Page 22 of Redd

Reaching out his arm, his fingers brushed the handle, eagerly trying to snatch it with full force. My heart raced inside my chest, beating and pounding like a prisoner, trying to burst through the metal wire of its cage.

I watched his hand as it latched on the handle, fully expecting to meet the fresh air I had been denied for so long. My lungs were ready, taking short, quick breaths, not wanting to breathe one more atom of oxygen from inside that house.

Click

In reality the noise was probably barely audible, but in the silence of my head, I heard it loud and clear. The hammer of a gun had been pulled, it was cocked and being aimed in our direction.

“Where the fuck do you think you're going?” His voice sliced its way through my ears, stabbing my brain.

Val. . .

I knew who he was, I knew the kind of man he was. He wasn't kind or gentle, he didn't tend to the needs of others or show compassion where it was deserved. He was sick like the rest of them.

Diablo would take me out on occasion, taunting his men with a treat. If Diablo was in a really good mood, he'd allow them to touch and caress me so long as he was there.

And Val, he was one man who didn't shy away from the offer.

The man's back snapped straight, shoulders broadening and turning to stone. His head ticked over his shoulder, eyes veering in hate and rage. But he didn't say a word, he just stared with razor sharp pinpoints glaring at Val.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Val stood with his legs wide, firmly holding the ground beneath his feet. His gun was aimed point blank at the stranger, eyes lifeless as usual.

The stranger's muscles twitched, and the thick vein on his neck pulsed hard. His face changed, falling into a state of stillness. I couldn't read him, I couldn't tell if he was nervous and afraid, or if he didn't give two fucks about the gun in his face.

“I was just leaving, and I'm taking her with me.”

Val's finger fluttered over the trigger, a deep grimace formed on his face. “She's not going anywhere. She belongs here, she belongs to someone else.” Taking a long step into the room, his arm stayed steady in the air.

“She belongs to me now.” Tilting his head, his jet black hair fell over his brow, tickling the tips of his lashes. “I found her, so I'm keeping her.”

“Do you have any idea who you're fucking with?” Val asked, an evil grin spreading across his face. “My boss won't like this very much, he won't like it all. So I'm going to make this really easy on you, I'm going to kill you.”

My angel wrapped his arm around my waist, pushing me behind his back as he turned to face Val head on. “I don't give a fuck who you are, or about your boss. The one thing I do know. . .” Pausing, my savior curled his fingers deeper into my skin, holding me firmly against his back. “You're not going to kill me, and you're not getting her back.”

Val took another long step, cupping the butt of his gun with his other hand. “If I don't kill you now, you'll regret it. My boss—he's not as nice as me. Ask her, ask her what he'll do to you.”

Gritting his teeth, the man with black hair chuckled. “Look, I'm going to be straight forward with you. Either put a bullet in my head right now or turn around and walk away.”

“I need you to move away from her. You can die, but she can't.”

“Is that right?” The man blocked me completely, his wide shoulders and thick arms hiding me behind his back. “You're that bad of a shot?”

“Fuck you.” Val's eyes turned to slits as he bared his teeth. “I could care less about that cunt. If it was up to me she'd be dead already. She's only good for one thing, and even that isn't very good.”

I could feel my insides as they bubbled, coming to life with all the feelings I had buried. Anger, hate, rage—pure and unfiltered emotions that I kept stowed away. They had broken free of their box, all of them coalescing in my gut like a giant tornado.

A sheen of metallic caught my my eye as the man shifted on his heels.Dom's gun, he has his gun.

It was as if some one else was controlling me, like strings were hanging from my arms and someone was hovering above me, working my muscles. I was looking at myself from the outside, watching from a distance as I let my body take over and my brain step away for a moment.

Stepping out from behind the stranger, I bared my teeth. “Fuck you, Val.”

“Excuse me?” His jaw clenched tight, teeth grinding down hard. “Bitch you know better.”

I didn't say another word, lifting my arm, I held the gun in my hand and pulled the trigger. A bright flash lit up the room and my ears rang from the explosion.

My head was spinning as I took in labored breaths, ready to scream, ready to cry, ready to drop to the ground as my legs gave out beneath me.

Too much of my time had been taken up with thoughts of this moment. Of the moment I was finally able to be freed of the torturous pain this place had caused me. Of the men who had taken from me by the approval of another, of the man who created all of this in the first place. It was done, I was done—no more.

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