Page 73 of Wicked Riddles & Bitter Heartbeats

Nodding, he moves closer to Frank and raises the hammer back, aiming it at the back of his head. It’s a smart move. He’s about to swing it forward when I say, “Wait.”

His eyes flick up to me, brows furrowed. Is that disappointment I send?

I wasn’t actually going to let him kill Frank with a blow to the back of the head, and I’m offended that, after knowing what he’s done, he thinks he deserves a death so quick.

Frank can’t die so easily. Yes, I wanted to see if James would do it, but I can’t let him do it. This man hurt my kitten. He has to pay first.

“It can’t be so simple.”

James frowns. “I thought you wanted me to kill him?”

“I do, if only to prove I can trust you. I do want him dead, but he has to pay first. This man hurt my girlfriend.”

James holds my gaze as he lowers the hammer.

“You have a girlfriend?” I nod, smirking. “And she knows about all this?” Again, I nod. “She knows and… she’s okay with it?”

“More than okay,” I say.

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I didn’t think… I thought…” Swallowing, he looks at me. “It’s why I never married. I was worried that it would be too difficult to hide.

Oh, brother. You have so much to learn.

With a shake of his head, he goes to the duffel and digs through it again. He pulls out the container of nails and holds them up.

“This should do?”

“There are smelling salts in the outside pocket,” I say, happy with his line of thinking.

James digs them out and hands them over but pulls them away before I can grab them.

“What is your name?” he asks.

I regard him for a moment but decide there’s no harm in telling him. I’m still on guard. I’ll still kill him if I have to. Act now, figure it out later, I guess. I’m in too deep for this to be a clean getaway.

“Atticus.”

“That’s an interesting name.”

He gives me the smelling salt. I tear it open and shove it under Frank’s nose. He gasps, jerking backward then coughing.It takes a moment, but his eyes focus on us. There’s duct tape over his mouth, so all he can do is make grunting and groaning sounds. The fear is clear in his eyes though, masked behind is annoyance. Fucking arrogant prick.

“You fucked with the wrong person, buddy,” James says, pointing at Frank with the hammer.

You can tell by the look on Frank’s face that he doesn’t recognize James. When his gaze licks to me, they darken with anger.

I pop open the nails, pull one out, and hold my hand out for the hammer. James hands it to me. I press the nail to Frank’s skin, pushing down and he groans, eyes squeezing closed. His fingers move, but he can’t move his wrist since it’s tightly chained to the chair.

Torture isn’t usually my thing, at least, as far as I can remember, but I am thrilled to inflict pain on this piece of shit.

“This will be easier if you stay still,” I say, but of course he doesn’t. “Suit yourself, asshole.”

I rear the hammer back and slam it down, hitting the nail right on the head. Sweet, sweet, revenge. The nail goes in maybe an inch, and it’s a four inch nail. We’ve got a lot to go.

A high-pitched sound leaves Frank, every part of his body that isn’t held down is moving. Tears are in his eyes, his face turning red. I hammer the nail until the head is flush with his skin and the bottom deep into the chair arm.

“Your turn.” I offer James the hammer.

He takes it without hesitation, lines a nail up behind the one I just put in and goes to town.

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