Page 133 of Injustice and Absolution

I nod toward him, signaling for someone to right his chair, and Saxon steps forward. There’s a lump on Drew’s forehead, but thankfully, no blood.

Not yet anyway.

“Is that all you got?” Drew spits, his blood-tinged saliva smacking against the ground at my feet. A tooth clatters across the floor.

With a swift kick, the toe of my boot meets his junk, and I crush it against the wooden block he's balanced on. Drew’s scream is silent, his breath stolen away by agony. Leaning into the chair, I add overwhelming pressure to the pain I’m already inflicting until the chair scoots backward, and my foot falls to the ground.

Grabbing it by the legs, I right it again so it’s facing the center of the room. Then I crouch down so my face is directly in front of Drew’s, just inches away. I revel in the sight of him, panting in agony, before opening my mouth.

“I haven’t even gotten started yet. I have big plans for you, but I’m willing to take my time to ensure you get exactly what you deserve.” Standing to my full height, I flash him an evil grin. “You hurt someone very dear to me. If you think I’m anywhere remotely close to finished with you, you’re sorely mistaken.”

I turn to leave, needing distance before I snap and give him the quick death he wants. But his voice croaks, husky from the pain he just endured, stopping me.

“Take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror, old man. You’re no better than me. You treated her like a whore long before I did.”

In a flash, I’m on him again. Punching, kicking… A palm to his Adam's apple ought to shut him up.

But it doesn’t. Through his pain, he’s laughing at me, spurring me on. Finally, I feel two pairs of hands dragging me away from him.

Shrugging out of their hold, I turn and burn a hole through my men with a vicious stare. But one look at Draven and I back down. He and Crew were right to stop me.

I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself from killing him. He knew just what to say to trigger me and force me into action.

He is a master manipulator, after all.

Draven pulls me outside, and I drink in the cool night air.

“You good, man?”

No. I’m so fucking far from good, and he knows it. I glare at him.

“I know this situation is more personal than you’ve ever dealt with before. I’m happy to let you go back in there and fucking end him right now if that’s what you want. But I don’t think it is.”

“It’s not.” I spit, taking a seat on the edge of the picnic table outside of the building.

“You’re not the same as him.” Draven motions toward the warehouse before digging his cigarettes out of his pocket and lighting one up. “You can’t let him get in your head like that. You were trying to do right by Delilah.”

“Yeah, and by doing so threw her right into his fucking web!”

“But you didn’t do it knowingly. As hard as it is, forget about that.”

“Fuck, Draven... I fucked her... Treated her like shit... I fucking recorded them having sex, just like he did. I’m no fucking better than he is.”

“Yes, you did all of those things, just like he did, but for fucking good reasons.”

When I narrow my eyes at him, letting him know he’s grasping at straws, he adds, “Okay, maybe you didn’t record them having sex for agoodreason, but you didn’t do it maliciously like he did. You were worried about her. Maybe a little jealous... Okay, a lot jealous. A little unhinged. So fucking what? Focus on what you need to do now to make it right.”

This is why he’s my VP. He’s the only one of the guys who knows me inside and out. The only one who’s capable of getting me out of my own head.

I turn, involuntarily, in the direction of the main house.

Toward Delilah.

The terrified look in her eyes when she was thrown through the doors of the penthouse earlier will haunt me forever.

My chest aches to go to her, to be there when she wakes up. I need to tell her how sorry I am, that I fucked up big time, and she suffered because of it. That for as long as I live, I’ll spend each day making it up to her.

But knowing Maggie is with her helps. It keeps me here to focus on the piece of shit back inside the warehouse.

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