Page 608 of Dark Love

***

“Are you sure I can’t knock out a few of his teeth?” Basil rubs his swollen knuckles.

“No.” Dahlia chimes in for the first time in a while.

None of us saw any reason to stop Basil when he decided to beat on Monty.

“Why not? He deserves it.”

That and more. If I wasn’t holding tight on to the woman I love, I’d probably have shown Basil a few ways to hurt a man.

“Because I’m not the only one he hurt. And even though it’s tempting to tell you to have at it, they deserve to know who hurt them. They deserve the closure I got today, too.” Dahlia’s voice is strong and firm, even as she trembles slightly in my arms.

“My daughter isn’t being dragged through the judicial system and tortured by this piece of filth again.”

“I don’t mind, Daddy, if it means he goes to jail forever for what he did.”

“Sweet little Dahlia just wants to show the whole world that sexy body.”

Eugenia steps past Basil and slams a fist into Montgomery’s abdomen.

“If you aim up and to the left a bit, you’ll hit a kidney. That will hurt more,” I volunteer instead of walking over and doing what I want to the man currently hanging from the warehouse rafters.

“Thank you. Like this?” She follows my instructions.

“Exactly.”

“I vote we kill him.” Dahlia’s father says.

“I second that.” Basil glares at his once best friend.

Eugenia turns to Dahlia. “It’s your choice, jail or prison.”

“Jail.” Her sure, steady voice brooks no arguments.

Even though I want to very badly. “Jail it is.” But I’m with her father. Dahlia doesn’t need any more trauma in her life from this incident. “You don’t need to worry about Dahlia having to testify.” I move Dahlia towards her father so he can support her while I take care of business.

He nods, wrapping his arms around his daughter.

Will our children feel that safe in my arms?

Now isn’t the time to think about our future children. Take care of business. “She doesn’t have to. You’re going to confess.” I walk up and get in his face, letting all the evil my father taught me show. “Because if you don’t, I’ll find you, and when I’m done, you’ll beg to spend the rest of your life rotting in a hole far, far away from me.”

“Man, that was terrifying.” Basil reaches up to fist bump me.

“Basil,” Eugenia warns.

“What? It was. Can you teach me how to be a person’s worst nightmare?”

Dahlia’s whole family is a bit nutty.

***

A while later, we walk out of the warehouse.

Dahlia’s father makes eye contact with me, and I let the women and Basil step into the waiting car first, closing the door behind them.

“I love my daughter. And I want to respect her wishes, but all I see is her dying a little more every day in my guest house. Eugenia convinced me not to burn it to the ground.”

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