Page 48 of Bones

Blood squirts from his dickless body, and Athena stares with a fascinated expression. “His dick fell off.”

I take the tool from her hand. “You did so well, Butterfly. Go sit on the couch. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Hold on, Luca. Don’t rush me.”

Glancing at her, I’m confused when she asks, “Does anybody have a glove?”

Reaper pulls a glove out of his back pocket and hands it to her. She puts it on her right hand and glances at me. “His disgusting penis has touched my skin for the last time.”

I watch her with curiosity as she bends down and picks up the severed member, and stands in front of him. “Open wide, Princess.”

He shakes his head no, but when my brother pulls out his knife and digs the tip into his eye, he opens his mouth to scream, and my wife shoves his dick into his mouth. I don’t have a weak stomach, but listening to him gag on his own dick is a little gross.

“Tape?”

Psycho says, “Oh, I saw some in the bag.”

Since he’s still holding his head, so he’s forced to look at my wife while she literally destroys his manhood, Kage goes into the bag and grabs the duct tape. He tears a piece off and hands it to Athena, who promptly takes it and tapes his mouth shut.

Jesus Christ, this woman is fucking incredible. My wife is a natural born killer.

She gazes at me sweetly, and it takes everything in me to not slam my lips to hers. I want to, fucking desperately, but after what she’s been through, I don’t. I’m generally a selfish bastard that takes what I want, when I want it, but this is my wife, the mother of my future children, and the more I’ve learned about her life before me, the more I realize she probably isn’t okay. A daughter of a friend of my father’s was trafficked years ago, and treated a lot like Athena was. After years of abuse, she was rescued. She spent three years in and out of psychiatric facilities, before she ultimately took her own life. I’m terrified of something like that happening with my wife. Right now she’s putting on a brave face, and showing nothing but strength, but I fear when she’s alone, the demons will haunt her.

I watch Athena move to the couch and take a seat, before turning my attention back to her father.

Glaring at him, I smile. “You’ll forgive us if we are taking too long to decide how to kill you. We’re all brothers, but tend to kill differently. Psycho here would love nothing more than to slash your throat, and watch the blood pour from you. Reaper would choke you, but then you’re already choking on your own dick, aren’t you? I would break your bones, and Kage? Well, he would lock you in a cage, and leave you until you starve to death. So you see, there are a lot of options.”

Tipping his head back, he takes all of our options away, but it’s fitting. He attempts to cough as the dick appears to lodge in his throat, cutting off his air supply, and his face turns red while he visibly freaks out from the lack of air. He tries to move, but with my brothers holding him in place, he can’t. I glance at my watch,because I wonder how long it takes someone to choke to death on their own cock. My eyes move from him to my watch, as I wait for my answer. Seven minutes and eight seconds.

I would have preferred to cause him more pain, but this works, because the very thing he used to torment my wife is how he died.

My brothers drop his body to the floor, and I watch as Athena gets up and walks out of the room.

I have no idea where she’s going. Could she have something she wants here? I don’t know if this is her childhood home. I follow behind her, but at a distance, because I want to see what she’s doing. She takes the first few steps up to the attic, so I calmly say her name, “Athena.”

Continuing to follow her, I don’t understand why the hell she’d want to go back up there for anything.

When I make it to the top and step into the attic, I find her kneeling in front of her metal nightmare. Her breathing is heavy and audible, as I step closer to her and kneel beside her.

“I don’t like to be kept in a cage,” she whispers, and I think it’s more to herself than to me. Stroking her hair, I tell her, “I know, Butterfly and that’s over now. Never again.”

A tear rolls down her cheek while she runs her fingers down the cage. “I don’t know what to do with my life now. At twenty-four, I should know.”

My arms ache to hold her, but I hold myself back. “Whatever you want to do. As long as your plans involve me, there are no limits.”

She laughs, but it’s not genuine, it’s bitter. “It’s not so simple, Luca. I can’t even order food in a restaurant, because I can’t read the menu. And you want me to have your children? Don’t you think they deserve better than this?”

I lose all the fight I had in me to do the right thing, and not touch her much without her wanting it. I’m a selfish bastard, so I pull her into my arms. “You deserved better than this, wife. So much fucking better. And you will have it. I swear to you, we’re going to undoeverything he did. You will learn to read. You will get an education. Nothing is out of reach for you, Butterfly.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ATHENA

I don’t understand my emotions at all. Luca should terrify me, and I still can’t comprehend why he feels like safety to me. He has not hurt me as much as my father did, I’m not sure that would be possible, but he has done bad things to me. Yet, right now none of that seems to matter, as I clutch onto him like I’m falling from the edge of a cliff, and he’s the only one that can save me from certain death.

One of his brothers comes up behind us, I’m not sure who it is, because they all sound so alike. “The cleaners will be here in half an hour, we need to go.”

I glance at Luca with confusion. “Like a maid?”

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