Page 92 of Vow of Vengeance
I don't think. I just aim the gun between his thighs- my target is a little too small to expect precision- and squeeze the trigger.
Vincent screams, doubling over and reaching between his thighs to cup himself and assess the damage. I watch his body tremble and his jaw go slack as he realizes the extent of the damage and crumbles to the floor.
I put another bullet in Tony's arm, just for good measure to keep him busy, and then I turn to the bed.
I've never felt a desperation like what floods me when I see her there, craning her neck to take in what's going on. Her makeup tracks down her face in black streaks from tears, and there's a ball gag shoved into her mouth, buckled so tight her cheeks are white around the red splotches from her sobbing.
I don't know what she tries to say to me, but it doesn't matter. Her cries are a series of muffled sounds as I fumble with the clasp on the gag, my fingers clumsy with the desperation to get it off of her.
When I do, she chokes on her sobs, and the sound filling the room makes me want to murder them a thousand times over, slower and slower each time.
"I've got you, little bird," I assure her, pressing kisses to her head as my hands search for the release on the restraints. I get one arm first, and she wraps it around my neck, pulling me tighter against her as I unfasten the other wrist. Once I do, itallows her to sit up, so fast that she nearly headbutts me in her attempt to wrap herself around me.
I want to hold her. I want to let her hold onto me. I never want to let her go. But I still have to finish freeing her and deal with the fucking monsters on the ground.
"You're okay?" I ask, searching her eyes for proof as she nods her head fervently.
"I knew we should have killed you all those years ago." Tony growls from his position on the floor. I don't bother turning to acknowledge him, keenly aware of the way he gasps and pants between each word. He's not going anywhere soon. "Back on the bridge. I should have put a bullet in the bitch and been done with it."
Soren sobs, leaning forward to cover as much of herself as she can from Tony, though I think he's more focused on what he has to say to her than he is on her nudity.
On the bridge?
"Yeah, that's right. Your mother was a fucking hit. She was a pathetic bitch who owed people more money than she could ever afford to pay back, and she paid her debt with her life. You being in the car was lucky. Two birds, one stone! But my stupid fucking nephew couldn't bear the thought of watching you die. No, he had to go and get himself attached!"
The bridge when her mother died? They were responsible for that?
"Sure, we had fun with you for a while..." He huffs, laughs, and chokes on it. "But you were never worth all the hell your life put us through."
I free her last restraint and fold her against me, shielding her body with mine. She's cold, shaking so violently that I'm afraid she's in shock.
Her clothes are shredded on the floor, so I slip away from her just enough to pull my shirt over my head. She doesn't fight meor even react as I drag it over her head, planting a kiss on her forehead when I've got it in place.
"You're okay, little bird. I'm here."
Her nails dig into the back of my neck, holding me tight to her as I stand, dragging her tiny body against mine.
I consider leaving them here, letting them bleed out or kill each other. But it's Tony who stops me, his wheezing laugh before he gasps out, "I lied."
"Lied about what?" I demand.
"I fucked her, too. Vin never let me do it like he let the rest of them." Tony huffs, and I realize the shot in the arm didn't actually get him in the arm. I got him in the chest.
Blood floods out around the bullet hole I put in him, and I can see the life leaving him fast as he trains his gaze on us. Soren's head is tucked against my chest, ignoring him entirely.
"But I did fuck her. I fucked her so hard that little bastard inside of her felt it before I killed it. I fucked her so hard, she was bruised for weeks. I could see it every time she moved, how she'd wince. She was tight too, more than I expected given how much she was run through by then. And wet... her pussy was weeping for me. She screamed, but I know she loved every minute of it, because deep down, she's--"
I don't wait to hear how he finishes that sentence. I fire off a bullet between his eyes, the way I've been longing to do all night, and he falls to the side, dead on impact.
I don't even look at Vincent as I fire at him, too. But I hear his groan as it lodges in his skin, and I decide to do him the last kindness he'll ever know by firing off the last bullet.
Soren is quiet, her sobs slowing as I carry her quickly to the car. She doesn't speak as I set her gingerly in the passenger seat and draw the buckle in place. Her eyes are unfocused and bloodshot when I pull away to press a series of kisses on the topof her head, luxuriating in the smell of her shampoo, filling my lungs with her.
I hold her a little longer than I should, given that we need to get out of here before the police show up.
I don't know how I'll explain the bodies other than by telling the truth and accepting the consequences for it. And I will have to, because I'm on camera doing it. But I don't regret it. I can't bring myself to feel an ounce of remorse when she's in my arms again, the way she belongs.
"It's okay, little bird. We're going to get you home."
