suffer?”

Tears tracked down Piper’s blood-stained face. Her gaze remained locked on Liam’s, silently begging him to give her permission to tell Brandy what she wanted.

He couldn’t do it. The only way to keep them alive was to remain silent. Liam shook his head again, then mouthed, “I love you.”

More silent tears from his woman.

“What’s it going to be, Piper? More pain for Liam or a reprieve?” Brandy folded her arms.

Piper kept her gaze locked with Liam’s and refused to respond to Brandy’s questions.

Smart woman. She’d figured out that her reactions incited their captors. The more she reacted, the greater harm they’d inflict with the intent to make her break and give them what they wanted.

A loud sigh. “Seriously? He’s suffering needlessly, Piper. All you have to do is give me Gavin’s information and Liam’s pain stops.” When Piper didn’t respond, Brandy growled. “Fine. Since your boyfriend seems to be as tough as he looks, I guess we’ll shift our persuasion techniques. Billy, take over for Moe. We need his special talents.”

A resentful glare from Billy as he crossed the room and wrapped his hand around Piper’s throat. “You fight me and I’ll choke you until you pass out,” he growled. “After that, I’ll drag you out of here and find a nice, quiet room where no one will bother us. You need a real man to tame you and I’m just the one to do it.” He tightened his grip around Piper’s throat.

Billy the guard was a dead man as soon as Liam freed himself.

An abrupt movement by Moe caught Liam’s attention. The guard brandished a four-inch fixed-blade knife. The steel gleamed in the light.

Moe lumbered forward, stopping in front of Liam, waiting for the go-ahead from his mistress. “You don’t want to do this,” Liam murmured. “Cut me free. We’ll stop her together.” He needed more time for his teammates to get here or to regain full control of his limbs.

“I don’t have a choice,” came the whispered response. “She threatened my kid.”

“We can protect your family.”

“What are you waiting for?” Brandy snapped. “You have your orders. Carry them out. If you don’t, you know what will happen.”

Moe swallowed hard. “Sorry, man.” He plunged the knife into Liam’s left shoulder.

Liam rode the waves of pain, keeping his expression blank as Piper watched him with anguish in her eyes.

“Again,” Brandy demanded, her gaze riveted to the growing bloodstain on his shirt.

The knife blade penetrated the outside of his right thigh. Liam grunted at the flash of pain. At least Moe hadn’t stabbed him in the inner thigh where he could have sliced Liam’s femoral artery. So far, the wounds were painful but not mortal, the injuries designed to coerce Piper into talking.

The knife dripping with Liam’s blood, Brandy smiled, her gaze shifting to Piper. “Still refuse to talk?”

Piper remained silent.

Liam had never loved her more than he did right at this moment. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met.

With a look of disgust, Brandy motioned for Moe to continue his work.

The guard circled the chair and came to a stop behind Liam. A moment later, the blade of the knife plunged into Liam’s side.

Nausea roiled in his gut as the pain built. He didn’t dare show reaction. Piper was suffering enough as it was. Another plunge of the knife, this time into his back above the liver.

Too much more of this and he’d pass out from blood loss. Weakness spread throughout his body and Liam’s blood pooled under the chair.

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