Page 119 of Their Will be Done

I watch deadpan as she strikes the final blow, only mildly surprised it doesn’t make Cass come or bleed.

Then she hurls the belt away from her like it’s a viper and spins on her heel.

Her cheeks are red. Her eyes bright, zealous.

“There,” she says, pushing the word through her teeth. “It’s done. Now tell me what you found.”

Trinity Malone isn’t the innocent little girl we’d all assumed she was.

Does that mean we won’t enjoy breaking her?

Not at all.

It just means we don’t have to hold back.

Chapter Forty-Two

Trinity

It’s obvious Cass is in pain, but he’s not acting like someone who’s just been punished. In fact, the longer he stays as he is, breathing hard and holding onto Reuben’s waist as if he’d fall over if he let go…the more I’m starting to wonder about all of this.

I know they were waiting for me, but why? Just so they could show me words have consequences?

And even after all of this…I have a feeling Zachary is still not going to tell me what I need to know.

“Zacha—”

He lifts a hand, the first two fingers raised, for all the world like a priest about to bestow a blessing.

“There was a file,” he says. His lips part, but then he hesitates. “Apollo, you tell her.”

“He hid it in the system directory,” Apollo says.

Ice blows over my skin and settles deep in my bones. I’m dimly aware of Cass moving behind me, making soft, pained sounds as he dresses. I can’t imagine how much pain he’s in—I only got a handful of lashes from Miriam and I could barely stand the agony.

How long has Zachary been beating him? Why do Reuben and Apollo allow it to happen? Do they always watch like tonight? Does Reuben always hold him down?

Suddenly I don’t want to be here anymore. Not surrounded by these four twisted men.

I thought I liked Reuben. Hell, I thought I could learn tolovehim, even, but not if he lets Zachary push him around like this. But can I blame him? I wouldn’t want to be on Zachary’s bad side either.

And that’s not the only reason I want to leave. As much as the Brotherhood terrifies me…it’s also the look in Apollo’s eyes.

Sympathy. Pity. I’m not sure.

He feels sorry for me and I’m not sure why.

“Clever, but not clever enough. He encrypted it, renamed it, and hid it around a bunch of other system files so it would blend right in.”

Apollo slips off the couch and stands to his full height. When he comes closer, I have to crane my head back to keep his gaze.

“See, he disguised it so well that I almost gave up. But I got a hunch. Ran a system check. Replaced all the standard files. All except a handful were overwritten. That file of his, it was one of them. One of the outliers, the ones that didn’t fit.”

“Any of this sound familiar, my little slut?”

I nearly jump out of my fucking skin when a hand lands on my shoulder. Cass’s voice is right by my ear. I want to slap away his hand, but…it was because of me that he was punished. And more brutally than I’d ever have considered necessary. I could at least hear him out.

Hearthemout.

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