Page 3 of GAF Factor

I knew exactly what I was doing. No reality check needed. Everything from the moment I pulled the trigger on my brother moving forward was necessary. Including this. They wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone, so if Fox wanted a fight, that’s what he would get.

“Release me, then.”

A wide grin split his face. I was going to enjoy this more than I should. For years, I’d held back from hitting Fox. He had thatpersonality that got under your skin and grated on your nerves, and right now, I wanted nothing more than to fuck him up.

“My pleasure, moi capitaine.”

He strode forward and jangled the keys in front of my face, then unlocked my left wrist. As soon as I was free, I slammed my fist into the side of his head. He stumbled back a step, snickering.

“Alright, alright. I can see you’re ready for this. Let me at least get you unlocked. Otherwise, it’s just not a fair fight.”

“Unlock me and I’ll ground your face into the floor.”

Like the psycho he was, he fucking laughed. If it were anyone else, they’d think I’d gone off the deep end, but not this guy.The cuff came off and I was on him before my wrist was fully released. The metal scraped my skin as I jerked my hand free. The next second, my fist slammed into his face and blood flew from his mouth. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, pushing the drugs from my system. Rage unlike anything I’d felt since just after Rafe died pulsed through me.

I waited for him to get to his feet. There was no joy in beating a man who was already down. He chuckled, wiping the blood from his face. He thought this was a fucking joke, to chain me up and keep me here. He didn’t get it. He got his revenge. He murdered the man who killed his mother.

“Where’s my revenge?” I snarled.

“What?”

We circled each other, but while he was grinning, having the time of his life, I was burning inside. “How did it feel to watch the life leave the man who attacked your mother?”

Something flickered in his eyes. “Like resetting something inside me.”

“And now you’re denying me that.”

“You have a family.”

“Fuck you,” I spat. “You don’t get to tell me when I get to seek revenge.”

“I do when you’re abandoning everything that you are.”

“You should be on my fucking side,” I snarled. “If anyone should understand, it’s you. And instead of letting me take what I need, you want to chain me up like the rest of them. Get my head shrunk. Maybe breathe a little.”

“Breathing does help,” he taunted.

I charged, unleashing the rage inside me. Every time my fist met his body, I felt another piece of myself clicking into place. When I felt a rib crack under the weight of my fist, I bounced from one foot to the other, letting my mind clear from all the bullshit in my life.

I didn’t know how much time passed. I didn’t stop fighting, not as my own ribs cracked or my eyebrow split open. Not when I felt my nose crack or when it became hard to breathe. Nothing dulled the need to fight, and no matter how hard Fox pushed me, I didn’t give in. There was no stopping, not until every last mother fucker who caused Rafe’s death was dead and buried.

“You should know that I can taste the Funyuns I had at lunch,” Fox panted, bending over slightly, gripping his side where I knew I’d just punctured his lung. “They may make a reappearance.”

“Open the fucking door.”

He shook his head, wheezing as he held his side. I knew he was in worse shape than me. He’d been letting me win, and even when he had the upper hand, he didn’t use the full force of his strength to take me down. And I fucking hated him for that. I was a skilled fighter, but Fox…he was more like Rafe. Ruthless, determined, and unyielding to the pain.

And that just pissed me off.

I shot forward, thrusting my bloody knuckles through the air, distracting Fox as I spun and slammed my elbow back into hisface. Bone snapped and then he flopped to the ground, his eyes open, but barely seeing.

Breathing hard, I knelt down beside him, grabbing him by the hair and lifting his head. “What is the code to get out of this fucking place?”

His eyes rolled slightly and a chuckle left his lips. “You have…to do…it.”

Kill him. That was the only way out. I stood and strode over to the table, grabbing the knife and clutching it tight in my hand. His eyes tracked me as I stalked over to him. Just a single strike to the chest would end it all. And then I would be free to get the justice I so desperately craved.

But no matter how much I wanted to leave this fucking cell, killing Fox wasn’t the answer. I knew what he was doing. I knew he was trying to draw out my humanity. It was the only way he could be sure how far I’d fallen. But all this proved to me was that I no longer belonged here. These people were no longer the men I needed around me. They didn’t have the ruthlessness I craved to get the job done.

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