Page 49 of One Love

“His dad married my mom when I was a teenager. He’s six years older than I am so I think he was…nineteen? Maybe twenty. He hated me.” She pauses, as if the memory is causing her physical pain, before inhaling deeply and closing her eyes for a second. “To start with, he just found ways to get me in trouble with our parents. But that wasn’t enough for him. After a while, he started hurting me, told me he’d kill my mom in her sleep ifI told anyone the bruises were from him. Then it turned into…he…” She sighs heavily and closes her eyes again. “He made me do things to him and raped me consistently for years before I ran away. I found Marco’s dad and he kept me safe, gave me a job, made me into more than nothing.” Her tear-filled gaze meets mine and there’s so much guilt swimming in their depths that I break my no-hugging rule, leaning down and wrapping my arms around her neck.

“Don’t you dare let what he did to you make you feel ashamed. You have never been nothing. Do you hear me?” The hug is quick and I grip her head between my palms once more, staring her in the eye. “What are you, Fizz?”

The tears are streaming down her face, but she narrows her gaze with determination as she sniffs.

“What. Are. You, Fizz?”

“I’m a bad-ass bitch.” She huffs a gentle laugh and shakes her head.

I won’t lie, when River told me her mantra for herself years ago, I took it upon myself to make sure the women on my crew knew it too.

“Yes, you fucking are.” I speak directly to Fizz, knowing Crank is listening intently to what I’m about to say. “I’m totally on board with him dying, I would never deny you that, but I need to see if we can get any info on the Irish from him before you land the final blow. You gonna be good with that?”

She nods and I mirror it in acknowledgement. “You wanna come in once we’ve got what we need or you coming in for the whole thing? Completely your choice.”

“I think I’ll sit out here for a bit. I’ll come in soon though. Is that okay?”

I wink. “Whatever you need, Fizz.” Letting go of her face, I stand and head for the door. Might as well get this whole thingmoving along because this fucker deserves Hell for what he’s done.

“J?”

I stop with my palm on the door handle and look over my shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Make it hurt.” Fizz’s small, wobbly grin gives me hope that she’s not entirely broken by this man and I’m reminded of the fire I love so much about her.

“Of course.”

Shoo winces and grasps his junk as I use the blow torch to cauterize the end of Cook’s dick, the tip of it lying on the ground beneath his head. He’s currently hanging upside down from the ceiling. We’ve been at this for a couple of hours now and he still hasn’t given anything up about Ronan and he keeps passing out from the pain. It’s fucking annoying.

Cook’s screams have died out again and I sigh, releasing his swinging body from the chains holding him up so he falls to the floor. I drag his limp, naked form by the leg to the wall and tie him to the metal chair. Tab helps, because of course the weak-ass ballbag has passed out again.

“Why d’you always have to go for the family jewels, Boss?” Shoo shudders and begins clearing up the chains that were hanging from the ceiling. They will be thoroughly cleaned before being put away for future use, but not until we’ve finished with this creep.

“Not always, but he practically asked for it.” I shrug as I finish tightening the chain on his left ankle and step back, conscious of the words I just used. If men can say a rape victim asked for it,then I can say the same about cutting off the tip of a rapist’s dick. Tit for mother fucking tat.

Cook’s head slowly lifts from his chest; he’s waking up as I move over to one of the cabinets and begin pulling out some tools. Toothpicks, a rusty saw, a large can of gasoline, and a dirty-as-fuck sack.

“Why do you still want him?” Cook’s voice is croaky and low, not really aimed in any direction.

“Okay, I’ll give you something. He stole something from me and I don’t play well when others take what is mine.” I raise my brows because he’s getting fuck all else out of me, but at this point, a small exchange of that information is a new tactic. Everything’s worth a shot.

“Ha.” Cook shifts his gaze to mine, where I’m standing in front of him, toothpicks in hand. “Your kind are so selfish. Always thinking of yourselves.”

Before he can continue his tirade, I grab the dirty sack and shove it over his head. Then I grab the gasoline can, walk back over, and yank his head backward, pouring the liquid over his face. His choking sounds are music to my ears, but I know I have to stop.

Leaning down, I speak into his ear. “Tell me where Ronan is and I promise this stops.” I don’t tell him he’s going to die anyway, but I won’t break my promise. I’ll stop pouring gasoline on his face.

“Fuck you.”

His spluttering begins again as I pour more liquid over his covered head, then I stop and rip the sack off, controlling where his face is looking by gripping his ear.

“Tell me. Where Ronan is. And I promise I’ll stop.” This is also one I won’t break. Just because I’ll be stopping, doesn’t mean the rest of my Reapers will.

He’s still coughing, struggling to catch his breath, and I move to put the sack back over his head before he stops me. “Wait. He’s in Georgia. Somewhere around Savannah in a fucking bunker. That’s all I know. Now you have to stop if I know anything about a promise made by the mafia.” He spits at me and I manage to move back quickly enough to avoid the dirty bastard’s bodily fluid.

The smirk on his face tells me he’s severely underestimated this situation. He actually thinks that’s it. I suppose I could have promised to stop sooner, but if I’m honest with myself, I was enjoying it.

I sigh, annoyed that I have to give up my torturing to Fizz now, but it’s her turn to do whatever she needs to get rid of her demon. The whole thing is still blowing my mind and I’m surprised that I kept my cool as well as I did. He’s been beaten, burned, cut, had literal salt rubbed into the wounds, and the old fucker’s still going. But he’s Fizz’s kill and I’d never take that away from her. If anything, the revelation with Fizz just made it easier to question him. Knowing he is going to die anyway meant I could be a little sloppier with my methods.

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