Page 18 of Revenge

“Names. I won’t repeat myself again.”

“Mateo and the one with the scar is his cousin Louis.” The second the names are out of his mouth, my heart races. Finally, after all this time, I have the names of the bastards responsible.

“And where can we findMateoandLuis?”

“I don’t know. They’re not the ones I usually deal with. They mostly do grunt work and shit.”

“You must have heard something in passing conversation. Think, Benny!”

His body shivers as he wracks his small brain for any piece of information that I can use. “They hang out at the strip club over on Main and Tenth.”

“Which one?” Zane presses his foot down once more.

“Viper’s Den! It’s called Viper’s Den.”

“Was that so hard?” I pat the side of his face and get to my feet. Without a word, my brothers follow me out of the shop. We got what we came for. No need to waste another breath on this asshole. At the edge of the bay door, I stop and turn back around. I take one last drag before tossing the lit butt of my cigarette onto the puddle of gasoline near Benny’s head and lifting the corner of my mouth in a half-ass grin.

“What the hell, man?” He struggles to break free from the car, but it’s no use. He’s a sitting duck who’s about to be fucked. Flames ignite right next to him and in a matter of seconds, he’s on fire as well. “No!”

“Bye, Benny.” I turn and follow my brothers the rest of the way to the truck. Once we reach it, Zane tosses the gas cans in the bed and leans against the tailgate.

“Am I missing something?” Axel scratches the side of his head with the tip of the bat. “I thought the whole point of this was to send Diego a message?”

Zane is wearing the same uncertain expression on his face. I stare back at both of my brothers, keeping my own face blank. They should know me better by now. I give nothing away.

Axel opens his mouth to say something else, but his words are cut off by a loud boom. The shop explodes, engulfed in a ball of flames.

“Message sent.” I arch an eyebrow at my brothers, letting my point sink in.

Axel shakes his head and laughs. “Crazy motherfucker.”

This crazy motherfucker’s just getting started.

Chapter Eleven

Charlee

There’s a heavy weight of foreboding crushing down on my chest as I lie there on the hard mattress. My eyes are dry and puffy, and I feel the beginning of a headache stirring. The skin around my throat is sore and tender from his viselike grip. Every limb in my body aches from the shivers that have racked my body all night long. I swear the air conditioning was left on just to add more discomfort to my new accommodations.

Curling into a ball, I burrow under the thin blanket, seeking any warmth I can find, but it’s pointless. Cold still manages to seep into my bones. I need my damn clothes back. It doesn’t help matters that the sleep I did manage to get came in short, restless bursts.

Meanwhile, sunlight beats down from the large window, illuminating my prison. It makes the space look warm and inviting—a total lie. I keep the blanket wrapped around my body and push up to a sitting position. I take in more of my surroundings, hoping that things have changed, that the past two nights were somehow a bad dream, but no such luck.

“You’re royally screwed, Charlee,” I whisper to myself.

The sound of a lock turning causes my spine to stiffen. My head whips up and I brace to face my unknown fate head-on. His massive form fills the doorway, blocking out everything else. A light gray t-shirt hugs his broad shoulders, drawing attention to every hard ridge of muscle underneath. Khaki green cargo pants are loosely tucked into his tan work boots.

A five o’clock shadow covers the rough edges of his square jaw and has my heart pounding against my chest. Whether the increase in blood flow is from fear or something else, something I refuse to acknowledge, I’m not entirely sure. There’s no denying he’s attractive, but most monsters are.

There’s a tray of food in his large hands. I’ve been so absorbed in taking in his appearance that it escaped my attention until now. I lick my lips at the steaming plate. It’s been too long since I’ve eaten, but while my stomach growls, I won’t touch a single bite. I’d rather die than take what he’s offering. Who knows what he’s done to it?

When his blue eyes lock on mine, a shudder courses through me. They’re still as cold and lifeless as I remember. Then his gaze travels to my neck and lingers there. My hand comes up to trace the tender skin as his nostrils flare. I haven’t looked, but I can already feel the bruises forming.

A muscle jumps in his cheek, but other than that I have no idea what he’s thinking. The hard lines of his face remain stoic and give nothing away.

My eyes dart back down to the tray of food and I gnaw on my bottom lip to keep from breaking.

“It’s not poisoned.” A corner of his mouth lifts in a smile that never reaches his eyes as he steps into the room.

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