Page 81 of Ruthless

“Good. Because I can’t do this anymore without you.” I press my hand to the small bump that’s growing our child. “Either one of you.”

“You going to kill a man every time I lose this?” She holds her hand up, the diamond of her wedding ring glistening under the shower light. Seeing the smile appears on her face has a lightness filling my limbs.

“Maybe.” I rub my thumb along the apple of her cheek, doing my best to avoid the bruises. Even if I have to tattoo my initials on her somewhere, they will always know she belongs to me. “And I haven’t killed him yet.”

“Such a charmer.” She rolls her eyes.

“You married me.”

“That I did. And I’d do it all over again.” She leans forward and claims my mouth with hers. Her tongue reaches out and licks along the seam of my lips, but a gasp leaves her when she feels my dick hardening inside of her.

“Again?” She pulls back and cocks an eyebrow at me.

“Always. Like you said before. You danced with my demons when no one else would.”

And I spend the rest of the day showing my wife why she’s the most important thing in the world to me.

When I walk into Finn’s playroom, Isaac sits on a stool in the corner smoking a cigarette. Blood splatters decorate his shirt and face. Asher and Axel are leaning back against the table with their feet crossed at the ankles, watching Grady wheeze.

Speaking of the fucker, he’s a mess. He’s strapped to a giant cross, bloody and naked. Nails are impaled into the tops of his feet and the palm of his hands. His left eye is swelling shut, and there’s a decent-sized cut on his bottom lip.

Finn’s enjoyment of theatrics and irony isn’t lost on me. In fact, I think I have a newfound respect for my crazy ass father-in-law.

“Start without me?” I swing my gaze back to Isaac and cock an eyebrow at him.

“Got bored.” Isaac’s dark eyes are glazed over as he exhales a cloud of smoke.

Axel waves his hands in Grady’s direction. “Do y’all have an aversion to doing this shit with their clothes on? I’ve seen enough of other guys’ dicks to last me a lifetime.”

“Turnabout is fair play. He stripped them of their dignity and took from them without asking.” I tilt my head from side to side, toying with several ideas on how to make Grady squirm. They all end with him the same way. Dead.

“That’s cold, Z.” Axel laughs as he lights up a cigarette. “I like it.”

I pick up the cat-o’-nine-tails whip from the table and run my fingers through the strands. Finn’s had this piece modified. Metal beads are tied to the ends of each piece. The leather creaks as I let them fall between my fingers. The amount of care he puts into this is a work of art.

“You killed an old lady. You took my wife.” I close the distance between us until I’m standing right in front of him. “And you marked her.”

I strike out so fast he never even sees it coming. The metal beads dig into his flesh, tearing off some skin. Welts appear across his chest as I repeat the move a few more times.

“That looks like it hurts.” Axel whistles as he opens a bag of Doritos and makes himself comfortable for the show.

“The old bitch had it coming. She tried to stop us. And as for your woman, I should have fucked her when I had the chance. I bet her pussy’s tight as fuck.” Grady laughs, but the joke’s on him. He’s only feeding the monster.

“Pliers, Ax.”

“Here ya go.” Axel can’t hand them to me fast enough.

My fingers clasp around the metal, letting the weight settle in my hand as Grady’s eyes widen.

Asher steps up next to me and switches out the pliers for a rusty machete without me even having to ask. That just proves how in sync my big brother and I are.He knew what I wanted before I did. “Ax.”

“On it.” He licks the cheese dust off his fingers and steps up to Grady. “Open up, you piece of shit.” He shoves his fingers inside Grady’s mouth and pries it open.

Asher grabs his tongue and clamps down it with the pliers. “You fucked with the wrong family, asshole.” He gives me a nod, and that’s all the okay I need.

I bring the blade down on his tongue. Grady screams and fights against us, but it’s pointless. He’s nailed and not going anywhere. “You don’t deserve to even say her name.”

Axel shakes out the pliers and drops the organ onto the floor. We step back, watching blood pool out of his mouth. A sense of pride washes over me at our family project.

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