Page 59 of Murder & Mayhem
“Who are you?” Bailey snapped, half draping his body over Jamie’s protectively, and I didn’t know whether to be proud or cry.
“He’s with us,” Brooks called.
“Get the fuck off me, asshole. When my cousin finds you—” one of the captives shouted.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Brooks replied tiredly, and then there was the sound of a face smashing against the pavement. I had to say, I was impressed. I hadn’t known what to expect when he’d first shown up with his baby face, dark hair that had been bleached nearly white on the tips and styled into a faux hawk, and tattooed-covered body. I’d figured he’d be in way over his head. He hadon a hot pink shirt that saidSir’s braton it. It hadn’t encouraged confidence.
But I had been mistaken, clearly. He pulled that shirt off now, exposing more inked skin, and shoved it in O’Malley’s mouth as a makeshift gag. Skye also looked completely relaxed in this situation, like they took down traffickers on the side of the road, practically in the public eye every day. Fuck, maybe they did.
I drowned out whatever was going on there, trusting them to handle it. I pressed my fingers against Jamie’s throat, and I really did start crying when I felt his pulse strong and steady beneath them.
“He got hit on the head with the butt of the gun,” Bailey informed me. “He’s just unconscious.”
“Thank God.” I rubbed my thumb across a forming bruise on his cheek. “C’mon, beautiful, wake up for me. Let me see those pretty green eyes.”
Bailey was drilling holes into my skull with his gaze. I was sure he was wondering who the fuck I was and how I’d gotten so familiar with his brother in 48 hours, but that wasn’t my problem, right? I wouldn’t be able to fully breathe until I was sure he was okay.
Gideon came and knelt next to me. “Hey, man. We got O’Malley. No one’s speaking about where Slash is.”
“There are other kids too. I ran and left them, but that woman, she was going to sell them, sell us. You need to get them,” Bailey told us, a frantic tone to his voice.
Gideon flashed a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry, kid. We’ll get them. Those guys—” He gestured behind him to Brooks and Skye. “They have four other boyfriends who are all fucking badass, and they’ll get the kids. We’ll call them now and tell them it’s okay to move. Let’s focus on getting you two out of here and getting help, alright?”
I didn’t need to look up at Bailey to know he was skeptical—he’d been raised by Jamie after all—but he made some kind of sound of agreement. It wasn’t like he had much choice but to trust us now.
“Boyfriends?” I asked, shocked. Ari kept calling them partners, but I assumed he meant in business, not life. Gideon laughed and rolled his eyes at me. “Well, you would know all about their dynamic if you hadn’t been too busy going apeshit on our house. Ari’s pissed you broke his favorite vase, by the way.” I flinched. I’d lost control. I hadn’t been like this since our fighting days, and even then, Adam had worked hard to keep me somewhat restrained.
When we had first escaped foster care, I had been so fucking angry then but had learned with the help of my brothers that routine, discipline, and control kept me stable. All of that had gone right out the damn window when I’d learned that Jamie was no longer in the yard. That boy had put a wrench in my perfectly planned life and I was paying the price for it. So were my brothers.
“We need to get moving. Someone’s gonna notice us soon,” Skye cut in. The guy he’d been holding was now lying on his stomach and hog-tied and gagged. Skye’s words reminded me that we weren’t hidden. There was a bar right there. So far, I hadn’t noticed any unwanted eyes, but still. We needed to go. Also, the longer this took, the more likely that Slash would run and they’d dispose of those kids. Hopefully, Luca and his men worked quickly.
Jamie’s eyes fluttered like he was starting to come out of it. He still didn’t fully wake up though. But he was going to be okay. I was sure of it.
“Jamie and Bailey need medical care. Do whatever you want with them.” I gestured to the guard on theground and the other bodies who were either dead or unconscious. I didn’t care. “O’Malley’s mine.”
I stood up and walked to Brooks, who was still sitting on O’Malley’s back. I doubted he needed to anymore, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. I grabbed the hilt of the knife that was hanging out of O’Malley’s shoulder, placed my other hand on the middle of his back to keep him still, and pulled. O’Malley screamed, loud even though it was slightly muffled by the shirt shoved in his mouth. Gideon cursed. If no one had noticed us yet, they sure would now.
“God, you’re so fucking loud.”
“Hold him up?” I asked Brooks.
The man grinned and wrenched O’Malley’s head up with a painful grip on the back of his hair.
I slammed the knife back into the open wound in the exact same location. O’Malley wailed and bucked so hard I was afraid Brooks would fall off, but he managed to hold on.
“You’re so pathetic. Spent your whole life hurting people who are weaker than you, defenseless, and you can’t even take a little bit of pain. What have you done to those boys over there? Huh? The others? Whatever you did, be prepared to experience it tenfold. I’ll make sure you feel every ounce of pain you ever caused him. You’ll be begging for death, but it won’t come. No matter how much you plead and cry, it won’t end till you’ve endured every bit of terror, pain, and moments of hopelessness you put them through. I couldn’t give Byrne the death he deserved, but you? For you, I have all the time in the world.”
I gave Brooks a nod, and he climbed off. Before O’Malley could register the change, I was gripping his hair so tightly he was lucky I didn’t tear it out. Then I slammed his face against the concrete. Once. Twice. Three times. The world blurred around me. I was so fucking angry. How dare this fucker! Iforgot all about my plans of slow torture and retribution. All I wanted was to see his brains splattered across the pavement. I didn’t care who saw me, what happened to me. Nothing mattered but killing this monster underneath me.
I could hear voices, people tugging at me, but I ignored them. Couldn’t they see I was trying to rid the world of an evil? I was doing a civic duty.
“Dominic. You need to stop, Nicky. Please.”
Rough fingers brushed against my cheek before a comforting weight settled in my lap. The faint scent of my body wash and aftershave, that always clung to my clothes, mixed with sweat and blood washed over me.
“Come back to me, Nicky.” My eyes opened, and I was staring directly into Jamie’s sad ones. Though, now they looked more scared than anything. He had somehow managed to half straddle me. One hand was on my face, the other curled around my wrist that was still holding O’Malley by his hair. O’Malley, who might not be breathing and whose face was practically unrecognizable. Blood splattered the pavement. Hair matted with blood was stuck to my palm like I’d pulled chunks of it out. But I didn’t remember any of it.
Brooks wasn’t sitting on his back anymore. He and Skye were busy dragging the bodies into the van they had come in. Gideon stood close, his arms around Bailey, both protecting him and keeping him from running after Jamie. To protect him from me. It was a bitter pill, and I immediately dropped O’ Malley’s head.
