Page 95 of The Dirty Saint

“Save it,” she snaps. “I don’t want to hear a damn word out of your mouth.”

I nod.

“I never planned on something like this happening. When I signed that contract, it was meant to be any other job I’ve had. But something—” I take a breath. “Something changed.”

Now, I’ve tortured a lot of sick fucks in my career, all the way from adulterers to pedophiles and everything in between. I justified my actions by reminding myself that they had all done horrific things, so it was only fair that they got a taste of their own medicine.

But Ezra’s different. She might have blood on her hands, but the man who she buried had just as much, if not more.

“We were a mistake,” she whispers. “Everything we did was a mistake.”

“No.”

“I was just a simple fuck,” she shrugs. “You pushed your way in and I let you and I gave you what you wanted cause I thought, stupidly enough, that I wanted it too. So good job, Joey Odeh. I hope you can give yourself a big old pat on the shoulder. In fact, why don’t you double it? One for each time you were inside me.”

Her words strike cords inside of me that I didn’t even know I had.

Hurting her will go down as my biggest regret.

“So, Michael,” Ezra cuts into my thoughts, “The fuck are you waiting for? You might as well get it over with since I’m sure as hell not going anywhere.”

“Oh, you think I’m starting with you,” Michael laughs. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. That would be too easy.”

Ezra scoffs.

“You see, when I kill you,” Michael walks over to Lana, running a finger along her cheekbone, “I want you to die in so much torment that death feels like heaven. No, I’m starting with her.” He points to the girl.

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” I roar. “Lana had nothing to do with this. Leave her out of this, Michael. This is between you, me, and Ezra.”

Michael grins before dipping the scalpel in a form of antiseptic and then wiping it on a sterile towel. “I think I’ll start from the bottom and work my way up from there.”

When Lana and I make eye contact, she shakes her head violently, which sends a ripple of pain through me that I can hardly stand.

“You fucking monster,” I yell.

The scorned man smirks.

The first slice has Lana screaming out in agony. Oh my god. Ezra turns her head away from the scene, but my eyes stay glued in place.

Idid this.

Iam to blame for this.

“I didn’t want to have to do this, Lana,” Michael rests the scalpel on her stomach. “But the two of them left me no choice.”

Ezra covers her mouth to hopefully mask her whimper.

Because even as a soldier, there are just some images you can’t withstand.

He traces his finger across Lana’s stomach, hovering above her C-section scar. “I wonder what happens if you open that up.”

Ezra yanks on her chains, screaming, her voice hoarse. “Don’t you dare!”

“Don’t let him do this to me,” Lana sobs.

“Please, Michael,” Ezra begs.

“Ez—”

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