Page 128 of Bonds of Obsession

“That won’t be a problem with him.” I almost catch myself smiling just thinking about what I might do to this son of a bitch. “Nothing would give me more pleasure than slitting his throat right now. I’d really love to watch him bleed out slowly while he realizes exactly who he fucked with.”

Emmett whimpers quietly. Tears stream down his face, mixing with blood and snot. Pathetic. This is the shit stain who thought he deserved Quinn?

My blade presses deeper, drawing more blood. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because we need information. So you’d better start praying to whatever god you believe in that you have something useful to tell us.”

The look in his eyes says he gets it. He knows exactly how fucked he is.

Good. Let him be afraid.

Because once he leads us to Ambrose, I’m going to take him apart piece by piece and make him suffer for every moment of pain he caused Quinn. Then I’ll do it all over again for every scream we heard from Atlas.

And I’m going to enjoy every fucking second of it.

40

QUINN

I stareat Emmett where he’s bound to the chair. He’s completely helpless right now, and we have him right where we want him. He knows it too. His eyes dart between me and Killian like a cornered rat. Gone is the swagger and the easy confidence that made me trust him for so long. In its place is raw animal terror.

“Quinn, please. You know me.” His voice is raspy, and a bead of sweat rolls down his temple.

My jaw tightens as memories flash through my mind—memories of Emmett at my right hand during deals, watching my back in firefights, and sharing drinks after successful jobs. All those times I handed him sensitive information about our operations, our suppliers, our safe houses. Information he was probably selling to the highest bidder, even back then.

“Yeah, I thought I did.” I can’t help the bitter tone or the disgusted look on my face. “Guess I was fucking blind. I can see you now though.”

He squirms against the restraints, but I feel nothing but cold contempt as I watch him writhe in pain.

“It’s not what you think—” Emmett tries to straighten up and puff out his chest like the tough guy he pretended to be. But one dark look from Killian makes him shrink back into himself.

“Save it.” I step closer, letting him see the disgust in my eyes. “I trusted you. I treated you like part of my family, and you sold us out the first chance you got.”

His tough guy act crumbles completely as the four of us stare at him. His last-ditch effort to feign loyalty falls away to reveal the sniveling coward underneath. I still can’t believe I never saw through it before.

“Please…” He’s openly trembling now, and it’s seriously making my stomach turn. “I can explain everything.”

But there’s nothing left to explain. There’s not a fucking thing in the world that could justify his betrayal. I trusted him with everything—my business, my crew, and my life. And he proved exactly how much that trust was worth.

“You know what’s funny?” My voice sounds cold, even to my own ears. “Even when these men were our enemies, they showed more fucking honor than you ever did.”

I step closer, enjoying the way he flinches. “But you? You sold out your own gang because you couldn’t handle the fact that I didn’t want your worthless dick.”

“It wasn’t like that—” Emmett starts.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Atlas growls.

“No, let him talk.” I lean in closer. “Tell me what it was like then. Tell me how you justified it.”

Emmett’s eyes dart between all of us. “You were fucking everything up, getting in bed with them?—”

“Careful,” Killian warns, pressing his blade against Emmett’s throat.

“How much?” Nico demands. “How much did Ambrose pay you to betray her?”

When Emmett stays quiet, Killian applies more pressure with the knife. A thin line of blood appears on his neck.

“Twenty grand,” Emmett chokes out. “And promised me more when?—”

“When what?” I cut him off. “When he killed me? When he took over my territory?” I grab his chin, forcing him to look at me. “You’re fucking pathetic. No loyalty. No spine. Just a rat who’ll do anything to save his own worthless skin.”

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